Weird Blog Post on WRAL.com

WRAL.com is starting to venture into different waters. It holds the rights to NC State broadcasts and marketing, and it has also started a sports radio station. So it is weird to see poorly written articles slamming the Wolfpack.

The problems that State has are surely one of talent and depth but c’mon if Stanford can beat USC, can’t State hang with ECU? Tom O’Brien certainly knew what he was in store for when he came to State but this? I don’t buy it. He couldn’t have thought that this rebuilding project could be so tough. He’d never admit it but these are indeed tough times for a football fandom who never envisioned this at the beginning of the decade. These were supposed to be the “contention years” as Chancellor Fox once said. The only contention lately has been for worst program not only in the ACC but in the state of North Carolina.

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92 Responses to Weird Blog Post on WRAL.com

  1. VaWolf82 10/17/2007 at 6:49 PM #

    I’d say cut him some slack for a few months ….. or form a lynch mob and go lynch the SOB ….. whatever.

    BobLee….are you feeling OK? I’ve never thought of you as indecisive.

  2. RAWFS 10/17/2007 at 7:09 PM #

    I don’t hear a lot of grumbling about the job Tom O’Brien is doing. Nor do I put much stock into this year’s results. 2, 4 or 5 wins — that’s short of the post-season and the only number that matters is six, bowl eligibility. I just don’t see the Pack getting there, not with QB problems, the top two running backs out, the top tight end out and a line still trying to find itself. So it really can’t get worse, it can only get better. Eventually it will and O’Brien will be the man who leads the charge.

    Finally, Mason is a poor writer. He may make a salient point or two, but he certainly could stand to get a copy of Strunk & White’s “Elements of Style” and brush up on his grammar. The man is almost unreadable.

  3. RabidWolf 10/17/2007 at 7:13 PM #

    beowolf Says:

    “I think most if not all State fans realize the horrid personnel problems TOB faces this year, and that no coach could be winning with the gang right now.”

    Well said, beowolf, it is a certainty that regardless of whether it is TOB coaching, CTC coaching, or Pete frigging Caroll coaching, the personnell issues and injury problems faced by NC State this season would be too much for anyone to even hope to overcome. The stable of RB’s has been reduced to a one horse race, the QB’s are inconsistant at best (and small), the secondary has had big issues stopping the big play, the OL is more shallow than the kiddie pool at a city park, and the DL has not, IMHO, played up to their potential. State has some really good players at WR, but if the QB cannot get the ball to the right spot, they cannot produce, either. The only thing that can fix the plethora of problems State has had is…..time. I did not have very high expectations this season (but I got season tickets anyway–I love NCSU that much), but I have high hopes for the future and no doubt that TOB can and will get the job done. Look at BC in his first 2 or 3 years, and then look at them now (What, #4 national ranking?? BCS hopes? ACC championship aspirations?) TOB molded a private university in a pro sports market into a conference and national contender. THIS BC IS NOT JAGODZINSKI’S (sp?) TEAM, IT IS TOB’S TEAM! We all just need to be patient and supportive of this team and the coaching staff! Be confident that once TOB and company break the bad CTC habits, solves the turnover problems, and gets the team to learn discipline and his system; NC State will become a conference and national contender as well.
    We, as fans, need to realize that we were greatly spoiled by having one of the best players in ACC history, and those only come along once in a great while.
    We, as fans, need to buy into the system just like the players do.

    GO WOLFPACK!

  4. RabidWolf 10/17/2007 at 7:16 PM #

    Jeez, boblee, my post was long, but ease up on the quotation marks!

    I bet you use air quotes every other phrase while you talk, too, huh?

  5. BobLee 10/17/2007 at 7:26 PM #

    No air quotes …. but I do occasionally say parenthetical. It tickles my nose when I do.

    If no one wants to lynch the new guy, at least pour sugar in his gas tank.

  6. RabidWolf 10/17/2007 at 7:29 PM #

    Bananas in the tailpipe work, too.

    Wait for him to go inside and put balogna on his hood, the sun will do the rest!

    If you want to be a REAL ass, crawl under the car and drain the oil! 😛

  7. Primewolf 10/17/2007 at 7:52 PM #

    The WRAL blog was weak. I am glad no comments were posted.

    Regarding ECU, I will be in the stands!! I think this is the most important game of the season. A win would mean everything.

    I think we can win, I think Beck will start. I think we will block better and run the ball for 150 yards.

    If we outturnover them, we will win.

  8. RabidWolf 10/17/2007 at 8:09 PM #

    The secondary will have to be on their game, and I just hope the DL and LB’s tackle more than they try to strip the ball. NO MORE ARM TACKLES…HIT THOSE SUCKERS HARD!!!

    Speaking of hard hits, did anyone else see Adrian Wilson’s hit on Steve Smith this past Sunday? IMHO, that was a bad penalty call, but the ferocity of that hit brought back some good memories!

  9. choppack1 10/17/2007 at 10:09 PM #

    I guess I’m most disappointed in the fact that we are YTD DEAD LAST in TO margin. It wouldn’t bother me if we were simply being out-athleted as we were vs. Clemson. However, I felt we had the talent to compete w/ BC, ‘Ville, and certainly UCF.

    For some reason, I thought TOB would bring a better execution than we’d seen the last 3 years. Mind you, I wasn’t expecting miracles. I wasn’t expecting us to be in the top 3rd – but I was hoping we’d be middle of the pack.

    I knew that we’d struggle. I knew that our schedule – w/ road games over the only 2 teams we beat last year – was NOT in our favor. I knew that it’s possible we could have this record – I just didn’t expect to see us doing the same exact thing I’ve seen us doing the last 3 years – except somehow managing to do it worse.

    But looking at the college football stats, I can see why I might have been setting myself up for disappointment. While BC was 2nd in the nation in TO margin in 2006, they were below average (80th) in 2005 and they were average in 2004 (62nd) . Compare this to Wake who was 6th, 70th, and 18th in the same time span.

    Like others, I saw some good things vs. FSU. Hopefully, we’ll continue to see improvement.

  10. VaWolf82 10/18/2007 at 8:15 AM #

    I guess I’m most disappointed in the fact that we are YTD DEAD LAST in TO margin.

    I think that this is a symptom and not the real problem. State has two real problems…..the defense is bad and the offense is much, much worse.

    Everything else is merely ways to document the real problems……TO margin, TD/INT, sacks, sacks allowed, points scored (for and against), rushing yardage (gained and allowed), etc. Alll of these stats tell the same story.

    You don’t have to like the story and you don’t have to like the way they are ending (this year and probably next)…..but it is silly to pick one stat and say: “If we could just change that….”

  11. noah 10/18/2007 at 9:50 AM #

    “did anyone else see Adrian Wilson’s hit on Steve Smith this past Sunday?”

    How about Wilson walking down D’angelo Williams?

    Williams got the corner turned and I thought he was GONE. Wilson came out of nowhere and just walked him down.

  12. Packaholic1 10/18/2007 at 10:25 AM #

    It was a very bad decision to let Chuck go, but what’s done is done. Many of the players that were here last year were/are mystified as to why he was fired, as are many others around the ACC. That’s a recipe for confusion and perhaps some anger amongst the players, but they’ll get over it at some point (maybe after they graduate).

    Not surprisingly, similar problems over in CH are seen by many with rose-colored glasses, especially in the media.

    A lot of our problem is in the OL, manifested by the number of interceptions and the inabilty to consistently run the ball. You can certainly pick out interceptions as a stat to focus on. Let TA fumble a few times and he’s a loser, but throw 15 interceptions and it’s a different story. Not trying to scapegoat the QB, but it was wrong to down TA for a few fumbles.

  13. RedTerror29 10/18/2007 at 10:31 AM #

    There seems to be a prevailing sentiment that we’re not going to see any improvement due to coaching and we have to “wait for TOB to get his players.”

    We will improve. Improvement doesn’t happen overnight. We will be better by the end of the season than we were at the beginning. We will be significantly better by next year. By year 3 we will go as far as our players will take us. And while the talent isn’t conf. championship talent, it is 8-9 win talent. TOB put together those records at BC without great talent. And he had a 7 or 8 win season in year 3 taking over a team coming off a gambling scandal. He’ll do just fine here.

    Regarding the “his players” theory. My experience has been those guys can’t coach “their players” any better than they could the last guys players. Case in point, see Bill Callahan this year.

  14. lush 10/18/2007 at 10:59 AM #

    “It was a very bad decision to let Chuck go”

    what?

    “Let TA fumble a few times and he’s a loser, but throw 15 interceptions and it’s a different story. Not trying to scapegoat the QB, but it was wrong to down TA for a few fumbles.”

    what? not only does this not make any sense, it is off topic and at least 3 years old. go post it with mason’s article, it would fit right in.

  15. packpigskinfan23 10/18/2007 at 11:05 AM #

    anywhere in Raleigh that has CSTV that you guys know of?! I know they have it in Greenville on basic cable, but is it a part of any digital or other package, so that bars here would have it?

  16. noah 10/18/2007 at 11:18 AM #

    It’s part of the TWC package in Raleigh. It costs $2.99 to add it. Ch. 327.

  17. RochesterRedWolf 10/18/2007 at 12:22 PM #

    interesting thing i came across posted on the wilmington star by Sammy Batten who i think is one of the better reporters/journalists in NC and he gets little credit, but he’s got his nose everywhere. Actually some insight into why ECU is a decent football team, also helped me understand the partial qualifier/non qualifier issue.

    Fayetteville’s Doug Palmer (originally signed with NCSU) is just one of several ECU players who originally signed with or orally committed to other programs before winding up in Greenville. Here’s a list of some of the most prominent ones.

    Jamar Bryant, a sophomore wide receiver from Hamlet, originally signed with Georgia.

    Marcus Hands, a junior defensive end from Wilmington, originally signed with North Carolina.

    Phillip Henry, a senior wide receiver from Elizabeth City, spent his freshman year at Elizabeth City State.

    Linval Joseph, a freshman defensive tackle, originally committed to Florida.

    Dalvon Mack, a junior linebacker from Fayetteville, began his career at Livingstone College.

    Khalif Mitchell, a junior defensive tackle from Virginia Beach, Va., played his first two seasons at North Carolina.

    Brandon Setzer, a junior offensive tackle from Thomasville, originally signed with N.C. State.

    Brandon Simmons, a junior running back from Newton Grove, played as a freshman at Elizabeth City State.

    Jay Sonnhalter, a senior tight end from Cary, played as a freshman at Wingate.

  18. RochesterRedWolf 10/18/2007 at 12:28 PM #

    After watching CTC’s interview prior to the NCSU game and that same old, don’t know what you call it, i personally was glad he’s gone. I don’t care what he did or people think he tried to do, i am looking at the product on the field under the tutelage of a real coach and its sad.

    I do think this…i actually think CTC would have won maybe against UCF because he would have tried some trick plays or something. I like the fact that TOB is not a trick play kind of guy, “line’em up and see if you can beat your man across from you off the ball.” I think TOB has coached like this intentionally, not necessarily to lose games, but to see what he’s got. Either way, at best, we’d be 2-4 at this point with all the same weaknesses.

    I may be wrong, but i honestly expect a different team for the 2nd half of the season. you’ll see. TOB doesn’t get paid almost 1.7million because he read a book yesterday about coaching, same thing with the staff, these guys are professionals.

  19. RochesterRedWolf 10/18/2007 at 12:30 PM #

    VaWolf, excellent point about symptom vs. problem analysis

  20. lush 10/18/2007 at 12:32 PM #

    i want to see a list like that for south florida.

    it really shouldnt suprise anyone how good they are if they take all the dnq’s and transfers that didnt think they got enough playing time from FSU, Florida, Miami, Georgia, Clemson, SC and all Chucks recruits who couldnt cut it here. dont we have like 5 former players on their roster?

    im guessing that 20 or 30 of their schollorship players are rejects from big time programs, but i could be wrong

  21. packbackr04 10/18/2007 at 1:50 PM #

    and those are the 20-30 that play

  22. old13 10/18/2007 at 5:12 PM #

    As long a Lee Fowler and Tom Stafford are involved with NCSU athletics, I see no reson to be optimistic about Wolfpack football for the foreseeable future.

  23. tooyoungtoremember 10/18/2007 at 6:01 PM #

    Oh come on old13. It’s not THAT bad. Have faith in TOB1. He’ll turn things around despite the AD. I’m not defending the administration, but sucessful seasons can be had without successful administrators.

  24. old13 10/18/2007 at 7:04 PM #

    Oh, I’ve got great confidence in TOB. BUT I think that the lack of support in the administration will keep him from building an elite program.

  25. noah 10/18/2007 at 8:30 PM #

    BTW, if any of you guys want to see a good football player tonight, check out Sam McGuffie on ESPN2. He’s going to Michigan next year. He’s the guy whose highlight film a lot of people called “the Matrix” for all of the high-flying acrobatics.

    Game’s on now…

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