My experience covering Auburn basketball at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium | Cole

[ad_1]

DURHAM, N.C. — Cameron Indoor Stadium isn’t the sort of place you waltz into and deliver a generational performance.

No. 2 Auburn basketball learned that much in its 84-78 loss to the Blue Devils this past Wednesday. But those of us in the Auburn sporting press who made the trek learned the same.

Having to play Duke is a difficult task. I would’ve had just as hard a time — OK, a much harder time — containing All-American Cooper Flagg as the Tigers did. But covering a game at Cameron Indoor? It’s not that sort of task, though it brings its own unparalleled level of difficulty.

Imagine being asked to do your job as your desk chair rocks and rumbles from a horde of college students sitting inches behind you. Profanity-laced chants hit your ears first. You’ll wipe spit from your computer screen more than once. Bodies belonging to unknown 20-somethings will tumble and use your shoulders to catch themselves, and you will absolutely get conked — at least 13 times by my count.

I thought I knew what I was getting into. Growing up 20 minutes west of Lawrence, Kansas, I’m no stranger to cathedrals of college basketball. I’ve seen dozens of games at Allen Fieldhouse. I’ve waved the wheat and chanted Rock Chalk. So, would Cameron Indoor really be all that different?

It very much was, with an unmatched level of intimacy that somehow packs more bodies than Auburn’s Neville Arena. The Cameron Crazies are organized chaos in its truest form, setting an example for The Jungle that didn’t let up on the players nor the writers. They bring a gameday experience you can’t forget even if you want to, proven by the fact I’m still brushing blue speckles of body paint off my computer as I type this.

I may have been overconfident about what my night would bring, but I did get a forewarning Tuesday evening. It came from perhaps the best person to inform anyone on a top-10 showdown between the Tigers and Blue Devils.

Lucas Lynn is a Wetumpka native. He comes from a long line of Auburn…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/experience-covering-auburn-basketball-dukes-202519920.html

Author : The Montgomery Advertiser

Publish date : 2024-12-05 20:25:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.