In today's (Raleigh) News & Observer, Duke beat reporter Ken Tysiac has a story entitled "Have the Crazies lost their edge?" asking that exact question. The verdict? Duke students are tamer now than they were in the 1980s and 1990s, when they earned the reputation of being the wildest fan base in college basketball, because the Cameron Crazies are more commercial and because head coach Mike Krzyzewski has encouraged students to cheer for Duke rather than bash the opponent.
In the story, some players say that Cameron Indoor Stadium is as intimidating as ever, while others became disappointed with the Crazies during their careers. What's clear, though, is that the atmosphere on the television side is more decorous now than it has been. Or, as Duke alumnus John Feinstein said: "When I was in school, the students were great and the team was bad. Now it's the other way around."
But as some in the story suggests, that might not be the worst thing. After all, the Crazies have caught flak for illicit cheers over the years--including taunting J.R. Reid by yelling "J.R. Can't Reid." As fan sections become harder to control--just last week, Maryland fans yelled "F--- you Singler" at Kyle Singler, and Virginia Tech fans chanted "Teabag Paulus" all game long--it might be a good thing for Duke that the Crazies are not as, well, crazy.
One supporting detail the story doesn't use, lest we forget: When former Duke president Terry Sanford wrote the now-infamous Avuncular Letter in 1984, he warned against the behavior now typified by other fan sections. Neither he nor Krzyzewski would like to read a story questioning whether the Crazies have lost their verve, but it's a fair assumption that neither would prefer reading a story of the opposite ilk, either.
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