Following the Bouncing Ball

When Blue Devils congregate in large numbers, it often means basketball. And not just in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Road games attracted thousands this season, both for pregame events and action on the court. On November 28, when the Duke men played Illinois during the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in the Greensboro Coliseum, the Duke Alumni Association and Duke's athletics department sponsored a night of basketball that began with a buffet and ended with a losing battle for the "Fighting Illini." The pregame dinner, attended by 590 alumni and friends, was held in the Coliseum's West Wing.

On December 2, when Duke played Temple University, a DAA-sponsored pregame buffet-featuring Philly cheesesteaks, of course-drew 552 loyal Duke fans to the Stadium Restaurant in Veteran's Stadium and to the game afterwards, another Blue Devil victory. Kim Hendrix '92, J.D. '95 is president of the Duke Club of Philadelphia.

Christmas came early to Duke fans in Portland, Oregon, on December 19 when another away-game victory came gift-wrapped. A pregame reception attracted 362 alumni and friends. The University of Portland Pilots never got off the ground. Les Smith '62, president of the Duke Club of Portland, helped organize the event.

The men's basketball team headed down the coast to play Stanford University at Oakland on December 21. Five hundred and fifty attended the pregame buffet and 421 came for the game. Cece Gassner B.S.E. '94 is the president of the Duke Club of Northern California. Stanford squeaked by in the final moments, handing Duke its first loss of the season.

More than a hundred Blue Devil supporters in the Sunshine State flocked to the Duke-Florida State University game and pregame reception on January 4 in Tallahassee. Capital Duke Club president Terry Reisman '65, M.D. '68 helped organize the gathering, which included a busload of alumni and friends from the Duke Club of Greater Jacksonville. Melody Tope Hainline '82 oversaw the road-trip details from Jacksonville, where Page Ives Lemel B.S.E. '84 is the club's president. Classic Duke blue outshone FSU's garish orange, both on and off the court, in the teams'ACC basketball opener.