Two of The Chronicle’s men’s basketball beat writers, senior Brian Pollack and sophomore Hank Tucker, are tenting for Duke’s home game against North Carolina Feb. 9, and they answered a few questions about what it’s like to be in line for a basketball game for almost a month. Leave your questions in the comments, and they will get as many of them answered as possible next week.
What made you want to tent?
Hank Tucker: I grew up in Durham and followed Duke basketball from a young age, so I always knew that tenting would be at the top of my to-do list if I ended up at school here. I tented for five weeks last year to see the Blue Devils lose and didn’t regret any of the cold nights I spent outside. Nothing compares to the atmosphere of a Duke-North Carolina game at Cameron, and I want to be in the building for the game all four of my years here.
Brian Pollack: Even though I did not grow up as a Duke fan, the Duke-North Carolina game is one of those events that you hear about and pay attention to every year—it’s that special. Tickets for this game sell for thousands of dollars, and the chance to get into the student section is one of the most unique experiences Duke has to offer.
I tented two of my previous three years here—and covered the game as a reporter last year—and the energy inside Cameron the night of the game is unbelievable. It was a pretty easy decision for me this time around, just to try and soak it in one more time.
How many hours do you spend in the tent per week?
HT: During black tenting, the most intense period of tenting when two of the 12 people in the group have to be in the tent during day hours and 10 have to be there during night hours, I’ve generally spent three to four hours per day in K-Ville and haven’t slept in a bed since last Wednesday. I’ll get my first night off when blue tenting starts Thursday and only six of the 12 people have to be in the tent.
BP: As Hank said, the hours get pretty rough during black tenting season. My group calculated every member’s hours to ensure the time was split up evenly, and each of us is expected to spend around 60 hours in the tent this week—days and nights combined. It’s certainly a heavy commitment during the early portion of tenting season, but as the game draws closer each person’s commitment drops to only occasional hours in the tent.
What is the most enjoyable part of tenting?
HT: Tenting is about a basketball game on the surface, but it is really a community-building experience in and of itself that means a lot more than just the game in three weeks. In my experience, most tent groups are patchworks of multiple groups of friends to get to the 12-person roster required to be in a tent, and both years I’ve tented, there have been people in my group I had never met before the first night in the tent. I think the teamwork aspect of it and getting to know everyone in my group has been most rewarding to me, and I really enjoy being a part of the K-Ville community.
BP: I definitely agree with Hank on this one. When you think about it, it’s pretty incredible that more than 1,000 Duke students—nearly one-sixth of the student body—are willing to sleep outside for weeks at a time, and that naturally creates a lot of camaraderie.
The best nights, for me at least, are actually during black tenting, because that’s when most of your group is required to sleep in the tent together.
What is the least enjoyable part of tenting?
HT: I haven’t had an uninterrupted night of sleep in the last week, which is a pain. I think the siren the line monitors use to wake everyone up a couple of times a night for tent checks haunted my dreams for a few weeks after tenting ended last spring, but it’s a small price to pay for the whole tenting experience.
BP: Late-night tent checks are always sure to make tenters grumble, but that kind of comes with the territory. One very difficult part of tenting that gets easily overlooked is creating and managing the schedule—balancing 12 students’ class and extracurricular schedules, all while trying to balance out the responsibilities, is a nightmarish task. Then you have to deal with people trying to switch time slots as new commitments come up and other things like that, which can be pretty stressful in a larger group.
What do you do while you’re in the tent?
HT: If I have a long shift during the day, I’ll do some homework if I feel like being productive or pull up a movie on Netflix if I don’t. It has been really nice and warm this week, compared to last year when it was in the 30s and high 20s at night for most of tenting season, so I actually look forward to my day shifts of sitting in the lawn chairs in my tent’s screened-in porch. At night, we generally stay up and talk and play card games until it’s time to go to sleep.
BP: With a large chunk of time during the day, I’ve tried in the past to leave myself some work to do, but I never seem to be very productive in the tent. It’s pretty tempting to climb under a pile of blankets and sleeping bags and doze off for a little while, so oftentimes I end up taking a nap. During black tenting season, two people are required to be in the tent for day shifts, so it’s nice to have a companion for those hours to talk with and pass the time.
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