Wolfpack Week in Review

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Last week’s results are a perfect microcosm of the athletic department’s ineptitude under “Coach” Fowler:

Baseball: 1-4 (defeated Wofford, lost to ECU, swept by FSU)

Softball: 0-4 (lost to ECU, swept by FSU)

Men’s Tennis: 1-1 (ACC Championships beat GT, lost to Miami)

Women’s Tennis: 0-1 (ACC Championships lost to FSU)

Men’s Golf: 4th of 11 teams at ACC Championships – Matt Hill co-individual winner

Women’s Golf: 4th of 9 teams at ACC Championships

Men’s Track and Field: 12th of 12 teams at ACC Championships

Women’s Track and Field: 7th of 12 teams at ACC Championships

Naturally, credit for the highlight of the week goes to NC State’s success-starved FANS, who packed Carter-Finley on Saturday to watch the football team practice. We are cautiously optimistic that the passion of Wolfpack nation will soon be rewarded.

If there is a God in heaven, this will be one of the last “Fowler Follies” update that SFN will have to make.

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.

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90 Responses to Wolfpack Week in Review

  1. BJD95 04/21/2009 at 8:46 AM #

    I was thinking about the Brackman discussion, too. It’s not always easy to separate our own desires for what’s best for NC State from what’s best for the kid. In Brackman’s case, it was an absolute no-brainer that he did what was best for himself. As he should. I believe he got seven figures from the Yankees, and if he never throws a pitch in the majors, he can easily afford to go back to school.

    Instead of trying to guilt kids into decisions not in their best interest, I would rather see changes on two fronts:

    1) Implement the “baseball rule” for college basketball. Kids who have no interest in college can go pro (here or in Europe) right away, while colleges are better equipped to plan for the future, knowing that once a kid attends his first class, he’ll be an amateur for three years. I think we all agree on that.

    2) Implement a stipend and/or insurance program for revenue sport athletes. If you are a non-revenue sport athlete, getting a free college education is a very good deal. And I like it because it provides opportunities for young people, often from disdvantaged backgrounds. They compete for the love of the sport, and pursuit of championships. The colleges (and alumni) can take pride in their accomplishments, and for cases like Cullen Jones, Olympic glory. But revenue sport athletes (especially stars) provide a benefit for the university far in excess of what they receive in return. Huge TV contracts and ticket revenues, and they get no piece of the action whatsoever (and are sometimes castigated as “selfish” for going pro early or associating with agents). If they stay “loyal” and lose their pro career due to an injury, they are SOL. I don’t think that’s equitable, and I think a stipend/insurance program would enable more athletes to stay in college longer – which is good for everybody.

  2. Noah 04/21/2009 at 9:03 AM #

    I agree, in principle, to both parts. Rather than your second insurance suggestion (I think it might not be feasible), how about something like Les Robinson implemented here with the shoe contract money?

    Robinson took all of the money he got from the shoe contract and put it towards a fund that allowed former NCSU players to return and get their degree.

    The insurance thing probably ought to be left to the individual. If you’re a sure-fire, one-and-done, you can get a loan and get your policy from Lloyd’s by yourself. But does the 12th man on the team really need something like that?

  3. BJD95 04/21/2009 at 9:12 AM #

    I am admittedly fuzzy on exactly how to structure prong 2.

  4. Noah 04/21/2009 at 9:55 AM #

    I think it’s sort of like the idea of paying players. It makes sense from a purely pragmatic standpoint. But the reality is that the players who actually generate the big-time revenue probably are already being paid and the guys at the end of the bench are being ignored. That’s the ultimate meritocracy.

  5. redfred2 04/21/2009 at 11:37 AM #

    Goota hurry, lunchbreak…

    First off, my comment about drafting kids out of the lower grades was an INTENDED exaggeration.

    Secondly, Alpha’s link is about just 41 !!! cases that occurred over a timespan of 25 !!! entire years. Those cases, to say the very least, ARE VERY RARE, and they do not give any representation of how easy/difficult it will be to maintain those percentages as more and more kids skip the intermediate level that is now known as collegiate basketball.

    Like I said before, just because the NBA is simply being ALLOWED to lure kids away at earlier and earlier ages than ever before, doesn’t automatically mean that it is a good thing! Or that the old way was somehow totally unfair and limited the athletes of twenty five years ago in getting into the professional ranks, nor did it hender them from becoming very successful professional athletes.

    It just wasn’t IN$TANT gradification for a young HS kid, and that’s all that’s really important in these days, now isn’t it?

  6. Noah 04/21/2009 at 11:47 AM #

    Like I said before, just because the NBA is simply being ALLOWED to lure kids away at earlier and earlier ages than ever before, doesn’t automatically mean that it is a good thing!

    Can you show me the post where someone suggested it was? I must have missed it.

    Or that the old way was somehow totally unfair and limited the athletes of twenty five years ago in getting into the professional ranks and becoming very successful professional athletes.

    Actually, it’s a violation of the current NBA labor agreement that was negotiated in good faith by the owners and players. Furthermore, a rule that prevented people from going pro would be a violation of US labor laws and would be struck down in a heartbeat.

    The NBA has shown no inclination to following MLB’s excellent rules on draft eligibility. They like the one-and-done rule. I would suggest that if they are not going to use MLB’s “window” rule, they should at least do away with the notion of “declaring” for the draft.

    You get drafted when you get drafted. If you like where you got selected, you can sign. If not, you can come back the next year. Add an extra round to the draft if you want to lessen the impact of a lost pick.

    NFL picks are so valuable that they are actually worth more than the player you use the pick on…NBA picks are the opposite.

  7. TheCOWDOG 04/21/2009 at 1:01 PM #

    If the NCAA would merely reinstate the old ” Laundry Money ” stipend at a $100/mo. it would avoid the labor law issues that have kept player reimbursement prohibitive.

    One huge labor issue is a paid player could and probably would be considered an employee of the state. You see where this is going?

    Should the stipend be brought back, it would have to be handed out to every schol athlete regardless of sport and would cost the school around 200K/yr.

    Only athletic programs that turn a profit can even cosider the cost of insurance premiums.

    Of course with a little ingenuity those premium costs could be offset by funds generated by the NCAA basketball tourney alone.

  8. packalum44 04/21/2009 at 1:04 PM #

    May I suggest a Vinny Del Negro thread?

    Just got back from Boston where I saw him in Legal Seafood Sunday night. This was the day after they beat the Celtics in Game 1. Told him good luck and we (NC State nation) were proud of him.

  9. redfred2 04/21/2009 at 4:27 PM #

    “Can you show me the post where someone suggested it was? I must have missed it.”

    No, not on this particular thread anyway, I cannot.

    You see Noah, I have this affliction that causes me nothing but trouble around here, it’s called a memory.

    When you make comments on each and every entry based solely on your memory, it gets very monotonous and looks a whole lot like cyber-stalking. We would all be better off if you could somehow learn to only address comments made on that particular thread. It doesn’t seem that difficult to me, but somehow I’m not getting through to you.
    VaWolf82

  10. TheCOWDOG 04/21/2009 at 4:50 PM #

    Red…for chrissakes…what was that (((I))) thing you just did?

    I spend the time to read most all ya’ll, but I just got fitted for some new contacts today to improve my ” short vision ” ie reading while enjoying the long distant vision that I lack.

    That (((I))) just made me experience vertigo and fell out of my freakin’ chair! 🙂

  11. TheCOWDOG 04/21/2009 at 5:00 PM #

    Oh come on… put Red back up.

    When I fell out of my chair, I didn’t hurt myself.

  12. highstick 04/21/2009 at 5:21 PM #

    The “state employee” issue would be interesting now. With the hours the athletes put in, they probably qualify for state retirement and health insurance plus other benefits.

    At least they’ve generally changed the rule that it only took 5 years to become fully vested for free health benefits forever.

  13. redfred2 04/21/2009 at 5:29 PM #

    I was thinking the same thing highstick.

  14. JeremyH 04/21/2009 at 6:09 PM #

    “VaWolf, and it will continue to be that way, because the quality of the level of play in today’s NBA is dropping faster than the quality of those kids now going early.”

    depends on your criteria for quality– the nba is a entertainment business, whose #1 asset is the pure athleticism of the players in the league, running and hopping. The more fancy slam dunks that can be shown on ESPN, the more money they make.

    But this isn’t a dirty secret. Now, do you want to make an argument for the “purity” of the game being essential to its surivival? I’d like to read your research paper on that.

  15. Noah 04/22/2009 at 6:02 AM #

    No, not on this particular thread anyway, I cannot.

    You see Noah, I have this affliction that causes me nothing but trouble around here, it’s called a memory.

    Great…put that memory to good use and do what I asked. Please show me where someone said the NBA luring kids away automatically was a good thing.

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