Duke Basketball-say it with respect. It's the reason why I came to Duke, and I'm proud to say that. I think the biggest problem with this University is the fact that so many students come to Duke not understanding the tradition. This was never more evident than in last year's home loss to Maryland, ending our home winning streak. I had hoped it taught a lesson, but I was in the stands for our next loss, to St. John's, and I could not believe what I was hearing. Not the silent walk of depressed people pondering what just happened with the somber Dear Old Duke playing in the background. Not even hysterical sobs or fits of anger. Instead, I heard people discussing what they were going to do later that night. The team deserved better than that. They certainly deserved better than the empty seats in the Maryland game as well. It made me wonder, what happened to the student body?

This is where I become that alumni that all the students hate (I know, I was just in your shoes two years ago). So, here it goes, with the infamous start "Back when I was a freshman..." It was the 1995-96 season. We were coming off of the Pete Gaudet, Ugly Uniform season. Our freshmen were Taymon Domzalski and Matt Christensen. Trajan was a redshirt due to his knee injury, and Roshown had to sit out his transfer year. The starters were Chris Collins, Ricky Price, Jeff Capel, Greg Newton, and Carmen Wallace (when he wasn't injured). Tony Moore flunked out. Wojo was our only other scholarship player. Walk-ons Stan Brunson, Todd Singleton, Baker Perry, Jay Heaps and Jeremy Hall became critical-by tournament time, Chris and Carmen were injured. Matt, Todd, and Stan had been fighting off injuries throughout the year as well. Yet it's funny, maybe my memory is failing me, but the stands were always full, and I arrived no later than 9 and waited all day for afternoon games, and I was not front row center. The campout was not as long or intense as recent years, but Kville was alive and occupied for several weeks in anticipation of UCLA and UNC. The UCLA game was one of my top five at Duke-we managed to beat the defending national champs and erase the humiliation of the previous year's game in Los Angeles. I have rarely seem the Crazies as together as they were that day. That team was such a joy to watch, every game so close, and we lost several home games that year. I associated our alma mater with depression, as I always heard it played as we all quietly filed out of Cameron, realizing we had to drown ourselves in our studies to erase the pain. I wouldn't trade any of those losses though, nor that season. If I did, I would have also missed Ricky's game winner against Maryland or Chris's unbelievable three to beat NC State. I also would have missed Heaps' encounter with Jeff McGuiness, and just the wonderful comeback by the walk-ons against UNC to almost beat them despite Collins' injury.