Ahhhh, boo…

Yep, I am still dragging. I have made peace, for the most part with my 9ers losing. I am still somewhat avoiding ESPN. You do not realize how much they talk about the SuperBowl after the fact until your team loses. And if that “I’m going to Disney World” commercial chases me down one more time, I am going to scream. Thankfully, I have had the remote near by every time and I have managed to avoid hearing those words.

Since I have made peace, I am sure you are wondering why I am still dragging. Football season is now officially over. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Say it ain’t so!!!! What am I going to do?? No Olympics coming up to keep me occupied during the summer months. I do love college basketball and baseball though so I guess I will immerse myself in those. Although, my Wolfpack is not doing so well. *insert sigh* I have faith in them though! We will bounce back.

Last night there was not much to watch on tv, as usual. However, March Madness came early. I managed to catch the last nine minutes of the Michigan-Ohio State game. That was good stuff!! The back and forth. The barrage of threes. The defense. Overtime. Last second shots. Two of the biggest rivals in collegiate athletics. You could not ask for much more on a Tuesday night. Although, I am sad about football season being over, last night’s game was a great reminder of why I love March Madness. If last night’s game is any indication of what is to come in March then we are in for a treat.

Yeah, that is all I have for today. Until next time, TOODELLS!

Approximately 23 weeks until NFL Training Camps open!!!!!

The old switcheroo…

Here we go again…

Before I went to sleep last night, I was skimming my Twitter timeline when my eyes landed on a tweet from SportsCenter “REPORT: ACC officials to vote on expansion candidates Wed. Louisville is most likely school to receive invite (via ACCSports.com).” My heart leaped for joy!! Not really. I rolled my eyes and said here we go again…

I am not sure if there is a word to express how annoying this realignment, musical chairs stuff is. For real. Almost every day there is talk of one school leaving this conference to go to another conference or this school does not want to pay this amount of money to leave their current conference. Talk about a mess!! Want to know what annoys me the most? The fact that this is all about MONEY. Surprising? Not at all. The decision makers could care less about tradition, alumni, the fans, etc. They are all playing switcheroo so they can see how much money they can make. Yes, athletic departments need money. Yes, institutions need money. Yes, the more money you have the more you can do for your school. However, society has become so money hungry that it is willing to sacrifice, at times, its integrity all because of a dollar or two.

Still not convinced this thing is money driven? In the college sports world, there are six major conferences: The Atlantic Coast Conference(ACC), the Big East Conference, the the Big 10 Conference, the Big 12 Conference, the Southeastern Conference(SEC) and the Pacific-12 Conference(Pac-12). Within the last two years, five out of the six conferences have either added or lost members due to the conference shuffle.

Lets take a look at the Big East, which I think will be extinct in a few years. As of today, the Big East consists of the University of Connecticut, Georgetown, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Rutgers, the University of Pittsburgh, Temple, the University of Cincinnati, DePaul, the University of Lousville, Marquette, the University of  South Florida and Notre Dame(in every sport except football). Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Notre Dame have all jumped ship and are headed to the ACC. Rutgers is sailing to the Big 10. To compensate for the impending losses, the brilliant minds in the Big East have decided to add Boise State(yes, the school in Idaho), San Diego State, Southern Methodist(straight out of Texas)Houston, the University of Central Florida, the University of Memphis, Tulane, East Carolina(in football only) and Navy. Whew! Makes your head hurt right? I am just waiting to see a tweet announcing that the Big East is now the Big USA conference or the Coast to Coast with a stop in the midwest conference. That conference makes no sense whatsoever.

Want another example? The Big 12 which consists of Baylor, Iowa State, the University of Kansas, Kansas State University, the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, the University of Texas, Texas Christian University, Texas tech University and West Virginia University. That is 10 schools for those of you keeping count. In 2011, the  University of Colorado and the University of Nebraska, bolted for the Pac-12 and Big 10, respectively. In 2012, the University of Missouri and Texas A&M left for the SEC. I fully expect the Big 12 to go after two more schools since they can not call themselves the Big 10, now can they?

This round robin, in my opinion, is putting a damper on college sports. Schools such as Texas A&M and the University of  Texas will no longer get to compete against each other year after year due to Texas A&M leaving the Big 12 to join the SEC. The ACC which had not lost a charter member since 1971, recently lost another when the University of Maryland decided to leave for the Big 10. High school athletes sometimes make decisions about where to go to school based on the conference they would play in. Etc. Etc. Etc. I could go on and on about why I wish a moratorium would be put in place when it comes to the switcheroo but I do not have the energy to do it. Plus I know my argument would just fall on death ears. So I will just sit back in The Korner, watching the money talk and secretly thanking them for giving me something to blog about, repeatedly. Insert sarcasm.

 

Until next time…TOODELLS.

The Weekender

Another beautiful weekend. Here’s a rekap…
Welp, my 9ers got butchered, sliced, diced, mollywopped, shallacked, killt, all dat by the midgets. Way too much talent on both sides of the ball to get beat like that.

What concussion? That is exactly what RGIII had to be thinking as he led the tataskinz to their first home win of the season.

Russell Wilson was who we have all seem him be, a playmaker. He threw a touchdown pass to Sidney Rice with 1:18 remaining in the game to lead the Seahawks to a 24-23 victory over The Brady Bunch.

Crazy weekend in Major League Baseball. It needs its own rekap…The Washington Nationals suffered a colossial collapse blwing a 7-5 lead in the ninth inning with two outs remaining, allowing the St. Louis Cardinals to advance to the NLCS. The San Francisco Giants defeated the Cincinnati Reds in five games to advance to the NLCS. The New York Yankees advance to the ALCS. And while we are talking about the Yankees, Google Raul Ibanez. What a story! The Detroit Tigers are facing the Yankees in the series. By the way, the Tigers are p 2-0 in the series and the Cards are up 1-0.

The Falcons remain the only undefeated team. The Texans got buried by the Packers.

The LSU Tigers brought the South Carolina Gamecocks back to reality. Sorry chickens.

The Brooklyn Nets made the preseason debut. They beat the Philadelphia 76ers 108-105.

Clint Bowyer won the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Brad Keselowski maintained his number one spot, barely.

Notre Dame finally beat Standford. The win moved them to number 5 in the AP poll.

No new news in hockey. Defrost already!!

The first BCS standings were released. No real surprise that the SEC holds the top two spots with Alabama and Florida.

Novak Djokovic is back to his winning ways. He took home the title at the China Open.

College basketball teams all across the country celebrated the first day of practice by holding various events. I attended Primetime with the PACK, of course :-}.

The Minnesota Lynx, the WNBA’s defending champs, shockingly loss the first game of the finals to the Indiana fever. Erlana Larkins scored 16 points in the 76-70 victory.

A week after I dropped Jets RB Shonn Greene from my fantasy roster, he goes out and rushes for 161 yards and scores three TDs against the Colts. Really dude?

 

Working on some gooooood stories. I am excited! Can not wait for ya’ll to read them and offer up your opinions. Until next time…TOODELLS.

For the love of the WOLFPACK…

Sunday morning I woke up with a headache. My throat was scratchy. And I was sleeeeeee-py. No, I was not sick. No, it had not been a long week. I was suffering the side effects of cheering my beloved Wolfpack on to victory over the #3 team in the nation on national TV….

As I sat in the stands at Carter-Finley Stadium aka The Carter Saturday night…..wait, let me rephrase that. As I stood in the stands, hooping and hollering, Saturday night watching my Wolfpack send Florida State back to RDU with their first loss, I could not help but wonder where this team was last week. Was this the same team that gave up 556 yards to Miami? Was this the same team that gave up that many yards and still had numerous chance to leave South Florida with a win? Was this the same team who had the home team thinking they were “The U” of old? Shaking my head, I thought to myself, ah the life of a STATE fan. NEVER A DULL MOMENT!!!
You see, it takes a special kind of person to be a STATE fan. You have to be loyal, determined, whitty, invested, committed, enthusiastic, passionate, confident and you need a good heart. Not the kind of heart that prompts you to be nice to people but a good heart that can sustain the extra heart palpitations you are sure to experience as a STATE fan. Saturday’s heart pounder is just one of many I have experienced as a STATE fan. I went through the same thing in 2010 when Florida State came to The Carter. I have had the same experience with men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, swimming, etc.

I have heard some say, “It is not easy being a STATE fan.” Sure, we have never won a national championship in football. We have not won a national championship in men’s basketball since 1983. Be sure to watch the ESPN 30 for 30 episode about the ’83 team next year. Yes, that was a plug! Despite the lack of championships, although we are one of only 14 programs that have won two or more men’s basketball championships, the sheer uncertainty at times keeps me excited. Take last year for instance. I attended our men’s basketball game against Florida State on February 18. I remember the day because it was the same day as Whitney Houston’s funeral. We got absolutely manhandled at home and I sat in the RBC(now PNC Arena) and watched Houston’s funeral on my phone. A month later, that same team that got manhandled was in the Sweet 16. Seven months later, this same team has constantly been ranked in the top 10 in the preseason polls. See what I mean?

Despite the fact that people think I should support one of the blue teams in the state(let me just say I would rather listen to someone pop gum 24 hours straight than to be a fan of either school…and anyone who knows me knows how much I CAN NOT STAND FOR PEOPLE TO POP GUM), I LOVE BEING A STATE FAN! I LOVE BEING AN ALUM! I love the fact that my school is associated with names such as DT, Yow, Valvano, Case, Shea, Stinson, Rivers, Holt, Tulloch, Hodge, Jones, Burleson, Pettersson, Gabriel, Brown, Whittenburg, Wilson, just to name a few. I love screaming HOME OF THE WOLFPACK at the end of the National Anthem. I love wearing RED, my favorite color. I love baseball games at The Doak, with Sullivan Hall in the background. I love the history of Reynolds Coliseum. I love hearing “WOLFPACK IN THE HOOOOOOOOOUSE” over the PA system.  I love going to games and seeing grown men and students dressed in red & white overalls. I love seeing the Bell Tower illuminated in red lighting after big wins. I love being a STATE fan. The good, the bad and the ugly. The tough times make nights like Saturday night, worth the Sunday morning headache.

Until next time….TOODELLS. #REDANDWHITEFORLIFE #OURSTATE #WOLFBLOOD

The Weekender

Happy October!!! Special shoutout to my mother celebrating her birfday on the 25th. LOVE YOU MUMPHREY!! Now for what happened in the wonderful world of sports this weekend….

Europe won the Ryder Cup. Bah humbug.

Laaaaawd they have bounties in Pop Warner too? In my Megatron voice, “DISGUSTING!”

‘Bama wins. Remains number one in the polls.

The Cardinals are 4-0 and the Saints are 0-4. Just like last week, this is NOT a typo.

The Texas Rangers clinched a playoff spot(Yes!). The New York Yankees did too(Boo!).

Ed Hochuli was spotted on the field in Jacksonville. His biceps were in attendance too.

My 9ers grounded the Jets. Shutout style!

Brad Keselowski won at Dover. His win secured first place for him in The Chase.

The Eagles held on for a victory against the Giants. I think Tynes may be feeling really Billy Cundiff-ish right now.

Speaking of Billy, he saved his job yesterday by kicking the game winning field goal for the tataskiz yesterday. That profanity you hear is courtesy of Ravens fans.

The Pack had every opportunity to beat Miami on Saturday but just could not get it done. Crossing my fingers, toes and eyes in hopes of us bringing our A+++ game Saturday night against the seminoles.

Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera is still in position to do something that has not been done since 1967, capture the Triple Crown(Leader in HRs, RBI’s and batting average). He has three games left to make it happen.

The Patriots were down 21-7 early in the third quarter to the Bills before mounting a huge comeback to win 52-28. Impressive but it is the Bills.

The Orioles clinched their first playoff spot since ’97. Cheers to the birds.

Welp, KG obviously isn’t happy with Ray Allen’s decision to leave Boston for Miami. Ray Ray does not seem to be the least bit concerned.

The NHL & the NHLPA are still….on ice. Sigh.

Kansas restructured Bill Self’s contract to keep him on the sidelines through 2021-22. It pays to lookout for Self.

 

Until next time…TOODELLS.

Oh yeeeeeeeah!

After a loooooooong and agonizing six weeks, the WOLFPACK family finally got the news it has been hoping to hear all summer….Rodney Purvis has been cleared by the NCAA to play basketball!! WHOOP WHOOOOOOOP!! Coming off a Sweet 16 berth, the “addition” of Purvis solidifies State’s position as a favorite to win the ACC this year. I have a feeling it is going to be an interesting year on Tobacco Road :-}.