jmccann@heraldsun.com; 419-6601
DURHAM -- Despite there being enough aluminum from smashed beer cans in this parking lot near Wallace Wade Stadium for a recycler to help President Obama finance universal health care, there were no staggering, er, hiccups during some festive student tailgating Saturday before the Duke Blue Devils tangled with the Richmond Spiders.
An older man standing near Cameron Indoor Stadium, where things were more serene, aptly likened the section of student tailgaters to Woodstock.
Entering this area sectioned off for student tailgating, the THUMP, THUMP, THUMP from giant speakers blasting whatever it is college kids listen to these days leapt through your ears and into your body. The scent of beer hitched a ride with the heat and rose, and shirtless young men were talking nose to nose, trading brew breath.
Just a typical evening of tailgating, according to Aaron Graves, associate vice president for campus safety and security at Duke University, who was keeping an eye on things by the Krzyzewskiville area.
The first home game of the season usually draws the largest amount of tailgaters, Graves said. Those in the crowd on Saturday pretty much were on their best behavior.
Over in "Woodstock," where the students were, Duke senior Seth Posternak was drinking whiskey from a Dora the Explorer sippy cup. His peers were in the beds of pickup trucks getting their groove on. There was a guy dressed in a banana costume, even though Halloween's more than a month away.
"The good news is the vast majority of students here are acting appropriately," said Sue Wasiolek, dean of students at Duke.
The dean was OK with the boogieing in the trucks. But the drinking concerned her.
"I certainly want them to have fun, but I want them to do it in a safe and healthy way," Wasiolek said.
Some of what she saw among the students gave her pause. The dean said if she knew a way to nip the excessive part of the partying then she'd work toward implementing it. That said, systems are in place such as security guards carding students carrying liquor to make sure they're old enough to drink. And for safety reasons such as broken glass, no beer bottles are allowed in the tailgating area.
Yet it sure would be nice if the beer cans that made it inside the tailgating area would find homes in the garbage, Wasiolek said about the mounting aluminum.
Bill Mackebee, a 1975 Duke graduate, came from Knoxville, Tenn., to check out the game. Being from Tennessee, he knows all about Duke head coach David Cutcliffe, who used to be the offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Volunteers. Mackebee attributed the electricity in the air around Wallace Wade Stadium to Duke's second-year skipper.
"I think the fever is the result of Coach Cutcliffe," said Mackebee, whose son attends Duke.
Hopefully, all of that excitement from the Duke students tailgating in proverbial Woodstock would carry over into Wallace Wade, Mackebee said.
One might argue that there was a time when Duke football was so bad that getting drunk was the only reason for fans to show up on game day, but that's changed.
However, shortly before kickoff, Posternak, the guy with the whiskey in the sippy cup, hadn't decided if he'd actually stick around for the game.
