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Century-Old Cameron Crazie Still Loves Atmosphere
3/1/2016 1:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DURHAM -- Duke's fan base is one of the most passionate and loyal of any college basketball team in the country. The Cameron Crazies are often vaunted as an ardent group of supporters that make playing in historic Cameron Indoor Stadium “the toughest road game in the nation,” according to USA Today.
Although the Crazies are the most visible and vocal of Blue Devil enthusiasts, that group is just the tip of the Duke-fandom iceberg. Thousands of fans pack the 76-year-old establishment on Duke's campus each home game to cheer on the Blue Devils, with the throng of Duke faithful comprised of individuals ranging in ages from one to 100, literally. One of those fans, Annie King, turned 100 years young Sept. 12, 2015, becoming one of the only fans to eclipse the century mark and still regularly attend men's basketball games in Cameron.
King has been a lifelong fan of the Blue Devils. Her father, back in 1907, attended Trinity Park High School, which then sat on the Trinity College campus, now Duke's East Campus. Although King would not be born for another eight years, the proximity to Duke's “beautiful campus,” as King describes it, as well as her family's history and connection to the college, made rooting for the Blue Devils a no-brainer.
King's Duke Blue bias trickled down to her daughter Julia (now Julia Moore), but King wasn't the only influence on Moore.
“My husband loved all sports,” Moore said. “He was a Duke fan and he loved to go to the games. My maternal grandma passed away at 93, but back then she loved to watch Duke on television. She never went to a game, but she watched them on television. When they had a game on, she loved watching her Duke Blue Devils, so I guess I grew up liking Duke with my mom's side of the family. They liked Duke and we'd watch the games whenever possible.”
Today's fans are spoiled with the multitude of different avenues by which to watch a Duke game. This season alone, every contest is broadcast nationally, streamed on a web-based application or disseminated through the local television market. To truly support the local team, Moore and her husband decided to begin attending games. Using the freshman season of Art Heyman as a landmark, Moore pinpoints the exact year she and her husband began a 50-year run of attending Duke contests. Over that span, more than just the names on the back of the jerseys would change, as Cameron itself experienced a number of upgrades. Moore's favorite alteration to the historic building? Air conditioning.
“The biggest improvement they made was putting the air conditioning in,” Moore said. “I used to wear short sleeve cotton shirts to keep from burning. You had all of these people in there getting excited and cheering. The heat was good though, because Duke was used to it and the opposing teams were not.”
Although the air conditioning was a major improvement for Cameron, King's favorite aspect of the game atmosphere is the people.
“I like seeing how much the people look like they enjoy the game,” King said. “It's wonderful.”
The seats in which Moore and King sat have also changed over the years. Moore and her husband originally started watching games from Section 13, while King sat with Moore's youngest son Chris in Section 3. As time passed, Moore and her husband shifted over to Section 1, row E, seats 6 and 8 — tickets she would hold on to for the next 40 years. Sadly, Moore's husband passed away in 1999, but Moore continued to attend games, welcoming her mother to sit next to her and thus sustaining something of a family tradition.
The support of Moore and King has never wavered over the years, even during the stretch from 1972 through 1976, when the Blue Devils failed to surpass the .500 mark for four straight seasons. The mother-daughter combo always believed that “they'd turn it around.” Moore even recalls a time when the team was in such dire straits, tickets were being sold in four- and five-set bundles to try and fill the arena, but the duo remained faithful fixtures in Cameron's seats.
Moore and King also continued to attend games when then-athletics director Tom Butters hired a young coach from West Point, who posted losing records in two of his first three seasons. That head coach has gone on to win five national championships, as well as earn the respect and admiration of both Moore and King.
“(Mike Krzyzewski) teaches those boys so much that they can use off the court,” Moore stated. “That's what is amazing to me. Everyone can tell that he loves his team. He puts his heart into it. He's such a learned coach, and he knows the game so well. He's able to get that information to his players and it's just wonderful to watch. He doesn't take any crap, and I really do like that.”
“I think he's just wonderful,” King adds. “Everyone can't always win, but when they lose, he gives the team new spirit.”
With 25 to 40 games a season, it's understandable that one home game to the next runs together, but specific student-athletes have certainly stayed with Moore over the years. Mike Gminski, Grant Hill, Shane Battier and Trajan Langdon all come to mind as Moore recollects the Duke talent from years past. In addition, although she enjoys attending all games, Moore particularly enjoys watching Duke face in-state opponents such as N.C. State and, of course, North Carolina.
As Duke wraps up the 2016 regular season, King shows faith in the future of her beloved Blue Devils.
“I think they're playing wonderfully,” King said. “We have a good coach, and that means everything. The team listens to him, too. Some people hear, but they don't listen.”
Suffice it to say, the Blue Devils will both hear and listen to the cheers of Moore and King throughout the remainder of the home slate.
Tuesday, March 31
Tuesday, March 31
Tuesday, March 31
Tuesday, March 31
