Around this time of the year, it’s hard not to think about the impending men’s basketball showdown on Feb. 18 against Duke.
But at this moment, under damp nylon and collapsible metal poles, Duke students have no choice. They await their golden ticket: admission to the matchup at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
What might UNC do to whip its fans into a similar — if, perhaps, more civilized — frenzy?
The provenance of Krzyzewskiville is a group called the “Bunch of Guys,” which Kvillenation.com claims to be the precursor to the Cameron Crazies. That group’s passion for Duke basketball apparently indirectly inspired 75 tents to be set up on the lawn a week before game day in front of Cameron Indoor in 1986, beginning an informal tradition now celebrating its 29th year.
To be clear, we’re not necessarily calling for permission to set up camp around the Smith Center. But such a tradition serves as a vital experience to undergraduate basketball fans, one not yet paralleled by any that UNC offers. That is not to say our fandom isn’t suitably intense, but it does lack a physical manifestation similar to tenting — aside from hours of standing and jumping around and the occasional rushing of the court.
But these activities could be done by any old group of basketball fans. Any old group of basketball fans we are not. We hope our fans arrive at an organic, appropriate-to-scale tradition that will preface our matchup with the Devils with proper fanfare. We might always be able to rush Franklin, but a physical celebration of our anticipation could do our spirit some good.
