Christmas 2016

I'm sick.

I've been sort of sick for over a week. Really sore, painful, raw throat. Swollen sinuses. Occasional slight temperature. But not really sick. Just sort of sick.

From the airport in ATL to arriving in RDU - I actually got better and thought "finally, this thing is going away".

Until last night and today.

Whatever it is - it has finally won. My temperature has been up to 100 - every bone and joint aches - can't breath - congestion - and my throat is killing me.

I've made a 'walk in' appointment for tomorrow.

At least I got home before it all went to Heck.

Anyway - back to Christmas.

*Friday

What a surprise!

Took a late afternoon flight to Atlanta to spend Christmas with my brother; sister-in-law; niece and hubby (Chis) and their 2 girls (great-nieces).

RDU Terminal 2 is almost all glass - so I'm watching the plane pull in and passengers disembark. The gate agents announce the plane is totally full - and they need 40 carryon's to be gate checked. OK by me. So I'm the first one up to the gate desk.

While the agent is checking and tagging my bag - the pilot walks off the ramp to the desk - HEY! It's Chris!

(niece's husband? nephew-in-law? nephew" - I'm going with nephew - I like that best)

What a nice surprise! Chris works for Delta. He arranged to pilot the flight I was on. That was really nice and made me feel really special and welcome to Georgia for Christmas for the first time. Not to mention, the ride home from ATL airport.

Chris and Charlsanne grilled hamburgers for dinner. Yummy.

Saturday - Christmas Eve

Great weather - low 70's.

Walked around Senoia Georgia. Didn't know that Senoia is the location for ton's of movies and TV shows. Just about as much as Wilmington / Southport is in NC. Let's see - that took about 5 minutes. Senoia is small. Really small - maybe twice the size of Pittsboro (near me).

After wards, some toys for the girls needed assembling. Rode with Chuck to deliver another toy to a Church neighbor. Temporarily lost my phone and camera (set them down on the swing set teeter totter and promptly forgot them - found them later that night.)

Chuck and Brenda cooked out steaks. I love grilling - hamburgers one night, steaks the next - Bill was a very happy camper.

Let's see - I'm sure there was other stuff that happened - but I can't remember.

Christmas

Early up and on to Chris' and Charlesanne's and Maddy's and Maci's. It's always fun to watch kids open presents. They get so excited and happy. The big thing was a trampoline and a basketball goal. And an ipod (to play music. Yep - Frozen is still popular.) When I was a kid - I wanted a trampoline - never got one. These new ones have a lot of safety features built in. The girls were having a ton'o'fun on it.

Christmas dinner was roasted Cornish game hens (again - one of my favorites). The girls got served first, I'm getting their water and milk and teasing them a little about the hens.

Maci: "What are these?"

Me: "What are Cornish Hens? Ohhh, Cornish Hens are like little baby chickens. All nice and sweet and fluffy and fun and peeping and cute".

Maddy: "And then you fry them"

ROFL

Baked apples and veggies and corn casserole. Again - great home style food. I like going out to eat and trying interesting stuff at restaurants. But for times like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fourth of July - nothing beats straight forward ol fashion comfort food.

Took an early evening flight back to Raleigh. Again - a full plane but this time they didn't ask for bag checks. Looked like everything got stuffed into the overheads and below the seats. Everybody is in a good mood, even with the lines.

Thanks Brenda and Charlsanne (and Chris and Chuck for operating the grill. And driving the Airplane).

The girls are keepers


(Side note - TSA in Raleigh was fine - cheerful, happy - except for the one sniffer dog pompous jackass. Atlanta - the stereotypical TSA process - grumpy, abrupt, aggressively rude, almost surly. I guess it's the repetitive heavy workload. Or maybe they're just plain jerks who know they can't be fired. In fairness - The guy operating the ATL body scanner was pleasant to people.)

Today

Fever and throat woke me up a couple times last night. Actually got ready to go into the office - and basically stopped and sat down in the living room - realized - it's a no-go.

The only thing I've managed is to change batteries in the garage remotes. Later I need to change out the smoke alarm back up batteries.

And - I want to program a new, third garage remote. You have to get out a ladder, open the door opener motor unit - and push a couple buttons inside the unit to sync the remote.

I hope I don't fall off the ladder. If nobody sees me online for a couple days - you might want to call one of the neighbors to check to see if there's an old fat guy on the garage floor.

Merry Christmas.


*Inside Joke

Hey Boseman - I finally win one! LOL

Fun Game

Early season game vs. Appalachian State Thursday night.

Here, Take the Slam Dunk
No Thanks - YOU take the Slam Dunk

Game Highlights

'Twas a fun game. 

Now - if we can only do this against Carolina . . .

Run Hide Fight

Thanksgiving 2016

Went to St James (Southport) to have Thanksgiving with Ward and Hazel N and Jason.



As always, a nice, pleasant time. Visiting; conversation; watching some T-Day football; playing with the dogs Archie and Bella. Hazel put on a perfect, traditional Thanksgiving turkey, potatoes, dressing, green beans and pumpkin pie. It was yummy.

Friday

Drove home early Friday. Stopped by the office for about an hour or so to finish up some work. Made it home exactly on time to turn on the TV for the NC State @ UNC-CHeats game.

It was a great game.



It's been a frustrating, aggravating season. Glad to see the kids finish on a very positive note.

Independence Bowl in Shreveport, LA on December 26. Opponent will be an SEC team - TBD. Play like we did yesterday (and like the Clemson, Notre Dame and Florida State games) and we'll win.

Saturday

Right now it's Saturday - I'll publish this tomorrow (Sunday).

Up early. Made breakfast (eggs and toast and OJ). Then into Cary for a haircut - 3rd customer at Mitchell's when they opened at 0800.

Stopped at Target on the way home to pick up some headphones. I sometimes listen to games on the radio and my old headphones are finally coming apart. Got a Sony pair that Target had on sale. And a foo foo, overpriced Starbucks Latte.

Cleaned, adjusted and oiled the chainsaw. Tested it. Ready for wood cutting.

Chores done - ready to watch some football. Michigan at Ohio State at noon - starts in a few minutes.

At 1500 I'll leave to pick up Chip to go to the NC State basketball game. Playing Loyola of . . . Chicago? Someone or somewhere like that. Should be fun.

Saturday Evening

Basketball game was far too exciting.

Faced with our talent, Loyola came up with the perfect game plan.

Zone defense packed into the paint to deny us layups and dunks and force us to shoot from outside. Then on offense, sort of a fast paced Princeton offense. Lots of passing looking for the slight opening to head inside or if they couldn't do that - then hit 3's from the outside. Only works if your shooting is red hot. And it was. I don't know the stats, but if you told me Loyola shot over 70% - I'd believe it. I'm sure they didn't - but it seemed that way. And it also seemed as if they couldn't miss a three.

We shot really well too - but Loyola was just unbelievable. I bet they won't have another game where they shoot as well or execute almost perfectly.

State was clearly the better team - but Loyola did exactly what they needed to do to win. And almost did. State won by 2.

Hardly any fouls called - especially in the second half. Neither school got into the 1 and 1 either half. In fact, in the second half, near the end, Chip and I noticed that State had 3 total fouls and Loyola had 4. Very unusual.

Headphones worked perfectly and are more comfortable than my old ones.

Sunday

Per the Box Score - Loyola: 2 pt 48% and 3 pt 60%. That 3 pt percentage is amazing. For State: 2 pt 56% and 3 pt 33% which is really good. Unless the other team shots 60% 3 pt shots!

Not a thing planned for today. I'll probably do some household chores, but that's about it. If anything worth mentioning happens - I'll post an amendment.

". . . I don't know what to think yet."

Clemson - Louisville - Boston College

We won the Clemson game - except not on the scoreboard.

I felt sad but great - knowing the kids could play so well. It didn't seem like they were playing above themselves - more like they were playing to their potential.

I would have felt tons of confidence going into the Louisville game. Knowing we could go toe to toe with the best teams in the Country.

Instead - we decided to curl up in the corner and sulk.

OK - let's write off the Louisville game. Don't even look at the tape. Just forget it and focus on Boston College.

We'll get a good solid win - maybe something like 30's to 10 or so. Good for moral and get us 'back in the game'.

So what do we do? We come in listless and let BC snap their 2-year winless ACC streak.

Losing to Louisville was OK. But not how we lost - completely didn't show up for the game. The Boston College game was both losing AND how we lost.

We have lost 4 games. In ONE game we played well. The other 3 losses - ECU, Louisville and BC - it's like the team didn't even bother to show up. Once can be written off as a fluke, a learning experience, just bad luck or whatever. Three times in half a season? No [bleeping] excuse.

I hate it when people boo. I don't like it when the visiting team takes the field and people boo. I especially hate it when people boo their own team. Especially when it's kids playing the game.

The boos started lightly in the first half. By the end of the game - with the end zone interception by BC - the boos were loud - and long. Almost all of it from the west side stands - the Wolfpack Club stands.

I don't like that. But I damn sure understand it. Yesterday Coach Doeren lost his Wolfpack Club support.

I'm not exactly angry - it's is just a game. But I'm more than disappointed. I feel, not angry, but frustrated and pissed off.

I like Coach Doeren - and I think every coach deserves at least 5 years. But for me - there better be some serious signs of progress starting now and through next season.

Jason said it perfectly: "I don't know what to think yet"

Moral Victories Suck

This wasn't a moral victory. Moral victories are when you play your best but lose to the better team. NC State and Clemson were equal yesterday.

Both made critical mistakes. Both made great plays. It was a game of equals - not a David and Goliath. The difference was State's 13 penalties for 120 yards and 3 missed field goals.

One of those field goals might not should have even happened if the refs hadn't missed an obvious foul.

There were a couple of key plays.

State's 4 down goal line stand keeping Clemson from scoring was huge.

The missed call on 3rd down when State was at Clemson's 19 yard line was equally big. There was a blatantly obvious face mask that the refs missed - which should have been State with 1st and goal on the Clemson 9. (It was on the runner with the ball! How did they miss that?) Instead - the fourth down field goal attempt was blocked.

State played an almost perfect fourth quarter. The coaches made great calls and clock management was perfect. Field goal attempts less than 40 yards are pretty much a given. Usually.

Credit Clemson with making their plays when the game was on the line in OT.

State went down to Clemson with the attitude that we were equals. State executed the almost perfect game plan. Except for the penalties.

Again - it was not a moral victory. It was an OT loss.

Yesterday's game was important.

State is much, much better than last year and going in the right direction. A win over Clemson would have driven that point home.

Even with the loss - State is getting where they need to be. My friend Jason called and said "I'm not upset. I'm happy with what we've got." He's exactly right. We have a good team headed in the right direction and a clean, solid program.

College sports is supposed to be about kids playing a game. But we all know it's big time college football, with TV exposure and lots of Athletics Department's money at stake.

Here's a couple of reminders at just how important yesterday's game was -







Clemson

Coach Dabo Swinney runs a clean program. They have got to got those turnovers stopped. I hope Clemson plays for the National Championship again. And wins.

Louisville

Next Saturday - NC State at Louisville. Noon. ABC national TV.

NC State 2 - ND 0

Upper Left

The game should have been called off.

It didn't need to be rescheduled for this season either. We play @ Notre Dame next year - ND could have been rescheduled to play @ NC State the following year.

It was risky for fans to travel to the game. Of the 60,000 tickets sold - the estimate is 30,000 came to the game. After halftime and the lightening delay - I'd say half came back in - about 15,000.

It seemed as if a lot of calls went against State. A touchdown called back (technically correct - but a pedantic flag).

During the third - State had the ball 11 minutes - ND 4. And yet, the only score was ND tieing the game with a field goal.

With the delay, the weather and the frustrating third quarter- It became an emotional fourth quarter.

During Notre Dame's last drive, it seemed as if every ball placement was generous to ND and converted (by inches) 4th downs. The crowd, as small as it was, was livid and very vocal. They (we) were LOUD. I was surprised by just how loud. And we finally stopped ND on fourth down near the goal line.

I guess by the fourth quarter - those of us who were there were beyond miserable due to the Hurricane. We were 'all in' - and when the game was over - nobody rushed to leave. Instead, everyone stayed to cheer the team and celebrate. In the height of Hurricane Matthew.

This storyboard put together by NC State tells it better than I can - https://spark.adobe.com/page/RXhnkKne0OuKO/

The Defense played a great, total game. Like I expected them to play from the start of the season. It should not have taken until games 4 and 5 to get there. Because of that - I'm still disappointed with our DC.

After all the excitement - State is still likely to go 6 and 6 and squeak into a Bowl Game.

Next up @ Clemson. Noon. ABC. Yikes!

Notable NC State Football Games

These are Notable Games NC State has played since I was in school -

Loss to Penn State on a 51 yard field goal with no time left. I was there along with Boseman. Was still in school.



Defensive penalty on South Carolina with 0 time left - results in one last NC State play - a Hail Mary pass from Erik Kramer caught by Danny Peebles in the end zone. I was there.

Both losses to ECU - in Raleigh - where those jackasses tore down State's goal posts and started riots on the field. I was there both times to see ECU's trailer trash behaviour. Brother-in-law and nephew were at the second one.

Hurricane Fran game (vs. Georgia Tech I think). Loss played Saturday after Hurricane Fran came through Thursday night / Friday morning. CP&L got the power on at Carter-Finley so the game could be played and folks could get out of their powerless homes and catch a break from all the damage and clean up. I was there. Chip, I think, was with me.



Loss at Carolina - TA McClendon ruled down inches from the goal line as time runs out . I was there (along with Chip). Yes - at Carolina. Boseman sent me tickets - I think he got them from the Nike sales rep or someone like that.

Not only there - Chip and I were about 6 rows from the field - end zone side - just past the goal line - right where the runs occurred.

He was IN. The 'knee down' call was bullshit. There's no way the other ref (who was further away) could have seen that in the crowd of guys. Especially since the ref who was right there signaled a touchdown.

Chip and I were the NC State fans closest to the play regardless what any bragging lying bozo says - "who was there" - NOT (besides maybe 5 or 6 other State fans nearby in our section; and the coaches and players on the sideline).

First NC State win over Florida State. I was there. Ed Mussler from work went with me.



Prime Time "College Football Lives Here" come-from-behind upset over Florida State. I was there. Chip and Jason and - Erica?

Amato cried.

2003 Gater Bowl - win over Notre Dame. I was there. Along with sister, brother-in-law; brother and sister-in-law. The game was not as close as the score indicates.

Triple overtime loss at Ohio State. I was there. Along with sister and brother-in-law and Chip. Think we have 'big time' football at State? Brother - go to an Ohio State game. It's a whole 'nother level of college football.

And now the Notre Dame win - played during Hurricane Matthew. Well, tropical storm conditions in Raleigh. Hurricane along the coast. Chip, Jason and Erica.

Electricity

Power was out when we got home. Went out around 10:45 AM after we had left for the game. Lines and poles down along Deep River Road. No power through Sunday. Got a lot read.

The trucks were rolling in as I was leaving for work Monday morning. Power was restored around noon Monday. About 50 hours. Not too bad considering about a Million people in NC lost power.

The power guys have a hard, non-stop, job after a storm. Hat's off and a hearty thanks to them.

Weekend Update 2 OCT 2016 +Addendum

Had fun at the Wake Forest at NC State game. Winning is always more fun than losing. The defense played much better but I'm still of the opinion we need a new DC.

Our kick off, extra point and field goal kicking game last year, and so far this year, has been - let's call it - An Adventure. LOL But, Kyle Bambard kicked a 49 yard field goal. His longest - by far. The coaches say he nails his kicks in practice - hopefully this one helps his game confidence.

Still looking at a 5 and 7 record unless we pull a couple of upsets - best candidates are Notre Dame next week and maybe Miami further down the road. But - don't count chickens yet.

Notre Dame game next weekend is going to be fun.

Ouch

Speaking of long field goals -

UNC-CHeats pulled a big one out their butt at Florida State.

Amazing 54 yard field goal to win it with just 4 seconds left. Just amazing. UNC should give big time thanks to the crimi'Noles for helping them out. A 15 yard pass interference got them close enough to even try.



UNC is on track to go 10 - 2. Wonder if their fans will start showing up for their home games?

Home and Work

I'm always saying there's nothing new to report. That's because I live a typical boring life. Which is good.

Work is doing just fine. Pretty much routine. Which I guess means I've got all my work and projects under control and moving smoothly. I don't like problems and putting out fires - in construction, they are almost always avoidable. After 30 years, I guess I finally know what I'm doing - more or less.

The biggest thing on my radar? Going to Target and getting a new Sonicare toothbrush. Mine died yesterday morning. I don't know if I even remember how to brush my teeth without an electric toothbrush.

Yep - that's it.

Oh yeah - the grass needs cutting.

Addendum

Notre Dame at NC State - Noon Kickoff - ABC Nationwide Broadcast.

I foresee country ham biscuits in my tailgaing future.

Hell Freezes Over

I worked earlier this month in Carteret County. Nice time to be at the coast. After Labor Day - nice weather - no crowds.

View From the Hotel Room

Harkers Island

One day after work, I drove over to Harkers Island. I've lived all my life in North Carolina and never been there.

It's a pretty sizable island. Similar to Manteo. And so far, it's opted out of the Vacation McMansion Blight. There's a couple of subdivisions on the water with McMs, but only a handful.

Harkers Island reminds me of Sneads Ferry from 40 years ago. A college friend's family had a vacation cottage on the ICW. We'd go there and get liquored up watch the boats, nature and stars.

Visiting Harkers Island was like stepping back in time.

Shrimp Boats

At the end of the road - at the end of the island - is the surprisingly large Core Sound Waterfowl and Heritage Center. Unexpected surprise.

Museum

View from the Lookout

Hard to see, but way in the distance - Carteret Lighthouse.

Carteret Lighthouse

Ate dinner at one of the two local restaurants - across the street from each other.

Sanitary Seafood

It's been about 20 years since I've eaten at Sanitary Seafood. With mom and dad - met them in Beaufort. I can't remember the occasion.

While working, we had lunch there one day. Food was as good as I remember. I also went back one evening for dinner. Honestly - the best fried flounder I can ever remember having. It's hard to cook fish just right - it's so delicate it's easy to under or (more likely) over cook. This one was absolutely perfect.

Sanitary used to have no alcohol sales. In fact, they're known for their sign in the entry that says they'll ask you to leave if you're inebriated and that they'd rather lose 10 drunken patrons than to lose one sober one.

Well, Sanitary now sells beer, wine and (GASP!) hard liquor. And horror of horrors - they have installed a bar - right in the middle of the main dinning room. The owner told me they got their liquor license two years ago. Frankly, I'm surprised they were able to hold out that long.

The exit is still the same with their original cash register and comment book.

Hell has Officially Frozen Over

Exit

Some days at work are better than others. Sometimes much better.

Bill is Irked

I enjoy watching college sports.

The kids play for heart, fun and pride. I take wins and losses in stride. After all - it IS just a game - played by kids. I don't get all crazy like the message board nut jobs. I get season tickets and make donations - but - my happiness doesn't depend on a won / loss record. I have a life.

That said - State's loss to ECU yesterday has me steamed.

The Pie Rats of Pitt County Charter School were well coached and well prepared. State's offense was (mostly) well coached and well prepared. State's defense . . . was Not.

In a typical college football game you can give up 2, 3 maybe, just maybe, 4 BIG plays and still win.

State's defense allowed ECU to make the following BIG plays -

Rushing: 28 yard, 27 yards, 13 yards
Pass Completions:  18 yards, 17 yards, 33 yards, 25 yards, 39 yards

Our recruits / athletes are better and more experienced than ECU's. Giving up 8 BIG plays lay directly at the feet of the Defensive Coaching Staff.

Also - I haven't found the stats - it seemed like ECU made a lot of critical third down conversions. Certainly more than our defense should have allowed.

These are the same problems our defense had all of last year.

Defensive Coordinator Huxtable needs to be let go immediately and a member of the staff named interim DC. Coach Doeren's background is defense. He should recognize this and could assist the interim coach for the rest of the season. A new (and better, obviously) DC can be hired after the season ends.

Doing this right now will NOT make our defense worse for the rest of the season. Hell, it may even improve it. It would send the statement that Coach Doeren recognizes a major weakness and won't wait to start correcting it.

We replaced our OC from last year.

Already, our offense has improved to the point that even with the holes the defense put us in - our offense still almost won the game.

The kicking game still has some a lot of work to do. 2 missed field goals, 1 failed 2 point conversion, 1 failed fake field goal on 4th down - that's 7 or 8+ points right there.

State was projected to go a mediocre 6 and 6. We're overrated. Sigh . . . .

UNC CHeats Got Robbed

I don't stick up for UNC CHeats.

But the refs did their part in making sure Georgia won the UNC - GA game at the Georgia Dome.

In the 3rd - a couple of questionable pass interference calls went against UNC.

Then - it got totally out of hand - and darn near obvious the refs were taking sides - an 'illegal lineman downfield' call was wrong - just plain wrong. Easily seen during the play and on replay. Coach Fedora tore into the refs - and got a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty. Fedora was whining the whole game - maybe the refs got tired of it - but the refs essentially gave two crappy flags to UNC. That completely changed the game for Carolina.

Then, in the fourth, when Carolina was making a comeback - a critical 3rd down catch WAS made and then, inexplicably, overturned on replay. The 'reason' (and by that - I mean 'excuse') was the ball was jiggling a little as the player hit the ground. Well of course it was - he was being hit - BUT - he held on to the ball and had possession AND control. Even if there was a little ball movement - it was still under control and ruled a catch. Then, overturned on replay. WTF? Replay is supposed to require 'indisputable evidence' that the call was wrong. No way there was anywhere near enough to overturn the ruling on the field.

That pretty much took the wind out of the sails for UNC. Add in a bonehead safety and poor play calling at the very end - and Georgia gets the win.

Maybe Georgia would have won anyway without the bad UNC calls - but I doubt it.

Labor Day Weekend 2016

East Carolina Alumni Association

College football season starts this weekend.

State's warm up game vs. Bill and Mary was Thursday night. We looked really good, But - it was against a  seriously outmatched team.

Next week we go to Pitt County Remedial Charter School. While EZU isn't supposed to be that good this year, it will be a much stronger team and we'll see just how much State has improved (hopefully).

State plays 3 top 10 teams and 3 top 25 teams. We should win the other 6 games and have a .500 season. We'll be improved over last year but it will take a real upset to go better than 6 and 6.

Likewise, we have to avoid any upsets - like next weekend - at EZU.

Pre-Season Football

NC State football will be much improved this year.

We have three quarterbacks who should be able to pick right up from Jacoby Brisset (who was most of our offense last year). Receivers are a little thin. Our running game could be awesome with 4 excellent running backs - IF - our offensive line can open some holes. Overall, our offensive talent should be utilized better with a new Offensive Coordinator. Defense should be darn good too. The kicking game can't do much else but improve over last year.

However, with all the improvement - the schedule gets a lot harder.

Our schedule trades average VT for Miami; a warm up cupcake team for Notre Dame; and another warm up cupcake team for EZU.

According to ESPN's pre-season football rankings - State will play 3 top 10 teams (#2 Clemson, #4 Florida State, #9 Notre Dame) and 3 top 25 teams (#19 UNCheats, #24 Louisville, #25 Miami).

State will have to win all our other games to have a 6 - 6 record. We can't overlook anybody (EZU, Syracuse, BC - even Wake Forest) - the margins are way too thin.

It sure would be nice to pick up an upset win.

As always - our motto - "Wait till next year".

Pre-Season Football

NC State football will be much improved this year.

We have three quarterbacks who should be able to pick right up from Jacoby Brisset (who was most of our offense last year). Receivers are a little thin. Our running game could be awesome with 4 excellent running backs - IF - our offensive line can open some holes. Overall, our offensive talent should be utilized better with a new Offensive Coordinator. Defense should be darn good too. The kicking game can't do much else but improve over last year.

However, with all the improvement - the schedule gets a lot harder.

Our schedule trades average VT for Miami; a warm up cupcake team for Notre Dame; and another warm up cupcake team for EZU.

According to ESPN's pre-season football rankings - State will play 3 top 10 teams (#2 Clemson, #4 Florida State, #9 Notre Dame) and 3 top 25 teams (#19 UNCheats, #24 Louisville, #25 Miami).

State will have to win all our other games to have a 6 - 6 record. We can't overlook anybody (EZU, Syracuse, BC - even Wake Forest) - the margins are way too thin.

It sure would be nice to pick up an upset win.

As always - our motto - "Wait till next year".

Beavis and Butthead for President +Addendum

For those fortunate enough to not 'get' the reference - Bevis and Butthead was a really, really awful cartoon from a couple decades ago. I thought it was stupid and not funny at all. Who knew it would come in handy someday? LOL

The creator, Mike Judge, went on to create King of the Hill - an excellent show. He also directed Office Space.

Go figure.



Addendum

After ONE day of ridicule - Trump - Pence changes their logo - ROFL

http://time.com/4409431/donald-trump-new-campaign-logo/

Go Straight to Basketball

Can we just skip NC State football this year and go straight to Basketball?

Football

Now is the time of year I usually start getting excited about football. Not so much this year.

Going back to last season - there were all sorts of low key but persistent talk about it being State's breakout year. Seven and five would be the absolute minimum. Even 8 - 4, 9 - 3 or better was talked about as an expectation - by the players no less. Football teams (kids) don't talk that kind of talk unless they get it from their coaches.

Winning the first four cupcake games by A LOT only fueled expectations.

I drank the Kool Aid.

We ended up 7 - 5; barely. And lost (deservedly) our bowl game. Overall record: 7 - 6.

This year, we trade two cupcake games for EZU and Notre Dame. Also, we exchange a weak ACC team for Miami.

We'll have an improved team over last year - but we should expect a 6 - 6 hard won record. Any misstep like a road game loss to EZU or Syracuse - and we're having a losing season.

Still a young team - but getting better.

Playing Clemson, Florida State and Notre Dame who are solidly in the elite realm - and UNCheats, Miami and Louisville - solidly in the very, very good category - we'd have to upset someone to do better than break even.

It's a numbers game. You have to have a bunch of 3, 4 and 5 star recruits to get even with the Cheats and Louisville. It takes dozens of star recruits to get to the Clemson, FSU, Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State level.

A lot of goodwill in the Wolfpack Club got burned up last year with all the over optimistic talk and expectations.

Coach Doeren has his work cut out for him.

Basketball

Man - what a roller coaster with NC State's Basketball team this spring.

State had a disappointing year. We finished 16 - 17. First losing season for Coach Gott.

Our star transfer guard had a season ending injury in the first half of the very first game. That put all the work on Cat Barber. Malik-Abu stepped up and started becoming the power forward he always had the chance to be.

All the other players worked hard and put their hearts into every game.

Actually - I had a ton of fun watching our 'Fair to OK to Good' players go toe to toe with Dook and UNCheats and Louisville and Virginia. We were always out-matched - but never outplayed.

Basketball Coaches

Assistant Coach Rob Moxley had 3 strokes and went into cardiac arrest. He's moved to an administrative job - Director of Player Personnel. Butch Pierrre is Moxley's replacement.

First among equals Assistant Coach Bobby Lutz was also moved out and over to an administrative job. Still don't know why. Heath Schroyer is his replacement.

Of Gott's initial hires - Orlando Earley is now considered to be the first among three equal Assistant Coaches.

The Director of Strength and Conditioning was fired and replaced. Again - no one knows why exactly. Maybe he let BeeJay keep sneaking back into the buffet line?

Basketball Players

Cat Barber turned pro as expected.

Totally unexpected were the Martin Twins transferring (to Nevada). Coach Gott was clearly surprised.

Then Malik-Abu decided to test the NBA waters. While unexpected - that was really a smart move. He leaned what the pros think he needs to work on to play his way into the NBA draft - this year or next.

BeeJay did likewise. LOL

BJ needs to set his sights on playing some European ball (after he graduates) and then look for a coaching career. Then again - who knows what's possible? Dream the Dream BJ - Dream the Dream.

We had one - ONE - solid recruit. Point guard Dennis Smith. Albeit a top 10 recruit.

And that was it.

With all the coaching changes and sudden transfers - in April it looked like the wheels were coming off the bus.

And now, not quite three short months later, it's June -

Somehow, someway - Coach Gott must know what he's doing.

The new Assistant Coaches (and Gott) hit the ground running. As of Friday - NC State has 5 multi-star rated recruits coming in this year. (Two likely 'one and done' NBA draft picks)

In one fell swoop - we will have gone from a team with one Superstar Player (Cat), a developing GOOD player (Malik-Abu) the rest of the OK starters and NO bench to a team with all five projected starters being highly recruited Superstar Players - plus Abu. Heck, a couple of our highly rated recruits are going to be on the bench.

This kind of thing is normal for places like Dook, Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan State, Louisville and so on.

It's going to be a first for NC State.

Every year Coach Gott has always had several highly rated players considering State - but they always end up somewhere else, except for the occasional Cat Barber.

This year - the recruits decided to come to State. We even got a late 'ranked' recruit out of nowhere just Friday (yesterday). WTF?

So - we know Coach Gott can get average to good players to play their hearts out. Can Gott be a Coach K and get a team full of egos to play together?

We'll see.

State Basketball is going to be fun this year.

Notes

Here's the national Basketball recruiting class rankings - http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Basketball/CompositeTeamRankings

And the same recruiting rankings - just for the ACC - http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Basketball/CompositeTeamRankings?Conference=ACC

This is NOT where the teams are projected to be ranked - just this years recruiting class.

Here's a link to State's projected football season - http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/fpi?id=152&year=2016

RUN HIDE FIGHT

This is a long post - but worth it.

And watch the videos - really. (If nothing else - please watch the Ohio State video)

Workplace Training

I work at the NC Department of Administration.

We have mandatory Violence in the Workplace Training. Workplace safety used to be avoiding slips (water on hard surfaces), falls (watch out using stairs, look out for uneven floors) and don't run with scissors. Times have changed.

Over the past couple of years - Active Shooter training has been introduced. I'm going to give you the bottom line from a full day's training.

RUN HIDE FIGHT

RUN

The first, and best (no ifs ands or buts) thing to do is RUN. RUN NOW. Don't hesitate; don't ask questions (Is this real? Are those really gunshots?) - Don't fuck around - RUN. RUN for your life.

Don't collect your iPad or purse or jacket - leave it. Just RUN. And don't stop running until you're far, far away - and are sure you're out of danger. (Do take your phone - but not if you have to look for it).

Don't go back to help others - that's a noble sentiment - but DON'T. They should be running too.

Even if the shooter is nearby - say, he's burst into the restaurant and starts firing - Running decreases your chance of getting shot. Shooters aren’t trained. They may have spent a lot of time practicing target shooting – but hitting a moving target? Not easily done.

RUN Forrest RUN.

HIDE (then FIGHT)

If you have no escape – nowhere to run - the second thing to do is hide.

Get behind a lockable door. No lock? Barricade it. Use your belt to secure the door handles or to secure the overhead closing mechanism (watch the videos to see how it’s done).

Keep quiet, turn the cell phone ringer off, turn off the lights. No screaming, no wailing, no loud crying. Control yourself. You have things to do.

Now here is where my instructor differs from the videos – She pointed out that shooters hunt for hiding people. After the initial frenzy of running and escaping, the shooter has to hunt for people to shoot.

Here’s the thing about hiding – you really aren’t in a secure hiding place. You might slow him down with temporary barricades - but eventually – he can get to you.

If you stop at HIDE – and the shooter finds you – and at that point if all you can do is beg for your life or just tremble and pray – he’s going to shoot you.

So – per my instructor – don’t just passively HIDE. Prepare to FIGHT.

The shooter is looking for you. Given enough time – he will find you. You need to get ready.

Use this brief chance to (quietly as possible) find a weapon(s) and position yourself to ambush him when he enters.

More than just you hiding in the room? Great - the more people ready to fight back the merrier. Everyone - grab a weapon.

To summarize what my instructor emphasized. RUN, RUN, RUN. But if you can’t run away – HIDE and get ready to FIGHT. If you can't escape - it’s likely to come down to a fight if you want to survive.

FIGHT

If you couldn't escape – and the shooter is getting past your temporary barricade - then you have to FIGHT.

This is where we spent a lot of time in training.

People don't naturally fight. Running and hiding - natural instinct. Fighting? Not so much.

We try to be nice. We try to defuse the situation. We try to reason with the other person. Well kids, in this case - forgetaboutit. You have to go totally against your natural instincts - You have to FIGHT.

Here's the logic - Obviously, if he (or she - but odds are you’re going to be fighting a him) is going to shoot you - Go down fighting. But the reason we're now taught to FIGHT is much, much more logical.

You actually change the balance of power by attacking the shooter.

These guys are usually crazy. They are playing out some sort of fantasy in their mind of hunting down their prey and killing them (us).

But - they aren't hunters. They aren't trained soldiers. They aren't fighters. They are cowards. If you don't play by their rules (being easy prey) - then suddenly - you've evened up the odds considerably.

Consider typical (non-trained) human reaction –

Let's say you're in the aisle at Harris-Teeter looking for those artichoke hearts. Suddenly, some nut job starts running down the aisle towards you. All the while screaming his head off (ARRRRRRGH). You're natural reaction is to stop dead in your tracks, your jaw drops and you go "WTF?"

That's what will happen to the cowardly shooter.

Run towards the shooter, screaming and yelling, and the experts tell us there's a good chance he'll be surprised and won't react. Or he’ll have a delayed reaction.

(Experts differ - some advise yelling to startle him - some say yelling will focus him on you as a target)

Tackle him - full speed. Then FIGHT.

FIGHT DIRTY.

Kick him in the genitals (works for her too), punch his throat (very, very effective), punch his nose (very, very sensitive), use your fingers to gouge his eyes - don't be nice about it - try to blind him. Stick your fingers in his nose and rip. Use your teeth - ears are sensitive, bite his nose or lips, get his hand and try and bit his fingers off. Not love nibbles - bite HARD. Go Mike Tyson on him.

Use a weapon. A pen or pencil jabbed into his eyes are guaranteed to stop him (yes - try to blind him - it's the least he deserves). Or stick him in the throat. Or stab him pretty much anywhere with the pen or pencil - it will hurt him. From now on - keep that letter opener or pair of scissors handy.

Use that heavy Swingline stapler to hit him in the nose or throat or head. That light weight wood in / out box on your desk? Hit him on the head with the corners - or use it to jab his eyes.

Seeing a pattern here? Go for the eyes! If you can hurt his eyes - YOU WILL WIN!

And yeah - hitting people over the head with a laptop isn't just a management strategy.

Go completely crazy - no, make that - go freaking berserk!

Summon up as much anger as you can – get mad – and take it out on him.

Speed Surprise Violence of Action – take the fight to the coward.

Believe it or not – when you fight – survival odds go way up in your favor.

Don’t forget – FIGHT DIRTY

Use anything - anything! Paperweights, glass sculptures / awards sitting on the shelf. Grab the heavy plaque off the wall and hit him. Got photos or art on the wall? Preferably with glass? Over his head - and hope the shards cut him.

If there's more than one of you - Don't fuck around wondering if you should 'try to rush him'. JUST DO IT. Studies have shown if you start - others will likely follow. People will surprise you - in a good way.

And when you get him down (and you WILL take him down) - make SURE he's down. You don't want him to get up again. Stomp on his legs - break 'em. Make sure he's down.

RUN HIDE FIGHT

The bottom line is - we're now taught that if you can run away - that's 100% survival.

Hiding – yeah, you should hide. But if your only plan is to passively wait for rescue - your odds of survival drop off tremendously.

This change in being taught to fight back goes along with police response. They used to hold back and hope to negotiate. But they've found that just gives the shooter more time to kill. Nowadays - police bring in SWAT and attack (often officers go in before SWAT arrives).

You have to do the same.

It’s going to take a little time for law enforcement to arrive. They are on the way. As fast as they can. But - until they get there – you have to take care of yourself.

You are going to hear RUN HIDE FIGHT more and more. Middle and high schools are beginning to teach this. Even elementary schools are starting. Colleges have taken the lead.

My guess - in another 10 years - RUN HIDE FIGHT will be pretty much like the old "duck and cover" that I learned in elementary school.

Oh, and about going for the eyes - Don't worry about blinding him.

In prison - he won't be looking at who's having sex with him anyway.

Videos

The Ohio State University video is excellent. If you don't watch anything else - watch this one. (But watch the other ones too).

The elementary school and middle – high school videos are age appropriate.

The LA County Sheriff video is realistic and drives the point home. It’s a bit much on planning with too many variables and what if’s. Having said that – watch the LA video. There’s really good stuff in it.



Movies

I've watched some excellent movies lately.

The Big Short - should be required viewing. And funny. Went out and got the book - reading it now.

45 Years - different and unexpected plot.

Deadpool - Yep, the Marvel Comics X-men movie Deadpool. Only if you're not easily offended. I laughed so hard my side hurt. Watch for the "My Little Pony" plush toy sight gag - two actually.

Notes

RUN HIDE FIGHT is a registered trademark of the City of Houston.

Permissions? We ain't got no permissions. We don't need no permissions. I don't have to show you any stinkin' permissions.

Weekend Update 10 APR 2016

No college basketball; no college football. Thus starts the Summer of Our Discontent.

I have tried to like baseball - it just doesn't do anything for me. Like going to the games though. Nice to be able to socialize with friends without actually having to concentrate on what's going on.

Work - about the same. Busy.

Movies

About the only thing I watch on TV is sports or nature and science shows. Instead, I watch a lot of movies on Netflix.

Here's what I've watched over the past couple months -

The Hateful Eight - Very disappointing. Ejected the DVD with over an hour to go.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Better than I expected it would be.

Straight Outta Compton - Above average. I quit watching about 2/3 the way through because I got tired of hearing M-F this, M-F that, N***** this, N***** that - and so on. It got really tiresome. I'd hate to be around people who actually speak like that. BTW - the whole Academy Awards controversy about it being overlooked for nominations - well, it's above average - but NOT Oscar worthy. Including the acting.

Unbroken - Meh. I know it's supposed to be an inspiring true story - but it was just boring.

Spectre - Ignore the plot holes - Embrace the silly; sit back and enjoy the chase scenes.

Leviathan - Russian movie. Well above average.

Spotlight - Excellent.

Black Mass - Very, very good.

Bridge of Spies - Excellent.

Cloud Atlas - Confusing. May read the book though.

The Darkest Hour - Silly fun movie.

The Martian - Pretty good. To much has been made of the 'accurate science' in the movie - ahhh - no.

I'll See You In My Dreams - Average. OK to spend a couple hours on.

CITIZEN FOUR - Let me be clear - I think he's a traitor. The movie - while helping me understand his motives better - did not change my mind. I still think he's a self-absorbed snotty traitor. That said - this film is excellent and should be watched by anyone interested in the electronic footprints we all leave.

Calvary - Above average.

Birdman - Very good. But I think a bit overrated.

Sean The Sheep - Excellent. Lot's of dry humor for the adults and straight up comedy for the kids.

It's Tough Being a Wolfpack Fan

It's tough being a Wolfpack Fan. Really tough.

After wondering around in the desert for what seems like 40 years - we hired Coach Mark Gottfried.

After 4 NCAA Tournament appearances including 2 Sweet 16s - you'd hope to be in a stable and steadily improving situation. Then - Trevor Lacey unexpectedly goes pro, Kyle Washington transfers (50/50 expected) and Terry Henderson gets very seriously injured. And just like that - you have your first losing season.

But - next year is looking good. Henderson will play, Toren Doren will play, 5 Star recruit Dennis Smith arrives, Abu is turning into a beast and the Martin Twins get better and better. Cat, of course, is phenomenal and certainly should, and does, enter the NBA draft.

Then - the Martin Twins decide to transfer.

Geez - is it last spring all over again?

Well, not really. It's too bad the Martins are transferring - but they do want to play as much as possible and have a potential pro career in Europe. With Doren and Smith coming in - their minutes would likely go down.

It's the day and age of the turn pro early and everybody transfers - even walk on's. So - here's a link to an article that is somewhat reassuring -

http://www.backingthepack.com/2016/3/25/11303948/step-off-the-ledge-folks-gottfried-has-earned-our-trust

As for Abu getting evaluated for the draft - he should do exactly that. Get evaluated - get some feedback - and he will spend next year turning even more beastly and working on whatever the pro's tell him he should work on improving. Next year - he could be a draft choice. Certainly by his senior year - he'll be NBA ready.

Haircut

By the way, does anybody know what this hair style is called?

There's a lot of kids with this hair in the NCAAT this year.

I want to know what it's called so I can tell my barber how to cut my hair next time.

Pi, 2016

This year's NCAA Tournament is wide open.

There are some really good schools - but none that are 'the' school to beat. Kansas, UNCheats, Virginia, Oklahoma are the favorites, but none of them are going to run away with the Championship. The Final Four is always 1s and 2s and usually a 3. This year - there could be a 4 or 5 seed in the mix. Who knows.

Also - the best teams are not filled with one-and-done's. There are a lot of seniors on the top teams. The way it should be.

The teams with one year blue chips - are all lower seeded. Dook, Kentucky and California. In fact - on paper - no team has better talent than California. Yet California is good - but not great.

It's going to be a good old fashioned Tournament this year - veteran teams. And lots of potential upsets. Should be a lot of fun to watch.

This would have been a great year for State to have made a deep run. Sigh . . . . .

Home

Not a thing new. Zip. Nada. Nothing.

Work

Going good - rather busy. Again - nothing new.

Weekend Update 28 FEB 2016

As usual, life is the same on the home front. Nothing new or exciting to report. Just the same old, same old.

Work

At work, management is undergoing some changes.

The appointed Secretary of Administration has moved to another position and we have an Acting Secretary. Along with that, the person who oversees SCO in the Secretary's Office has retired.

So - we have a temporary, possibly permanent Secretary; a shift where we report to a new Assistant Secretary; and the vacant position of SCO Director will likely be filled soon with a new appointee.

To complete the organizational chart - the next position (appointed) is Assistant Director - who is my boss.

We're a very non-political office and therefore very stable as far as management positions go - but - those positions are always subject to change at any moment.

Construction and engineering work is pretty much cut and dried. Concrete, steel and glass really don't care if you're liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican or a Martian. Our work stays basically the same.

State Basketball

The guys had a nice win over Clemson followed by two expected losses - UNCheats and Syracuse. Clemson was, hopefully still is, on the bubble for the NCAAT. It didn't help them to lose to us.

Last regular season home game is Wednesday vs. Boston College.

We should be favored to win - except that Lennard Freeman (pronounced luh-nard' - French for - The Nard) has a stress fracture. Our minimal bench is now down to, well, one. Sean Kirk will likely see some minutes in the remaining two games.

Interestingly, it's still been a lot of fun this year. Our guys play hard and never give up. We've been 'in' every game except for two, maybe three games. No one can complain about effort. Great to watch.

If we hadn't lost three guys (Lacy, Henderson, Washington) expected to be starters or first off the bench - it would have been a completely different season.

eL Superbola

Football is Fun to Watch

Going to Chip and Erica's tomorrow for the annual Superbowl Watching Party. Kind of a stretch to call it a party. Just a few friends getting together.

Both C and E work Sunday and won't get home till 4:00. So, I'm taking care of the food.

Keeping it very simple. Chili in the Slow Cooker + Saltine Crackers + cheese and green onion to put on top; will fix up a tray of fruit + veggies (cucumber, grape tomato, celery, mushroom, strawberry, seedless grapes) with dip; BYOB - and that's it.

Basketball

Dook 88 - State 80

Same team, same story, same ending.

With no bench, our starters get worn out; we get behind by about 10; come back but can't quite overcome the deficit; the guys play as hard as they can but we lose.

The other team is always just a little better - and the other team always has more depth. Just too hard to overcome and win.

Shaun Kirk played a little bit in the second half. He has the wildest black / reddish / blond hair I've ever seen on a guy. It's more blond now than in the photo. Oddly, it looks right on him. He seems like a 'free spirit' fun guy.

Kind of surprised he hasn't played this year, except for just a few minutes. We'll see a lot more of him next year.

60 Orbits

So, after a phenomenal game and win over #15 Miami last Saturday, we went to FSU and laid an egg Monday night.

As I said in an earlier post, our game vs. Georgia Tech (first half) was the worst we've played all year - until FSU. The first half against FSU was even worse - a lot worse.

Even still, we managed to come back and darn near won (again).

Abu missed a critical easy layup that would have tied the game with about 6 minutes to go. We also went back to poor free throw shooting (again). That and we took a few panicky missed shots - we just couldn't get closer than 1 point. Credit FSU with making baskets and free throws at the end when it counted most.

I'm sure Coach Gott is pulling his hair out.

Next up - Saturday at the University of New Jersey Dook.

Home

Made it to 60 today.

I don't look a day over 59.

Average distance to the sun is approximately 93,000,000 miles. 2piR = 584,336,234 miles / year. Times 60 years = 35,060,000,000 miles. That's 35 Billion - with a B!

No wonder I'm so damn tired.

(Yes, we all know Earth's orbit is an ellipse, but we're approximating here)

Superbowl EL

I think it will be a defensive game. The Panther's O-line will protect Newton a bit more than the Bronco's O-line can protect Manning. Newton will use that edge for the win.

Heading to Chip and Erica's to watch the game Sunday (as we do every year). Chip's been trash talking Newton and the Panthers all year. I hope we win so I can give him a ton of bleep. :-)

Weekend Update 31 JAN 2016

Finally - a WIN!



Even with the losing streak - the first half of the Georgia Tech game was the worst we've seen State play in a long time. Then, in the second half we came back storming back to a 1 point game. And I'm sure we would have won - IF - Abu hadn't committed a player foul and then a technical foul to go with it.

What Happened?

Instead of GT getting the 2 points and the shooting foul - they got that, plus 2 shots for the technical. A total of 5 points. We didn't get any closer after that. Didn't give up - but all the momentum and excitement just evaporated.

It seemed that finally the losses had taken a toll and moral was spent.

I was worried playing #15 Miami could be a blowout. Instead, the team came out and played as hard, if not harder, than they have been - and dominated Miami from the start.

What Happened?

Maybe this will be the turn around. Don't get me wrong - State's season is already over. At best, we might, just might, get into the NIT. But it sure would be nice to see the guys be able to get some more ACC wins to have some results for all their heart and hard work.

Work

Speaking of hard work - it's going well. Nothing really new to talk about. Just very busy and steady. Which is good. After the Great W Recession - I don't take anything for granted.

Home

Despite the warmer weather - still had a good bit of snow last Monday. In fact, after a week of warm weather, there was still snow in the shady parts in front of my house (north facing) as of Thursday evening. I'm pretty sure we had more snow and ice here than in Raleigh.

Welcome Sight on the way Home from Work on Monday

Monday After Coming Home from Work

Home is pretty much the same as well. Boring. Which is good.

Last week's ice and snow aside - it's been a pretty warm winter. Haven't had many opportunities for fires in the fireplace. It's forecast to be in the upper 60s all week.

I'm sure the cold will return, it's the start of February after all. The warm sunshine is nice though.

I Noticed Later

In my last post there are 2 photos of the snow and ice PNC parking lot at the Dook-State game. Later, I noticed that in both photos - all the vehicles are pickup trucks or SUVs - except for 1 car!

Yep - we're NC State - Engineering and Ag School graduates. Basically, rednecks with college degrees. Got to have a truck or something with 4WD.

LOL

I don't think you'd see that over at the Hippie Commune in Orange County or the University of New Jersey.

To see the photos close up - open a photo in a new tab - you should then be able to zoom in / out.

Dook 23 JAN 2016

Deep River Road

Fools that we are, Nuke and I never even thought of missing the Dook game. We figured that US 1 Freeway would be clear - IF we could get to the highway.

That's not snow - it's solid packed ice. The automatic 4WD kept engaging on and off. It's about 2 miles from the house to US 1 - Took a while to get there. But once on the freeway one lane was mostly clear except for the bridges and overpasses. And when we got past Apex, both lanes were mostly clear.

Parking Lot - Usually Full

The Dook and UNC games always sell out as soon as individual tickets go on sale. But, there's a lot of spaces available today.

Parking Lot - Rather Empty

And the parking lot is pretty much empty further away from the Arena.

Before The Game

Sparse crowd. However, the students have all showed up and filled their sections. The radio reported that most of the students walked from Campus to the PNC. That's a long walk - really long. There's a reason the kids get the court side seats - they bring all the energy to the games.

1st Half - More People Have Arrived

Exciting game.

More people arrived after the game started. It probably took them a while to get here. Usually we plan on about 45 minutes with slow traffic getting into the Arena lots. Today, we left 2 hours before tip off. Got into the Arena about 10 minutes before the game started.

2nd Half - Pretty Good Crowd

2nd Half - Upper Level Gets Mostly Full

By half time, everybody who was coming to the game had arrived. Not a bad crowd considering the weather.*

The Band didn't make it.

State played really well. This year we always seem to have a second half spell where we forget to play like a team. Happened again today and Dook went on a 10 - 0 run. We were never able to overcome that. Got close, but Dook really played a lot better in the 2nd half and we never got closer than about 4 points.

Also, Dook's defense kept State out of the paint all day. So that was a big difference right there. Dook's defense is always excellent. That's a trademark of The Great Satan Coach Krzyzewski.

Still, for a team with no bench, we had a balanced effort today. Shot well, rebounded well, 3 pointers went in. But Dook did the same, just better - and they get the win.

Back Home

Made it to the game and back without too much trouble. Although we did get a little slip and slide on Deep River Road on the way back. We were going real slow, but on ice, it doesn't really matter if you've got 4 wheel drive or not.

Back home and settled in to watch some basketball on TV.

Wish we had won. All in all, a pretty good day.

Note - About the game photos - iPhones do not take good photos - not like a real camera. The fireplace photo was taken with a Sony camera - you can see the difference.

* Update - from the WRAL website -

 RALEIGH, N.C. — More than 12,000 fans trekked out to PNC Arena to watch NC State and Duke play Saturday despite winter weather and icy road conditions.

The attendance number was roughly 7,000 fans shy of the sold-out 19,500 tickets purchased to the match up.