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Page 2 Duke University / University of North Carolina

Today we visited College basketball's 2 greatest rivals. Both schools have storied basketball programs as well as being great academic institutions. First up we visited Duke and their arena the Cameron Indoor Centre, which holds about 5-6000 fans, which is a small arena for such a big basketball school. The school is generally ranked in the top 10 every year for basketball and the fans that are lucky enough to see them play at home actually don't sit for the entire game!! They're referred to as the Cameron Crazies and for the entire game they will sing, dance, chant and generally create as much noise as is possible. Unfortunately we couldn't get down on to the floor as they had a closed practice session, given they have a game tomorrow. While disappointing we still managed to steal a few looks at the court before heading off to the Campus Bookstore to stock up on some Blue Devil gear!! Many bargains were found - already additional suitcases may be needed!!

Off to the enemy the University of North Carolina, a bigger public school with a famous Program, due in part to their success and some of their athletes (some of you may know Michael Jordan!!) Between the 2 schools there are 8 National championships with North Carolina leading the way so the kids were advised not to wear any Duke gear to UNC, safety would definitely be an issue. Similar to a Pies supporter going to Buckley St, Essendon - you'd be safe to assume you'd get dealt with - in the nicest possible way!!

UNC play in front of a paltry 21,000 people per game and are the glamour team of College basketball. They are also the reigning National Champion. Both schools games are televised nationally and the basketball programs generate millions of dollars per year for each respective school. Fans will camp out for 3 weeks to buy tickets to games between the schools so the kids really have enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere of both schools as well as visiting the respective Hall of Fame in each school.

Tomorrow we're off to Greenville South Carolina for our first game. We have a fairly large drive of 4 hours so the kids are really on the road!! Hopefully we'll make a good account of ourselves and be competitive.



Off to Duke's main Rival - University of North Carolina