Look lively, chums, Bob Lee’s reading this!
(P.S. UNC-CH still stinks.)

General Media31

StateFansNation has a fan in Bob Lee Swagger, local UNC-Chapel Hill sports fan, “loud-mouth conservative,” and scourge of “message board loons,” “nutty faculty squirrels” and inept, kneejerk “politically correct” chancellors with bald heads who play organ.

In his 2006 “close-out special” column — just prior to ripping UNC-CH figurehead admin John “The Voice of the Poor … Till After the Primaries” Edwards and Durham D.A. Mike “The Voice of the Poor … with Multiple Sex Partners for Money” Nifong — Swagger tells what sports sites on the ‘net he likes:

Several readers have asked which websites DO I visit regularly AND RECOMMEND. I’m glad to oblige. Sites I check daily are StateFansNation .. RedAndWhiteFromNCState … TarHeelTimes. I know those sites owners and I respect their objectives. James @ TarHeelTimes provides a TERRIFIC clipping service of any articles on Carolina teams and athletes. EVERY Tar Heel should have TarHeelTimes.com bookmarked. … SFN has a great format that does not totally exclude the “short bus crowd” but greatly minimizes their influence. What I really like is that SFN and RWFNCS are both pro-Wolfpack sites and NOT anti-Carolina sites. I’m sure PackPride still exists but I haven’t visited that “biker bar” in over three years.

Thanks, bud.

General Media

31 Responses to Look lively, chums, Bob Lee’s reading this!
(P.S. UNC-CH still stinks.)

  1. Elrod 12/29/2006 at 8:41 PM #

    I’m confused. I thought being Pro-Wolfpack and Anti-BBU were the same thing.

  2. beowolf 12/29/2006 at 8:54 PM #

    That’s one area where BLS differs from tarheel “message board loons” — he isn’t flabbergasted by the very existence of sports fans of other schools who don’t like uncch. He understands it’s natural to root for your own school, so he can therefore tell the difference between Wolfpack fans being pro-Wolfpack (which is by the nature of rivalry also being anti-uncch) and fans going overboard in obsessing against the hated rival.

    The latter would be like the “Tarheel Image Patrol” posters who stake out rivals’ message boards and freak out whenever a disparagin’ word is uttered against the uncch’ers. They’re often compared with fainting goats.

    What are fainting goats, you ask? See below:

  3. BobLee 12/29/2006 at 9:22 PM #

    This pretty much takes me out of the running for The Woody Durham BeefMaster Super Tar Heel Award … acknowledging I visit “you people” and don’t get kooties.
    As all but “the short bus crowd” will understand … a site being “pro Us” instead of just another “How Much We Hate Them” is quite uncommon in the odd Land Of The Loons. The SFN honchos seem to “get that” and seem to have had that idea in mind when they created SFN. … and Alpha over on RWNCS uses the same principle. … to my knowledge, my alma mater partisans haven’t created such a positive forum.
    There is still plenty to “hate” in ones own backyard apparently … which seems to have been God’s plan in creating Athletic Directors (except at Wake Forest but that place is in some parallel universe these days).
    The occasional “they sux over there” post is one thing but ppride and ttp run about 70% “hate’em”. One might as well read/listen to Al-Jazeerah.

    BLS

  4. jwrenn29 12/29/2006 at 9:33 PM #

    Sweet.

    Also nice .gif files of the fainting goats. 😀

  5. forst8 12/30/2006 at 12:24 AM #

    BLS has his head on straight (he might not appreciate that) and anyone who doesn’t get his newsletter is really missing some great humor and insight into local team happenings. He is a good Heel and yes I know some of you don’t think such an animal exists but if you take off the blinders and read his newsletter a few times you will see what I mean.

  6. powersd 12/30/2006 at 6:57 AM #

    I must confess that reading BLS’s writings are a guilty pleasure of mine. I very much share his conservative political views, especially his opinion on John Edwards, and often wonder how he got out of Carolina with said views in tact. It might be that the hallowed halls of Chapel Hill are Soooo liberal that they actually made him conservative in rebellion.

    That said, his comments on local sports events are always humorous and timely. He can laugh at his team as well as the others, and I respect that. And we share something else with him – the reign of incompetent athletic directors! Anyway, a tip of the hat to Bob Lee for his positive comments on SFN (and RAWFS) and thanks to SFN for giving him such good reasons to offer his glowing praise. It is nice to have an intellignet forum to discuss Wolfpack sports.

  7. Sw0rdf1sh 12/30/2006 at 9:11 AM #

    I have to agree that since I’ve found SFN I’ve just about hung up every other Wolfpack board.

    Now how the hell do you get off this short bus?

  8. doug74 12/30/2006 at 9:45 AM #

    Just so some folks know they’re welcome here, I’m a political liberal and a haven’t been asked to leave.

  9. BJD95 12/30/2006 at 10:29 AM #

    I represent the liburals (in all honesty, more center-left, but that’s liberal for NC State) among authorship, doug. I got your back.

    FWIW, I despise John Edwards, too. Empty-suit politician, and a traitor to his alma mater. He has burned so many bridges in NC – his political career is over, and no one seems to have the heart to tell him yet.

    One of my good friends at work is a big UNC guy and a conservative lobbyist-type. I’m open minded to folks having different ideas/allegiances than mine. So I’m glad to have a SFN fan in BLS…

  10. BobLee 12/30/2006 at 11:01 AM #

    … I get asked that “Conser/Repub from UNC???” question a lot.

    While UNC, like most Lib Arts schools, has always had a decidedly Liberal slant since Frank Porter Graham in the 40-50s, it was not as militantly so as in recent years. My tenure there was not “recent” unless we are talking relative to “dawn of creation”. I was “apolitical” as a student …. AS ARE MOST UNCers EVEN TODAY. I was involved in sports … and the “Liberal impact” was mostly in the form of 60s-early 70s “hippies” protesting Viet Nam, etc. ….. the Haight-Ashbury stereotypes protesting in Y-Court. Jocks would hassle them in a sort of weird kabuki theater.

    The stereotype of the “typical UNC student” being a far left-winger is as “accurate” as the “typical State student” with the John Deere gimme cap and the Skoal can in his back pocket majoring in Soil Science. Its convenient for lampooning but hardly accurate.

    Our far left philosophy faculty and their sympathizers draw media attention (and enjoy that attention) and the current campus admins tend to be sympathetic (Hooker was much less so than Moeser) … but the vast majority of kids are simply trying to get thru this 4-6 year rite-of-passage and figure out what the heck to do when its over … and the work-a-day world is upon them ….. kinda like most kids wandering across The Brickyard from Sept to June (except for those Skoal cans, of course) …. and kinda like most of us did.

    UNC was a place “I was at” for 4 years. I’ve lived in 5 other places with 6 other jobs longer than that. It hardly “shaped me” to any degree. Yes, I know some VERY Liberal UNC alum/fans but they are not the ones I socialize with and identify with ……. but, like an above poster noted, politics really is not the theme of this forum.

    A point I make when speaking to groups (I NEVER speak to strictly UNC partisan groups!) is that the REALLY scary “bottom feeders” in any fan group are ALL THE SAME. The vitriol, the bile even the language is the same …. just interchange the “them” and the “us”. …. Their passion is expended NOT in supporting “their team” but in insulting “the other team’s fans” …. which gets us back to the original point of SFN promoting SUPPORT OF NC State athletics …. rather than simply another insult forum.

    BTW … I’m on WPTF tonight (Sat) from 9-12 in a year-end review show. Not sure who listens to AM radio from 9-12 on a Sat night …. could get scary …. call in and lets talk about how VERY COOL #17 is doing w/ The Chargers.

    BLS

  11. redfred2 12/30/2006 at 11:05 AM #

    Bob Lee has a great perspective of the overall, and his SFN comments are always interesting and humorous. Plus they’re a lot less abrassive than comments from some our own Wolfpack fans like, well, me for instance.

  12. BJD95 12/30/2006 at 11:07 AM #

    I went to NC State undergrad, then UNC for law school (hey, it was cheap and got me a good job). I was considered very liberal at NC State, and a near-fascist at UNC law school.

  13. beowolf 12/30/2006 at 11:24 AM #

    For the record, BJD is neither.

    Hooker’s sudden death was a real blow to UNC. He was a great chancellor, no-nonsense type who was open to reaching out to the community at large, even conservatives. I suspect that Hooker had a libertarian streak in him. He fired that klepto law professor over every tenured doofus’ objections. Moeser would have made three days’ worth of speeches as to why the UNC experience is enhanced by having klepto law professors. (Of course, now the law school has Edwards …)

  14. doug74 12/30/2006 at 11:28 AM #

    I voted for Shirley Chilsholm in the 72 Primary and McGovern in the election when I was a Soph. but politics was a far distant second or third interest to me then. We spent a lot more time on sports the next couple years, camping out for tickets or playing foosball/pool at Mitch’s.

  15. old13 12/30/2006 at 12:49 PM #

    I have (had – some now gone) relatives who attended five ACC schools other than NCSU (I’m the only one!). I can really appreciate “friendly” rivalries, and really do not like the hateful ones practiced by some with UNC or any other school.

    I was once a subscriber to The Wolfpacker premium service, and considered joining PP after leaving The Wolfpacker. But after discovering SFN, RAWFS, Section VI and NC State Football (.com), I have no great interest in the others. Plus BLS always gives me a smile, even with his coments on things Wolfpack. (It’s healthy to laugh at one’s self now-and-then.)

  16. forst8 12/30/2006 at 2:53 PM #

    Since we’re lining up by political persuasion today, put me down for being libural, but I still enjoy BLS as well as all things NCSU. All of us need to spend more time understanding “the other side” of anything we might be thinking about at the time. I do wish more of our Pack fans would spend more time being positive about the Pack rather than wasting all that energy tracking UNC for the sole purpose of finding something negative about them.

    No matter our political leanings, looks like we all agree on John Edwards. Does the man really think he has a chance at becoming President? Surely there is some other motive behind him announcing he will run. Talk about a shallow human being.

  17. ShootingGuard 12/30/2006 at 3:36 PM #

    John Edwards is a dirt bag and a cheese ball all wrapped in one for the holidays. Seeing him announce he is running in NOLA to try and play the Katrina card and the poverty card and the race card like that is despicable—especially when he has a multi-million dollar house down at Figure 8 Island that sits empty almost year round…Why doesn’t he sell that house and give all of the money to the poor? THAT would be impressive—setting up entities for the sole purpose of avoiding taxation on ill gotten gains from several big cases is NOT!! There truly are 2 Americas as little Johnny has pointed out several times—the America he lived in as he built up a $50,000,000 fortune and the America he talks about now that he is sitting on $50M and still covets even more power and wealth…A complete fake and jackass, no doubt…

  18. Pack92 12/30/2006 at 3:55 PM #

    Two very good friends of mine (one through work, the other by marriage to my best friend) are UNC alums and as conservative as I consider myself – slightly left but not by much of Jesse Helms. We can actually TALK about UNC and NCSU sports because we see the good and bad. Neither likes Bad-doer any more than most people on this site like Foulup and both are very leery of Butch Davis. They think he will be gone in less than 5 years if he has any success at all. Neither of them claim any kinship at all to the whine and cheese crowd and love to get the NCSU perspective on activities at the hole.

    BobLee, you might have gone to the Hill but I enjoy your perspective as do many of us here at SFN. It makes us believe, as do my friends, that REAL people actually do exist there no matter what the media portrays.

  19. BobLee 12/30/2006 at 6:53 PM #

    Here’s an odd “suppose” to toss out for discussion ….

    The old “Frat Boys vs Farm Boys” scenario that our two schools have worn out for 75 years …. (actually that ALL LibArts vs LandGrant rivalries wear out) was until the past 15-20 years pretty “good natured”, at least I thought so.

    Our “mike man” would come out at “the State Game” in overalls driving a tractor, carrying a pig, in some exaggerated HeeHaw skit … your version of “mike man” would be some exaggerated Animal House frat boy in the blazer/khaki uniform, maybe with some “queer” innuendo added in.

    If either lampoon was cleverly done, you laughed even if it was at your own expense. the fan sections would trade traditional “cheers” deriding the other fans … and, somehow, when the game was over NOBODY was all that “p*ssed off” although winning is always more pleasant that losing. We paid off our silly bets and promised “we’ll get ya next year.”

    Some how when the PC Police got thru powerwashing all the “good clean fun” out of the rivalry … then it turned really nasty. How come? Sure, the anonymity of the Internet gives courage to “keyboard cowards” on both sides. We all realize that. Mods “COULD” zap that easy enough IF they cared to but is trading the obscene slop and slander we read today on “the boards” REALLY what “most fans” want it to be? …. I fear the inmates from both asylums have taken control of the dialogue …. like Iron Eyes Cody in that old litter commercial … BobLee sheds a tear for “the good ol’ days”

    Its not just a State-Carolina thing. Visit any major school fan forum site in Div 1 … same screaming loonies squatting and squawking obscene insults …. always with the same “justification” we all used back in kindergarten … “But THEY STARTED IT” ….. we can just be grateful that some websites like SFN try to buck the tide.

  20. choppack1 12/30/2006 at 8:23 PM #

    BLS – Enjoy the good-natured debate you provide.

    And your biker-bar comment still has me giggling.

    BJD-95 – You’re right to despise Edwards, but don’t downplay his chances. He’s a nice compromise when looking at inexperienced Obama and the Hildabeast.

  21. redfred2 12/30/2006 at 9:09 PM #

    BLS

    The NCSU crowd is so above and ashamed of their past that there is no sense of humor or good natured kidding about it anymore. The downfall of the BB program certainly hasn’t helped with anyone’s demeanor, but these folks are so dead set on denying, and thin skinned about their hertitage, that they brown bag their milk now before carrying it out in public now days.

    I’m with you though, it was nothing but fun 15 or 20 years ago.

  22. scoots 12/31/2006 at 12:34 AM #

    Since SFN has decided to go political today, I’m not a big fan of Edwards but he could not possibly do worse than that idiot we have now. As embarrassing as Foul-up is at times, I would really hate to see how corrupt and inept our athletics dept. would be if W ran it.

  23. Lee Fowler 12/31/2006 at 11:37 AM #

    Can we do without the politics on this board? I rarely post at Packpride anymore, for this reason.

  24. chris92heel 12/31/2006 at 12:15 PM #

    The unc-state rivalry does seem to have gotten stupid recently. I dont go to packpride as much as every unc guy is a ‘fag’ who works at wal-mart, or starbucks for those that graduated with honors.

    I grew up in an area that was about 65-35 UNC/State fans, with basically no dookie and deacon fans. What I don’t get in all this is that, if you grew up in NC, who doesn’t have friends and/or family who went to the other school?

    JeffBrock is one of my favorite internet wuffies – hell, he’s got all the right enemies (i.e., other pack fans). LOL

  25. redfred2 12/31/2006 at 3:15 PM #

    chris92heel

    I hate to say it, but I’d have to blame it mainly on the NCSU side. It couldn’t be more apparent to anyone with half a brain, that before Sidney Lowe arrived back on campus, no one on any level in Raleigh had any idea of, or even wanted to mention, what NC State once was or should have always been. The administration didn’t want go there because it would only confirm that it was possible, making them have to work harder, and further riling a restless crowd of knowing fans. They chose to ignore it, thinking it would go away in time.

    Now we’re seeing some of the same folks who have lived their lives in the mediocrity of NCSU during their short years, but also the same ones who would have fought you tooth and nail over a coaching change, venting frustration that was created by their own ignorance, at their closest and most likely target.

    It is surely ridiculous, but because of a hopelessness in all fields of athletics, a nasty defense mechanism with words as the only weapons available, has grown from the nothingness coming out of Raleigh. It’s just another casualty of too many years of pitiful administration, and I don’t see it ever going back to like it was.

    I hate Carolina with a passion, but I’d much rather watch NC State get back than wasting my time arguing with a UNC fan. It’s kind of a stupid argument right now anyway, but just for the moment. When NC State shows the ability to stand up for it’s own self on occasion, the really bad insults will become less.

1 2

Leave a Reply