School Has Gone to the Dogs

UNC School of the Arts

I spent this week working at UNCSA. I was last there in 2007. Doesn't seem like it's been 8 years. Time flies.

The school is very small. Enrollment is about 1,200. Starts with high school - 9th grade and goes up to a Master Degree. I'm told it has earned a great reputation over time and that it is extremely difficult to get into. They say, almost on par with The Julliard.

For my work, it's pretty much a typical college campus with typical buildings. Smaller buildings than on large Universities, and a lot less of them.

The facilities are excellent. There have been some major upgrades over the past 10 to 15 years. Beautiful concert halls and studios. The Film School complex is as nice a group of buildings, sound stages, and workshops as I've ever seen. The new library (to open in June) is a real architectural statement.

If you get around to different Universities and compare - You can tell that UNCSA is a really big time step up from a typical college Drama, Music or Art Department. Kind of like - you can get a top notch Math or Physics degree from NC State. Or - you can go to MIT.

I have a little bit of field work left to do there. Will be heading back late next week or the following week for a couple of days.

Puppy Play Time

I took these photos at the Student Commons building. I had just finished lunch and was having coffee on the balcony when the Animal Shelter van drove up and two women brought out two puppies.

Turns out, a few times a year the shelter brings over dogs for "Puppy Play Time". Probably a lot of kids have pets at home and they get lonely for them. You could tell the kids really enjoyed playing with the dogs.

Someone Shot My Bluebird of Happiness

What a difference a week makes.

After the NCAAT, State fans were giddy over the prospects for next year. Except for one graduating senior - The whole solid team was coming back with at least a year's experience. Possible ACC titles and Final Four's being whispered about. Definite Top 25 ranking after so many long years.

And then this week happens.

Tuesday, Trevor Lacy decided to skip his senior year and enter the NBA draft. There are 30 NBA teams and two rounds - a total of 60 kids will be drafted. Trevor will not be one of them. He's ranked somewhere in the high 90's as a draft pick. If there were a third round - maybe. But there isn't. So he isn't.

What it will do is allow him to try out for NBA teams. Who knows - maybe he'll get picked up at minimum salary (half million) and play his way in. Or - possibly play in Europe for a couple hundred thousand a year.

Playing his final year at State probably would not have improved his draft prospects - so - why not go ahead and turn pro? From his perspective, he's likely to have the same chances this year as next - so go ahead and go for it. I wish him all the luck in the world. I do wish he would have stayed and played, and gotten his degree - but - he's got to make the right choice for him.

Then yesterday, Kyle Washington announced he was transferring.

This is the one I don't 'get'.

Kyle was a starter and then Lennard* Freeman took his starting job. Kyle was first off the bench and still got a lot of playing time. A very important part of the NC State team.

Kyle is not starting material for any ACC or major conference team. Well, maybe at a bottom end team. And obviously, Kyle is not a future NBA player.

Kyle is the kind of kid who is very talented - but as an amateur. His mindset should be playing ball as a way to get a good college education and a way to open doors for his adult career.

Instead, he seems caught up in the one-and-done all-about-me mindset. The kids who are very talented; starting to play ball at a very early age; and convinced by age 10 that they are the greatest thing since sliced bread and think they're destined to be the next Michael Jordan.

Kyle seems to think college ball should be all about playing time. It isn't - not for him anyway. It should be about his getting a good education and a degree. Instead, he wants to bounce around to increase his playing minutes.

So many of these kids have parents, relatives, friends and whoever whispering in their ears that they should be 'the star player'. And if not, it is the school's or coach's fault and they should transfer to someplace where they'd be more appreciated and where more playing time will get them noticed by the NBA.

These relatives, friends and 'advisers' are idiots. Most of them didn't have the brains or personal fortitude to make it through college themselves. Their idea of planning for the future is to be magically scooped up by the NBA. Or by buying $20 worth of lottery tickets each week.

I wish Kyle were staying. I really hope that wherever he goes - he gets a good education and graduates. He's going to need that degree.

So - in one week State loses one starting guard and the first player off the bench (forward).

We probably just went from a top 3 ACC team to back to the middle of the ACC pack again. Sigh . . .


* Yes - that is how it's spelled. And it's pronounced Le Nard. That's why (on StateFansNation) his nickname is "The Nard" or "Frenchie". LOL

Weekend Update 12 APL 2015

Football

Went to the Spring Football game Saturday. Didn't plan on it. Nuke and I went on a spur of the moment thing. Got there a little after it started. The parking lot was full.

The stadium holds 60,000. Roughly 10,000 each side line deck, upper and lower, for a total of 40,000 and 10,000 each end zone. The lower level decks on both side lines were about three-fourths filled and about a fourth of the south end zone. That gives me an estimate of about 15,000 plus people. I was really surprised to see that many fans for an NC State practice game. They say Alabama, LSU and Auburn fill their entire 100,000 seat stadiums for their spring football games. The SEC is the nations football conference. The ACC is basketball.

We looked really good. It was mostly about offense. Real defense hitting wasn't allowed. Jacoby Brissett wasn't allowed to run. No hitting the quarterback in the practice game. He was limited to handing off, throwing to receivers and throwing the ball away. He looked good but the defense knew what he was allowed to do so they could really key on his passing. When we get to real games where he has the option to run - he's gonna light it up.

Matt Dayes is going to be a name State fans will be hearing a lot more of this coming fall. He's a Junior who will be the go to running back. And he looked like an even better receiver today too. Made some big plays today - running and receiving.

The back up quarterback, Jalan McClendon, was fun to watch. He can really throw the ball. Very impressive. New punter and kicker. The punter looked good. Kicker needs some more reps.

Basketball

My personal opinion - Mike Krzyzewski is the best college basketball coach ever. Better than Wooden. During Wooden's day, they really did keep teams in their regions. And there was nobody to contest UCLA in the West. If he had coached in the east during that time, against NC State, UNC, Maryland, Kentucky, Louisville - there is no way he would have won as many Championships. Coach K's five is incredible.

NC State is going to be a top 25 team next year. In fact, the waaaay too early predictions are already out from CBS, ESPN, SB Nation and so on. State is solidly in every one's top 15 to 20 range. We will need to be consistent. No WTF games like Wofford, BC or Clemson this past year.

Up to now, State has no NBA draft prospect players. If these guys pick up where we left off and keep going - 2 or more are going to play their way into the NBA draft. And we're going to be in the upper level of the ACC and hopefully make even more noise in the NCAAT. State basketball is finally fun again.

But (there's always a caveat) - BUT - The ACC will be stacked with pre-season top 25 teams. Virginia, UNC, Dook, Notre Dame, NC State, and Louisville. Plus, Miami is on the verge of top 25 and Florida State isn't too far behind Miami. So we'll have 6, or possibly 7, teams in the top 25 playing each other and giving each other losses. Plus the non-top-25 ACC teams just aching to knock off the ranked teams. It is going to be hard for any ACC team to stay highly ranked.

I thought this last season was great fun.

Next year looks to be unbelievable.

Work and Home

Absolutely nothing new worth blogging about. Zippo. Nada.

I guess boring routine is good.

I'm waiting for pollen season to be over so I can clean the screen porch and deck. You can't even walk on the porch without the pollen swirling around with each footstep. Let alone sitting in the chairs or using the tables which are just covered in lite yellow-green. And I can't breath. I hate pollen season.

200,000

My car has reached a milestone. I don't think I've ever had a vehicle more than 120,000 miles.

My little commuter car, a 2006 Ford Focus SES zx4 (why all the letters and numbers?) is the best car I've ever owned.

My commute is exactly 30 miles from house garage to the parking deck. It's all interstate (US 1 and I-40) till just before downtown. That's 15,000 highway miles per year plus another 5,000 for chores, trips and such. Not bad considering I live so far out in BF-Egypt. Every trip to the grocery store, restaurant, barber shop, whatever is a trip way the hell over yonder and then some.

It drives just as tight and as well as the day I bought it. It does have some rattles and noises that it used to not have. Also, my right heel has worn completely through the floor mat and carpet (where it rests from the accelerator pedal). Other than that, and 3 small rock chips in the windscreen (there is a rock quarry down the road from my house - I've replaced the windscreen 3 times already) - it looks like it did the day I bought it.

I have taken very good care of this car. Observed all the maintenance recommendations. Oil and filter changes promptly every 5,000 miles. Tire rotation, balance and alignment every 10,000. Other fluids and service as needed.

I took it in recently for a 200,000 mile service that included brakes with front rotors and rear drums; transmission fluid and filter; new spark plugs and wires; coolant change; serpentine belt and some other odds and ends. The only major repairs (so far) have been two alternators. Knock on wood - it'll keep running good without anything expensive going wrong.

I'd like a new car. Just because. But I can't really justify it since this one is driving so well.

Also, my Ford Escape only has 130,000 miles on it. And it's in great condition too.

At this rate, it'll be years before both vehicles get to the point where it makes sense to replace them.

I still want to buy an overly expensive Mercedes-Benz or BMW SUV. Just because.

My second best car was a 1974 Toyota Corolla. I drove it until the engine finally died after about 120,000 miles. That car was fun to drive.

Worst car? A 1987 Ford Taurus. Great design - worst built car ever. No other car I've ever had comes even close to how bad that one was.

It was a Lemon. Seriously, I tracked it and could have returned it to the dealer under the NC Lemon Law. It really was that bad.

The only reason I didn't - I had purchased the 100,000 mile extended warranty. Thankfully I did. I think I tracked over $5,000 in repairs to that car up to about 60,000 miles. By then, most major items (except for the engine and transmission) had been replaced and it finally became dependable - more or less. The folder where I kept the paperwork from major repairs was at least 2-inches think - maybe more.

I've also had an Oldsmobile, Plymouth, Ford Contour and Chevrolet. Decent cars that all served me well.

I tend to keep a vehicle for a long time. They are not investments. It's nice to have one that is fun to drive. And, maybe, one that looks decent. Beyond that - they are a conveyance only and a depreciation. Anyone who thinks otherwise is fooling themselves.