A few Cameron Crazies get to cheer their team on in person after a year's absence
Posted March 10, 2021 10:13 p.m. EST
Updated March 11, 2021 7:31 a.m. EST
Greensboro, NC — If you've watched Duke games in Cameron Indoor Stadium, there's no question you've noticed the Cameron Crazies, covered in blue paint or clad in crazy costumes, screaming at the top of their lungs and practically on top of the opposing team.
Which means you've noticed their absence for all of Duke's home games, as the Blue Devils have not had fans in the stands, even parents of the players, all year.
But a few lucky Duke seniors who didn't get to have that experience this year in Durham are getting a final goodbye of sorts.
Every year, Duke's head line monitors — a prestigious position within the student fan infrastructure — are offered tickets by Duke to attend the ACC Tournament as a thank you for their hard work.
Even though Duke got a limited number of tickets this year to the ACC Tournament, they honored that for two Duke senior line monitors.
Caroline Petronis and Hope Morales, both Duke seniors, were in Greensboro to watch their Blue Devils in person for the first time since March 7, 2020.
Duke went on spring break after that, and of course, everyone in this country knows the rest. Sports were shut down, schools were shut down, and life was not the same after that.
A lot of what the Crazies do may seem silly and arbitrary, and it can be. But there are items that are handed down from student to student over the years. A common sight in Cameron is a baby doll that is either waved around or strapped to the front of someone in a baby carrier. The Duke students will often chant "Baby! Baby!' at an opposing coach or player who is upset about a call that goes against them as the lucky Duke fan who gets to carry the baby (in a baby carrier strapped to them) will get the baby out and wave it wildly.
Morales was entrusted with care of the fake infant this year and last. She'll eventually choose a rising Duke senior and longtime Crazie to hand it down to, but she instead got to strap it to herself one more time for the ACC Tournament.
She was joined by Caroline Petronis, another Duke senior who was wearing a boxing robe and gloves that she'll hand down to a Duke junior and another sacred Cameron item, an embroidered craft store-looking vest.
"We've had these for two years — I get to pass them this year. We're seniors so they're going to get passed to juniors," Petronis said.
It was far from a sure thing that fans would even be allowed at this year's ACC Tournament at all. So neither Duke senior knew whether or not they'd be able to go until Duke reached out and let them know they'd honor their commitment to giving them tickets. Line monitors have a lot of responsibilities in the the Krzyzewskiville tenting community back when that was allowed, but obviously COVID-19 has shut that down as well. Still, both girls have put a lot of work in over the years.
Duke has lost five home games this year, as many as it had lost the previous three seasons combined.
Both Petronis and Morales said that they haven't had many in-person classes this year and like most Americans, their lives have been turned upside-down for the last calendar year. But for a moment in time, they got to cheer on their Blue Devils in person and sing and dance along with Cameron Indoor favorites, like Cascada and singing along with Journey.
Oh, and watching Duke win.
