“Big Event” in BBall to be Announced

07-08 Basketball General98

Link

“On Inside Wolfpack Sports this Sunday at 10:30 a.m. on WRAZ Fox 50, Athletic Director Lee Fowler will announce a big event that will be hosted by the men’s basketball team.”

Does anyone know anything?

Most fans on internet message boards are speculating that this could be an announcement of a “Midnight Madness” for the coming season. That would be nice.

While we are on the topic of announcements for the coming season…SFN would like to suggest the following — how about a ‘special’ event to commemorate the 25 year anniversary of the Wolfpack’s 1983 National Championship? It sure would be nice if State would announce a match-up with the Houston Cougars for next year.

Even better would be a four-team event in the RBC to mimic the 1983 Final Four. The first night should have Louisville play Houston and the Wolfpack match-up with Georgia. The second day of play should have Louisville and Georgia followed by the Wolfpack and the Cougars. This event would/could have all types of traditional tie-ins; don’t forget that Georgia served as the Wolfpack’s first opponent in the RBC Center (called the ESA at the time).

This really shouldn’t be that big of an under-taking to put together, can it? Especially since we’ve had 25 years to plan something.

Can you imagine the national recognition and play that our program could get from such an event? Think about the honors and attention that we could turn on Jim Valvano and the V Foundation. Especially in light of Kay Yow’s current battle with cancer.

I am excited to see what kind of innovative event that our Athletics Department has put together in honor of one of the most memorable National Championships in basketball history.

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07-08 Basketball General

98 Responses to “Big Event” in BBall to be Announced

  1. noah 07/30/2007 at 4:40 PM #

    Rochester – you know the story behind Busch beer?

    Auggie Busch was going to name his new stadium “Budweiser Stadium” in order to promote his beer. Auggie Busch was one of the old-school owners who used baseball to advertise his product instead of the other-way around.

    Baseball owners had to okay the stadium name and they immediately said, “Not only no, but hell no.”

    Auggie Busch said, okay, can I name it after myself?

    The owners said, sure…go crazy.

    So he did. And immediately got on the phone with his braumeister and said, “I want you to come up with a new beer. Call it ‘Busch beer’.”

    I imagine the Centennial Authority would have a similar reaction to your names as baseball had to Auggie Busch. Good luck finding a way around that. 🙂

  2. PapaJohn 07/30/2007 at 4:43 PM #

    RedTerror29 –
    LOL
    That was great!

  3. RickJ 07/30/2007 at 5:05 PM #

    “If 50,000 fans at 1 NCstate home game, donated 10 dollars = $5,000,000”

    Is this what some of you guys call “Curry Math”? Maybe this is what Noah is referring to about $100 bills flying out of his butt.

  4. highstick 07/30/2007 at 5:07 PM #

    Thanks guys, except for the specific names, that’s pretty much the story I’d heard before, but wasn’t sure about.

    I sure wish someone would point me to details regarding Dean recruiting Washburn though! I threw that one at one of my Tarhole co-workers and he was downright indignant that anyone would suggest such a thing.
    Their program is not clean, and never has been as “lily while” as they’d like to think. Maybe Dean wasn’t aware of all of it, but that’s the same thing that they crucified V for.

  5. redfred2 07/30/2007 at 8:07 PM #

    “I believe NC State is run by a group of extraordinarily talented and intelligent people. And if I ever need them to find the area under the curve or build me a bridge, I would expect nothing but fine work from them.

    But they still don’t know how to handle public relations or public communication. I’ve never seen any sign that it’s EVER been a skillset that’s highly valued at NC State. I’ve never really seen any sign that the graduates of NC State fully appreciate it’s value.”

    noah, that’s exactly what I’ve tried to say before. My Dad was an alum and he was very conservative guy. He loved Valvano and what he did for the university and the kids that played for him, but again, my dad was very old school and V’s flamboyance and celebrity didn’t ever sit quite right with him. My father was just like the NC State administration, he couldn’t figure out that Valvano’s persona was just as important and valuable to the university as his brilliant mind was on the basketball court.

    It’s just a shame that those well intentioned egghead bridgebuilders, architects, pig farmers, or whatever couldn’t, and still can’t tolerate, and are intimated and feel a need to stifle anyone who isn’t a straight arrow or anyone with a real personality. They haven’t and still aren’t ever going to stand behind or stick up for anyone who doesn’t come off like milktoast. I think I have all the examples that I need to back up my thoughts on that.

  6. beowolf 07/30/2007 at 8:17 PM #

    highstick, the “Dear Chris” SI cover story (1984?) talked about it, for one.

    Also — and if someone could YouTube this, it would be great — Dick Vitale talks about Dean Smith being in the running for Chris Washburn, Danny Manning and Ranzino Smith (iirc) at some point during our 1983 ACCT semifinal game against UNC.

  7. redfred2 07/30/2007 at 8:43 PM #

    highstick, personalties enter politics and hold public office where they can influence people and news, they don’t build bridges like the eggheads I mentioned above. Therefore, Chapel Hill has it’s own built in reflector shield, they can quell a rumor, or a true story, faster than most of us can blink.

    Just like someone else said early, V surely did step over the line, but slighty, and he did take on more than he could handle by himself. But honestly I don’t believe that history would read the way it does if he had had an administration that was as motivated to help him through that time and keep him going. Say maybe an administration that was just as determined to keep us on top our closest neighbor’s administration is just down the road.

    Without the built in leg up on the media it definitely would have been much harder to make someone like Washburn come off looking like a quoir boy, say like a R McCants did. But either way, that fiasco was very poorly handled and Valvano was just left standing there, hung out dry.

  8. choppack1 07/30/2007 at 9:01 PM #

    I think Noah summed it up best. A lot of blame to go around.

    In the end, two wrongs don’t make a right. It was wrong and short-sighted for V to bring in some of the players he brought in – and not have them supervised properly. However, it was just as foolish for the administration to fire V for his shortcoming. After all, as Noah correctly points out – that had lapses of their own that helped this occur.

    If V wasn’t a special coach – I could see firing him. If V’s transgressions were worse – I could see firing him. If V didn’t cooperate, I could see firing him. But he was a special coach, his transgressions weren’t the kind that deserved firing.

    A horrible move by our administration.

  9. highstick 07/30/2007 at 10:42 PM #

    Thanks for all this info and I guess I’ve arrived at the same conclusion with limited facts over the years. I was very disturbed with Golenback’s book, but as time went on I kept hearing how nothing really ever was found that V intentionally did or was faulted for other than “just not paying close enough attention to what was going on”. Also, I had gathered that the administration basically just hung him out to dry and created all of this self imposed “different set of rules” for State. It’s a shame that they destroyed the “qwest for excellence” in the process.

    I got one of the books this afternoon at the library and will read Bob Valvano’s book when I get back.

    Coming from a different basketball era since I was a student during the Case-Sloan regimes, it amazes me that maybe there was a “double standard” with Valvano. I can’t speak to much about Case since he was basically sick and dying my freshman and soph years, but I did see some of the “ugly” going on with some of the athletes going on in and out of the classrooms. After my Army sabattical, I came back under Sloan and a year later Holtz. Things appeared to be a little cleaner then, but I was also not living on campus and maybe didn’t see some of the things that were going on.

    I served in the Army with a Carolina grad who had played football for 3 years and he acknowledged some of the same type stuff going on at Carolina, i.e. grades, cheating, etc.

    Fred, I guess the “milktoast” sums up the Fowler regime!

  10. PamlicoPack 07/31/2007 at 9:07 AM #

    regardless of how you feel about Valvano, I can’t imagine a more shortsighted and damaging act for the financial security of our current athletics program than to forgo the millions of dollars an arena naming sponsor such as RBC pays in order to engage in a Quixote-esque pursuit of naming the arena after him. Were he here today, he would (rightly) nix it as not in furtherence of the best outcome for the university.

    And as for poster above who said

    “My granddad was there the day the Wolfpack Club had their meeting to discuss Jim Valvano with the A.D.

    That was a very heated meeting with what my granddad described as being a “bunch of cowards turning their back on a man that made the school great”. ”

    I think you better check grandpa’s meds. There is no way that meeting could have taken place as described, since Valvano WAS the AD at the time…

  11. RickJ 07/31/2007 at 9:34 AM #

    “I think you better check grandpa’s meds. There is no way that meeting could have taken place as described, since Valvano WAS the AD at the time…”

    V had already been relieved of his AD position when this meeting took place. Not sure but the AD was probably Hal Hoffenberg (sic).

  12. primacyone 07/31/2007 at 9:45 AM #

    Facilities article in the N&O today.

    http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/ncsu/story/654883.html

  13. noah 07/31/2007 at 9:53 AM #

    The NCSU Board of Trustees ultimately decided V’s fate. I believe there were three trustees that voted to keep him (one of them was my uncle).

    The last time the WPC “fired” a coach was when Monte Kiffen got the heave-ho. (They didn’t actually fire him, but I believe they were the catalyst.)

  14. primacyone 07/31/2007 at 9:58 AM #

    Rivals article on the Las Vegas Camp/John Wall

    “Las Vegas: Underclassmen eye catchers

    John Wall, PG, Raleigh (N.C.) Word Of God Christian Academy, Class of 2009

    John Wall reminds us of the Phoenix Suns’ Leandro Barbosa with more of a point-guard mentality. At 6 feet 3, Wall has unguardable speed with the basketball and an uncanny ability to finish at the basket.
    In the three games that we watched Wall play in Las Vegas, we didn’t see an opponent who was able to keep him out of the lane. In fact, Wall repeatedly made his way to the basket. He finished with regularity, or was able to find teammates at the last moment. Rarely do you find a player who continues to pick up speed once he enters the scoring zone and is still able to make positive plays the vast majority of the time.

    Wall burst onto the national scene this July, and the list of schools recruiting him is growing.”

  15. primacyone 07/31/2007 at 9:58 AM #

    Here is teh rivals link for the above: http://ncstate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=695899

  16. BoKnowsNCS71 07/31/2007 at 11:27 AM #

    Noah — NCSU was put on probation in FB back in 81-82. Was that due to Kiffin’s recruiting infractions or Reeds?

  17. redfred2 07/31/2007 at 12:49 PM #

    highstick, what you named as “ugly”, went on everywhere at small colleges and large universities all across the land, and still does to this day. What I have real trouble and do not understand is why NC State fans and administrators still make themselves feel so guilty about it even now. It possibly wasn’t and is still not right according to the rules, and NC State unfortunately got caught while others were allowed to slide, but good lord, what’s done is done.

    I think you’ve seen where UNC actually went after Chris Washburn. I’ll guarantee that if he had chosen to go there instead, was playing some good BB for them there, that his name wouldn’t be mud right now.

  18. noah 07/31/2007 at 1:51 PM #

    “Noah — NCSU was put on probation in FB back in 81-82. Was that due to Kiffin’s recruiting infractions or Reeds?”

    Kiffin.

    We had a football recruit who was allowed to take three official visits (paid) with his parents here. We also contacted him too many times and contacted him during some prohibited periods.

    I used to know the kid’s name, but I’ve forgotten it. For some reason, I think the guy was from Whiteville. Maybe Lumberton.

    This was payback from Danny Ford and Clemson. Ford was convinced that we had tattled on them to the NCAA and were responsible for them going on probation. So…they sort of sat in the tall weeds and just waited until they could bitch and complain about us and this was the time they chose to do it.

    After the State-Clemson game in 1983 (Kiffin’s last), Ford and Kiffin squared off over it at midfield. It was reported in the N&O in a little sidebar after the game. Basically just some finger-pointing and unpleasantries being exchanged.

    I don’t think we had any real punishment for the incident. We were on probation for a year, but I don’t think there were any scholarship reductions. Certainly nothing like what Clemson faced.

  19. Luke12321 08/01/2007 at 9:44 AM #

    The 09 PG John Wall that recently burst on the scene has an offer from Kentucky. Sounds like he is very very fast/quick but shot is not quite there yet. The good news is he has over 2 more years before he will be in college so should be able to work on it. If Sid likes Wall, I hope we go ahead and offer before we let a NC star PG get away from us. We got to have someone who can feed Leslie the ball in our 2010-2011 season! 😛

  20. lush 08/01/2007 at 2:20 PM #

    anybody know how to get tickets for midnight madness??

  21. redfred2 08/01/2007 at 10:11 PM #

    Thanks Luke, it’d be great to see an in STATE kid like Wall come in and set the place on fire.

    It’s also great to be able look ahead like that with an optimism that is now justified and realistic. We’re no longer fishing, begging, or praying, for a savior to suddenly appear out of no where and singlehandedly lead the program back to legitimate contender status.

  22. highstick 08/04/2007 at 5:57 PM #

    I was able to pick up Jimmy V’s book and read it while I was at the beach this week. Actually I got so “glued to it”, I couldn’t put it down and read until 4:30 Friday morning.

    While it’s Jimmy V’s version, somebody’s got to prove to me that the bulk of it isn’t true! Jeez, did he get screwed! For some reason, I thought Poulton did it to him, but it was Monteith carrying the torch! And the comment above about V not being AD was correct. He’d been replaced by that time!

    My question is, if anyone can answer…. Where did Wendell stand on the issue? It appeared that he was a V supporter as his only mention was at the end of the book and it did not appear to be negative.

    I’m supposed to pick up Bob V’s book next week to read.

    These books should be required reading for any State grad.

  23. Pack1969E 08/08/2007 at 7:38 PM #

    Don’t recall Wendell’s position on the issue, but hearsay has it that Alumni Association (not WPC) and corporate contributions took a sharp dip during those tumultous years of the G-Book which influenced V’s termination. Can anyone shed light on the economics factors….

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