The Duke Museum of Basketball...and Some Other Unimportant Basketball Museum

 As a treat for my guys, I planned a visit to the Duke Basketball Museum on Friday.  Whether you're a Duke fan or not (and there's a good chance you're not, because for some reason there are a lot of Duke Basketball haters out there), you'd really enjoy a stroll through this museum at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham.

Anybody who was alive and watching sports in 1992 has to remember this thing called "the shot."  There's a display about "the shot," which is consistently ranked as one of the thrilling moments in basketball history.  (I don't know if they have a display of "the shot" at the UK Basketball Museum, but probably not...)

 Below, the guys try to replicate "the shot."

 It was very cool to be at the museum the Friday before Coach K plays for his 1,000th win in Madison Square Gardens on Sunday....

Below: It's goofy, I know, but I'm a sucker for detail.  Ha!

The most shocking thing I saw at Duke Friday was K-ville (I'm not EVEN going to try to spell that!), which is the area outside Cameron Indoor Stadium where students are camping-out for 6 WEEKS to get tickets to the Duke-UNC game.   The game isn't even until February 18th, but here's a picture of those students out in the freezing cold rain.  There's a reason they're called "Cameron Crazies!"

There was actually a sign in the museum that details the very specific rules for K-Ville, including how many students can stay in a tent, how many students must be at the tent at any given time, and the exclusions about when your tents can be vacated (under 25 degrees or in 2" or more of snow).

Ok.  I'm not a big basketball fan, but I have to admit I really had a great time!  Anna, however...not so much.  If Anna had to see one more basketball trophy, basketball picture, or just plain basketball...I think she was going to lose her little girl mind!  :)

Cameron Indoor Stadium looks pretty big on ESPN, but in reality it is TINY!  In person, it doesn't look much bigger than a high school gym.

Also surprising to me was that when we popped into the court to take a few pictures, there was a recreational game in progress.  Who would have thought that the #5 basketball team in the country would allow faculty/students to use the court to play a pick-up game - right in the middle of basketball season?

And oh yes.  That "other" basketball museum.  Tim, John, and Christopher aren't UNC fans; but you just can't live in Basketball Country without ever visiting the Carolina Basketball Museum at UNC Chapel Hill.  So we stopped by there, too.  You can find the Carolina Basketball Museum right beside the Dean Dome.

And although they went, my guys want to make sure you know that they DID NOT like the Carolina Basketball Museum.  So there.