Dukies wasting away again in Krzyzewskiville

Men's College Basketball Chat

Empty beer cans decorate the budding trees like Christmas ornaments and a Duke flag flies above the tiny village, marking the area as if it were an encampment of soldiers.

	Duke students have been in line since Jan. 3, waiting for Saturday's game with North Carolina.

Welcome to Krzyzewskiville, the village named for Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, where more than 1,300 students are staked out in hopes of landing seats for Saturday's game against North Carolina.

Some students do homework on lawn chairs and giant beanbags outside their tents while others doze inside on piles of blankets and sleeping bags. One of the tents has a coffee table and couch, and two others have their own web pages. The hassle, these students say, is a small price for the country's biggest college basketball rivalry.

"I grew up here and I haven't missed a Duke-Carolina game since I was 5," said Christy Hamilton, a freshman from Durham. "And whenever Duke lost, my mom would let me stay home from school the next day just so I wouldn't get ragged on."

School officials allow 100 tents on the triangular sliver of land that's no bigger than a regulation basketball court. A maximum of 15 people can be assigned to each tent and at least one person is required in each tent 24 hours a day.

The first tent went up Jan. 3 and earned the No. 1, meaning the students assigned to that tent can be first in line for each Duke home game. Each subsequent tent that went up was given a number that corresponds to its place in line.

Student government monitors check the tents five times a day in the two days leading to a Duke game. A tent must be occupied for three of the five checks for each student assigned to the tent to earn a wristband and entry into the game. Unoccupied tents can be bumped to the back of the line and even eliminated from the line altogether.

Most of the tents went up about six weeks ago and students have braved rain, insects, head colds and chicken pox just to get inside the raucous arena Saturday for the No. 1 Blue Devils' rematch with the No. 3 Tar Heels.

It is just a basketball game, isn't it?

"It's an event," said Neal Morgan, a sophomore from Boston. "Last year, there were police with riot gear once the game got over. This year, they've outlawed bonfires and I guess they're organizing a foam party. That's kind of lame -- I'd much rather burn stuff."

Eric Futoran, a junior from Los Angeles, and Jeff Kessler, a senior from Farmington Hills, Mich., are two of the tenants in Tent No. 1. Both estimate they've spent about 70 hours there since the first week of January.

"We just really like those front-row seats at half-court," Kessler said.

Tent No. 11 is actually a four-walled plywood shanty. The one-room hovel comes complete with a veranda, coat rack, laundry bag and mirrored disco ball.

"Living here is hard some times but it's fun putting this much effort into it," said Daniel Karp, a junior from Princeton, N.J. "We'll see if it's worth it but it's already been a great experience."

The Duke students are in the midst of midterms. But they say their grades haven't been affected by their devotion to the basketball team.

"I'm still getting one of the best educations anywhere," said Luis Villa, a sophomore from Miami. "And when the weather's nice, I'd be outside studying anyway."