The Hyball is a weekly basketball column.

I lost my job last Tuesday.

Was less bothered by this specific situation and more annoyed with having to pursue new employment in 2017, 2021, 2022, and, now 2023. As a creature of habit, driven by routine and somewhat averse to change, it is becoming too regular of a shock to the system.

When you get laid off, people tend to react similarly to how they react to death. Are you OK? ... Was it expected? ... Yeah, yeah -- I'm good.

Before I could even start to pick up the pieces, I remembered, the very next day, I had a flight booked to Raleigh, North Carolina, to visit my college roommate and attend a Duke men's basketball game.

We went to high school together but got much closer during our time living in Slater and Hillcrest. Now? He's a doctor at Duke, and I'm an unemployed Business Development Manager in the energy industry who originally washed out as a sportswriter.

This is why they say comparison is the thief of joy.

Still, I was more than eager to see him and take my mind off real issues on the home front. When he picked me up from the airport, I planned to tell him about the job stuff right away. But then... it didn't happen. The vibes were just too good, too immediately.

I tend to be an open book at best and over-sharer at worst, so ignoring the elephant in the room isn't typically in my nature. But you know what's more fun than talking about losing your job? Talking about literally anything else. Music, hoops, books, life.

So we caught up, grabbed his kids from daycare, dropped them off with his wife, and about immediately after, headed to Cameron. This trip was damn near planned to the minute.

The first word that comes to mind when seeing the outside of the stadium: concealed. Though I'd never attended a game prior to that night, I did once walk past it in the fall of 2021. My same friend was giving our Iowa crew a tour of Duke's campus, and he purposefully did not tell us when we were walking by Cameron until we already had. At that point, he turned our attention back, like "Yeah, that's it."

At the time, assumed it was just some random university building. Like an old chapel or something. But no, that's where the magic happens. That's the spot.

Two years later, I was ready to actually go in. The first thing I looked for as we walked back up, this time at night, was Krzyzewskiville... but, sadly, the Pitt Panthers did not bring out the Krzyzewskiville spirit; just a bunch of empty grass. Still, there was a sign. I mean, it's Duke -- of course there was a sign. A week later, he sent me a picture showing the tents out in full force.

Duke plays Miami on Saturday, so maybe The U is more of a draw.

Walking into massive football venues like the Big House in Michigan or Beaver Stadium at Penn State, you immediately get lost in the vast sea of humanity and spectacle. Cameron is the exact opposite, in the best possible way. Seeing the more narrow scope of the stadium's interior, I immediately turned to my friend and asked about capacity.

"Nine thousand."

"Feels like four."

For context, Carver's holds 15,500. Cameron would be the 13th largest stadium in the Big Ten, only in front of Northwestern and Rutgers (of course).

If you've seen a Duke game on TV, you know the fans are right on the court, and that setup creates a hellish atmosphere. Once I wrapped my head around the diminutive size of the arena, my next thought was "How on earth does Duke ever lose here?"

Guess we'd have to ask North Carolina that (I kid, I kid).

Once the game started, the two of us snapped into Talkin' Basketball mode. Though I played my last organized game in fifth grade, I'm still a pickup regular and live and breathe hoops. Along with football, my former roommate played varsity basketball in high school, so I always love picking his brain about the game. When he has an opinion on something, it tends to feel less like an assertion and more like a statement of fact.

We've watched countless games at Carver and always made a point to get together for at least one NBA finals game on TV, so being in Cameron, bucket list item and all, felt very natural. Had no idea Duke's sixth man Dereck Lively II was the No. 1 overall recruit from the class of 2022. At 7-1 and 220, he looked like a baby deer when he got into the game. Rangy and fluid, he definitely needs a little more time to develop. Still, he got his one dunk and electrified the crowd before eventually fouling out with 6 total points... in 12 minutes played.

Also totally forgot Northwestern center Ryan Young was now a Blue Devil (starting!). That was a trippy revelation. Ditto for their new head coach being Jon Scheyer. He grew up in the Chicago suburbs like we did, so seeing him now leading Duke -- and being a year younger than us -- after the monolith that was the Coach K era made it all feel more human and less (unmerciful) godlike.

Speaking of Coach K, we can't get through this column without at least a little eye rolling. Other than having the court and Official Sign Tent City named after him, he also has this banner hanging up:

It may not look like much, but remember: Cameron has a lot of banners. This one was a comparable size, if not flat out bigger, than Duke's national title banners. And of course in an area all to itself. My roommate also pointed out this was put up during his active coaching tenure. You remember, the one that ended with the farewell tour to end all farewell tours.

So, you know, megalomaniacal psycho stuff.

* * *

My roommate -- love that I keep using this as an active term, like we still live together in the same state and don't both have mortgages now -- was not particularly bullish on Duke's chances as favorites with the 8.5 spread, so he recommended betting on Pitt prior to the game. The app didn't allow the wager, being in state, so I texted it in to a buddy back in Chicago. At halftime, Pitt was up 11, and I felt great having damn near 20 points to play with, but Duke of course came roaring back in the second half, and while it was enough to win the actual game, it was not enough to cover the spread. The 77-69 final meant the mighty Panthers edged out Vegas by a glorious .5 points. That one felt good.

It wasn't until we were eating dinner in downtown Durham an hour later that I realized I still hadn't told him about the job stuff. But that was mostly because, well, I hadn't really thought about it the entire time I'd been in the state. New places and hoops immersion tend to take my mind off my problems like very little else, so it's no wonder unemployment strife didn't stand a chance when the two forces combined.

After being there for less than 24 hours, I flew back to Chicago around noon the next day, but not before suggesting we do this again for UNC next season. He was down, but now, a Dukie through and through, had to point out the Tarheels had more of a "traditional stadium."

Nothing like this.

“You know, the truth can be really powerful stuff. You’re not expecting it.”

Iowa 81, Maryland 67: Ross linked already, but this literally was the only note I took down from the game, so no shame at all in posting again.

That's... that's the good stuff.

Iowa vs. Northwestern:

1/21 - Iowa at Ohio State: Went from, "Wait, tOSU isn't ranked?" to realizing they're on a five game conference losing streak, the first being a respectable two point loss to Purdue followed by Maryland, Minnesota, Rutgers, and Nebraska. For the life of me, I cannot find a point spread but could still see the Buckeyes being favored mostly due to playing at home.

She's made better passes, but this one at the 4:08 mark is almost flippant as she airs it out to the corner through the double team. It's not perfect -- but it works.

Got handled by Maryland this week as the Wolverines continue their fade back to .500 in the Big Ten.

1) Harbaugh back. Blah.

2) Day 1 Trevor. Ha.

Need this explained to me.

Keeeeegs:

I've been obsessing the last few weeks on why this trio of dudes was at a grocery store together.

Even when you leave Iowa City, you can always find your way back to your people.

Bobby Loesch is a weekly contributor to Go Iowa Awesome. Find him on Twitter @bobbystompy or email at bobbyloesch [at] gmail.com.