The Fever Has Hit!

No, not spring fever. It's basketball fever. In the rest of the country, they refer to it as
but, here in North Carolina, that doesn't come close to explaining it. Basketball fever has the state in its grip year round. At that bastion of higher education, my alma mater, students camp out for weeks on end, we brave the bitter cold, all for the opportunity to see Duke stomp on our bitter rivals, the UNC Tarheels Tarholes. Honestly, I can't even begin to explain what it was like to be a part of the infamous Cameron Crazies. We had so much fun and even got covered by ESPN. Ya know, North Carolina may be right in the middle of the bible belt but, every spring, the whole state undergoes a religious conversion and we start to worship at the altar of the almighty roundball. Yes, come spring time, basketball reigns supreme. We don't even wait for the NCAA tournament. The religion of basketball reaches a fever pitch when the ACC tournament starts and isn't completely shaken loose until the last ACC team bows out of the NCAA tournament. I honestly believe it would save the state and certain businesses money if they shut down during the ACC tournament. Every break room has a t.v. tuned in. Thanks to blue tooth technology and online radio stations, people even listen while they pretend to work. Hell, I even remember teachers finding excuses to have t.v.s in the classroom during the ACC tournament. God I loved those high school days.

Duke plays their first game in the NCAA tournament tonight as a #1 regional seed. Forgive me if I'm a bit incoherent in the weeks to come. Basketball fever is raging here in the Cruz household.

GO DUKE!

Duke beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 73-44