Author Archive for Jeff

Good Luck, Clemson

Published by Jeff on 12/31/2007 in ACC, Football, Multimedia and Tradition. 22 Comments

The Clemson Tigers take the field tonight in the Chick-Fil-A bowl in what I think will be the ACC’s ‘defining’ bowl game of 2007. The Tigers game tonight against Auburn will only count as one game - the conference is currently a respectable 2-1 in bowls thusfar - but the magnitude of this battle with the SEC will ‘count’ more in most people’s minds than just one game.

With this said, we have posted a video to help ring in the New Year and hopefully to serve as a harbinger for a 2008 bowl appearance for Tom O’Brien’s Wolfpack!

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BBall: Last Bytes of the Year; +21 in 20 Minutes

Published by Jeff on 12/30/2007 in '07-08 Basketball and ACC. 68 Comments

Despite the holidays, we’ve posted a ton of stuff to the site in recent days…so, if you haven’t been visiting a lot then we ask that you don’t overlook some of our entries like the ACC expansion pieces and our comprehensive “BC fans” piece.

===> We obviously followed the Wolfpack’s win over Western Carolina closely. (See link) Pack Pride has a lot of links in their Web Run, including a link to Andrew Jones’ report card that includes the following grade on intangibles:

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1986: V Interview on CBS

Published by Jeff on 06/20/2007 in ACC, Football, General, Multimedia and Tradition. 54 Comments

Every fan of every school has a cache of moments that are particularly special to them for some reason or another. Because the years of 1980-1985 were so forgettable…1986 came along for me at a time where I was definitely ‘old enough to remember’ while also being somewhat ‘blank’ as it related to NC State football.

Sure I had vague recollections of Lou Holtz. Of course I knew of Ted Brown and Joe McIntosh and enjoyed the Wolfpack’s 1978 Tangerine Bowl win over Pittsburgh. BUT…there just wasn’t much Wolfpack football inside of me until the phenomenally special 1986 season was delivered to us all by the great Dick Sheridan.

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OTR: 18 Game Conference Schedule?

Published by Jeff on 05/17/2007 in ACC, Basketball, Football, General, NCS Administration and On the Record. 24 Comments

If you haven’t been under a rock this week then you know that the biggest issue discussed by the Atlantic Coast Conference - quickly becoming the “can’t leave well enough alone crowd” - at the annual meeting was the issue of how many games should comprise the annual basketball schedule.

Up for debate - should the conference join the Big East and Big Ten will join the Pac-10 and play an 18-game conference schedule this next basketball season (as opposed to the league’s traditional 16 game schedule).

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2007.03.20_ Big Dose of Bytes

Published by Jeff on 03/20/2007 in '06-07 Basketball, ACC and General. 200 Comments

The last week or so has been very good for NC State. We’ve blogged a ton of items and hope that you will take some time to scroll through the blog and make sure that you haven’t missed anything that of interest. Just this weekend we had almost a dozen entries that looked forward and looked back.

Even though we have been quite busy, a lot of comments/observations have fallen through the cracks. The following are some quick bytes that haven’t been shared since the ACC Tournament:

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1989: ‘Worst Call in NCAA Tournament History’

Published by Jeff on 02/27/2007 in ACC, Basketball, Flashback, General, Multimedia and Tradition. 56 Comments

Tip of the hat to one of our all-time favorite posters at Pack Pride, packfanstk for linking some more video to YouTube.

Note: Posters at Pack PrideSee - see how EASY that acknowledgement was? I can’t begin to tell you the number of times that SFN has run obscure items from the internet that ‘mysteriously’ end up on Pack Pride right after we run it. Of course, the message board posters of the content - who often have almost no posting history - never seem to highlight exactly where they got their ‘original’ thoughts/finds from.

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“Raleigh Time”

Published by Jeff on 02/21/2007 in Campus News, General and NCS Administration. 65 Comments

When I was at State in the late 1980s and early 1990s I had two fraternity brothers from West Jefferson, NC that became two of my closest friends in the world. (Even today these gentlemen and their families live just a couple of miles around the corner from my family).

These two guys were notorious for being consistently late to EVERYTHING. It wasn’t a fashion statement. It wasn’t intentional. It wasn’t a big deal. But, it was constant. You name the event - other than tip-off of an intramural sporting event - and these guys were rolling up late. It was so consistent that we termed acts of arriving late as being on “West Jefferson time”.

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ACC BBall Bytes

Published by Jeff on 02/14/2007 in '06-07 Basketball, ACC and General. 32 Comments

With the Wolfpack suddenly struggling on the hardwood, it’s hard for everyone to pay extremely close attention to everything else that is going on in the league. But, as we have turned the corner on the mid-point of the season there have been some very interesting developments that are worth noting.

* So, the powerful UCLA Bruins dominate the Pac 10 and then lose in a non-conference match-up vs West Virginia. LOL! We have obviously discussed the ACC vs Pac 10 issue multiple times this year and you can get to most of the conversation through this entry. Most recently, kenpom added to the analysis with this entry.

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To March, or not to March?

Published by Jeff on 02/13/2007 in Basketball, Campus News and General. 41 Comments

To March, or not to March?

It isn’t much of a question.

Technician ran two opposing views on the Student Wolfpack Club’s recent behavior of “marching in” to their seats in the RBC Center today.

For those of you not familiar with what I am talking about, here is a quick rundown: before the basketball games against Duke and UNC, the Student Wolfpack Club remained in the RBC Center concourse area until about five minutes before tip-off.

They then marched down to their seats, getting the crowd pumped up and being filmed by ESPN cameras the entire way.

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1983 - Right Year, Wrong Game

Published by Jeff on 02/02/2007 in '06-07 Basketball, ACC, Basketball, General, Quotes of Note, Rivals and Tradition. 29 Comments

It is a real shame that Sidney Lowe’s first team is as limited as it is. Otherwise, you’d be hearing a lot more about “when Sidney was in school”. (Just wait until next year when every event during the season mark’s the 25th anniversary of the Wolfpack’s miracle run.)

Today, Dan Wiederer of the Fayetteville Observer authored a great piece recalling that State’s run in 1983 started with a big win over Carolina in the ACC Tournament. Technician also has a piece about the last time that Sidney Lowe and Roy Williams clashed. (DVR Alert: Coincidentally, this game will be broadcast on ESPNClassic this afternoon at 2pm ET).

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Most/Least Affordable

Published by Jeff on 01/26/2007 in ACC, Campus News, Fun Stuff and General. 8 Comments

An old one that we’ve had in our drafts forever. A good fit for a Friday afternoon change of pace. Link to Most & Least Affordable College Towns.

We just missed it at $203,012.00

Permanent link to this post (35 words, estimated 8 secs reading time)

What if?

Published by Jeff on 01/24/2007 in '06-07 Basketball, Basketball, General and Recruiting - BBall. 37 Comments

The NC State Wolfpack has definitely experienced a (not unexpectedly) tough basketball season this year. The pill that is hardest to swallow, however, has been Engin Atsur’s injury. To this point of the season, NC State has compiled a record that is almost exactly what many fans expected. But, that expectation included Atsur’s presence on the court. When the two things which the team is most deficient are two things that Atsur does best - handle the ball and play perimeter defense - we are left with just a little twinge of ‘what if’?

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Odds to win 2007 College FBall Title

Published by Jeff on 01/22/2007 in '07 Football and General. 28 Comments

College Football’s preseason Top 25 is shaping up and being discussed here. Relatedly, the odds for the 2007 National Champion are also out.

USC 5/2

Michigan 13/2

Florida 7/1

Texas 10/1

West Virginia 14/1

LSU 15/1

Oklahoma 17/1

Arkansas 19/1

Ohio State 28/1

Nebraska 38/1

Auburn 46/1

Notre Dame 47/1

Rutgers 52/1

Louisville 52/1

California 67/1

BYU 67/1

Georgia 73/1

Tennessee 99/1

A couple of other football-related links that may be of interest:

* Link I

* Link II

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Football Dates Trickling (Updated 1/20 9pm)

Published by Jeff on 01/19/2007 in '07 Football and General. 57 Comments

September 1: Central Florida @ NC State

The Tom O’Brien era at NC State will open against George O’Leary’s University of Central Florida Golden Knights on September 1, 2007.

Click here for a link to UCF’s announcement and click here for some related comments from the N&O’s ACCNow blog.

In addition to the Golden Knights, NC State is slated to host Wofford and Louisville in 2007; Louisville is rumored to be a September 29th game. The Wolfpack will also travel to Greenville to play East Carolina because Lee Fowler is a big p*$$y and won’t say no to people that he believes can help/hurt his potential future professional advancement.

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Amato Lands on his Feet in Tallahassee (Updated 1/18 @ 4:15pm)

Published by Jeff on 01/18/2007 in ACC, Chuck Amato and General. 46 Comments

Chuck Amato is back at FSU. (Link)

Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden announced Wednesday that Chuck Amato will return to the Seminole coaching staff as executive associate head coach and linebackers coach. Amato, who coached at Florida State from 1982-99, was released in December after seven seasons as head coach at his alma mater NC State and replaces Kevin Steele who resigned in January to become Alabama’s defensive coordinator.

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Wednesday Bytes: Too Much Too Pass Up

Published by Jeff on 01/17/2007 in ACC, Basketball, Football and General. 49 Comments

I’m busy this morning and wasn’t going to take a whole lot of time to post anything. But, every article/topic that I clicked on this morning in my reading provided me something on which to comment. So, I’m just going to hit some high points real quick.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

* As a super follow up to this entry regarding the strength of the ACC, Dave Sez does some number crunching and adds some comments that are perfectly complimentary to our entry.

* As a little further clarification regarding one of the criteria that I use to analyze strength of conferences:

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Should editors make these comments?

Published by Jeff on 01/16/2007 in ACC, Alums, Basketball, General, Media and NCS Administration. 54 Comments

Check this out

Is this a joke? or am I off base? But…isn’t it a combination of odd, inappropriate, stupid, and ridiculous for a SPORTS EDITOR to pen a quasi-article that proclaims, “I don’t particularly care for (the largest public university in the state in which I cover sports”)? Seriously. Tell me if I am missing the boat here. But, isn’t it pretty ‘unique’ for a sports EDITOR to say:

I don’t particularly care for N.C. State

When was the last time that Ron Green actually admitted that he (doesn’t) particularly care for NC State?

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Previewing State @ Wake (Updated 10am Sat)

Published by Jeff on 01/12/2007 in '06-07 Basketball, ACC and General. 36 Comments

The Pack travels to Wake Forest tomorrow in a match-up of two extremely young squads who will battle to stay out of the ACC cellar all season. The game is at noon and will be televised on your local RLF (Raycom/Lincoln Financial affiliate).

I truly believe that State CAN win at Wake Forest tomorrow. If Engin Atsur was 100% healthy I would actually feel confident that State WOULD win at Wake Forest. Unfortunately for the Pack, the Deacons provide a legitimate and significant match-up challenge due to the number of bodies that Skip Prosser has at his disposal.

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7-2 & Rising Hopes

Published by Jeff on 12/19/2006 in '06-07 Basketball, ACC and General. 56 Comments

Alabama comes to town on Wednesday night as the Wolfpack plays host in the RBC Center to the only Top-10-ranked out of conference team that I can remember visiting the building. As usual, Section Six has a great preview of the game that can be viewed by clicking here.

(Sidenote - can anyone remember a higher ranked non-conference opponent in the ESA/RBC? It really sucks that the biggest non-conference game in the history of the building gets a 6:30pm tip and is scheduled when the students are home for exams.)

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Morgan Wootten Article

Published by Jeff on 12/13/2006 in Basketball and General. 8 Comments

We have been on a bit of an unannounced hiatus the last few days. Sorry…lots going on.

We ran across this old article over the summer when doing some googling for Sidney Lowe and thought that it would be nice to have an entry dedicated to legendary coach, Morgan Wootten and the NC State-DeMatha connection.

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