Duke basketball: Potential for empty ACC venues tastes bittersweet

Is it possible nonexistent crowds would become a Duke basketball advantage?

With so much craziness floating around the COVID-19 pandemic currently, only one thing seems to be certain: nothing at all is certain, and the sports world is no exception (Duke basketball included).

The NCAA Tournament was canceled, The Masters was postponed to November, and one of the only sure things in life, college football, is in doubt heading into the fall. With all these miserable moments to digest, 2020 has been a bad year for sports fans.

All is not lost for us Duke basketball psychos, though, as pro basketball and hockey are figuring out a way to restart while Major League Baseball is moving at half the speed of a tortoise but seems to be showing signs of life.

However, all of the aforementioned restarts have one important thing in common: they seem to be happening with little to no fans. This is an understandable decision as no sporting event is worth endangering fans or their families, but it will give a different feel to the events we are so used to seeing and attending.

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With all sports reshaping their product, one has to imagine (and I have) that college basketball as a whole is following in the same footsteps. Following this completely hypothetical path, I wonder how empty or semi-empty gyms will affect our beloved Duke Blue Devils.

When first pondering, it’s a real bummer that Cameron Crazies may make little to no impact on home games. Across the more than 40 years since Mike Krzyzewski arrived in Durham, the Duke student section has become what every on-site group strives to be: a part of the team.

Over the years, the Cameron Crazies have impacted games and given the Blue Devils heart at times when it was needed most. They have been an absolute terror to opposing players whether psychologically or visually (ask former North Carolina guard Jackie Manuel about Speedo Man).

Their energy fuels the non-student patrons as well. I’ve personally witnessed middle-aged dads rediscover their knees when the band plays “Everytime We Touch.” Duke basketball fans in the top half of Cameron mirror the chants, claps, and emotions that are going on with the students down below.

Two ways empty seats could benefit the Duke basketball program

While the absence of all that would be an absolute drag, I’m a glass-half-full type guy and see a silver lining to all this. As a matter of fact, yours truly sees two such bright spots.

The first is a little hard to get with at first. But bear with me. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. I know this from experience, and I believe it applies here.

Don’t shoot the messenger, Crazies, but it seems lately some of the bite is gone in Durham. Perhaps sustained success or maybe just Duke students having different interests these days has led to what seems like a bit of a slump in recent years.

I never thought I’d see empty seats at a home conference game, but last year’s tilt against Miami proved me wrong. Call me very crazy (my wife does every other day), but I think some time away will help Crazies and non-Crazies alike realize how much of a gift the hallowed planks on Coach K Court are.

My second bright side is purely a basketball perspective. It’s not very scientific, but I challenge anyone to deny this one. With potentially little to no fans at any given Duke basketball game next year, you take out the crowd emotion. This will hurt the Blue Devils slightly at home, but it will do absolute wonders on the road.

Any Dukie who’s been around long enough knows how brutal the ACC road schedule is, and no matter how good the Blue Devils are looking, you can bet your backside that among all the lesser contenders, their house will be fully and loudly packed.

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Most of those poor souls have little to no chance of winning even an ACC Tournament, and beating Duke will be a memory that players and fans can tell their kids about when reliving the glory days of college.

Long story short, any barn Duke graces is a hostile and rocking party. The only good thing COVID-19 may have given us is an eraser of all that.

With no previously mentioned hostile fans feeding the opposing players to Herculean efforts, the other team duels us on skill and strategy alone. Armed with this, we Duke faithful find ourselves with an always-talented roster and a coach that is not too bad himself.

So we have the greatest coach to ever lace them up with a dynamite staff full of future Division I coaches, not to mention a stable of future NBA players. I’d say if the powers that be decide to keep the games off-limits to in-person spectators, Duke basketball will be just fine.

Whichever way the wind blows regarding player and fan attendance, my fellow Crazies can rest assured the hunt for banner No. 6 will stop for nothing.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more news and views regarding all things Duke basketball.