Duke vs. Alabama – September 18

This was a really big deal for Duke with (then) #1 coming to town. We all expected to get shellacked (particularly after the defensive performance at Wake) and we weren’t disappointed. It was truly a men-against-boys deal. One of those games where the disparity in athleticism is just so great that you just hope nobody gets seriously injured. Alabama could have named the score in the 62-13 rout.

I was quite proud of the picture I took to the right, showing one of the Tide offensive lineman in a blatant hold  (as if they needed any help from the officials). Every once in a blue moon,I get lucky with a nice shot.

Public parking lots were open 6 1/2 hours before kickoff rather than the normal 4 hours to accommodate the throng of Alabama fans attending the game. We arrived at about 9:10 AM for the 3:30 kick and the Chemistry Lot was already 2/3 fill. Kind of interesting to tailgate for that long. Definitely want to pace yourself and I was able to cook two full courses of chicken, hot dogs, and burgers.

Joe Jr’s boss Ray joined us for the tailgate and game. Ray grew up in Henderson, NC and was a 4 year starter at tailback for The Citadel in the early 90s. He was on a team that actually won at South Carolina in 1990 in a shocking upset. Southern Conference team beating an SEC team not named Vanderbilt – that doesn’t happen often. He is in very good shape and looks like he could still stone a blitzing linebacker.

In addition to the conversations with Harold from Florence, there were also a number of friendly Alabama fans that were encountered during the tailgate. But we did run into one goober at the game.

Almost immediately after we settled into our seats (General Admission), Joe and Ray excused themselves to go to the concessions. So Chris was on the end of the row, with some space between him and Tony and me. So an Alabama fan initiates a move to take those two seats and Chris replies that they are already taken. This Alabama fan gets pissed and says that “Y’all need to learn about big-time football!”.

Hmmm. OK. At this point in time, an Alabama fan in the row behind us basically told him to STFU. Nothing like taking your level of douche bag-ness to the next level by:

• Failing to understanding the basic concept behind General Admission.
• Acting rudely to someone when you are a guest in their house.
• Being called out by a member of your own fan base for said douche bag-ness.

Another interesting episode that happened at the tailgate centered around these two very attractive young women (quite provocatively dressed) who were going from tailgate to tailgate and dropping off cards for their business – a new Gentleman’s Club that had recently opened in the Triangle (Raleigh I think). I have never encountered that before, but when you stop and think about it, it makes perfect sense from a target market perspective. I think. Anyways after dropping by our tent for 3 nanoseconds, they went to this group of Alabama fans and must have spent 45 minutes with them.

Here is a Flickr slideshow of shots taken during the Duke-Alabama game held on September 18, 2010 at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, NC: