We thought camping out for close seats to the big game would be easy. We thought it would be a little cold and a little uncomfortable, but we thought we would make it. After all, it’s Duke we were waiting for.

“The Cameron Crazies have perhaps the greatest name recognition in the country (of any student section),” Brad Slavin, Otto’s Army communications officer, said of Duke University’s student fan club. “Otto’s Army needs to and will make their presence felt.”

We think it is an important game too — Syracuse is in a new conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference, which has historically been dominated by the Duke Blue Devils, led by the winningest coach in college basketball history, Mike Krzyzewski. Combine all of this with the loss of Big East Conference rival Georgetown University and Duke seems to fit the role of the new rival perfectly.

Additionally, one of my campmates, Alec Zoida, is a recovering Duke fan.

With that in mind, Zoida, a freshman education major, John Wassmuth, a freshman music major, and myself headed down with the rest of Otto’s Army to help start a new rivalry.

Slavin and the other leaders of Otto’s Army set up camp on Jan. 19, two full weeks before the game. Not feeling quite so bold, my group ventured out the next Thursday night — nine days in advance of the actual game day.

It was already cold and we had yet to even get our tent standing. I told myself it would get better — just like the weather report said — and with a few more layers of clothing it wouldn’t be so bad.

We found the holders of “the list,” the holy binder with the names of campers in the order of when they arrived at Boeheimburg, and got our number — 12. I was ecstatic. We would be among the first 50 students to enter the Dome and we would surely be on ESPN’s College GameDay.

This is our story.

Day 1:

Zoida and I headed down together for the first shift at 9 a.m. Except for a one-hour break for class, I was outside for the next seven hours. I learned that if I got in my sleeping bag while I was still warm, the heat wouldn’t escape as fast.

Although the cold was not too much of an issue, boredom and hunger were. My laptop and phone quickly ran low on battery — which meant cutting back on Netflix. When boredom started to set in, I just reminded myself how close to the action I would be. I thought about being on ESPN, meeting Jim Boeheim and some players who would surely visit Boeheimburg.

Wassmuth came to relieve me around 4 p.m., and I had until 8:30 p.m. to relax before I took the first overnight shift. I headed back to my dorm, warmed up and took it easy before putting on three pairs of socks, three pants, two gloves, a scarf, a beanie and five layers of shirts, sweatshirts and jackets.

In a sleeping bag and three blankets, I was actually plenty warm. And atop a mattress pad, I wasn’t too uncomfortable. I slept fairly well, all things considered, but by the time I was relieved at 11:30 a.m., I was beat, having spent nearly 15 consecutive hours in Boeheimburg.

Day 2:

I spent the afternoon doing work and watching the Syracuse-Miami basketball game before heading back down to the Dome, past the overly-optimistic Boeheimburg thermometer that read 20 degrees when I knew it was much closer to zero. After three hours of sitting in the tent, I got a text from Wassmuth: “Me and Alec don’t feel like doing this anymore.”

My first thought was, “Are you serious?”

The two of them came back and we talked about it. Zoida told me that I already sounded sick, and said he also didn’t want to get sick and miss the game.

“We stopped because we didn’t want to get sick for the game and the cold would definitely weaken your immune system and make it more possible,” Wassmuth said.

Reluctantly, I helped them pack up the tent and watched as they gave up our precious No. 12 place card. I was disappointed. Through all my endless layers, I was still shivering and at one point I lost all feeling in my toes — all to be as close as possible to the game.

But the allure of the big game wasn’t entirely gone, as we’ll be returning Wednesday night, three nights before the game, instead of eight.

As I prepare myself to brave the elements in Boeheimburg once more, I am still disappointed but not entirely upset with our decision. We will still be close to the action and we will still have the campout experience.

But if I missed Boeheim, or C.J. Fair, or Rakeem Christmas coming to say hello to me…Well, I suppose I’ll just have to campout again next year.

 

Published on January 29, 2014 at 12:12 am