Don’t Drink the Kool Aid - Yet

This post is copied from StateFansNation, the web site of the NCSU Athletics lunatic fringe. Of which I am a proud crazy member.

The post captured my feelings almost exactly about this year’s football team. The original SFN post was put up rather quickly (complete with syntax and spelling errors) and needed some editing to better reflect my personal take.

So, with some editing, here’s how I (and SFN) think NCSU fans should handle the current wonderful success on the football field.

Which game is the most important? The next one.

Major Tom O’Brien was hired to win and has found himself, for any number of reasons, unable to accomplish his mission. This season would be a pivotal one where the most rationale fans would be trying to determine whether he was “right” for the Wolfpack and the most fanatical believers in “Operation TOB” would be trying to figure out whether their messiah was a false prophet. TOB needed to start at the basics; stop worrying about the entire season or the fate of the program; he needed to focus on winning the next game and nothing more. The most important game this season would be “the next one”.

NC State’s most important game this season is Virginia Tech this Saturday at home. We must beat Virginia Tech. We have to beat Virginia Tech. The fate of our program for years to come amounts to this one game.

After this week, we must beat Boston College. We have to beat Boston College.

After that - ECU.

Let’s keep our noses to the ground, hunting for our next kill and keep our egos even lower than that. If NC State wins, it will not be because we swaggered and bullied our way to the top, but because we are led with Marine-like discipline to become an elite, efficient, and fear-invoking machine stopping any offense that comes our way and slicing deeply with surgeon-like precision through our opponent’s defense.

Keep humble, Wolfpack. The hunt is going to be long and the prey will be strong. Let’s not concern ourselves with all the other opponents on the schedule. Only concern ourselves with the opponent on the field at the moment. Only concentrate on our next prey.

Respect our opponents.

Be grateful and enjoy the success. Cheer and support our team in all the right ways. Celebrate with humility and grace. Meet adversity and setbacks with determination.

As a team and as loyal Wolfpackers – let's do it - ‘the right way’.

4 and 0 +Addendum

At the start of the season I honestly thought we’d be 2 and 2 by now. Maybe even 1 and 3. Clearly we’d beat Western Carolina; and though we’d be (and were) underdogs for UCF, Cincinnati and Georgia Tech – I was hoping we’d have an upset win over 1 of them. Overall, I was expecting a .500 season at 6 and 6.

We are 4 and 0.

All 4 wins have been decisive. Yes, we let UCF and GT hang around and try to stage a late game comeback – but in each game we did more than just hold on to win – we finally put them down. We knew our offense would be good - the real surprise - a vastly improved defense.

Today’s game - NCSU 45 – Georgia Tech 28 was as impressive as the score. We dominated.

4 and 0 and our defense can still improve. And will improve – making NCSU even better and better.

Next Saturday Virginia Tech comes to town. VT has stumbled but is still one of the better teams in the nation. Yeah, they dropped out of the top 25 with a stunning loss to a FCS team – but VT is better than a third to half of the teams in the top 25.

If we beat VT Saturday . . . .

Here’s how the rest of the season looks like at this point.

Games / Teams we should be expected to win / beat:

Boston College, @ECU, Wake Forest and @Maryland. Yes, we could also lose a couple of these games. But if we keep playing like we are now – that’s not going to happen. Winning these 4 games gives us a totally unexpected 8 and 4 season.

Games / Teams we should be expected to lose or be very close:

VT, FSU, @Clemson and @UNC.

Right now – the way we’re playing - we could win these games. Win them all? Unlikely. But if we can knock off 1 or 2 of them we’re looking at a 9 or 10 win season – and a serious bowl game.

Next Saturday Virginia Tech comes to Raleigh for a game that is huge for both programs.

Hanging Out Saturday

 

Hung out with Chip, Erica and John Saturday. Watched the first part of the State – GT game on ESPN and then went to Durham to watch Army at Dook. It was pretty hot. In fact – Saturday set a record high.

Had a good time and then came back to Raleigh and walked around the Hillsborough Street block party. A few bands and some food. Then I drove back to the Greater Moncure Metro Area and finished the evening watching some great games on TV.

Thanks to Chippy for the Dook tickets.

Sunday

Spread some more fescue and clover seed over my septic field early this morning. The extended heat and mini-draught has killed all the grass that started to grow after the field was repaired. We’re having rain today and possibly more rain next week along with cooler temperatures. Hopefully this second round of seeding will be successful.

Oh, did I mention we’ve got a huge game next Saturday against Virginia Tech?

Afternoon Addendum

The AP Top 25 just came out. NC State is ranked 23rd. Miami and NC State are the only 2 ACC teams in the Top 25.

Reruns

I don't get HBO, Showtime or any of the premium channels. I use Netflix - via DVD and instant download. For 9 dollars a month I can watch anything - anytime.

I've been re-watching Dexter.

What a great, funny show. The writers clearly need some serious psychotherapy.

In a couple hours I'm headed over to Chip and Erika's. We're going to watch the State @ GT game on TV and then go over to Durham and watch Army @ Dook.

It's going to be a full day.

The Future's So Bright - I Gotta Wear Shades

We're in the midst of Football - but Basketball is just around the corner.

Here's a very good article about NC State's possibilities.

http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1129460

Back To Football

Appropos of nothing - I think I've posted this before. But it's a good one and worth a repeat.

Ron Cherry is my favorite ACC Referee. Even though this call is againt State - I still love it.

Ron Cherry calls a Personal Foul:



And here's a little humor from Coach O'Brien's weekly press conference Q&A yesterday. A lot of people think TOB is dull. That's not true - he's actually got an extremely dry / droll sense of humor:

Q. When you look for somebody to fill your fullback spot, what attributes are you looking for and how does Taylor Grant fit that mold?

COACH O’BRIEN: Taylor Gentry is our fullback.

Q. How big of a role has Jon Tenuta played in the defensive improvement you’ve made to this point?

COACH O’BRIEN: I think he’s contributed.

Q. What is the dynamic between he and Mike Archer?

COACH O’BRIEN: It’s very good. Mike’s the coordinator, and does the coordinator job, and Jon’s the linebacker coach, and does the linebacker coaching job.

The Road

I watched The Road on DVD last night.

An absolutely awesome movie. It's heartbreakingly sad. Therefore, I do not recommend it to anybody. Watch it at your own discretion.

One of the best screenplays and lead acting I've seen in quite a while.

I'm going to go to the library to get the book.

NCSU Football

State is 3 and 0. First time since 2002. We were favored over WCU and underdogs to both UCF and Cincinnati. We won all three games decisively.

Saturday we're at Georgia Tech. I checked the USA Today odds and Tech is an 8 point favorite. Going by our youth and depth - I'd say that's about right. But I wouldn't bet against State. Our offense is every bit as potent as we were last year and our defense has been tremendously better than it was supposed to be.

GT has a flexbone option offense that is hard to defend and a quarterback who is really, really good. State is doing a lot more blitzing this year which leaves the wide receivers open for long completions. You either get to or pressure the quarterback - or you get burned for big plays.

Game time is noon Saturday, on ESPN.

It should be a good one.

Defense

State's defense won last night's game against the University of Central Florida.

UCF isn't a household name - but they are a solid, and rising, football team. Coached by George O'Leary, they won 8 games last year. They are likely to have an even better record this year and be the Division champion in the Conference USA.

Last year State's defense was awful. Conservative defensive schemes and poor execution. Our offense averaged about 31+ points. That will almost always give you a big winning season. But not when your defense allows 33+ points.

The key to this year's surprising defensive turn around? Jon Tenuta.

I was really excited back in February when O'Brien hired him.

The Pack doesn't get a break though. In 4 short days we play Cincinnati - Thursday night, ESPN.

Cincinnati will be heavily favored. They should be. Cincinnati went 12 - 1 last year losing only to Florida in the Sugar Bowl. The year before last, they went 11 - 3 beating Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.

We'll give them a good game. It's unlikely we'll win; but it's not out of the question.

HVAC is Fine

My regular HVAC guy came by today (Pete's Heating and Air Conditioning - Sanford).

To recap - the 72Degrees guy told me I had an electrical house wiring problem. He disconnected the heat pump because he said he was afraid of it causing a fire. Other than that - he had no idea what the problem was. Recommended that my HVAC heat pump be replaced ($ thousands). But first, he said I needed to get an electrician to check out the 'problem' with the house wiring.

He also said the HVAC components under the house were suspect - or rather, quote "I checked under the house - it's a mess down there". Whatever that means.

Oh - and their office called Monday to 'follow up' on my needing a new heat pump. I told them I wanted to have my regular guy look at it first before I committed to spending a lot of $ to replace the system.

First, my regular HVAC guy had to hook back up all the wires the 72Degrees guy left undone.

Once wired back up - a device or relay or something needed to be reset. Refrigerant levels checked out and OK.

Started up the unit - everything is fine.

My guy spent extra time double checking the wiring and such, including double checking things under the house (heat exchanger, etc.). Everything checked out OK. House wiring is fine.

Scroll units (like mine) have fewer parts than traditional compressors and thus are supposed to last longer and are more energy efficient.

Per my guy, my unit has at least another 5 years to go - maybe even 10.

Weekend Update - September 5, 2010 +Addendum +Note

 

Note: I've been getting a number of visits via Google Images for the above photo. This is Tuffy, the new mascot at NCSU. She's not a real wolf. She's a Tamaskan - a Finnish breed that looks remarkably like a wolf. Here's an article from the local newspaper about her and a little history of our mascots - including wolves, cows, dogs and a coyote. You'd think with our Ag school heritage and having a Vet School we could tell the difference between a wolf and a coyote. lol

Football season has finally started.

NCSU rolled past Western Carolina as expected. The real topic around town is UNC. Under a cloud of investigations - the Tar Babies went to Atlanta to face LSU on the game of the opening weekend.

With over a dozen prime players left back home in NC - it looked like LSU was going to roll. By halftime, it was all over except for the clock running out. But UNC did not give up - got back in the game - and made for one of the most exciting finishes I've seen in a long time.

With just seconds left - UNC was on the 6 yard line and had 2 chances to score the tying touchdown - the extra point would have won the game. Both incomplete passes were off the fingertips. Oh so close.

There's a lesson here. The cheating thugs and miscreants stayed home. The clean, real "student - athletes" almost (and in spirit and heart) won the game. Had the backups been the ones practicing all through spring and fall camp - UNC would have won the game.

Coach Butch David can institute a change in values and direction and still win big at UNC. He should start by firing John Blake.

My congratulations to UNC on a close game played under very difficult circumstances. Moral victories don't count on the stat sheet - but the good players over at UNC have my respect.

Heat Pump

My AC went out Friday night. Couldn't get through to my regular HVAC guy so I called another company instead. BIG MISTAKE. The guy from 72Degrees seemed inexperienced. He was clearly in over his head at diagnosing the problem. It's OK to not be able to do something - but one MUST recognize their limitations and know when to give up.

The unit was left with wires burned and hanging out. I hope to be able to get hold of my regular guy first of the week.

I hope 72Degrees didn't damage the heat pump beyond what was / is already wrong with it.

Sunday PM Addendum

Holy Moley - Nuke and I watched the Tulsa at ECU game. What a wild offensive game with a story book ending. ECU scores the winning Hail Mary touchdown with 0:00 on the clock for the 51 - 49 victory.

Even though we hate ECU - we were high-fiving the game.

 

Later, Nuke and I went to City Tap in Pittsboro for dinner and a beer.

The Phone is Smart. Not So Sure About the User :-)

My nephew (who works for Google) got his mom to switch to a smart phone / PDA.

This is my (very dear) sister who:

• Got a website set up for her Marriage Celebrant business and then "forgot" she had it (this LINK goes to a review site - not her 'forgotten' site - lol)
• Can't 'download' a simple file sent to her (such as a photo or Word document)
• When she can't hear someone on the cell phone (such as in a loud restaurant) turns the speaker phone on in hopes of hearing and sending clearer. Yep - she really thinks that works!
• Used to send out mass emails with the subject "blog" containing family updates (like those God awful Christmas letters). Thankfully she's quit doing that.

And so on.

When I saw this cartoon - I started laughing as I immediately thought of her.

Jelly Belly

Many of us keep treats on our desks at work. Clyde keeps chocolate; Clara keeps peppermints; I used to keep Jelly Belly beans but switched to Jolly Ranchers.

Jolly Ranchers are individually wrapped, so it’s more sanitary.

But Jelly Bellies are tastier and more of a treat – I’ve decided to switch back.

Stopped at the Super Target in Apex on the way home – picked up a 2 lb bag and headed to the checkout.

Cashier (very young and cute) – “How are you this evening?”

Bill – “I’m fine. Hope you are too.”

Cashier – “No, I don’t feel so well.”

Bill – “Sorry to hear that. I hope you’re on the way to feeling better and not the other way around.”

Cashier – “No, it will get worse.”

Bill – “Cold? Those summertime colds can be awful.”

Cashier – putting hand on stomach – “No, not a cold.”

Bill – TOTALLY DENSE & CLUELESS – “The flu! Those are awful too. Take care of yourself. I hope you feel better.”

Cashier - "Ah, it's not the flu either."

Lady Behind Me (middle age), with a grin – “It’s the monthly stomach pain thing.”

Bill – taking change and putting in my walled – “Oohhh! Lalalalalalalalalala. OK, I’m leaving now, bye.”

Cashier and Lady – both laughing and making a show of waving – “Bye!”

And, of course, the other people in line were observing the whole thing and snickering at me too.

Sigh . . . . I am such a doofus sometimes.