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Thoughts after trip to Durham....

pitt-girl

Board of Trustee
Gold Member
Mar 16, 2004
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I honestly really like Duke fans (ok, maybe just their football fans ;)). This was our 2nd trip there for a game and everyone we met were friendly and inviting. Lots of construction going on around their campus and their game game day parking is.....a challenge at best. We took the great advice of someone on this board and tried to park at Buehler Trail, but it literally took us 3 turnarounds because of closed streets to get there and even though it was 2.5 hours before gametime, it was sold out. Great location and next time we're getting there way earlier. We ended up parking on a street and walking 25 minutes to the Alumni Event.

The Wallace Wade renovation looks great so far - the track was removed, new scoreboard and blue back seats. The second phase is ongoing with luxury boxes and more concessions. The turnout this year overall was SO MUCH better than our last game. There was a small, but discernible Duke student section this time and the place filled in nicely as the game progressed. Fantastic weather including a true Carolina blue sky.

Wow - what a turnout for Pitt fans! It was quite impressive. Hard to say how loud it was since we were sitting down low with the players families and their stupid scoreboard blasted annoying music constantly. One thing I really enjoyed this game and at Chapel Hill last year was the ability to sit so close to the team, since there is little space between the field and the sections.

Overall a great trip. This year we opted to stay in downtown Raleigh (short 20-25 ride to Durham) and this is the first time I actually spent time in that city. Really quite nice. Good restaurants and some really fun bars. Lots of NCSU students around and quite active. Watched the hoops/hockey :rolleyes: game at some large Ale House and were surrounded by the most obnoxious UNC fans ever. Total pricks. Safe to say I much prefer Duke fans.
 
Full disclosure: my brother-in-law is a Dukie. He is also one of the most mild-mannered people I have ever met. Basically, aside from being a Yankee (he is from New Jersey), he's the exact opposite of the Duke fan stereotype.

I did not attend the football game at Duke this year. However, I too have always gotten along well with the Duke fans. I don't think they're bad at all.

I'm sure they have more than their share of idiots to go around but based on my personal encounters, they have consistently been very easy-going.

The North Carolina fans on the other hand…

Between me and my wife, and my sister and her husband, we have five little kids under the age of three.

I really look forward to going to future Pitt/Duke games with all of them - particularly in Durham. I think those are going to be a lot of fun.
 
Full disclosure: my brother-in-law is a Dukie. He is also one of the most mild-mannered people I have ever met. Basically, aside from being a Yankee (he is from New Jersey), he's the exact opposite of the Duke fan stereotype.

I did not attend the football game at Duke this year. However, I too have always gotten along well with the Duke fans. I don't think they're bad at all.

I'm sure they have more than their share of idiots to go around but based on my personal encounters, they have consistently been very easy-going.

The North Carolina fans on the other hand…

Between me and my wife, and my sister and her husband, we have five little kids under the age of three.

I really look forward to going to future Pitt/Duke games with all of them - particularly in Durham. I think those are going to be a lot of fun.
Yeah - your time will come. There were a few years we didn't even get to the football games here when in your position. And I have a whole bunch of first cousins who are Duke grads and they are really nice people. (The ND grad not so much.....lol). Honestly it wan't until my kids were headed to college that we could travel like this. It is a unique experience to be the traveling fans. In general, mostly everyone are very vocal and involved. Too many "sit down, you're making too much noise" at Heinz for my taste. Totally different dynamic when you're the road team.
 
Oh one other thing - we were very impressed during halftime when they were going through the CV's of the graduating cheerleaders. Yikes. Definitely some smarties at Duke. My husband works for SAP and instantly perked up when they announced one was hired straight out of undergrad. Doesn't often happen.
 
Pitt had a nice turnout Saturday. The weather was beautiful and Pitt played really well. Just a perfect day. Duke is a neat little place to watch a game. I had been on campus many times and never really thought much about catching a game at Wallace Wade. The experience was much better than I had anticipated. It was a very relaxed, scenic atmosphere.

I made the trip Saturday too. For full disclosure, it was my first game in person since the Louisville game in 2010, a 20-0 Pitt win. After the Wanny firing, and pathetic hires that followed, it was obvious the talent level was going to take a dive and the program head back in the crapper. A newborn in 2011 & 2014 also made staying away easier.

Anyways, I took my 4 year old to his first Pitt game. The only other games he has been to were Vandy games. I generally don't like the idea of taking kids that young to games, as they are a distraction to darn near everyone. However, at Vandy, we could move to an area where we had 10 or more rows to ourselves. Saturday, we were in the general admission section in the endzone, then moved to the Pitt section at the half and sat in the mostly vacant far corner area above the pep band. I didn't have too much trouble with parking. I followed the general parking signs to a garage and a paid $10, then took about a 20 minute walk to the stadium. I didn't purchase tickets until almost midnight on Duke's website. It didn't give me an option of printing them out or anything, so I had to go to will call at Cameron Indoor before the game. That was the only downer of the whole day. It took a little time and the game had already started before we got settled in.

FWIW, I have nothing against UNC or their fans. But for whatever reason, I can't stand Kenan stadium. IMO, one of the most boring, bland places to see a college football game.
 
Pitt had a nice turnout Saturday. The weather was beautiful and Pitt played really well. Just a perfect day. Duke is a neat little place to watch a game. I had been on campus many times and never really thought much about catching a game at Wallace Wade. The experience was much better than I had anticipated. It was a very relaxed, scenic atmosphere.

I made the trip Saturday too. For full disclosure, it was my first game in person since the Louisville game in 2010, a 20-0 Pitt win. After the Wanny firing, and pathetic hires that followed, it was obvious the talent level was going to take a dive and the program head back in the crapper. A newborn in 2011 & 2014 also made staying away easier.

Anyways, I took my 4 year old to his first Pitt game. The only other games he has been to were Vandy games. I generally don't like the idea of taking kids that young to games, as they are a distraction to darn near everyone. However, at Vandy, we could move to an area where we had 10 or more rows to ourselves. Saturday, we were in the general admission section in the endzone, then moved to the Pitt section at the half and sat in the mostly vacant far corner area above the pep band. I didn't have too much trouble with parking. I followed the general parking signs to a garage and a paid $10, then took about a 20 minute walk to the stadium. I didn't purchase tickets until almost midnight on Duke's website. It didn't give me an option of printing them out or anything, so I had to go to will call at Cameron Indoor before the game. That was the only downer of the whole day. It took a little time and the game had already started before we got settled in.

FWIW, I have nothing against UNC or their fans. But for whatever reason, I can't stand Kenan stadium. IMO, one of the most boring, bland places to see a college football game.


TD, where do you live in Hampton Roads? I used to be stationed at Portsmouth Naval and lived in Chesapeake. Do you get out to watch any of the high school football down there?
 
That damn blaring music always seemed to end just a split second before Pitt snapped the ball.

Very irritating.

Long walk to the stadium.

But the day...omg - not too hot or too cold - brilliant sunshine and ...Pitt got the "W" - my Pitt Bus went home happy.
 
Good turn out by Pitt fans. Duke football fans were very nice. We went to the Bull City Brewery in Durham and couple of Duke fans came over and said nice game. Pitt playing Duke in N C was good experience
 
TD, where do you live in Hampton Roads? I used to be stationed at Portsmouth Naval and lived in Chesapeake. Do you get out to watch any of the high school football down there?

USN, I live in Suffolk, just between downtown Suffolk and the HR Beltway. Unfortunately, I have yet to check out the are high school ball. I really wanted to make it up to Williamburg to check out Chase Pine but never found the time to get around to it.

The 3rd down piped in music with the Blue Devil dancing and twirling his little pitchfork all day got old in a hurry.
 
I honestly really like Duke fans (ok, maybe just their football fans ;)). This was our 2nd trip there for a game and everyone we met were friendly and inviting. Lots of construction going on around their campus and their game game day parking is.....a challenge at best. We took the great advice of someone on this board and tried to park at Buehler Trail, but it literally took us 3 turnarounds because of closed streets to get there and even though it was 2.5 hours before gametime, it was sold out. Great location and next time we're getting there way earlier. We ended up parking on a street and walking 25 minutes to the Alumni Event.

The Wallace Wade renovation looks great so far - the track was removed, new scoreboard and blue back seats. The second phase is ongoing with luxury boxes and more concessions. The turnout this year overall was SO MUCH better than our last game. There was a small, but discernible Duke student section this time and the place filled in nicely as the game progressed. Fantastic weather including a true Carolina blue sky.

Wow - what a turnout for Pitt fans! It was quite impressive. Hard to say how loud it was since we were sitting down low with the players families and their stupid scoreboard blasted annoying music constantly. One thing I really enjoyed this game and at Chapel Hill last year was the ability to sit so close to the team, since there is little space between the field and the sections.

Overall a great trip. This year we opted to stay in downtown Raleigh (short 20-25 ride to Durham) and this is the first time I actually spent time in that city. Really quite nice. Good restaurants and some really fun bars. Lots of NCSU students around and quite active. Watched the hoops/hockey :rolleyes: game at some large Ale House and were surrounded by the most obnoxious UNC fans ever. Total pricks. Safe to say I much prefer Duke fans.
Duke fans, like Notre Dame fans...are perfectly pleasant people assuming they actually went to school there.
UNC fans are very PSU-like.
 
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