Oh, say, can you see a class act all the way?

06-07 Basketball General Media Sidney Lowe38

Add dignity, patriotism and class to heart and mental toughness and all the other accolades for Coach Sidney Lowe and his Wolfpack. Local sports humorist, icky tarheel but otherwise all-’round great guy BobLee Swagger makes an observation in his post-ACC Tournament column that will make you proud:

Yesterday at 1:00 PM EDT, everyone in the St Pete Times Forum stood up to ask “Jose” if he could see. The Raycom camera panned the team benches …. Uh oh … well, uh oh for Carolina because The Wolfpack clearly won the National Anthem.

El Sid, Monte, assorted assistants, managers, trainers and players were all standing in a straight line looking up at the flag with their right hands over their hearts. NASCAR pit crews do not do it any better. It looked terrific and obviously is not by accident or optional for anyone on the NC State bench. Whether it’s simply a team solidarity/disciple thing or patriotic … it merits a BobLee AttaBoy. …. Then the camera panned the Carolina bench … uh oh.

No one was purposefully disrespectful but there were about 20 different poses, looking arounds, shufflin’, checkin’ out cheerleaders, smilin’, frownin’, Now I saw no John Carlos black glove protests, nose-pickin, or genital scratchin nor any overt disrespect to the flag, country, et al. I’m sure a faction of UNC’s infamous atheistic anarchists Islamo-faculty squirrels would prefer a much more overt embarrassment to the University. Anyway …. NC State clearly won the National Anthem.

A VERY reliable source tells me that even UNC system president Erskine Bowles was impressed.

(Note: I tried to find a photo of Lowe & co. during the National Anthem, but this was the best I could find. If anyone has one, add it to the comments and I’ll do the rest. Thanks to Gene Galin and ACCbasketballphotos.com for this shot.)

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06-07 Basketball General Media Sidney Lowe

38 Responses to Oh, say, can you see a class act all the way?

  1. choppack1 03/14/2007 at 11:09 AM #

    I did notice our guys on the national anthem…Looked good. Sid may not admit it, but I’m wondering if he’s learned just a thing or two about relating to college kids vs. pro athletes this year…Because his team is sure playing like it.

  2. Buddygreen 03/14/2007 at 11:16 AM #

    Great Post! Sidney is doing a great job in so many areas. In fact maybe he getting too much attention and I hope Lee Foulup is taking notice. It has become clear Sidney can motivate and coach and has NBA head coaching experience. As usual many NBA teams will be looking a head coach at seasons end including as just announced the Charlotte Bobcats. Mr. Jordan, team president, is on the front page of the Charlotte Observer today talking about looking for a new coach. He is wearing of all things a bright red blazer! Just a coincidence? Don’t be surprised if Jordan and others come knocking at Lowe’s door. The money is certainly better. I hope Foulup beats them to his door with a better contract first and try and lock him in. I love Lowe but it would be hard to turn down 4-5 million a year verses what we paying him now.

  3. BJD95 03/14/2007 at 11:20 AM #

    I even made my kid stand up and put her hand over her heart, and we were just watching on TV. And we’re even Democrats, if you can imagine that…

    Our people did do the loud “RED” chant, which still really irks me (not to hijack the thread).

  4. packbackr04 03/14/2007 at 11:23 AM #

    talk about a class act. appears Sid Knows how to chop wood too… imagine that. he is a classy guy and he WINS big games… and here i thought the two were mutually exclusive.

  5. redfred2 03/14/2007 at 11:23 AM #

    Some good stuff all the way down the column from BLS. Especially the Brendon/Brandon stuff.

  6. RedTerror29 03/14/2007 at 11:26 AM #

    ^^^Me, the two other State fans, the UNC fan, and the VT fan I watched the game with all stood up and removed our hats in a living room. To his credit, it was the UNC fan who hopped up and insisted we do so.

  7. branjawn 03/14/2007 at 11:49 AM #

    Us saying “RED!” at least is in tune with and part of the song. It’s definitely not any worse than, in the words of Goulet, “some dubious ruffians without the chops.” Most Nat Anthem singers try to sing it every way except for the way it was written. So, point is, at least the “red” is within the confines of being an actual part of the song. I don’t think it’s disrespectful at all. We just got lucky. If UNX fans said “blue!”, that would be disrespectful. The only thing I could see taking issue with would be when we say “home of the WOLFPACK!”. But I like that too.

  8. redfred2 03/14/2007 at 11:50 AM #

    “And we’re even Democrats, if you can imagine that…”

    LOL

  9. branjawn 03/14/2007 at 11:51 AM #

    More Goulet: “Hey you wouldn’t let a clown fix a leak in the john. So why do you let Fowler tear down the biz. Yeah!!!!!”

  10. packof81 03/14/2007 at 11:59 AM #

    “Our people did do the loud “RED” chant, which still really irks me (not to hijack the thread).”

    Why? They’re singing the song, just not all of it.

  11. noah 03/14/2007 at 12:45 PM #

    People are tacky. News at 11.

    This can go right beside the N&O headline that they had up yesterday on their website…”Man Who Killed Children Was Disturbed.”

    Scientists Agree: Water Wet.

    As far as people’s “interpretations” of the National Anthem, the friggin’ thing is supposed to be a march. Steady 4/4 beat and you don’t sing in the pocket. You can blame Marvin Gaye and the 1983 NBA All-Star game for the change.

    You don’t ever hear anyone doing an emo version of the Canadian national anthem (THE greatest NA in the world). No one does an R&B version of “Deutschland Deutschland Uber Alles.” Why do Americans have to get stuck with a bunch of never-will-bes from some hickville church choir feeling emboldened enough to put their own spin on MY god#$*@ national anthem??

  12. TNCSU 03/14/2007 at 12:53 PM #

    I did notice it on Sunday, and I also noticed during the Carolina game at the RBC. The only one who did not put his hand over his heart was Engin, which is understandable since he is Turkish. He was, however, very respectful, and the team looked great.

  13. BJD95 03/14/2007 at 12:54 PM #

    I must admit watching the Oilers fans sing the Canadian anthem last year sent chills down my spine. That was freaking awesome.

  14. noah 03/14/2007 at 1:00 PM #

    A whole arena singing “O Canada” is just f-ing awesome.

  15. BJD95 03/14/2007 at 1:02 PM #

    ^That’s why I generally cheer for Canadian teams in the hockey playoffs. Plus, they care more about the sport.

  16. noah 03/14/2007 at 1:09 PM #

    Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the national anthem as a poem. I can’t remember who wrote the music…seems like I heard somewhere that it was an old drinking song.

    Whoever put one and the other together didn’t think through the logistics of the matter. It’s a ridiculously difficult song to sing for a national anthem. You have to have pretty good range. I have to change keys in the middle of the song to get everything right.

    Katherine Lee Bates wrote “America the Beautiful” at the turn of the century. We should have adopted that as our national anthem (it’s a better song). There’s been a push for it off and on for about 40 years.

  17. noah 03/14/2007 at 1:10 PM #

    (This, of course, has nothing to do with people being tacky or rude)

  18. MatSci94 03/14/2007 at 1:14 PM #

    *Our people did do the loud “RED” chant, which still really irks me*

    This bugs me much less than turning “the home of the brave” into “the home of the wolfpack”

  19. redfred2 03/14/2007 at 1:19 PM #

    ^^^noah, I am in total agreement on that one.

  20. beowolf 03/14/2007 at 1:31 PM #

    I don’t like “America the Beautiful” for a national anthem. I like singing about fighting for freedom. I like the story behind Key’s words.

    Here we are praising a basketball team for withstanding a shellacking and still standing tall; that’s the same indomitable spirit being praised in “The Star-Spangled Banner,” only the stakes weren’t a mere basketball game, but the freedom of what Lincoln would call “the last, best hope on earth.”

    If you don’t like the melody, learn the harmony.

  21. Mr O 03/14/2007 at 2:06 PM #

    When did the “red” and “home of the Wolfpack” ever become a tradition?

    I don’t remember that in the mid-90s.

  22. redfred2 03/14/2007 at 2:11 PM #

    Herb, PO, Lee, Lowe, red jacket, RBC, Reynolds, and now…the national anthem.

    We are a sick bunch.

  23. noah 03/14/2007 at 2:28 PM #

    The students doing the “red” and “home of the wolfpack” thing has been going on since the 80s. I can remember them doing it specifically at a State-Carolina game I went to in 1986.

    According to Wikipedia…the Star Spangled Banner was named the national anthem in 1931.

    And the poem was called, “The defense of ft. mchenry”

  24. noah 03/14/2007 at 2:30 PM #

    (BTW, what IS an islamo-faculty squirrel?)

  25. BJD95 03/14/2007 at 2:31 PM #

    I don’t remember it during the 90s, either.

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