Tuesday/Wednesday Open Thread

'07 Football General Non-Revenue28

Gang,

JB is traveling with a new laptop whose browser is not configured in a manner that allows him the opportunity to log on to many NC State websites.; but, he can read SFN. That said, we thought that we could post an “open entry” for folks to share and discuss anything that may be going on in Wolfpack world over the last couple of days.

* CSTV has put together some very basic ACC Football preview nuggets that can be seen by clicking here. Not much more than some very cursory overviews.

* Just in case you missed it, this entry will take you to a nice article regarding our new Lonnie Poole Golf Course on Centennial Campus. Now, if we could just get some leadership on Centennial Campus to get a damn hotel/conference center built beside the new Alumni Center we could take a big step towards the 21st century.

Arnold Palmer stepped onto a temporary tee box Monday, took four light practice swings and grimaced: “I’m too old for this.” Then the 77-year golfing icon belted about a 240-yard drive straight down the middle of rough-hewn terrain that eventually will become the Lonnie Poole Golf Course on N.C. State’s Centennial Campus.

His ceremonial shot launched the building by Palmer Course Design Company of a rolling, 7,025-yard, par-71 layout, a public facility and future home of the Wolfpack golf teams.

Poole, a State graduate and successful Raleigh businessman, and his wife, Carol Lynn, donated $3 million toward construction of the $11.6 million course, which has been on the drawing board 20 years and is scheduled to open in the spring of 2009.

* In other ACC-related news…it looks like the Dave Hart era at FSU is winding down. Interesting.

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'07 Football General Non-Revenue

28 Responses to Tuesday/Wednesday Open Thread

  1. geojim1990 07/10/2007 at 7:25 PM #

    Even more interesting was the comment at the end of the article. I hope for FSU’s sake the commenter was joking…on 2nd thought let them do something that stupid:

    Comment from:JPD Ohio [Visitor]

    07/10/07 at 17:27

    Now they can give the AD job to Bobby Bowden and promote Chuck to head coach. That’s why Chuck lost all those games with all that talent. It was part of a master plan to get fired and take over the Fla State job. And we all thought he was just a lousy head coach. “

  2. CaptainCraptacular 07/10/2007 at 7:27 PM #

    Posted this at the end of a stagnated older thread, but it seems more suited to the open thread area.

    Regarding national media perception of ACC football: VT will be carrying the ACC banner this year when the play LSU in Baton Rouge early. VT winning that single game gets the ACC a fairly large cache of national ‘ACC is a tough conference’ media respect through at least the middle of November, in my opinion. In one fell swoop they could wash away the last 2 years of perceived weakness. Go Hokies.

  3. Primewolf 07/10/2007 at 8:28 PM #

    The ground-breaking tee-off with Arnold was generally well run and organized.

    The views from where the clubhouse and practice area will be are spectacular. there is some good elevation changes where the course will be and you could see down town Raleigh. I looked for Dix Hill and I think that this site has as high an elevation.

    The course could well be a gem with the topography of the site.

    Why in the world we are building a 7000 yd course in this day and age. We have the land, for the life of me I can’t figure out why we don’t build it so it could be whatever, say 7400, if need be.

    The only down side to the groundbreaking was that the invitation said lunch would follow in the Park alumni center. Over 400 folks attended.

    It looked like they planned on about 50 showing up for lunch. One tiny table with food on it.

    I looked the situation over and simply left.

    Another reference point where State’s admin just underwhelms. I suspect move universities would have pulled out the silver and china. Do we have any. I hope they didn’t take Arnold to our luncheon.

  4. choppack1 07/10/2007 at 9:02 PM #

    Was Hart responsible for hiring Leonard Hamilton?

    Interesting – FSU falling apart in football and doing nothing in basketball can’t help. FSU continuing to come up short in baseball ain’t great either.

  5. Sw0rdf1sh 07/10/2007 at 10:28 PM #

    Well as I’m traveling and just read some of the best posts/comments on SFN in a while, I thought I would talk about our fantastic opportunity for non-ticket holders to see some games on ESPN 360.

    For me, I’m very pissed off that ESPN and Time Warner have thrown fans into yet another “you can’t watch the game” situation.

    I don’t even mind the need to watch the game from a PC,….I watched a lot of basketball games on CSTV and ACC Select last year. I do mind that I dont’ even have the option to watch the game.

    What kind of sick game is ESPN playing with TWC subscribers? It’s not ACC specific as ESPNU and now ESPN 360 continue to limit our abilities to watch the requested games in the age of $200 and above cable bills.

    I’m glad I’ve got my season tickets again, and hell no I won’t mind the drive from Wilmington. But it should would be great to one day be able to watch games that are important to a region without lobbying for it.

  6. RabidWolf 07/11/2007 at 7:56 AM #

    I sure as hell hope that Bowden takes over as AD @ FSU (doubt it, though) either way CTC will probably get the HC job at FSU. When that happens, we’ll have at least 7 years of Seminole jokes and lackluster football out of Tallahasee. “look at all that talent, how could they go 3-9??”

    As far as the ESPN comments, WTF happened to ESPN Classic? Right when they started showing some of the old NCSU classic games (UVa football ’03, NCSU hoops from the ’80s etc) my TIVO sends me an email about the channel being removed from the line up! Did Stu Scott finally kiss the right ass to get NCSU games delegated to ESPNU, 360, and the demise of Classic? Maybe because UNX never had any games good enough to be shown and that didn’t sit right with that overpaid, undertalented sycophant.

    Has anybody else noticed the lack of attention Sid’s recruiting class is getting? Maybe it’s because hoops season is so far off, but you’d think after getting in late and scrambling for recruits, State would be getting some props for landing players like Hickson et al.

    BTW…..It’s almost time to DROP THE PUCK!! Finally, some real sports for those of us who seriously dislike what baseball has become (or just dislike baseball). As many people as possible need to get out and support the NCSU club hockey team this season. These guys are really freaking good!! I cannot recall whether they will be playing in Dorton, or still be at the Ice Plex or wherever, but tickets are cheap and they need to get the same love and support as all the other sports at State!

    GO WOLFPACK!

  7. noah 07/11/2007 at 9:04 AM #

    You are not missing a thing with ESPN Classic. What happened was they moved it to another tier…so you have to have digital cable to get it. It’s up in the mid-100s, channel-wise.

    But who cares? They never play anything worth watching on it. They show nine hours of old poker tournaments (does anyone really watch these schmucks sitting around playing cards??) and old bowling tournaments. Think I’m kidding?

    Right now (Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.), they are showing a game from the 84 NBA playoffs, Knicks and Pistons. From 10 to 11 a.m., bowling…from 11 to 12, something called the 2003 NHRA Supernationals…from 12 to 1 p.m., more bowling….from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., it’s Mike Tyson time. Eight thirty-minute packages featuring him knocking people out in two minutes surrounded by 28 minutes of commercials, inane commentary, replays and of course, the 10 minute march from the lockeroom to the ring.

    At 5 p.m., they are showing the Buster Douglas-Tyson fight. That was a pretty good fight, I’ll admit.

    But at 7 p.m….we’re getting into prime-time…American Gladiators. A couple of thirty minute specials from 8 to 9 p.m, one on last night’s all-star game and one more anonymous boxing match. At 9 p.m., dogs playing cards…at 10 p.m., Who’s #1? Best Pennant Races. And then we close the day with “The Bronx Is Burning,” which was on last night and is on regular ESPN at midnight.

    Yeah…there’s bandwidth that’s being put to good use.

  8. packbackr04 07/11/2007 at 9:18 AM #

    mike and mike in the am. on espn radio are doing their whole show honoring the V foundation. auctioning off prizes for donations and they have shown/played the entire V espy speech this am. they are going to be doing it again at 9:20 this am. anyone who has radio iN THEIR office should tune in to hear his speech at 9:20

  9. noah 07/11/2007 at 9:18 AM #

    BTW, speaking of hockey…I don’t want to get into which sport is better (we’re just talking preferences, afterall), but I’m enjoying baseball’s resurgence these days.

    Baseball has had several comebacks over the last couple of decades. We had the serious dropoff after the last work stoppage, but McGuire and Sosa brought them back. Steroids hurt (and I really wish they’d make a serious effort to clean that up…but it’s never going to happen), but baseball is becoming pretty popular again. It’s TV ratings are pretty solid and attendance and merchandise sales are doing well.

    The two sports that seems to be in very, very serious trouble are hockey and pro basketball.

    Were the hockey playoffs even ON television this year? I can’t stand the sport, but normally, you flip around on TV and you see it as you keep clicking for something better. I don’t even remember the last time I even saw it listed. I’m reasonably certain it wasn’t on ESPN (unless it was on one of those ESPN channels only about four people can get…ESPN-Frozen, or something).

    And then there’s pro basketball. I don’t want to get into WHY the sport is in trouble (I think we all agree — at the end of the day, it all comes back to the little kids that they keep drafting), but it’s hard to argue with the fact that the TV ratings are completely awful. Ratings for BASKETBALL in THIS country for the FINALS and they are about 6.0?? That’s nightmarish territory. Old re-runs of F-Troop on TV-Land ought to be able to pull that.

    It’s on in prime time, it’s on a major network, it’s during the summer when all of the regular shows are in re-runs and it’s BASKETBALL. I don’t care what David Stern says…that’s awful.

    The NFL draft was on a Saturday…went on for 142 hours…features no game, just people getting called up to shake hands with the commissioner…and it was in the Spring! When it was nice out! And it still got better ratings than the NBA playoffs!

    Attendance and ticket sales really don’t matter. The mother’s milk of sports revenue is TV ratings. Going back to what someone up above said, it’s crazy for ESPN to be piddling around with this nickle-and-dime stuff with TWC. Get the stuff on the air…especially in the SE, which is mad for college sports.

  10. PapaJohn 07/11/2007 at 9:33 AM #

    Here’s a link on Wolfpack hoops. Says some good stuff, calls Brandon his sleeper for ACC POY.

    http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/07/10/premature-hoops-blogpoll-no-20-nc-state/

    Sorry about the length of the link …

  11. PackerInRussia 07/11/2007 at 10:05 AM #

    Noah, I’m assuming that the hockey playoffs were on the king of all sports channels, Vs. (formerly OLN) as they were last year. The first round or two was on FSN last year since the ‘Canes were playing in them and then they switched over to Vs/OLN for the rest of them. I used to have satellite and you have to pay for a higher tier to get the channel (same tier as necessary to get ESPNU). So, there’s a long explanation in case you can/want to get that channel so that next year when you flip through you can know which channel they are on in order to flip through it quicker.
    On another note, why do you have to knock American Gladiators? I used to love that show when I was in middle school and it was on. Great commentary and intense real-life sports action between accounts/engineers/high school chemistry teachers and beefed up meatheads. And those between-event interviews rival only the meaningless halftime interviews with head coaches as they are running into the locker room (actually on a recent trip to the States I caught part of an episode of it and couldn’t believe that people actually used to watch that show. It does have humor value though).

  12. BoKnowsNCS71 07/11/2007 at 10:18 AM #

    I turned the radio to 620 from 850 on the way in to work today and heard Jimmy V’s voice talking about Coach K. I did an double take and realized that was his ESPY speech.

    What a great way to start the day. He’s been gone for so long and he still moves people. Support the V foundation when you get a chance.

  13. RAWFS 07/11/2007 at 10:28 AM #

    A 7000 yard golf course makes perfect sense for what it is intended to be used for: college play, turf and course management studies and for general play.

    7400 yards is suitable for only the lowest handicappers and for professional competitions and is out of the range of your average golfer’s skills. It’s unlikely that there will be any professional competitions on the course, after all, the PGA has its own course in north Raleigh at Wakefield, and given that SAS is the sponsor of the Senior tournament, its unlikely it will move from Prestonwood. That leaves potentially an LPGA tournament and 7000 yards is sufficiently long for the ladies were they ever to come.

  14. highstick 07/11/2007 at 11:59 AM #

    And all you have to do to make that “little 7000 yard course” tougher is put in a few trees, let the rough grow up a little, tighten the fairways, and then sit back and watch all these long drivers with no accuracy start griping about how unfair the course is! Right Phil????

  15. primacyone 07/11/2007 at 4:26 PM #

    Olkahoma Football recieves it’s sanctions from the NCAA.

    http://www.wral.com/sports/football/ncaa/story/1581455/

  16. Primewolf 07/11/2007 at 6:43 PM #

    RAWFS and Highstick,

    My point was that technolgy has steadily made many courses obsolete for championship play. High school and college kids play at 6900 yds + today. At North Ridge here in Raleigh, all the best high school and the college players tee it up today at 6900 yds. 10 years ago, it was 6500 yds or less.

    Tiger has changed the game. Golf will attract more athletes, that are in serious weight and conditioning programs. I don’t think 7000 yds will hold up over decades as the collegiate standard.

    The course needs to be laid where it can also play 7500 yds or more if need be. Today, that is not needed for college play. But it likely will be within a decade or two.

    I certainly wasn’t talking about hosting a pro event in terms of yardage.

    I don’t want us to build a course that won’t stand the test of time without very expensive lengthening at a later date, which also ususally crowds the tees closer to adjacent greens and fairways.

    While there may be a contingent that prefers tight shotmaking courses to lengthy ones, that is fine, but we need to assume that the length of championship courses will continue to grow.

  17. ruffles31 07/11/2007 at 7:46 PM #

    I know SFN likes the UCLA Bruins Nation blog. Check out this link about one of the many coaches who jilted Uncle Jed Fowler.

    http://www.bruinsnation.com/story/2007/7/9/154310/7296

    This is SO poor by Lavin I don’t even know where to start.

  18. highstick 07/11/2007 at 8:17 PM #

    I am a former member of the Florence Country Club in SC. They’ve been having Q School there for the past few years and the young “hot shots” come in, look at the length and think they are going to destroy the course. 4 days later, they leave with their tails tucked between their legs with a lot of admiration for the course. FYI, same architect did the rework there that did the Carolina Country Club in Raleigh several years ago and the layouts are very similar.

    I totally understand what you’re saying though. But if they’re going to lay out a 7500 yd course, give us “old guys who are losing distance” a break with some shorter tee boxes.

    For what it’s worth, I played Wake Forest last summer and #1 wasn’t nearly intimidating with the current equipment as it used to be with a persimmon driver and steel shaft.

  19. highstick 07/11/2007 at 8:24 PM #

    I found this in an old SFN article and never realized that this was the case:

    “From 1956 through 1964, State played UNC in Chapel Hill every year. Edwards had a 6-3 record over those nine years…thus earning him a place in my list of top coaches.”

    I was looking at the stats and O’Cain’s record really skewed what happened since the “de-emphasis of athletics” in the 80’s.

    I really hoping that TOB turns this thing around this year and reverses the trend, particularly with our Orange County sister school.

  20. packfanstk 07/11/2007 at 8:30 PM #

    Latest scuttlebutt has friggin’ Gardner-Webb coming to C-F in 2009. The Shelby Star is reporting it. Can’t wait for JB to write the column praising Fowler for our latest OOC football coup.

  21. highstick 07/11/2007 at 10:54 PM #

    The Gardner Webb encounter sickens me. We’ll never gain any respect playing and sometimes losing to these Div I-aa teams. Enough of the Akrons and App States.

  22. TomCat 07/12/2007 at 12:45 AM #

    Gardner Webb…….. And folks want to complain about ECU and USM. U-n-be-l-ievable. Destroys all credibility in term of scheduling integrity.

  23. PapaJohn 07/12/2007 at 9:50 AM #

    ^ agreed
    Gardner-Webb just SOUNDS weak. This is a mistake.

  24. lush 07/12/2007 at 11:13 AM #

    I was thinking about this last night and I want to get some feedback….

    Does anyone think that we could be this years version of Wake Forrest? What was Wake’s preseason ranking last year? How many games were they expected to win preseason? Wake was a team that won their games with smarts and a system, not talent. They had a good quarterback that came out of nowhere to lead a fairly productive “conservative” offense, and a solid defense that allowed lots of yards but not many points. That translated into 10 wins and an acc championship.

    We have talent, and now with Obie we should have smarts and a system. We have two unkowns at QB, maybe one of them can step up to lead our version of “conservative” offense. Our defense should be solid on the line and in the secondary with questions at linebacker. And noone expects anything from us, even some our own fans. How much better do you think the league will be this year compared to last?

    There are a lot of similarities no?

  25. old13 07/12/2007 at 3:30 PM #

    I see where Foulup is once again earning his negative reputation – trying to build a championship FB team by playing Gardner-Webb. The guy is an IDIOT!

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