Duke v Florida State Game, Feb 4

Well, WOW, that is all about how much I can say about today, it was an AMAZING day! I've decided to write a seperate entry about the Duke v Florida State game since the day, well the part which consisted of the game, was AWESOME!!!!

So the day all began with my and Pascal, my flatmate, getting up at 7am to leave our place at 7:45am to go and wait in line to get in for tip-off which is at 12 midday!!! Needless to say you make friends with the others who are waiting in line, however today was definatly a test as it rained for a majority of the 4 hours, and I'm not talking annoying rain, im talking near enough to a downpour and both Pascal and I forgot to bring an umbrella, so although I got completly drenched in my jeans and hoodie it would have been a lot worse if the other people in the line didnt share their brolly's!!! However needless to say that my jeans got completly soaking wet, and the picture is enough to prove!!!

Anyways, at about 11:50am after standing in the constant rain for close to 4 hours they decide to let the walk in line (that is us, who dont have a season ticket) into the game, and whenever they let u in you are so damn pumped as you have waited for so long to get in!!! Furthermore when you walk into the stadium itself when it is so close to tip off the atmosphere is just AMAZING as it seriously is like a Greek Colusem with the Pep Band (all brass) playing, all the spectators cheering and the teams warming up, that is the best how I can describe it, and I will definatly miss it when I return back to Australia!!!

The game itself was great, an arm wrestle from start to end and in the end we had to go into overtime and we eventually won by one point. The game was seriously intense with every play in the last 10 minutes crucial and turnovers and fouls on both sides as well, as well as some dubious umpiring and an intentional foul on one of our players, Sheldon Willaims, which made the entire 9,000 capacity at Cameron Indoor Stadium come to their feet and verbally pounce on the opposing player who foulded, he basically took out Sheldon from behind while he was dunking and was going to make it too!!! Admist all the cheers and the "heckeling" of the opposition it was an awesome game and I was so happy to be a part of it and the wait in line in the rain was definatly worth it!!!

After the game we waited around and went onto the court, which was HUGE, this stadium is a common household name across America and any sport fan over here knows of it! I can't describe how it felt being on there, considering that the first time I saw it was on cable TV back in Melbourne in 1997, all I know was that I was there, and WOW!!! I also got a picture with the "Blue Devil" which is the official mascot of Duke, much better then the Bond Bunny!

Needless to say after I got home after grabbing McDonalds after the game for lunch I hopped stright in the bathroom for a hot shower and then had a nice nap as I went to bed at 1:30am the night before and was up at 7am!!!

I think tonight I might just chill and do some work, as I should probably do some of that, as well as listening to a real cool local North Carolinan band, "Jump, Little Children" who I now love, and I thank Dan for getting me into them!!!

Next update when I get back from Baltimore/Washington DC
Chad