Duke Dream

For the past two decades, I have been a Duke Basketball Fan. I liked their coach and what he stood for, I liked their style of play, and most of all I liked the integrity that they demonstrated on and off the court. My favorite team, the Baylor Bears - or in this story the Lady Bears - made it to the "Big Dance" again. We traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina for the first and second rounds. On the off days (days without games) we took the yell leaders to see the campuses of University of North Carolina and Duke. All were within about 20 minutes of each other. UNC was chartered in 1795 making it 50 years older than Baylor. When you walk on campus you have the feeling of nostalgia and history. Then we went to Duke. Duke, formerly known as Trinity College (Methodist), was bought by a tobacco family, moved to Durham, NC and renamed after the Duke family. In the history of the Methodist Church and higher education in the United States, Duke has much in common with other Methodist related universities like Northwestern, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, or the University of Southern California. Duke University has symbolic ties to the Methodist Church but it always has been independent in its governance. The chapel you see here was built in the 1920's but looks much older.

We snuck into Cameron Indoor Stadium to see the court that the Blue Devils played on. These shades cover all the portal entrances into the arena. We walked on the court and tried to take pictures, but the lights were out. I am trying to lighten them so you can see the unbelieveable number of championship banners hanging from the rafters. Rumor has it that Coach K will not hang a banner until everyone on that team has graduated! We had a great time, except for getting lost driving in the Duke Forrest, exploring other institutions of higher education.

More to come on Basketball, Bluebonnets, and Babies.......stay tuned this is "catch up weekend."