Media Watch: The Pulse Of The Wolfpack Fanbase; CNNSi Cheerleader of the Week

Basketball Recruiting Fans General Media NCS Basketball NCS Football Sidney Lowe Tom O'Brien14

laurenmckinneyA couple of interesting things in the media for you:

Dessert before dinner: we don’t often talk about the cheerleading or dance squad teams here at SFN, but these folks work hard to represent NC State well, and in the case of the cheerleading team, are former national champions.  In short, there’s a lot more than goes into being a cheerleader than merely being attractive, and their sport comes with as many hours of practice, aches and pains as most any other varsity sport.  Just ask any current or former varsity cheeleader.

Anyway, NC State’s Lauren McKinney is Sports Illustrated’s Cheerleader of the week. She got some nice publicity for herself and for university for being chosen, and we here at SFN would like to recognize and congratulate her and her team for a job well done.

Next, ACCsports.com is an ever-improving web site that is becoming a must-stop for ACC sports fans looking for good in-depth coverage of the conference and of course, the individual teams in it.  Currently, on the web site, they have an interesting article where Jim Young of the Greensboro News-Record, Matt Carter of the Wolfpacker,  and Jacey Zembal formerly of Fox Sports and currently with The Wolfpacker discuss what’s going on with NC State sports and what fan moods and attitudes currently are.

Pulse of the Fanbase: NC State

The discussion ranges from upcoming spring game attendance to basketball recruiting, and of course the perception of Sidney Lowe by us, the card-carrying fan on the street.

Zembal:
The fans seem to be generally patient with coach Sidney Lowe. People want to like Lowe and see him succeed. He’s part of the fabric of NC State basketball. If he was a star player at say, Auburn, he never would have been hired at N.C. State, though only athletics director Lee Fowler would know that for sure.

Since Lowe’s arrival, the roster has been in flux. People aren’t even sure what identity Lowe wants because he’s building around what he has, instead of forcing players to do something they don’t fit well at (see Michigan football this past season).

This is interesting reading, and you’re sure to see some stuff you agree with and maybe some other stuff you don’t.  No matter what, it makes great food for discussion.

Basketball Recruiting Fans General Media NCS Basketball NCS Football Sidney Lowe Tom O'Brien

14 Responses to Media Watch: The Pulse Of The Wolfpack Fanbase; CNNSi Cheerleader of the Week

  1. Rochester 01/09/2009 at 9:58 AM #

    Seems like a pretty fair assessment, though they didn’t mention Tracy Smith, who deserves to be listed when you talk about Lowe’s recruiting achievements.

  2. com state10 01/09/2009 at 10:24 AM #

    Lookin’ for a place to jump in for a while, love StatefansNation and just want to thank the admins and readers for all your guys thoughts. Been a pretty regular reader now for a while and it’s been a great great way to keep up with the team and remain pretty involved since leaving campus.

    Thought this would be a good post to jump into because of its content. It is nice we have admins that love NC State enough to highlight people that deserve highlighting: like this cheerleader.

    Although I do not see the indepth value of them besides there good looks, I am glad I read a site that does see their value!

    Thanks again, and GO PACK.

  3. RTPMedic 01/09/2009 at 10:39 AM #

    “…though they didn’t mention Tracy Smith, who deserves to be listed when you talk about Lowe’s recruiting achievements.”

    Sorry for the off thread. Anyone know, or willing to speculate, why Smith is being used so sporadically? With the effort and performance we have seen from him, one would think he would be playing more or would have at least earned a start somewhere along the way. He currently has no starts and is ninth in minutes played.

  4. McPete 01/09/2009 at 10:46 AM #

    RTPMedic,
    Smith is playing behind McCauley and Costner. and both have been the two best players for us thus far. Smith can’t pass like McCauley, and isn’t as versatile as Costner. He’ll get his minutes next year, for sure.

  5. Alpha Wolf 01/09/2009 at 10:49 AM #

    Guys, you may want to move your basketball thoughts to the Clemson pre-game thread.

  6. Par Shooter 01/09/2009 at 10:51 AM #

    I knew a couple of cheerleaders when I was at State and they put in a ton of time. Football, men’s and women’s basketball and there are probably other sports they do as well. Think of just the game time (frequently away as well as home) for those sports and then consider all of the practice time. They also had their own competitions to get ready for. As an aside, the cheerleaders won at least 1 national championship while I was there (early 90’s). It’s safe to say that these folks are much more than just eye candy.

  7. Noah 01/09/2009 at 12:09 PM #

    Mmm…snacky.

  8. LKNpackfan 01/09/2009 at 3:24 PM #

    You had me until this-
    Favorite sports team: Boston Red Sox and Dallas Cowboys

  9. WolfEyes 01/09/2009 at 3:44 PM #

    Lauren McKinney sure is a lot easier on the eyes than Bones McKinney.

  10. Greywolf 01/09/2009 at 5:19 PM #

    Did the announcers for the Papa Johns bowl make the Rutgers cheerleader of the week award?

  11. b 01/10/2009 at 4:40 AM #

    Is that the pulse of the wolfpack fanbase before or after viewing lovely Lauren? Cuz the cat in the overalls looks like his pulse is nearing hummingbird levels.

  12. Sw0rdf1sh 01/10/2009 at 8:29 AM #

    Back in 90’s when I went to State I played football for the Club team for 3 years. It was a great time for a bunch of players that didn’t have the guidance early on to dedicate themselves to college ball, or the self control to stay off of Hillsborough Street until 2AM.

    Well, one year I tried out for Cheerleading on the advice of a fellow classmate/female cheerleader. I was in fantastic shape, but the things they do were just unbelievable. You have to be in incredible shape and I have a tremendous amount of respect for the squad and the things they do. Those girls don’t way more than say 120lbs, but trying a “toss to hands” requires some serious strength and balance on both sides.

    Needless to say I made it to the last cut, but I can honestly say my body was never made to do standing back flips.

  13. TOBtime 01/12/2009 at 8:55 AM #

    Swordfish, a good friend of mine cheered for Kathy Buckey (hope that’s spelled right) also in the early 90’s. He was a well-built guy who played high school football. He said he was never beat up playing football like he was as a cheerleader. The toll on joints (shoulders, wrists) is incredible. I believe he was on at least 1 NC squad by the time we graduated in ’92.

  14. packfanstk 01/12/2009 at 12:22 PM #

    My daughter was a cheerleader at West Springfield (VA) HS her junior and senior years. (Josh Czajkowski graduated a year ahead of her.) Between the gymnastics and stunts she’s now had surgery for a herniated disk and (2 days before Christmas) knee surgery to repair her floating patella. And the other knee needs surgery. I’d never call it a sport, but it certainly requires athletic prowess.

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