Hoops teammates in Wisconsin use YouTube to put their own stamp on Crazie
Lisa Lawrence and Caitlin Staniec, teammates at Cardinal Stritch University, are diehard, Crazie Duke fans. How Crazie? The pair was so excited about the chance to watch Duke play live for the first time at our January 6th game in Chicago, they decided to produce a new Duke-themed video for each of the 30 days before the game. The pair used YouTube and Twitter to spread the word and ended up with an impressive following. I caught up with Lisa and Caitlin to discuss their videos and what makes them so Crazie about Duke.
DB: How did you guys become Duke fans to begin with?
LISA: When I was nine or 10, I started watching with my sister and the next year they won the national championship. Being a basketball player I probably had an extra appreciation for what makes Duke so unique so I would ask, “Why wouldn’t you want to be a Duke fan?”
CAITLIN: When I was little my favorite color was blue and so Duke’s uniform really caught my attention. Then I looked a little closer at the program and realized there was a lot to like! Every kid has to have a team and mine was Duke.
LISA: There’s just something about Duke that draws you to it, starting with Coach K — Greatest coach ever.
CAITLIN: When you are 10 years old, you see Coach K on TV a lot but you don’t understand why he’s such a big deal. Then as you get older and you watch his teams and what they do, you really respect the program. And all the games are on TV so the team is really accessible, you have the ESPN mobile updates, everything you guys do on DukeBluePlanet now. It is a team that is both fun and rewarding to follow.
DB: How and why did you come up with the idea to make 30 videos in 30 days?
LISA: We did it to see if we could get people at Duke to look at them and see they have some big fans in Wisconsin. The 30 Days of Duke video concept came from ABC Family’s 25 Days Until Christmas.
CAITLIN: As far as the name goes, we thought “30 Days of Duke” rolled off the tongue nicely. Our first video took four hours to make so then we showed our friends and watched every video on DukeBluePlanet. They were laughing with us even though they aren’t Duke fans. And we were on winter break on campus with our team so we had a lot of free time.
DB: Which video was your favorite?
CAITLIN: Definitely the video we made for Day 30, Tik Tok (Duke). It was a lot of fun, we Auto-Tuned my voice to make it sound decent and we basically made a music video.
LISA: The 12 Days of Christmas one was fun too. We did a lot of research for that one and now I feel I can drop a bunch of facts about the team and really know the history.
DB: What was the biggest surprise during the 30 days?
CAITLIN: A package from Dave Bradley.
LISA: Yeah, it was amazing to get recognized by the team.
DB: Thanks for the shout-out! I’ve seen some of your teammates in the videos. What was their reaction to the whole thing?
CAITLIN: At first they thought it was a joke, and no one would watch the videos. Then, our first video got 200 views overnight and they were surprised.
LISA: I think they were surprised it turned into something. It really could have been nothing. After awhile, they even started helping us brainstorm ideas.
CAITLIN: Some of them are UNC fans and even they decided it was cool we were doing it and helped us.
LISA: It ended up bringing the team closer. Team bonding.
DB: How much time did you guys devote to the 30 Days of Duke videos?
LISA: It depended on the video. Jingle Bells took more like 30 seconds, while 12 Days of Christmas took like two hours.
CAITLIN: Every video was well-planned with scripts. We never rushed anything and we had to practice, do our walk-throughs.
LISA: Probably 30 hours all together.
DB: How did you come up with ideas for 30 different videos?
LISA: It helped that it was around Christmas time so we could make Duke-themed holiday jingles. Also it helped you guys had games so we could take about what was going on with the team.
CAITLIN: We thought it was going to be really hard at first, but even after 30 days we still have ideas we haven’t used.
DB: Best moment of the 30DOD?
LISA & CAITLIN: The game.
DB: What does it mean to you to be a Duke fan? What does it take in your opinion?
LISA: The Crazies at their best are completely random and extremely passionate. We wanted to put our own spin on that.
CAITLIN: Yeah and you always have to be supportive and loyal. Win or lose, you have to wear your Duke gear and support the team. And you have to know all your facts to shut down the Duke haters out there. True Duke fans are strong, loyal, passionate, and Crazie.
DB: What’s next for the 30 Days of Duke Girls?
CAITLIN: We decided we will make a few more videos, just not every day, and continue to update our Twitter.
LISA: I am sad it ended. I went to sleep dreaming about ideas for the next video.
CAITLIN: She did. One time she texted me at 3 AM and said she was thinking about Duke videos.
DB: I respect that. This has been a good talk and thanks for all your amazing support!
To watch the 30 Days of Duke videos: www.youtube.com/30DaysofDuke
Lisa (left) and Caitlin (right) after the win over the Cyclones in Chicago
