At long last, the Devils and Pack meet in the post-expansion era. Even though the teams have combined for just one ACC win, entertainment potential is high, and the TV folks will likely regret passing on it. Yours truly will be inside Wallace Wade, semi-live blogging as blackberry reception allows.
Archive for the 'Flashback' Category
Recently the ACC Sports Journal completed major changes to their website and the layout of their print edition. For anyone interested, they are offering a free 30 day trial to their website. You can register by going here:
One cool feature non-subscribers can use on their website is the “Daily Links” page. They provide articles from around the ACC market for each team in the conference. Having been on the internet following ACC sports since 1996~, I think this type of “web run” was actually originated by the creators of this blog. We mentioned The Wolfpack Wire recently who also does something similar.
In a few days we’ll renew our rivalry with South Carolina after a nine year hiatus, which is a real shame because it’s a fun rivalry that should be played annually. It would never be the Red River Rivalry or the Cocktail Party, but it’s a mutually-beneficial opportunity to capitalize on a spirited and profitable regional rivalry beyond each program’s natural rival.
ESPN Classic will air the 1983 national championship game between North Carolina State and Houston from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. ET on Friday, April 4. At 8 p.m., ESPN Classic will present a half hour original documentary “ESPN Classic Remembers: NC State Upsets Houston”, which will chronicle the 1983 Wolfpack season. The documentary will re-air at 12:30 a.m. ET on Saturday.
ESPN’s Heather Dinich profiles the oft-forgotten reserve freshman, Ernie Myers, who played only a single minute in that 1983 Championship game but was instrumental in the Pack’s run towards the tournament, filling in for the injured Dereck Whittenburg, who had missed 14 games with a fractured foot.
There could, and maybe should have been an open thread just on fond rememberances of the ‘83 Championship team running non-stop all night. 25 years, could it really have happened that long ago? RR was in office and I was six years old and occasionally glancing the rim with my jump shot. In short, it would be good for me as a Wolfpack fan to absorb some of the magic that transpired here a quarter century ago.
It was a horrifying moment. A chilling blow in the middle of a contested ACC game. Blood began to flow immediately. The shocked victim looked up, grabbed his nose, saw the blood pouring out, and had to exit the game. Who can ever forget it?
But then — oh, the bravery! The strength of character! Despite such a terrible injury, the player returns the very next game. He has to wear a mask to protect his broken nose, but how amazing that a player can do that, right?
SFN wishes to salute the media for being so fastidious, so compassionate … so late. Little was said at the time when Dennis Horner had his nose broken during the Georgia Tech game last year on this date, February 6. In fact, one would have thought that such injuries were common in basketball such that they didn’t deserve days upon days of fresh stories and media obsession.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
This entry will remain posted near the top for a couple of days…so, if you are visiting the site for the first time or if you are a frequent visitor please don’t ignore all of the entries below. For example, VAWolf logged an awesome statistical post that follows this.
We just wanted to take a moment to draw your attention to the newest edition of the NC State Alumni Magazine that hit most homes over the last week. Starting on page 36 and ending on page 45 you will see that the magazine printed a series of articles on the impact of the internet at NC State and on the NC State community. We’d like to thank the NC State Alumni Magazine for the attention and prominence that they applied to StateFansNation in the feature piece.
It’s nice to see others have been inspired by NC State women’s basketball coach Kay Yow over the years! Per WRAL:
North Carolina State women’s basketball coach Kay Yow won the inaugural Jimmy V ESPY for Perseverance on Wednesday.
She was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer while coaching the Wolfpack during this year’s NCAA tournament.
Yow certainly personified perseverance last season, as she has for so long in her personal struggle against breast cancer — a struggle that was ongoing even when it seemed she had defeated the diseases (because she had projected so strongly outwardly). It is noteworthy — and I don’t quite know what to say about it — that she is following her former fellow NC State coach in being honored at the ESPYs for inspirational courage fighting cancer.
A very loyal reader sent us a note to remind us of this old entry that we had penned on May 4th, 2005.
At that point in time, Larry Hunter had just left Herb Sendek’s staff and fans were discussing alternatives for a potential replacement. In the entry, we propose one name to fill the void - Sidney Lowe.
Click here to see - Why Sidney Lowe should be Sendek’s choice.
We hope that innovative thought and conversatioin like THIS is why you read SFN!!
Really, nothing more needs to be said (but feel free to take a deeper look into some very interesting thoughts by clicking here). Just sit back and enjoy the most famous 44 seconds in NC State athletics history — and all the pandemonium that ensued afterward. Also, please pay close attention to Coach Valvano’s comments afterward about the importance of being in the position to win and playing to win the game.
I friggin’ love YouTube for finds like this, an ESPN preview of the 1983 National Championship game:
Check it out. You’ll see glimpses of Valvano’s love for life, his passion for the game as well as his perspective about the relative importance of basketball in life, his pre-game instruction to “have fun” (something that the current Wolfpack coach must have learned from him) — and you’ll even see Sidney Lowe mimicking his walk!
Some highlights:
align="right"/>
We’re big fans of looking back at history and randomly identifying anniversaries and such. In that light, I got the following quick email from a friend that I thought was interesting and needed to blog —
“I saw Tommy Burelson at the Marist game Friday (March 16th) and told my friend not to forget that Tommy played a big role in getting the ball rolling last year.
So, I went back into the SFN archives and look what I found that was blogged exactly one year ago on March 16, 2006 - Burleson says it’s time for a change.
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.
StateFansNation experienced quite a year of growth and popularity in 2006.
Included in our growth was a significant amount of public recognition, most recently evidenced by our #2 finish in the ACC category in the College Football Bloggers Awards.
State Fans Nation is one of the most vibrant, interactive communities on the web. Virtually every story generates a host of comments from engaged readers, while the content itself is always outstanding. I vividly recall madly refreshing SFN last year when Rick Barnes was rumored to be a candidate for the NC State basketball job. As good as their football coverage is, they find time to be a haven for fans of all NC State sports.
Found linked at PackPride, this video is inspirational. It’s awesome. (And you’ll also see future Wolfpack head coach Sidney Lowe and assistant coach Monty Towe in there.)
Dreams come true at NC State. Dreams become reality at NC State. Are you a dreamer? Do you have dreams that you can make come true? Can you accept that challenge? I think you can. Remember, a wise man once said, “Nothing can happen if not first a dream.”
Talk about sick irony!
It doesn’t getting any crazier than NC State’s Julius Hodge being traded for Maryland’s Steve Blake.
The Denver Nuggets need some breathing space from luxury-tax territory. The Milwaukee Bucks need backcourt scoring to counter their injury crisis.
That’s why the teams, according to NBA front-office sources, are combining on a trade featuring Earl Boykins that will be announced later Thursday.
Now 10 games into the Allen Iverson Era, Denver has agreed to send Boykins and little-used forward Julius Hodge to the Bucks for guard Steve Blake.
Many thanks to Scott at GarageGabs for this blast from the past. Those of you who remember V will enjoy this. Heck, those of you who’ve only heard about V from the rest of us will enjoy it. This is Classic Valvano, and really, there’s no better words for it than that.
It only took NC State’s hometown newspaper a couple of years for it to sink in, but it’s starting to sink in.
First, a SFN Flashback to March 2005, in an entry entitled Understanding Wolfpack Fans, Part 1:
Today’s myth I’d like to tackle is one that we see quite frequently in the winter. It’s the idea that NC State fans judge a coach just on his personality. It’s usually expressed in this fashion: NC State fans don’t like Herb Sendek because he doesn’t have the personality of Chuck Amato or Jim Valvano.
With the first two test of playing on the road in a hostile environment done, Sidney Lowe brings his team back to the more comfy confines of Reynolds. Saturday night will be the one and done opportunity for the Wolfpack to play in the storied building. The tip off is at seven and the opponent is Savannah State (5-6).
That’s all I can say about that. Playing in the house legends like Case, Thompson, V and Coach Lowe called home just speaks for its self. Add to that a welcoming party for new football coach Tom O’Brien, and there are more then enough reason’s to bundle up and head on down to Raleigh.
In today’s News & Observer article on NC State’s loss yesterday on the road against No. 25 Virginia, new Wolfpack Coach Sidney Lowe said something very important.
The N&O struck a similar note to Wolfpack fans about the performance of Lowe’s severely undermanned and overlooked squad — that the team played surprisingly well enough to win, despite being so thin and missing injured senior point guard and the “glue” of the team, Engin Atsur: