Sports

[Merry Prankster]

For those of you who did not see it, the catch by Odell Beckham Jr. of the Giants in last night's game is one of the greatest catches the Prankster has ever seen.  Even non-football fans should appreciate the stunning athleticism and body control needed to pull this off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hn7ur1f30g

[bacali]

For once I actually know what you are talking about, MP.   
I had the game on. My husband and younger son have season tickets and go to the games.
So, I was watching ( on and off LOL).
I have to say that even with this catch....the two of them arrived home in a bad mood...Giants lost ...AGAIN !!

[ponytail]

That was definitely spectacular!

[LindaM]

Okay -- I live in the heart of the original ACC country.  That's Wake Forest, Chapel Hill, Duke, State.  They're in basically a slightly curved straight line on I-40/85 and yes, I know all four campuses well. 

I pull for the Panthers (I know a sorry lot).  NBA basketball wise -- I have no favorites.  Hockey, it's the Carolina Hurricanes and only because they are  home team.

[Merry Prankster]

The mention of the "original ACC" tugs on the Prankster's heartstrings.  He is a Blue Devil and his daughter is a Demon Deacon.  As far as MP is concerned, the ACC consists solely of the Tobacco Road schools plus UVA, Clemson and Maryland.  Maryland has since become a traitor and the schools added are interlopers and/or impostors.  It's sad to see what has happened to the Conferences----geographical proximity and traditional rivalries have been sacrificed for the pursuit of megabucks.  At least the ACC maintains enough sense to continue to schedule two games a year in basketball between the Blue Devils and the despicable Tar Heels.  One of the truly great college rivalries.

[trouble405]

BOOMER SOONER???  Go Big 12?? 

(oh and GO THUNDER too!)

[LindaM]

Prankster, I know Duke campus better than Chapel Hill's.  Duke Chapel is like a home base.  Cameron Indoor Stadium is like a Mecca (and I love K-town).  I didn't attend, but always have been a Blue Devil in my heart (who could afford it).  Now, my alma mater does play it in basketball.  The little school where I attended has big dreams of being part of the I-40 home one day.  And I agree about Maryland.  After Leftie left the school went downhill. 

[Merry Prankster]

Prankster, I know Duke campus better than Chapel Hill's.  Duke Chapel is like a home base.  Cameron Indoor Stadium is like a Mecca (and I love K-town).  I didn't attend, but always have been a Blue Devil in my heart (who could afford it).  Now, my alma mater does play it in basketball.  The little school where I attended has big dreams of being part of the I-40 home one day.  And I agree about Maryland.  After Leftie left the school went downhill. 

You've gotten the Prankster started--Lefty---ahhhhhh, such a character.  Unfortunately, I was at Duke post Vic Bubas, pre-Coach K and Duke was mediocre in basketball.  Lefty came into Cameron indoor one Saturday afternoon with a very good Maryland team.  Duke was whompin' the Terrapins and, for the last 20 minutes of the game the whole Duke student section serenaded Lefty, aka the Preacher Man, with---"A-ahAmen, A-ahAmen, A-ahAmen, Amen, Amen."
Golden days......

[LindaM]

Prankster -- I couldn't afford to attend Duke.  I wanted to though.

I remember walking the hallowed halls there heading to a Second Chapter of Acts concert at the auditorium.  We were in the cafeteria and had met up with the Burlington Fellowship of Christian Athletes director.  He wanted Duke players to come to an event at Duke. When we left, our group recognized Jim S. (and I'm not going to try and type his name).  The director didn't know how to get to the auditorium and wouldn't go with us.  We watched as he walked up to Jim and asked directions yet didn't recognized it.  After Jim walked off we laughed and had to tell the director he had just lost his shot at getting Duke.

Did you ever go the ESP center.  I had to laugh at its location also.

[Merry Prankster]

I assume you refer to Jim Spanarkel.  He and Mike Gminski were the beginning of the Renaissance in Duke basketball that soared to unprecedented heights under Coach K.

The ESP Center?  If you mean what I think you do (Extra Sensory Perception?) I never have visited it.  It had some strange name and was off-campus when I was an undergrad.

Do you know the story behind the founding of Duke?

[LindaM]

There are several.  The traditional one that Methodist believes is that it started as a religious school.  Anyone who knows of Duke Power says that the Duke family gave a huge amount of money to "save their souls."  I say it has something to do with the duel that went down in Duke Forest.

So give me your shot. 

You do know about the castle ghost story don't you? And the Lydia story that no longer seems to happen since they moved the road.

[Merry Prankster]

There are several.  The traditional one that Methodist believes is that it started as a religious school.  Anyone who knows of Duke Power says that the Duke family gave a huge amount of money to "save their souls."  I say it has something to do with the duel that went down in Duke Forest.

So give me your shot. 

You do know about the castle ghost story don't you? And the Lydia story that no longer seems to happen since they moved the road.

First, James B. Duke--as the story goes, Duke, like most of the robber barons, became philanthropic in his later years.  His charitable impulses focused on higher education.  Supposedly Duke first approached Princeton and proposed to lavish a considerable portion of his fortune upon the school.  There was one condition:  Princeton had to change the name to Princeton-Duke.  Princeton turned him down.  Trinity College proved to be much more amenable to a name change.  The primary undergrad. college at Duke today is still known as the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences.

Are you aware of the legend regarding the beautiful decorative stone wall that surrounds East Campus?

Now, on to your questions.  The Prankster has wracked his brain (a process that consumes very little time) in search of 40 year-old memories.  Regarding the castle ghosts the Prankster has a vague recollection:  I recall someone at some time telling me some story about a castle-like building at or near UNC Campus.  If I recall correctly, it's haunted by ghosts who were lovers when they were alive.  I don't recall any castle ghost story connected to Duke.  Regarding Lydia, I draw a complete blank.

[LindaM]

AH yes, the Robber Baron who tried to buy Princeton and then decided Trinity would be a "ivy league" school but in the South.  The belief by some of us is he was also trying to buy his way into heaven but didn't know that Duke would become the icon for Methodist ministers that it is today.

The castle legend seems to vary.  It's at Carolina, it's in Duke Forest.  Those woods at Duke do cause problems, don't they.  I admit they have a fairy tale feel to them.  Maybe Outtie should come down and hope to see Rumple!  But I digress.  I've never been to the castle but the setting always sounded more like Duke than Carolina.  It is Chapel Hill and the link to its story is:  http://www.chapelhillmemories.com/cat/17/40 . 

Lydia use to haunt the US 70 highway outside of Greensboro.  Because of the new bypass and the rerouting of 70, no one has reported on her for years.

[Walquist]

There are several.  The traditional one that Methodist believes is that it started as a religious school.  Anyone who knows of Duke Power says that the Duke family gave a huge amount of money to "save their souls."  I say it has something to do with the duel that went down in Duke Forest.

That catch will be shown for the nxt hundred years or more.