I have always been proud of State’s strong football fan support, particularly on bowl trips. This season, there have been various discussions about NC State’s Meineke Car Care Bowl ticket sales that feel just a little ‘different’ than normal. I am not in agreement with the direction of some of the conversations. So, in the absence of any leadership on this important public realations issue from NC State, I figure that I will chime in with some comments on what I am seeing:
===> The Carolina Comparison
Everytime I turn around, someone from the media AND from NC State is referencing “North Carolina’s 30,000 tickets sold last year.” What? You didn’ t know? Have you been in Iraq for the last 13 months?
I don’t believe that Carolina’s appearance last year is 100% irrelevant to a conversation about State’s trip, but I do believe that the level of prominence that UNC-CH seems to take in all of the articles about our bowl has boiled past the point of acceptable and has become excessive.
Take a look at what I mean in the following examples. In both yesterday’s News & Observer AND today’s Charlotte Observer where the authors could barely finish their sentence about NC State’s strong ticket sales before they were telling us about Carolina last year. In Ken Tysiac’s CLTOBS piece the information doesn’t even fit where it is crammed.
Charlotte Observer, December 14th:
N.C. State fans are more than halfway to meeting the challenge Meineke Car Care Bowl executive director Will Webb made when he invited the Wolfpack to play South Florida on Dec. 31 in Charlotte.
Late Tuesday, N.C. State had sold 16,000 tickets. North Carolina sold 30,400 last year for its meeting in Charlotte with Boston College in what was then the Continental Tire Bowl. Webb has urged N.C. State fans to meet North Carolina’s number.
N.C. State has sold approximately 13,500 tickets for the Meineke Car Care Bowl since the Wolfpack’s Dec. 31 matchup against Big East foe South Florida was announced last week, State officials said Monday. (four sentences removed). Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium seats 73,238 people. Last year, North Carolina sold more than 30,000 tickets through its ticket office to what was known then as the Continental Tire Bowl.
Again, what our rival sold to this game last season is not 100% irrelevant in a broad conversation about our trip. BUT, the bowl game was announced TEN DAYS AGO. EVERY ARTICLE written since then has referenced good old Carolina. Does the media not realize that the WHOLE WORLD KNOWS that Carolina SAYS they sold 30,000 tickets to last year’s bowl game?
Obviously, the media clearly seek to use Carolina’s 30,000 tickets last season to define NC State’s “success” this season. Too many folks in West Raleigh are willing to oblige with this farce. I think this is ludicrous. NC State does NOT need a bowl trip to Charlotte to prove which football fans are more supportive of their school — simply look at a picture of any gameday from the last 5 years in Carter-Finley and in Kenan if you want an acurate portrayal of fan support.
The circumstances surrounding State and Carolina’s bowl appearances are EXTREMELY DIFFERENT, and I implore you not to fall for the media-trap of making this a contest between the schools without considering or understanding the differences.
Frankly, I would be shocked (and quite proud) if NC State sold anywhere close to 30,000 tickets to the Meineke Car Care Bowl this year. (Although, there will surely be close to 30,000 Wolfpackers in the stands, many of whom obtained tickets from other sources) Carolina in 2004 and NC State in 2005 are two completely different teams, in two completely different situations. It is those situations that are blatantly ignored when a narrow focus on the total number of ticket sales is discussed in a vacuum.
* Last year, UNC-CH was attending their first bowl in three years and their second bowl of the last six years. This year, NC State is attending our fifth bowl in the last six years
* Last year, UNC-CH was matched against a known team who was joining the Atlantic Coast Conference after the game. This year, NC State is matched up against a directional team that few know anything about.
Jeez. Which school do you think SHOULD sell more tickets?
Obviously, the respective fanbases are at completely different points of their “excitement cycle” (not to mention the more appealing opponent). I’m sure it would be way too much to ask for that level of insight and analysis from the same media that can’t stop obsessing over this “ticket race”.
===> Accurately Defining ‘Success’
The “success” of NC State’s participation in The Meineke Car Care Bowl has nothing to do with how many tickets Carolina sold last year. NC State’s success should be defined from the perspective of the bowl. Simple — Does NC State’s appearance in Charlotte generate a successful event for the Bowl?
With that in mind, any school in any bowl can only live up to their half of the bargain. NC State’s role as a bowl participant as the ACC’s 5th selected team is to provide the The Meineke Car Care Bowl more fans than any other ACC team that was availabel at the Meineke’s selection spot. Because Charlotte is home to many Wolfpackers, NC State should also provide more fans (than any of the alternatives) who spend the night and generate economic activity in the host city (Charlotte).
Bowl representatives have already stated that NC State was selected over Boston College and Georgia Tech because of the strength and proximity of the Wolfpack’s fan base.
N.C. State has sold over 16,500 tickets for the Meineke Car Care Bowl since the Wolfpack’s Dec. 31 matchup against Big East foe South Florida was announced last week, thereby xceeding the 12,500-ticket requirement set by the bowl. It is indisputable that NC State has already sold more tickets than the other ACC schools that was available to attend the bowl. In fact, State has already outsold one of the bowl’s candidates, Boston College, from the Eagle’s appearance LAST SEASON.
===> Basketball Conflict
Was I really the only person in the world who looked at the basketball schedule when it came out and wondered if we were going to have any kind of bowl conflicts with the George Washington game scheduled on the same day and at the same time as one of the ACC’s bowl games? I doubt it. But, please allow me to introduce Mr. Right Arm to Mr. Left Arm.
Regardless, a few lost Wolfpack souls are trying to treat the bowl game and the basketball game as a referrendum against each other. It really makes me sad. This is just another in the long line of obvious examples of some Wolfpackers who participate in a sick-twistedly divided fan environment where the Herb lover just can’t stomach Chuck Amato — which is so hypocritical since one of the key plays of the HSSS Handbook is that we should all support the coach no matter what.
If you don’t believe that these feelings exist amongst some, then I envy your idealism. But, there is no doubting that
This is NOT about Basketball vs Football; not about Herb vs Chuck; not about anything, really. In a perfect world, this scheduling conflct would lead to sellouts in both Charlotte and Raleigh to proclaim (yet again) that NC State has the most amazing fans in the country.
Personally, I’ll be in Charlotte at the Bowl Game. Given the option between the two, I don’t know how anyone could be conflicted about attending the bowl, because your presence at a once a year bowl game means a helluva a lot more than your presence at one of many out of conference basketball games.
Life is not always about the here and now. If NC State has a poor turnout in Charlotte, then what happens in the future when someone like the Gator or the Peach has a decision to make and chooses another team over the Wolfpack? I can hear them now – proclaiming that NC State didn’t even bring fans to Charlotte when the had the chance to play in a bowl game for which they should have been very thankful just to attend?
What if the Peach or Gator were trying to choose between NC State and Carolina for that slot? If you are in the RBC on December 31st, then I hope you never open your mouth about the situation. Then again, maybe Carolina’s appearance last year is more relevant than I thought? Well, it still doesn’t justify the fact that I have to read about it in every NC State article THIS year.
