Spring Game

'09 Football Fans General124

I am out of town, but eager to hear the observations of SFN readers who do attend. Please post your thoughts below.

RALEIGH, NC – The Kay Yow Spring Football game drew 21,075 fans on Saturday afternoon to watch the White team win 10-7 over the Red team. The event raised over $28,000 for charity. Fans who packed Carter-Finley stadium on Saturday afternoon might have been expected a dual between First-Team All-ACC quarterback Russell Wilson and highly-touted freshman Mike Glennon.
Car Rentals

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

'09 Football Fans General

124 Responses to Spring Game

  1. Wolfpack_1995 04/19/2009 at 8:43 AM #

    COWDOG,

    Do you know who was in charge of organizing the alums on the field? From what I’ve read it was a giant clusterphuck.

    Maybe after Fowler is gone this can be addressed.

  2. Noah 04/19/2009 at 8:45 AM #

    I’ve been coming to Spring games a long time. Never have I seen such a crowd. Wasn’t it double last year’s? What was it that was so terrible? If all you heard was grumbling, perhaps you sat with the wrong people. Everyone around me was having a great time.

    I don’t think we doubled last year’s crowd…but it was probably 5,000+ over last year’s crowd.

    I didn’t hear anyone grumbling. It was a great day to watch a little football.

  3. 61Packer 04/19/2009 at 8:48 AM #

    Five Points:

    First, we won the game, didn’t we? At least that’s what my wife told me when she found out State was playing a football game yesterday.

    Second, it’s Pavlov, not Pavlove or Pavloff. We’re not ECU here.

    Third, for those who couldn’t find a convenient facility, please direct your complaints to Jed, not SFN.

    Fourth, it is what it is, a spring game. Don’t go writing this team off this coming fall. I remember the ’67 team coming out of nowhere for an 8-0 start and a 9-2 finish. I’ve written off basketball (men’s AND women’s plus just about every other sport we play short of bass fishing) but I’m high on this football coach and team. It’s going to be a great football season next fall, Jed or no Jed. Let’s enjoy the one good thing we’ve got left- football!

    Fifth, it didn’t rain yesterday!

  4. wolfonthehill 04/19/2009 at 8:53 AM #

    I have no idea how the hell any Pack fan could’ve attended the game yesterday and had anything but a fantastic time… a perfect day weather-wise, a great day of football on the field, a wonderful opportunity to interact with players & coaches after the game (my pics are posted at S6)… I mean, my 7-year-olds came away saying “I want to come back every year!!”. If a 7-year-old can sit patiently through the game, deal with inconveniences like crowds and limited access to services, can’t adults do the same?

    As for the game, the positives to me were obviously the QB’s, the true frosh RB Washington, the WR’s, the pass blocking, and the front 7 on defense. Negatives included run-blocking, defensive backs (although they did make a few nice plays), the rest of our RB’s, and the lack of depth past #2 at QB. But damn, our top two QB’s are both stout.

    August can’t get here soon enough…

  5. Sw0rdf1sh 04/19/2009 at 8:58 AM #

    Great positive post 61, way to get it back on track.

    Besides a beautiful day hanging out with 21K of my friends, there was some great football to enjoy. Yes, the running game didn’t seem to be brilliant, but the D line seemed to stack for the run. (By the way our NFL bound man in the middle wasn’t playing yesterday tjfoose1) Flea Flicker worked really well based on this. Receivers looked good, and that is without a couple of guys that are regulars (Bowens/TJ/DD).

    Mario Carter….welcome to the Pack young man. Looking good.

    More than anything it was great to take my 4yr old and Mom there and get on the field afterwards to meet the players. I can’t say enough about the character of the young men I met. My conversation with Coach Bible was really special too….awesome guy.

    I’m really excited that I got to have my Wolfpack Surfboard signed, and everyone who signed it was as stoked as me. I will take great pleasure staring at it on the office wall all year, I told the guys I think I’m going to get to write ACC Champions on it at the end of the year.

    James Washington II is a real nice guy too.

  6. MadWolf92 04/19/2009 at 9:37 AM #

    I had a great time at the game, but I am a little unhappy at the tightwads that apparently we State fans are. 20,000 fans and we only raise $28,000?? $1.40 average donation?? Really??

  7. TheCOWDOG 04/19/2009 at 9:53 AM #

    “Second, it’s Pavlov, not Pavlove or Pavloff. We’re not ECU here.

    Third, for those who couldn’t find a convenient facility, please direct your complaints to Jed, not SFN.”

    First. You are correct regarding Pavlov. Knew I had an unwarranted “e” after penning.

    Secondly. We are closer to ECU than one cares to admit.

    Thirdly. This thread asked for takes and I gave one here, on SFN.

    I’m sorry if I brought a rain cloud to a bright and beautiful day, but if I smell castor oil, I will not take the medicine and like it too.

    I was by no means the only supporter to note
    the lack of State getting the little things right. The little things that would separate us from…oh, say, ECU.

  8. Gowolves 04/19/2009 at 10:19 AM #

    Thanks Alpha! It was getting out of control with a few people above.

    The spring game is supposed to be for the fans. Give us a glimpse of what we hope to see in the fall. Was the team hitting on all cylinders…no. But that doesn’t matter right now. Just read TOB comments on where the team has come in the three years he has been here. Any coach that is worth a damn knows it is a process. We are vastly improved from the day he got here. We don’t have the stupid penalties and undisciplined celebrations. We will be much better from Saturday to the first game of next season. TOB expects his players to work in the off season and we expect to see a better team from last year and so on and so on.

  9. beowolf 04/19/2009 at 10:36 AM #

    Having not attended a Spring Game at ECU and UNC-CH, I have nothing to compare with, but I know that I enjoyed the game, the atmosphere, and pretty much everything except that I couldn’t buy a decent hat at the NCSU bookstores table. I’ve been to many spring games and the way this one was handled was better than most.

    And heaven knows you could find few people sourer than me overall on the state of NC State, not just athletics but the entire leadership and its decisions over the past few years.

    Maybe the appearance of general competence in a remnant at NC State is what pleased me, but that wouldn’t have anything to do with Pavlov but rather the welcome appearance of a port in a storm. I think it is more than that, however.

  10. redfred2 04/19/2009 at 11:31 AM #

    ^ Not just yet…

    “I think it is more than that, however.”

    Beowulf, please futher explain your comment/feelings.

  11. beowolf 04/19/2009 at 12:57 PM #

    “I think it is more than that, however.”

    Beowulf, please futher explain your comment/feelings.

    It’s really difficult to defend an impression, fred. Nevertheless, my impression is that TOB and staff actually know WTF they are doing, and this is a marked departure from just about every aspect of NC State I have examined — which includes, but is not limited to, the chancellor, the provost, the faculty senate, the diversity scolds, everyone involved in setting the curriculum, the wusses in student government (they’re even wussier than ever before, and that bar has always been rather low — near-unanimous vote to expel a kid for what he wrote in the Free Expression Tunnel? are you for real?), Mary f****ng Easley getting six figures a year to do jack s*** other than be married to NCSU trustee Dallas McQueen Campbell III’s special friend, the athletics department, most other sports (men’s basketball especially), the English department, my former college CHASS (which might be unfair; they might know exactly WTF they are doing as they are making that college even more of a mockery than it was in my undergrad days — thank GOD I can declare association with COM now), and NCSU public relations.

    So when I see TOB on the sidelines and I follow his program, I feel an incredible sense of relief at his quiet confidence and obvious competence, which I believe I have reason to hope will in turn lead to sustained success at a level unusual for NC State football. This feeling is compounded by appreciation for the marked departure of TOB’s qualities from the former coach’s deficiencies — high confidence without chest-pounding arrogance, superior management, staff continuity, proven success, ability to recognize character and quality even in low-regarded recruits, refreshingly complete lack of risibility, and so forth.

    There is very little about NC State that I am proud of right now, or that I even care to be associated with, but in that tiny, dwindling remnant is the football program under O’Brien.

  12. Greywolf 04/19/2009 at 1:35 PM #

    Beowolf,
    Could you clarify your feelings about TOB. 😉 TOB is about the best thing that happened to NCSU since Everett Case came down from Indiana to coach basketball at NC State.

  13. RagingWolf 04/19/2009 at 1:59 PM #

    “I had a great time at the game, but I am a little unhappy at the tightwads that apparently we State fans are. 20,000 fans and we only raise $28,000?? $1.40 average donation?? Really??”. I had the exact same reaction. My only thought is if the 20k people includes 10k children than got in free. Still, the average seems low ($2.8 per adult).

    Noah, you mentioned that you heard positive recruiting things. Can you elaborate?

  14. Sw0rdf1sh 04/19/2009 at 2:28 PM #

    Gave my Mom at dollar, gave my 4 year old son a dollar…put a 5 in for myself.

    I was hoping that most of the people there would be doing something similar……

  15. redfred2 04/19/2009 at 2:29 PM #

    Thanks Beowulf!

    Your’s are the same feelings that I tried to express last night. You did a much better job of expressing them though. I agree that TOB is well above and beyond, I also agree that he is even well above any of the false perceptions that NC State University feebly attempts to portray of itself.

    I’m sorry though, I’m not one who is going to fall to the ground and swoon all over his feet, not just yet anyway, and certainly not simply because he did a good job somewhere up in the north east corner of the continental United States of America. I admit that he’s got it all, but he’s still got to produce high level and consistent results, and produce them on a FB field IN RALEIGH NC, before I go blind to everything and start proclaiming him The King of the Entire Universe.

  16. McCallum 04/19/2009 at 2:33 PM #

    I must fall in line with COWDOG here.

    Having crossed the lands for years and watching how other schools do things I am blown away with how bad State usually does things. Striking a massive contrast against the historical manner by which State promotes itself is the understated but yet confident and classy approach as seen by O’Brien (a man who seems know how to do it right and with class).

    When COWDOG pointed out that the nearest bathrooms were closed and the fans were forced to walk half way to hell I just laughed and thought of typical NC State. Years ago they opened the gates hours and hours (far more than the 4 you now get) before the games, if you got in there early you got a great spot then out of the blue they pulled the 4 hr rule out (95 I think) so they screwed up traffic for the UVa game that year, screwed the locals in Raleigh caught in the massive mess and generally screwed the people that care. Then, typical as NC State is on matters, they opened the gates 5 or 6 hrs before kickoff the next home game but pull the 4 hr rule a few games after that so you are left with the impression that:

    1) nobody cares

    2) nobody knows what the hell is going on

    3) nobody is in charge

    4) a combination of all above three

    A nice topping to all of that was when they’d send around parking folks to tell you that you would not be allowed to park in certain areas and then the following home game there would be no such issues in place. A few weeks later the parking folks are back out in the crowd issuing orders and making demands. A week or so later no such demands are being made.

    These are but two cases which pissed me off with the university years ago(I’ll spare you all my position on how the school actually treats the students). I’ve been to games all around the country but mainly in the SEC and never have I seen a university so willing to crap on the fans as State stands at the constant ready. Most of these places, LSU and UGa (where I have season tickets)are prime examples, have little to no competition for fans yet they never pull stunts like you’d see in Raleigh. In a highly competitive area for fans (the most D-1 schools in relation to population) State stands out in its lack of professionalism. State has no finishing touch, everything placed in their hands reeks of institutional control issues by folks that have no operational experience. The jumbo tron is yet another of the endless issues: it is too damn loud, they play TV commercials on the thing and the result is that fans sit and watch like they are back home in the Oakwood double wide. Traditional songs are pounded into submission by Seinfeld outtakes(or they were until I tired of the non-sense and stopped coming) and the visitor who actually has been to places where it is done right is left with the impression that the university is cheap. Tradition is slain in the name of contemporary commercialism.

    The fans are hungry to be treated right. I’m left to wonder by some of you if State alum know and understand how things should be. It does not take much but it does require some attention to detail and a consistent manner of handling items. If the university does not have the people in place to do it right and is not willing to send them packing, the least they could do is to send them to a UGa, a Clemson or a South Carolina and copy what they do.

    A side note: yes I brought in bags and bags of plastic drink bottle tops and handed them out to fans several years ago when the administration directed the concession stands to take the bottle top from the paying customers.

    Don’t screw the fans. It is pretty simple.

    McCallum (the one and only)

  17. Rick 04/19/2009 at 3:08 PM #

    “It is not right, and it is not what REAL fans do to their coaches and players.”

    redfred,
    We will not get into a who is a “real fan” debate. YOU do not get to determine who is and who is not a real fan as Lee Fowler apparently has that privilege. None the less, I do not want to see this admonition again.

  18. GAWolf 04/19/2009 at 3:09 PM #

    Since we’re complaining about non-sports aspects of our alma mater, I’ve got a HUGE beef with NC State’s student conduct board. They are suspending from school kids who get charged with DWI. There is a complete disregard for their scholastic and prior criminal record, and they haven’t even been convicted. People make mistakes. Are there times when a student’s involvement in a crime should result in banishment from the University? Sure. Should every single kid who gets charged with a DWI get suspended and/or expelled? No. That’s absurd.

    Upon information and belief the current policy is that a kid charged is expelled for that semester but may return the following upon completion of certain requirements.

    So tell me what to do with this scenario: Let’s take a kid who has never been in trouble a single day in his life. He’s active in extra-curricular activities at the University, exercises philanthropy when time permits, and does extremely well in school.

    Kid gets charged at an unconstitutional road block put up by NCSU police. As a result of the road block being blatantly in violation of the kid’s constitutional rights, the evidence against him, if any, must be suppressed. He is NOT convicted. Prior to this determination by a court of law, however, the kid is expelled from school for one semester. He’s already paid his tuition and room and board for that semester. In fact, this happens only weeks before final exams so he’s put in a semester of hard work. Let’s say he’s a graduate student who owns one diploma from the University already. He’s 23 to 25 years old. Further, let’s say with his degree and his great grades his earning potential at the END of his career in light of inflation is several millions of dollars a year (in year 2050ish).

    How much is it worth TODAY for the school’s agents violating his constitutional rights, suspending him from school, delaying him from entering his field for six
    (6) months, and thus taking 6 months off the back end of his career away from him forever?

    Will it take a lawsuit for OUR University to see how idiotic this policy is?

  19. Noah 04/19/2009 at 3:19 PM #

    Mario Carter and George Bryan are going to be quite the 1, 2 punch at TE this year. Both of them look like a nightmare for opposing secondaries. Carter caught everything thrown his way and was tough to bring down.

  20. GAWolf 04/19/2009 at 3:27 PM #

    I read someone say there were a lot of short passes across the middle. That’s a refreshing commentary. A bubble screen or a pass out to the flats might actually work when they’re not the only passes we throw.

  21. com state10 04/19/2009 at 3:29 PM #

    GAWolf, that is quite the example. Although I agree with you on principle, I think their intention is to take subjectivity out of the equation. It appears to be similar to the zero tolerance policies of high school and college administrations across the country after violence on campus.

    Although its unfair the kid gets suspended or expelled with a knife in his bag under a zero tolerance policy, its just the way it is. Administrations have to do what they feel is necessary, and if that means they take some policies slightly to far, than so be it.

    I know that that strong of a policy certainly deterred myself and my friends from driving late, and payin a few more bucks for a cab back isn’t that big of a price to pay after all.

    In terms of football, I could not be more excited about this year and our program. The thing that stresses me out is the QB situation. It seems like through his successes last year, and his strong start to the spring, that RW has got a lock on the position. It’s amazing that for years I was so pissed we didnt have any good QB’s, and now it seems like we have two. I trust that TOB will handle the situation the best possible, but I would HATE to lose Glennon to transfer, especially since we have no idea what RW’s plans are.

    I am confident in our OL, I personally thought they played great the second half of last season. I am really excited about the turnout yesterday and the overall progression of our program!!! GO PACK!!!

  22. GAWolf 04/19/2009 at 3:49 PM #

    Corn State… I don’t have a problem with zero tolerance for convictions, if that’s what the school chooses to do. I don’t necessarily agree with it, but I would understand it.

    People get incorrectly charged with DWI every day. And despite public opinion these days and an all out assault on our Constitution by MADD mothers, people are still innocent until proven guilty in this country.

  23. packwatcher 04/19/2009 at 4:31 PM #

    Funny, our sports program was destroyed by administrators without any backbone over unproven and false allegations again JV. The current stuff percolating with the administration should could be extrodinarily embarrasing – Do you think the penalty for administrative misconduct at NCSU will be a banning of all sports?

  24. redfred2 04/19/2009 at 4:54 PM #

    “None the less, I do not want to see this admonition again.”

    You got it Rick. I will guarantee you that I will not bring it up again for at least as long as somebody makes some kind of an attempt to curtail the unverified innuendo on here as well.

    If that isn’t the case, shoot me down now, I can take it.


    Alpha has already warned everyone about personal attacks against other posters. Ignore his warning at your own risk.

    If you have a problem with a post….quote the F***ING comment that you object to IN THAT PARTICULAR THREAD and send an e-mail to the admins at the website. Quit making vague claims like the one above from some unknown time in the past…..BE SPECIFIC!
    VaWolf82

  25. Afterglow 04/19/2009 at 5:15 PM #

    com state10-The QB position is a tough one to develop into and it will serve Glennon well to have a year to hone his skills while sharing playing time with Russell Wilson. I doubt he’ll transfer; it seems like you really don’t see a player actually emerge at QB until their third or sometimes even their fourth year. That is unless of course you’re Phillip (freak of nature) Rivers or Russell Wilson for that matter-or maybe even Glennon<<<time will only tell.

1 2 3 4 5

Leave a Reply