This may shock people, but some members of the media are starting to understand the frustrations of NC State’s supporters. On a morning where the Wall Street Journal did a feature on Bobby Purcell and the incredible fundraising efforts of NC State supporters, Caulton Tudor proves again (as he did last week) that he really has a grasp on NC State athletics:
N.C. State fans are grumbling, and they have a right to.
Various segments of the Wolfpack World are upset with football coach Tom O’Brien, basketball coach Sidney Lowe and/or athletics director Lee Fowler.
These are dark days for State. To say otherwise is to disregard scoreboards, which are the first and ultimately, the final, measure of popularity.
In my 40 or so years of covering sports in North Carolina, the most loyal fan base across the spectrum has been State’s. Through almost as much thin as thick, they’ve purchased the tickets, attended the games, followed through on their financial pledges and stood by their own, including alum Chuck Amato for longer than would have been the case at most area schools.
Here is another from Joe Ovies of 850theBuzz:
Emphasis added, and staggering if you think about it (that Ohio State has half the number of booster club members as NC State). Ohio State fans are like roaches that are hiding everywhere and the Buckeyes win ball games (except those that matter), so you would think donors are be lining up to hand over their money. And for the most part they are, but not as much as a school that could never match its tradition and success. NC State football hasn’t won an ACC title since 1979 and has failed to finished higher than 4th in the ACC in over a decade. The basketball team is bogged down by a tougher that expected transition from the Herb Sendek years (which produced no ACC titles to begin with). At this rate, Wolfpack Nation is the equivalent of late 90’s venture capitalists dumping more money into a “dot com†start-up like Pets.com right before the bubble burst.
One important correction for Caulton Tudor and any other member of the media that may read this entry:
The issues at NC State may or may not have anything to do with Sidney Lowe and Tom O’Brien. It is way premature for either of these coaches to be under any type of pressure from NC State fans or anyone in the media. Lowe took the reigns from Herb Sendek two years ago with six total scholarship players while Tom O’Brien inherited a program that was coming off a 3-9 record (worst record in almost fifty years).
That isn’t to say that both coaches have been perfect during their time in Raleigh, but at this point both coaches deserve 100% support from every NC State fan. Now if you want to criticize others at NC State who impact our athletic programs and have been here longer than five years (as this blog has done on multiple occasions), then go right ahead. Glad to see you are finally catching on.
Here is an earlier entry from StateFans Nation focusing on Lee Fowler:
If you visit regularly visit SFN then you know how to search our archives to find any of our many articles on the current position of NC State’s poorly performing Athletics Department. But, if you need some quick help you can click here for just a sampling of some entries that might be of interest to you.
In that^ spirit – and as Lee Fowler enters his NINTH year of ‘leading’ NC State’s Athletics Department – the projected performance of the programs on which he has put his stamp for almost a decade seems to resemble the underwhelming performance of recent years.WHEN will it get better? WHEN are you, as NC State supporters, allowed to ask such questions and deserve a legitimate response?
