Here is a quote that I haven’t seen anywhere but here.
Sunday, March 19, 2006’s Charlotte Observer included a side panel for the “NCAA at Dallas” written by staff writer, David Scott. In the side panel, the Charlotte Observer included the following:
“I’m sorry, but I would have to call them an idiot”
* NC State’s Ilian Evtimov, referring to people who think the Wolfpack’s prorgam doesn’t beling with the elite in the ACC
I don’t know what Evtimov was trying to plant into the public consciousness, but the seed didn’t take root as I have seen nobody talking about this quote over the last couple of weeks. If the Charlotte Observer’s representation of the quote is correct, then I couldn’t agree ore with Ilian. Unfortunately, Evtimov’s feelings encounter significant resistance from his Head Coach and his biggest supporters.
Ilian’s comments are obviously NOT directed at the large majority of NC State fans that are exhausted with Herb Sendek’s failure to create elite success after ten years of:
* operating with some of the most luxurious resources in college basketball with
* a fan base that is so passionate that they sent 12,000 fans to an open practice on a week night after 9 consecutive years of failing to make an NCAA Tournament, and
* whom have ranked amongst the top 20 in national attendance almost every year since the RBC has been built
I don’t know a single a State fan who prays for a change that doesn’t think that NC State’s program should be elite. Isn’t that what all of the fuss is actually about? – A large group of Wolfpackers who want to have some kind crowning achievement on which to hang their hat? Wolfpackers who understand the difference of truly being good from manufacturing bloated overall records in an attempt to do nothing more than squeeze into the NCAA Tournament with no hope of real success? Wolfpackers who want to be elite against the status quo of ‘mediocretes’ who are fine twiddling their thumbs in oblivion?
Try having a conversation with the members of the HSSS who are not legally retarded. Try to get one of them to agree with you (and Ilian) about where NC State’s place is in college basketball. In between their whiny-ass excuse that refers to how “tough it is to compete against Carolina and Duke” you won’t hear anything about it.
You see, if they were to admit that NC State’s resouces and tradition should translate into an elite program should, then they would be admitting that Herb Sendek has failed at succeeding at NC State (since nobody in their right mind could confuse NC State for the elite of college basketball).
The acceptance of ‘good is more than good enough for NC State’s administration and a small portion of fans’ has recently been chronicled by both The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer. Enjoy the links and don’t hesitate to keep those conversations rolling.
^Those articles really nail the crux of the data analysis — nobody argues that what Sendek has achieved at NC State is elite and the decision makers deeem Sendek’s accomplish more than good enough. It’s that simple. I wonder how these folks fell being indirectly called an idiot by the “Philip Rivers of the NC State Basketball program”.
I think that Ilian Evtimov hit the nail on the head, anyone who doesn’t believe NC State should be an elite program is an “idiot.” I just wish that he would have added that anyone who thinks that we are currently elite falls into that category as well.
POST-SCRIPT: As the conversation in the comments section of this entry indicate — it seems as though the Charlotte Observer may have really screwed up the interpretation and significantly mis-represented Evtimov’s comments. (Go figure. The Charlotte Observer completely miss the mark on something? Surely they do not wonder why they just got purchased?) This entry was based on what the Observer included in the paper on Sunday, March 19th. I can’t help it if people that get paid to be accurate fail in their responsibilities.
