There are plenty of reasons for the Duke football team’s season opener against Army to attract a huge crowd, but will the campus be capable of handling all the pregame traffic?
Aircraft flyovers. Cadets in uniforms. Season kickoff. High hopes for Duke football. Fresh off a bowl win. Tons of returning starters. Temperatures in the 70s. Only a small chance for storms. A country music artist performing at halftime. Patriotism everywhere.
Add to all that the fact that Durham residents can buy tickets for as low as $6.75 (if buying four or more; $8 each if less than four) which includes vouchers for free food and drinks.
And according to GoDuke.com, “Non-Durham residents can purchase tickets to the season opener for as low as $9.” (Note: this writer could not figure out how to take advantage of this deal from where it is advertised.)
All these combined factors could lead to Wallace Wade Stadium flirting with its maximum capacity (40,004) when the Duke Blue Devils host the Army Black Knights at 7 p.m. on Friday.
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But those fans who are responsible for being behind the wheel of the family’s automobile are most likely interested in the answer to one question: Can the Duke campus handle all the traffic?
Because the kickoff is scheduled for an early Friday evening, more than 30,000 fans will be trying to find parking around the same time that some 30,000 Duke employees are leaving their on-campus jobs; also, nearly a half million workers across the Triangle will be heading home for the weekend at the same time.
Taking into account that parking for Duke football games has always been a headache/disaster — even when attendance is dismal — the ideal solution would be for fans to just call in sick from work and school so they can spend the entire day tailgating.
However, the university is not allowing any parking until after 5 p.m.; so unless fans own a teleportation device, they should be prepared to spend significant time reading the bumper stickers on whatever car is in front of them.
Any fans who are able to get to their seats by 6:45 should be able to see aircrafts flying in formation over Wallace Wade Stadium.
At halftime, country music artist Ryan Weaver, who once served as an active-duty Black Hawk Aviator for the United States Army, will perform from a stage on Brooks Field. Since Weaver specializes in patriotism and Duke’s opponent is Army, expect to see plenty of flags and tributes to America and veterans during his performance.
As for the weather, fans have three options: keep fingers crossed, come prepared with ponchos, or perform an ancient weather-modification ritual (just remember that the ritual can’t start anywhere on campus until after 5 p.m.).
As for those fans who strategically avoid big crowds by simply remaining seated in their own recliners and within a few steps of their own refrigerator, the game will be televised on ESPNU.
Well, that covers the festivities scheduled for Friday evening. As for an actual preview of the game that will be played on the field, keep checking back with Ball Durham this week for team breakdowns and analysis.