Why I’m a Fan of the Miami Hurricanes: Carter Balderson

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I have always dreamed of being a Hurricane. The palm trees, warm weather, big city, diversity, and sports scene have always been enticing to me when thinking about the city of Miami as a whole.

Although growing up relatively far away (I’ll get to that in a minute), I’ve been connected to the South Florida area since birth. My parents moved from Fort Lauderdale just months before I was born and we still have terrific friends that live down in Weston, Florida. We see them pretty often and for every spring break that I can remember, I have made the trip down to South Florida to spend a week with them.

It was never a secret to my family and friends that my ultimate desire was to live in Miami at some point. It was not until my 8th grade year that my father told me that I should start to think about colleges to go to since high school was right around the corner. For me, ever since I found out about the University of Miami, probably when I was in the 4th or 5th grade, knew I wanted to go see the school. So when I made the trip to the area for my 8th grade spring break, my entire family drove out to Coral Gables to see UM. As soon as I set foot on the campus I knew that I was going to go to school there. I was the youngest kid on the campus tour that day, but I loved every second of the school on that spring 2013 day.

Now, allow me to go back a bit. I mentioned that I am not originally from Miami, nor anywhere particularly close. I was born, and have spent my entire life thus far in the Durham-Chapel Hill area, surrounded by Duke and the University of North Carolina. Almost all of my best friends will be UNC students this fall and I know many kids that will be or are already at Duke.

Duke has always been my team. I was born into Duke fandom and it will always be a part of me. When Duke was losing every football game they played in the mid-2000’s, you can be sure that I was in the stands. Ever since David Cutcliffe’s arrival in 2008, my family has had a tailgate spot right outside of Cameron Indoor for every single game. Since 2008, I don’t think I’ve missed more than 5 home games.

Being from this area of North Carolina, I have been exposed to as rich a basketball culture that exists in the world, and it is special. I’ve been to plenty games at Cameron and I went to Duke Basketball Camp for 5 years straight. I’ve spoken with Coach K a few times, David Robinson (his son is at Duke), Nolan Smith, Ryan Kelly, Kyrie Irving, Austin Rivers, Mason Plumlee, Kyle Singler, Jahlil Okafor, and many others. It has been a blessing.

Throughout all of this time though, I have always had a spot for The U. On my 8th grade trip to campus, I got an orange Miami shirt that I wore as much as I could. If I wasn’t wearing Duke, I was getting new Miami stuff to wear.

When it finally came time to apply to schools, I had no doubt that Miami was at the top of my list. And just so all of you know, I did not even apply to Duke, partly because their only early application was a binding application but that is neither here nor there. I knew where I wanted to be.

When I received by admission letter, it was the sweetest moment of my life. I have long been a fan of Miami, but at this point I could say that I AM a Hurricane. So, in just about three months time I will be moving from North Carolina into one of the freshman dorms at UM.

I am all in with Miami and I truly feel there is no better time than now to join the family. I believe in all that the school can offer my academically and with opportunities abound in the future. I also love the direction of the athletics and I have always had a passion for writing and talking about football and basketball.

There’s a reason why all you have to do is throw up The U and everyone knows what’s up. One of the most well-known universities in the world, UM is a place I have dreamed of for years. I can’t wait to start my time there this fall and to continue writing about the success of our sports teams.

It’s All About The U!

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