BJD95’s Wolfpack Club Resignation Letter

AD & Department NC State Administration104

To follow up on my late October rant, I have indeed put my money where my mouth is. Here’s my letter, with private stuff I don’t want on the internet carved out:

January 19, 2010

NC State Student Aid Association
PO Box 37100
Raleigh, North Carolina 27627-7100

RE: Cancellation of Wolfpack Club Membership
Membership #******/Ticket #*****

Dear Sir or Madam:

At this point in time, I do not intend to renew my Wolfpack Club membership for 2010, nor continue to purchase LTR seats for football games. Please do not make any further bank drafts from my State Employees’ Credit Union Account (I have also requested that SECU not permit any further bank drafts after December 2009).

My *****personal family situation***** necessitates that I make some difficult spending decisions. Although I have been a Wolfpack Club member since my graduation in 1995 (and am not dissatisfied with the Wolfpack Club or its leadership), I do not feel that the NC State athletics department has shown the commitment to winning that would justify any additional financial investment on my part. My strong feeling is that NC State’s commitment is only to turning a profit (the LTR system helps disconnect finances from bottom-line results), and that winning games and competing for championships are tangential goals at best. Objective measures across the department range from mediocre to putrid, and accountability is virtually non-existent. The official response to even the mildest, fairest criticism (primarily through Lee Fowler, who would not remain employed at virtually any other peer institution, given the level of “success” under his “leadership”) is to demand that we shut up and send more money.

Although finances are tight now, I am a partner in a *****significant business operation*****, and will likely have significant discretionary income once my children graduate college. But NC State’s continued indifference to athletic success has lost me, and I fear that the same holds true for most of my generation of alumni. I wonder who will realistically replace the current crop of major program donors when their time passes. I can never stop caring about or loving NC State, but like a family member of a drug addict, I can and will stop enabling the debilitating sickness that permeates the athletic department.

Sincerely,

*****BJD95*****

Happy MLK, everybody!

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.

AD & Department NC State Administration

104 Responses to BJD95’s Wolfpack Club Resignation Letter

  1. legacyman 01/18/2010 at 8:26 PM #

    To each his own. I have followed NC State sports since 1960 when I started as a freshman student and have been in the WPC since 1975. I have experienced both NCAA titles in men’s basketball and if I never get to see another one, I will be far ahead of the current crop of fans.

    Some of you poor mouth a bit too much. Have patience, I know, that is too much to ask of the ME generation where instant gratification is all you want.

    There are hundreds, if not thousands, of loyal Wolfpackers who have worked hard and supported the athletics program for decades. Only because of them do you younger fans get to enjoy the beauty of C-F stadium and the great confines of the RBC center. Those folks didn’t get ticked and quit. Did they deserve better, yes, but they still didn’t quit.

    If times are hard then tickets should be on the back burner but when the economy improves the demand will return and those who have opted out will be left holding the bag. You will always be able to buy tickets from scalpers so season tickets may not be needed but that is your choice.

    There is a waiting list for football and basketball LTRs so go ahead and turn yours in…someone will be glad to start the program or move their seats to better viewlines.

    I have a lot invested in NC State sports and will continue to support my university as long as I breathe and can afford tickets. The rest of you have the choice as well.

  2. Wolfy__79 01/18/2010 at 8:36 PM #

    … here are my questions. the w/l’s haven’t been anything for discussion since phillip & co. in football, in basketball even longer. with upgrades to the football facilities and the addition of the rbc. a sharp women’s coach, TOB, and sid… has there not been some progress? i pin the nineties as the alltime low. a hint of hope during phillip’s tenure, despite sucking in bball. addition of a promising chancellor despite a huge mess made by oblinger. what would it take for some to feel like we’ve turned it around? why do people relate our contributions to fowler’s tenure? IMO, if our new chancellor is the right guy for the job.. his evaluations will be very thorough… and if fowler or whoever is not making positive strides.. they’ll be gone.

  3. Wolfy__79 01/18/2010 at 8:37 PM #

    in short, keep supporting the WOLFPACK. the rest is out of your hands. and we are heading in the right direction…

  4. LRM 01/18/2010 at 8:43 PM #

    There’s a big difference between quitting and making a personal decision to discontinue support for a program that lacks accountability both of and by its director, especially when that department expects us to keep writing checks without any defined criteria for success.

    You’re right, someone very likely will buy BJD’s LTRs, and the real travesty is that they’ll pay probably three times what he orginally paid for them, so there will be no lesson learned at all by our athletic administration, because they just got several years additional years of revenue from him.

  5. WendellPackster 01/18/2010 at 9:07 PM #

    The straw that broke my camel’s back was herbie’s last season when we went from the cusp of the top 10 to losing like 6 of our last 7 games, backing into the NCAA tourney and promptly losing. Damn it all to hell until Fowler leaves.

  6. blpack 01/18/2010 at 9:26 PM #

    I think BJD has expressed many of our frustrations. The love of university is there and many have provided financial support, but the passion for our athletic programs, especially hoops, is waning fast. We’ve seen too much losing and not aiming for excellence at our school. The Easley affair was the last straw for many. Sweeping changes are needed and hopefully Dr Woodson will be that change.

  7. tjfoose2 01/18/2010 at 8:49 PM #

    Respectfully, I don’t think anyone is quitting, and no one is bad mouthing “NC State”. It is more of a revolt against the bad leadership who is abusing what we hold dear while telling us to eat cake.

    That leadership has proven, time and time again, the bottom line dollar is their sole concern, not wins and losses. And it is not the ‘wins and losses’ per se, that most of us are upset about, it is the culture of mediocrity, the acceptance of failure as long as the money keeps coming in.

  8. Wolfy__79 01/18/2010 at 10:53 PM #

    i’m all for aiming for excellence!

  9. newt 01/18/2010 at 11:31 PM #

    I think keeping Sendek as coach was the only feasible decision; that Lowe, Harper, and O’Brien could all turn out to be great hires; and that 10-15 years ago, our facilities were in desperate need of upgrading before we could expect success on the court and field.

    But I am 100% in favor of dismissing Lee Fowler, because he has repeatedly insulted NC State and its fans – even our current students. I can see why somebody would not be able to write a check to support an athletics program under his lead.

  10. Wolfy__79 01/18/2010 at 11:42 PM #

    keeping who?!?

  11. Wolfy__79 01/18/2010 at 11:45 PM #

    the straw that broke the camels back for me was when we failed to capitolize when unc-ch was in between coaches.. instead, duke took advantage. now after a few mediocre years themselves, they are atop the conference with the best chance to win?? right? they look pretty good/balanced/poised for good stuff.

  12. 94MEGrad 01/18/2010 at 11:50 PM #

    After 14 years, I dropped out of the WPC last year. I’ll consider re-joining when Fowler is no longer AD.

  13. VaWolf82 01/18/2010 at 11:53 PM #

    LF’s incompetence is indeed dirty laundry, but it is hardly a closely held secret. It is obvious to anyone with an internet connection and the interest to look at the results from the NC State athletic dept.

  14. 61Packer 01/19/2010 at 12:07 AM #

    Last summer, after keeping the same two lower level mid-row end zone seats since the LTR drive began over a decade ago, I began noticing more and more empty seats around me. So, I went to the Wolfpack Club office last summer and inquired if any better seats were available. Several were, and at no cost I obtained 2 seats in a better section. And just recently, I checked again on seat availability and again was able to upgrade, again at no extra cost, to aisle seats that were even closer than the ones I have now. Another upgrade for me is highly unlikely, because if I moved over to the next section, it would require another LTR seat purchase plus a doubling of my annual WPC payments. NCSU will not get that kind of money from me.

    Expansion or no expansion, the ACC historically, like NCSU, has been primarily about basketball. The Techs, Clemson, FSU and Miami are mainly about football, but State, UNC, Duke, Wake, Maryland and UVA have built their athletics on basketball. When these schools have been “down” in their respective big sport, they’ve quickly rectified it. But not us. UVA could be in the same boat, but they’ve made changes where we haven’t, and I think the Cavs are clearly ahead of us now.

    Do we want to be a basketball school again or continue by default to be a football school because we’re just mediocre here instead of bad? It appears that nothing short of emptying the hockey arena of Wolfpack fans like BJD95 will get the ball rolling toward changes that are needed now, not next year or the next.

  15. Wolfy__79 01/19/2010 at 12:19 AM #

    the timing of this letter came around the same time when we were losing our asses in football.. duke, wake and everyone else. after a somewhat promising start.. despite the performance against the gamecocks. my emotions were all over the place during football season. watching the PACK play was just plain miserable. i’d never seen a defense play so poorly. sure the fowler talk has been going on for a long time, for atleast a year… to my attention anyway. the main talk then was to fire archer. that has rested a little, now the fowler conversation is in full swing.

    i guess i’m being a little forgiving still with the coaches (not fowler). i just have to think that we got caught with our pants down this year in football, not recognizing how critical losing some of our key players really impacted their overall play. at the time of the TOB hire, i was shocked that we stayed in conf and picked up obrien. i thought, that might be a good fit. WOLFPACK faithful tend to have a good understanding of college football and high expectations for the club. ..maybe this proven veteran/conservative/accomplished coach will be just what we need. i had such high expectations from the hot finish we had the previous year. you know, when phillip was around.. our defense wasn’t all that great either but we still won. so how could we end up like we did? i stumbled on these thoughts all season, during the few wins and all the painful losses. i just think we just set ourselves up for some very big disappointments.

    coming into this bball season, well really at the end of last season. i thought to myself.. if sid doesn’t get off to a good start, he’s gone midseason (coming mainly from disgust). now we’re in the heart of ACC play. and i feel 100% better than i did after the md loss to end our season. i’ve seen the progress with our basketball team, no we’re not on fire, but they boys are playing with confidence.. some we’ve not seen in a LONG time. let see how it plays out. the uva loss, it hurt then but look at those guys. they haven’t lost a game since early december.

    we’ve got both coaches (TOB & SID) thru next year. almost 100% certain there. so perhaps with a little age on the defense we’ll be alright in football, basketball.. we’ve got a great recruting class coming in. if they finish out, which is a long way out, as strong as they are playing right now.. we may be able to pad that class a little more. i guess, i’m just putting some of my thoughts out there for yawl to agree/disagree/disect! but i’m liking the vibe right now!

  16. gcpack 01/18/2010 at 11:31 PM #

    I agree with Legacyman . If there are financial decisions causing people to drop out then fine. Maybe its the difference between those here who are alumni vs those who are fans without any academic connection. Whatever the reason I think if you have LTRs paid for then give them up only to jump back in when the winning % goes back up is closer to a blue shaded way of thinking.

  17. Wolfy__79 01/19/2010 at 12:34 AM #

    i’m following you 61packer. i would rather have us elite in men’s bball and roll the dice in football. right now and since the 90’s, all of our money has gone to the football folks. sure the rbc addition was nice. but look at the turnout to the football games, win/lose we sold out.

    i think its critical to resurface as a basketball power. that’s what i like about having sid here for now. he brings a little throwback mentality to the court. alot rides on how this season plays out, despite being vulnerable in the backcourt.. well even the front. although sid has not shown us much to cheer about thus far, IMO he’s got a higher ceiling than most of the coaches that could join us in raleigh. not many see this job as an attractive one. if we’re talking about rick barnes or someone on that level, sure that’d be great. comparable to unc-ch bringing in ol’ roy. i’ve been a lifelong NCSU fan and joing the alumni not too long ago. i don’t celebrate the mediocrity that we’ve been accustomed to for a while now, but i just don’t see cleaning house as far as coaches go as a very good move. especially one of our own whom is laying it all out there for us. one thing that has crossed my mind is putting TOB in our athletic director’s chair, grooming a young coach while cleaning up some of our dept woes. maybe that’s not gonna win me a nobel prize, but someone like that.. fairly conservative that knows how to clean things up.

    thoughts?

  18. Wolfy__79 01/19/2010 at 12:45 AM #

    so we’ve got duke, md, unc-ch, central, uva, gt, vt, unc, md, wake, miami, vt, bc. of these, which do yawl think we’ll win! include tossup and all that good stuff!

  19. Wolfy__79 01/19/2010 at 12:50 AM #

    i think the duke contest will tell us alot about some of the other matchups but this is what i see right now

    1, duke loss
    2, md win
    3, uncch win
    4, central win
    5, uva win
    6, gt loss
    7, vt win
    8, unc win
    9, md loss
    10, wake win
    11, miami win
    12, vt loss
    13, bt win

    that puts us in fairly good shape. 9-4 thru that stretch, how nice would that be. the games we play twice down the road like vt and md.. a general split, not neccessarily win the first or lose the second or vice/versa.

  20. gcpack 01/19/2010 at 1:07 AM #

    Well Wolfy I generally agree with you but I don’t see us sweeping baby blue as much as I would love to see it. Also why would we win AT md but lose to md at home? I dont see that happening. I think we sweep md & don’t think we can beat wfu.

  21. Wolfy__79 01/19/2010 at 1:19 AM #

    well, i’m a little high when projecting w/l’s. with md, it’s really about splitting with them at either location. i’m not so sure we can sweep with the babies, but a split for sure. i think we’ve got wake, we played them when we were struggling with our identity, by then we should have that set in stone, ya think? it’ll be a hard fought road, but that’s what getting above .500 looks like to me. but that said, if we can sweep a team like unc-ch, more wins should come. i’d like to see us split with uva and sweep one of our two-gamers this year. lets see how we fair against duke first shall we.

  22. Wolfy__79 01/19/2010 at 2:37 AM #

    yeah, that back and forth is getting a little tense for no reason. hell, alot of WOLFPACK faithful are frustrated. if you were sittin down having the conversation you’d probably end up agreeing despite different ways of going about it. concerning you two, ask the question what would you do to change things or is there something that can be done to improve.. say our attendance to bball games. that can stem from a lack of success, total disregard for mismanagement or whatever. this blog is a great way to seek out other opinions of NCSU fans/ALUMNI. i think some of the heated opinions come mainly from frustration and misunderstanding one’s point. i would suggest holding personal attacks and instead write out why you disagree. its amazing how similar our fan base is. tailgaiting for football, it seems like each group/party is doing the same thing, talking about the same stuff, acting the same way. i can’t say that much for any other ACC crowd. i personally,would gladly take anyone’s season spot off their hands. i’m pretty optimistic about the school’s progress. i don’t really care who the A.D. is! we’re coming out of a big mess, finally. i remember when les robinson stepped into the coaching slot.. if i’m not mistaken i believe i was twelve. and even i was scratchin my head on that one. i think the most important thing we’re leaving behind is the bad part of that “good ol boy” attitude. we shouldn’t lose it all together but the cowboy mentality has no place at NCSU. but like i said, i’m optimistic about our direction.

  23. CylonWolf 01/19/2010 at 3:51 AM #

    Im almost positive that there are NO waiting lists for LTRs. CFS holds 57,xxx people? Yeah, theres no waiting list there. As for the RBC Center, a friend of mine actually started LTRs last season…he had no problems getting 2 seats. The loss of a handful of LTRs seats may just be a drop in the bucket to the athletic department/Wolfpack Club, there is no line of people waiting to throw their money at them.

  24. Wolf74 01/19/2010 at 9:05 AM #

    I also dropped out of the Wolfpack club a number of years back. I gave up my season football tickets that I had for 17 years when they went to the LTRs. I received one phone call from the WPC, where I personally advised them of my reasons, which was a lack of the pursuit of excellence by the athletic department and that I wasn’t going to be held hostage by a financial investment in LTRs. A couple of years later, I got a call from the Alumni Association, which I had also dropped out of. Explained the same to them. NEVER heard another word. My assumption is the NCSU has so much money that a few thousand here and there doesn’t really bother them, at least for now.

  25. WV Wolf 01/19/2010 at 10:21 AM #

    I quit giving to the Wolfpack Club after we went an entire school year without winning a single ACC title in anything. The next year we still didn’t win a single ACC title so still no money from me. This year we have won 1 but I don’t think that’s enough to bring me back. I get my season tickets through a friend so I couldn’t care less about losing my rank. Although I doubt they really miss what little bit of money I gave but it makes me feel better.

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