SU students camp out for basketball tickets
SU Students camp out for basketball tickets
More than 31,000 fans packed the Carrier Dome Saturday night when the Syracuse Men’s Basketball team faced rival Duke. The attendance was the largest on-campus attendance at any basketball in the country this season. Every time the Blue Devils come to the Dome, people come out in droves for a chance to witness history. But for a Syracuse student, a chance to be the first one to rush the court after an upset win is a once and a lifetime opportunity.
To sit in the front row at any Syracuse basketball game is a big deal, but everything is bigger against Duke. For a game that started at 8 p.m., some students slept overnight outside the Dome for their names to get on a list to be the first ones in. Others, however, who didn’t wait to sleep outside, stood outside of Gate F for hours before the doors opened for students at 4 p.m. while the gates opened for the public at 6 p.m.
Syracuse senior Noah Bucci is no stranger to waiting outside the Dome for the best seats. Bucci camped outside the entrance starting at 7:00 a.m for the football game this year against Clemson which kicked off at 7:30 p.m.
Bucci arrived at the Dome for Saturday’s game at 11:30 a.m and went to the Women’s basketball game on Thursday to get his cousin, who isn’t a student, a ticket. Bucci and his cousin Connor listened to music and ate sandwiches among other things while waiting outside. He says just getting the opportunity to go to the game is all worth it.
“Just going is worth it,” said Bucci. “If it wasn’t worth it, I wouldn’t be here.”
Connor Bucci said he has gone to Syracuse-Duke games before but he had tickets with assigned seats. He knew that the tickets he had for Saturday were first come first serve seating so he had to get there early.
Freshman Powers Lynch was experiencing his first-ever basketball game in the dome as a student. Lynch arrived with three other friends around 12:30 p.m. Lynch was excited for Saturday’s game because of the game last year.
“I wasn’t here last year,” Lynch says, “but I watched the game on TV and it was a really good game”.
Lynch and other Syracuse fans are camping out or showing up hours in advance in the hopes that this year’s game is just the same except for the outcome.
is a sports writer for The NewsHouse.
is a photographer for The NewsHouse.
