Bones Place

Saturday was busy.

Football

First - watched Miami beat NC State.

I haven't written much abut football so far. That's because what was expected to be an outstanding 9 - 3 or maybe 10 and 2 season is looking like it's headed for a bust. We are now 3 and 2 with Florida State coming to town next weekend. That game has potential to get ugly.

We lost to Miami on a last second touchdown. Set up by State headed for the winning score. Yep - you read that right. Tie game - State moving down field at will for the game winning score and we throw an interception on a missed timing route. Miami turns right around and scores at will to win it.

It's not just that State has lost a couple games - it's how we lost them. We lose the games as much as get beat.

Jethro Tull

Saw Jethro Tull with CK, EM, DB, VM and Nuke. It was a two part show - Thick as a Brick - intermission - Thick as a Brick II.

Pretty good show. Ian Anderson is aging well and he has adapted his shows to his, and the audience's, age.

Not a great show - but a good show.

Bones Place

The unexpected suprise was on the way home. We took the new Expressway which is not quite connected to US 1 yet. Had to take Kelly Road over to Old US 1 to travel the not yet opened last 5 miles or so.

On Old US 1 we went past a county juke joint with live music. Turned around - went back and had a very enjoyable time at Bones Place (no possessive apostrophe). Seems the place is called the Friendship Community Store during the daytime and Bones Place at night.

The band was playing Neil Young, early Beatles and so on. We stayed there till about 0100. Honestly - I kind of had about as good a time there as at the JT concert.

NC State Basketball 2012 - 2013

I'll post about football after Saturday's game at Miami. We'll know more about how good State's team is then.

Right now - 3 and 1 but a very unsteady win at UConn. Miami is suddenly better than expected; it's a road game; so it should be an indication of where we stand.

Basketball

Early ESPN top 25:

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7767401/indiana-hoosiers-continue-moving-2012-13

C.J. Leslie and Lorenzo Brown along with Scott Wood and Richard Howell will be joined by 3 blue chip freshmen: Rodney Purvis, T.J. Warren and Tyler Lewis. By my count - that's 7 starters. Hey wait - we can only put 5 guys on the floor at one time. Darn!

And for 2013 - Coach Gottfried has got commitments from 2 blue chippers:  Kyle Washington and Anthony "Cat" Barber.

I can't believe how quickly things are turning around for NC State basketball.

Hal David

Upon Reflection

I am really disappointed in last night’s NC State – Tennessee football game. Not by losing – but by how we lost.

State was supposed to have a great offensive line this year. The secondary was supposed to be outstanding. The running game was unproven but again, expected to be substantially better than last year. Our only real question was supposed to be the defensive line.

Our offensive line sucked – they couldn’t protect QB Mike Glennon for $#*t. Our defense got burned repeatedly on long passes and in the running game.

Basically, you could see from the beginning that State was clearly outclassed by Tennessee in just about every phase of the game. The score, 35 to 19, is an accurate reflection of the teams.

Tennessee had better and faster athletes on the field.

If We Want To Win . . .

If you’re going to win games – you have to have the athletes.

To get the blue chip athletes – your school must allow recruitment of academically questionable kids. With 85 scholarships allowed – to have a reasonably good to great program – you’ll need about 10 to 20 or so of those kids as blue chip recruits – who, typically – aren’t going to be joining Mensa.

The whole school and program has to be in on the deal to recruit them. The coach, the chancellor, the booster club – everyone has to buy in. Not from a ‘how can we cheat and get away with it’ perspective (see Butch Davis, John Blake, UNC-CHeat and Nevin Shapiro, Miami) – but from a how to get these kids into class and give them a chance to succeed approach (as well as play football).

It can be done. Stanford does it, Boise State does it and in the ACC Florida State, Virginia Tech and Clemson does it (mostly clean).

You need to create a program (actually 2 or 3 programs) where they have a reasonable chance to graduate. Say, for instance, a degree in Physical Education. Something they can relate to. Throw in some personal finance courses (so they can learn to handle their own money someday) and other practical electives. Have a strong academic support program – tutoring – monitoring – etc. – and see how it goes. No basket weaving classes – real programs (just not Advance Particle Physics).

A top 10 program will have about 2 or 3 or maybe 4 (in a really good year) NFL draft picks. There might be a couple of kids who make it to the NFL through camp tryouts. The rest of the 20 blue chip recruits will need to actually graduate with skills they can use in adult life.

Starting in 2016 the academic standards for scholarships is going to toughen up considerably. One article I’ve read stated that 40% of today’s football and basketball scholarship kids wouldn’t qualify. BUT – even with the tougher requirements – schools will still be able to offer scholarships to kids who don’t qualify. They will just have to sit out their first year – to go to class – and hopefully acclimate to the college environment. Yeah – that’s going to happen.

These ‘academic redshirts’ (as they will be called) will still be dumb as bricks. And the big time programs (SEC) will recruit them. It will just be an enforced red shirt season for the same blue chip recruits. Then, just like now, if you want a winning program – you’ll have to recruit these kids. And – have a program where they can major and hopefully graduate. Heck – they’ll have 5 years to graduate – I see that as improving their academic chances.

If State wants a top tier program – we’ll have to recruit these kids. We’ll have to ride herd on them to keep them in class, on track and out of trouble. (Face it – stupid kids are the ones who do stupid things that get them in trouble.)

That’s the only way State will get the athletes to compete against average to mediocre SEC schools like Tennessee.

Big Bird Game in the Big Dome +Addendum

Friday night's game against Tennessee is big for NC State. Really big.

It's the first game of the Chick-Fil-A kickoff double header. NC State vs. Tennessee on Friday night - Clemson vs. Auburn Saturday night.

Tennessee has been having a bit of a down time for the past few years. They could be very good this year - or just average. But - they are still an SEC team and a past National Champion.

Here's how I see it for NC State -

If State loses to Tennessee - it won't be the end of the world. But, we will start on a down note. We'll likely end up 8 and 4. Loses to FSU and Clemson and probably one other as well (UNC is the most likely 4th loss).

But -

If State wins - it's a huge confidence booster. We would be seriously favored through our first 6 games and go into the FSU game 6 and 0; likely top 20 ranked and facing a top 10 (possibly top 5) also undefeated FSU.

Even with a close loss to FSU - we could still be seriously looking at a 10 and 2 season or possibly an 11 and 1 season. Which would be the next step up that we've all been waiting for.

So - vs. Tennessee at the Georgia Dome is a really big game. Huge actually.

Right now the odds have Tennessee by 3 1/2 with 52 1/2 points scored - i.e. Tennessee 28 - State 24 1/2. That's pretty close in the prediction department.

It ought to be a good game.

Addendum

Tennessee 35 - NC State 21

Tennessee had 525 total yards. State had 4 interceptions. We fumbled in our end zone for a safety. David Amerson got burned on two long touchdown throws and burned on a long run.

The real key is in line speed. Tennessee's defensive line was much faster and better and State's offensive line couldn't protect Mike Glennon.


Pretty much sums it up.

Soon

Been a while since I've posted.

Work has been very, very busy. Unfortunately, my two biggest projects have been beset with problems so I haven't really wanted to write about them. Hopefully though, things will get solved and they will be completed soon.

Football



College football is just around the corner.

State, as always, is hard to predict. Each year we think we're just about to make the breakthrough - we end up with a successful season - but just not quite what we hoped for.

This year is no different.

We should be an 8 - 4 or 9 -  3 team. Could be a 10 and 2 - but don't go to Vegas and bet on that.

I think we are a realistic 8 and 4 team. I figure we'll lose to Florida State and Clemson - both of whom should have top 10 teams this year. The other 2 losses? Possibly Tennessee - who we really should beat - but since we always seem to start out abysmally slow . . . . .   And at least another loss - God, I hope it isn't to UNC.

On the other hand - when 8 - 4 is expected and a little bit of a disappointment - well - that tells you how far NC State football has come.