What’s the odds that our college girls group had decided three months earlier to reconvene in Durham, NC the last weekend in September to watch the Duke vs. Notre Dame football game AND it just happens the infamous ESPN College Game Day Show picked the Duke campus to broadcast from for the 1st time in history?!?
With all the added hype and buzz all-around, it wasn’t even a second thought that we had to partake in the festivities. Even though I wasn’t too happy after only 3 hours of sleep that our alarms were blaring at 5am, I was determined to keep my promise.
We pulled into a baron parking lot and made the half mile walk to the campus hub to find hundreds of blue devil crazies already piled into a mosh pit in front of the main stage. So we post up just to the left of the main stage.
Alanda gets interviewed multiple times by local newspapers and radio stations, as she is proudly sporting her #3 BJ player jersey. We also have a plethora of homemade signs that we desperately try to catch the lenses of all the hovering TV cameras. And we are in direct eyesight of the famous commentators and numerous crowd giveaways.
A local DJ keeps the tunes pumping all morning and we thoroughly enjoy all the festivities. There is even a field goal kicking challenge, where one of the new commentators puts up his own money for any college student that can kick a regulation snap. The chosen one hilariously wiffed his first attempt and then the redemption kick went about 5 feet hitting a cameraman. Everyone was absolutely rolling in laughter on live TV!
The show always ends with a celebrity guest picker, who is charged with revealing who they think we come out victorious. As a Duke alum, comedian and actor Ken Jeong makes a grand entrance and literally starts twerking on stage! Meanwhile, icon Lee Corso leaves the stage suddenly during the middle of the final segment only to return in a full on green elf outfit signaling his allegiance to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The crowd boos resonated loudly as the cameras faded away and we joined in on the all day tailgate nearby.
Awesome, priceless experience in Durham, NC to kick start the second half of the 2023 football season! (Update: the blue devils did end up losing the game in a nail biter that came down to the last minute of play).
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