Krzyzewskiville

There are some moments in time that will be remembered forever. Last night was one of those moments. Just special stuff.

My lifelong friend, Jimmy Childre, Jr., picked me up at the Durham-
Raleigh Airport last night about 8:15PM. The plan was to go to dinner and then he would drop me off at my hotel. We did go to dinner and he did drop me off at the hotel. We finished dinner at 11:45PM. He dropped me off at the hotel at 1:30AM.

Very little sleep but a monumental amount of fun.

Jimmy has spent the last seven years or so studying all over the world. As I have mentioned before, he received a Global Executive Masters of Business of Administration from Duke University. He just returned from Cambridge and was at Duke this week researching and finishing his last paper to receive yet another MBA from the University of Cambridge. He also is working on another certification in Duke's Health Sector Management Program. He makes me proud and tired just thinking about what he is accomplishing.

Last night he took me on a guided tour of Duke University. I was mesmerized at the beauty and the history and all the sights.

Our first stop was the Duke University Chapel which stands at the center of the University. Mr. Duke’s dream was that the central building would be a church which would dominate all the surrounding buildings. He figured such an edifice would bound to have a profound influence on the spiritual life of the young men and women who attend the University. The architectural style of the Chapel, inspired by English Gothic, represents one of the last great collegiate Gothic projects in our country. It is a sight to behold.


Our next stop was Cameron Indoor Stadium which is arguably the center of college basketball in the United States. I couldn’t help but notice all the students camping out at the door of the stadium. Being shy like we are, we finally got up enough nerve to visit with a few of the students to ask them what they were doing. The tents are in place so students can get tickets to the North Carolina –Duke game that is coming up a couple of weeks from now. Students have internet connections in these tents and they are all over the place. There was another long line of students on air mattresses and in sleeping bags waiting to get tickets for the Duke –Boston College game today. This area is called Krzyzewskiville, named after legendary Duke coach and college basketball icon, Coach Mike Krzyzewsky. His office at Cameron overlooks the little village named after him.


We then entered the hallowed Cameron Indoor Stadium. I’m not sure how we got in but we ended up on the gym floor of one of the most famous venues in sports. Being a huge college basketball fan, I have to tell you I had a few chill bumps as I stood at center court of this famous basketball stadium where so many special moments in college basketball history have taken place. As you can see in the photo, I even sat in Coach K’s chair on the Duke bench. It was quite a moment for this basketball fan. We then walked around in the Duke Hall of Fame that is in the building. Again, not sure if we were supposed to be there that time of night, but we were. I could spend days at that Hall of Fame.

We finally stopped for a delicious meal at the beautiful Washington Duke Inn located on the Duke campus. We laughed a lot and took our time having the kind of personal conversation that only two people who have been friends for over 50 years could have.


We left dinner and toured the Fuqua School of Business. Jimmy invited me several years ago to attend his graduation exercises at this school but I was unable to attend. Last night I walked in the auditorium where this kid from the little town of Reynolds, Georgia, who I was christened with at the Reynolds Methodist Church over 50 years ago, was chosen to give the commencement address at his graduation ceremony of this great University.

He has come a long way. And the neat thing is he has never forgotten his roots.

As I was walking in my room at the hotel after he dropped me off, Jimmy called me on my cell phone.

He commented that we spent more time together tonight than we have since we graduated from high school some 36 years ago. And we both commented about how much we enjoyed the night and how we will purpose to do this again.

As we were ending the call I reminded Jimmy of the blue bracelets we are wearing on our wrists (see yesterday’s article) for our mutual friend, Mike Crawley.

His illness reminds us that we better do this kind of stuff while we have the opportunity.

Tomorrow may be a day too late.