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That field-storming cost Ole Miss $50,000.
The amount of free publicity and recruiting benefits they received as CBS (wisely) showed the entire celebration, without interrupting by commentary…worth at least 10x that amount.
Respectfully, while I think the tailgating policy is ridiculous and knee jerk, the reason we stink has absolutely nothing to do with an inability to storm the field after a huge upset or walk onto the field after a game. If anything, field storming happens because it is such a huge upset and isn’t a sign that a program is actually there, but that’s another discussion.
I’ll add in some counter points. Something was going to happen with the tailgating. That was a pressure cooker boiling for a long time. The student/frat lots were embarrassing, menacing and simply weren’t places that I wanted to walk guests who didn’t attend NC State through, much less my family. For tailgating like that to return, there needs to be a serious increase in police presence, which does come with some costs.
As for field storming, there’s a good reason. We were one CJ Leslie moment of heroics away from being the poster child of why court storming is a terrible idea. For all the grumblings about untapped potential, we collectively owe him a huge thanks for stopping what could have been a horrifically sad event. The same applies to football.
Go watch the 30 for 30 soccer stories on the overcrowding issue in the 1980s that killed lots of people. I’m not a shill for the administration, but they’re trying to balance that fun atmosphere with safety.
As for the guy in the shirt picture, I’m in the minority, but I am fine with what the yellow shirted staff person did. Hakim’s razor if I’m the Events guy? I’d see someone with that physique taking his clothes off, standing on a wall that is less wide than his feet, holding onto a pole that obviously isn’t that sturdy for support and think that he’s completely hammered. One push from the person behind him and he could fall down and get hurt. If that’s my job, and I’m taking it seriously, I’d be trying to get him down too.
If I’m the administration, I’d cut out pass outs. I wouldn’t do it for any “good crowd” related reasons, but more because of the fact that it’s used by most people to go and get loaded up again at the halftime. Keeping people in the stadium at least gives them a few hours to sober up.
I’d take it one step further and set up some DUI stops. This isn’t specific to NC State, but to virtually every major sporting event. There’s a lot of aggressive, alcohol influenced driving that happens in the lots and roads in traffic after sporting events. It’s amazing we don’t hear of more stories of people getting hit by cars.
I love the site and most commentary is spot on, but this one misses by a mile.
The Georgia Tech game in 2000 was the one where the goal post made it to the Waffle House. I remember seeing it laying there coming back from the stadium. The problem was that the wrong cars were hit on the way out of the parking lot. The post never left the stadium in 2002 FSU game. FSU wasn’t really that good that year. I believe the post fold down now.
Rye,
Couldn’t disagree more. The premise of the article isn’t “we stink because we can’t rush the field”. It’s more we stink, so let us have fun. I’ve tailgated pre-restrictions and post restrictions. I’ve never been involved in any sort of violent activity whatsoever. I never even saw violent activity till that day in 03. Given, that was a horrific situation, but no one who had anything to do with NC State did that.
Your points fall a bit shallow in regards to CJ Leslie. The thing is, in those situations PEOPLE DO THE RIGHT THING. If it wasn’t CJ, it was someone else. And look what it got us, all the free publicity we could ever have from the “Roll Pack” situation. People setup up all the time.
I’ve not heard of a single accident taking place in Oxford.
Increased police presence? We’ve seen plenty of cops pretty much everywhere. They’ve been nothing but respectful to us and vice versa. There are jerks in every crowd and I see them getting carted away all the time.
Field rushing is a sign of inferiority. “We’re not supposed to be here and holy shit we did it”. Agreed. But until we’re Alabama, I’d love to revel in a victory instead of being tazed.
This…actually helps reduce bing drinking, and will keep people in their seats at halftime, and produces more revenue for the University.
FSU wasn’t really that good that year
Yeah, I remember the field storming being somewhat anticlimactic. It was the fourth game in which the 3 previous had been lost. The Pack was supposed to be really good. FSU was not. FSU should have lost that game; not a typical FSU team. It was the last game of an overall good season (the best season wins-wise) and it was as if everyone looked around and was like, “Hey, wanna storm the field?” “OK, sure, why not?” To me it seemed more about the experience of going down on the field and tearing down a goalpost than a reaction to some major win.
Although the on-field reaction was hostile, the admin reaction wasn’t terrible. I don’t recall any negative emails or anything; just cutting up the goal post and selling it to commemorate the season.As a proud alum of NC State, current grad student at South Carolina, and a participant in the field rushing at Ole Miss this Saturday, I have to disagree with just a bit of this article.
For starters, the article begins talking about what a great weekend of games the SEC had. I’m sorry, but 2 blowouts, a 10-9 game, and 2 average UK and USC teams, isn’t really exciting. Yes, being in Oxford for that game was pretty great, but not as spectacular as one would think (they don’t know how to celebrate like us).
While the tailgating restrictions have an impact on the gameday experience (and yes there are restrictions in SEC country too), the tailgating at the NC fair grounds and around the stadium is right on par with both of those SEC schools (atmosphere, beautiful women, etc.). Yes, the Grove is a pretty incredible sight to see with all the tents, but trust me, it’s not the type of tailgating we’ve grown to love in Raleigh. And it has little to no bearing on getting a recruits attention. And while yes the CBS coverage on the SEC is an advantage (product of our own ineptitude to produce a consistent winner), the all “SEC is holier than all” just isn’t true (we’re right on par; just don’t have the players and/or the shear number of fans that support each school). It’s just a bit more romanticized.
As for the stadium atmosphere at Ole Miss this weekend, I was extremely disappointed in the 60,000+ people that fill it up (half wearing bow-ties). Carter-Finley sits way above Vaught-Hemingway in terms of gameday atmosphere. I’ve seen us play those FSU games in CF, and man do those crowds put the Ole Miss one to shame. But as for the ability to storm the field, I do wish the department would allow for that to happen. They just must feel the chances of negatives far outweigh the positives it can provide.
So all in all, we have a darn good gameday atmosphere that we should be proud of, so don’t think we don’t compare. Keep packing the Carter and hopefully we can get back to where we want to be because we’ve got everything in place to become a consistent winner.
The 2002 FSU game was the one a lot of folks thought Adiran McPherson might have thrown to settle his gambling debts.
We’d jumped out to 9-0 after romping Clemson on that Thursday night game, then we lost to GT, Virginia and Maryland in consecutive weeks (we blew the GT game late and then our offense went blah at Maryland and Virginia) before recovering with that win over FSU that got us into the Gator Bowl.
I’m with 44 and a few others. SEC and culture shouldn’t be used positively in the same sentence. Having gone to undergrad in SEC country, attended a game everywhere but Starkville, I’d say the gameday experience isn’t all that different. SEC culture ranks atop the redneck meter. Some great places, including Oxford, but the football is in many ways typical of those areas biggest problems.
Whiteshoes67: Your last sentence really better states my point. This football culture that the original post and some posters opine for is not exactly a positive one.
A university is there first and foremost to educate people. Having a great football “experience” is far down that list, just as sports in general should be far down the priority list of a Chancellor. The university has to find its balance and go from there.
as sports in general should be far down the priority list of a Chancellor.
Rye, It seems to me that Woodson sees excellence in sports to be an asset to enhance the drawing power of a university to achieving the goals of its priority list. Is it coincidental that the Stanfords, Michigans, etc., have both? North Carolina State University, as Lou Holtz was fond of referring to us, has its eye on excellence in both academics and sports.
But the question has evolved into, which conference has the best game day experience? The answer to that question is IMNSHO is in the eyes of the beholder. I will say that there seems to be an incongruity where on one hand we are attending a family-friendly event and on the other for some the opportunity to get wasted is a high priority.
Me? I like to get inside the gates in time to watch the band, flag girls and those dancing girls with the tight black pants and skimpy tops go by.
Have you noticed the flag girls have lost some weight this year? That compliment ranks right up there with, “You sweat less than any fat girl I ever danced with.”
Me? I like to get inside the gates in time to watch the band, flag girls and those dancing girls with the tight black pants and skimpy tops go by.
Have you noticed the flag girls have lost some weight this year? That compliment ranks right up there with, “You sweat less than any fat girl I ever danced with.”
😀
I’m liking the newer, edgier Greywolf more and more every day.Wanted to add my pictures from UGA/Vandy this weekend. Score was 27/7 at half. 80 to 85 percent stayed until 4 minutes in game. We left with our host at 3 minutes to go watch end of Alabama Old Miss. UGA fans will leave
to see a Bama loss.
ryebread wrote:
as sports in general should be far down the priority list of a Chancellor.In a perfect world, I would agree, but let’s not kid ourselves. At a major university, college sports are an eight or even nine figure business. That’s going to be high on the list of the “CEO” of any business, and that’s what colleges and college sports are now, big businesses.
“Had we beat Florida State a week ago, the would-be best win in NC State history, we would’ve been tazed on the bottom row for even thinking about entering the field.”
This is actually not true at all. Thats all Ill say here, but its definitely inaccurate.
I will say, I watched some of the 2012 game again before that game, and those students did not look like the thought of rushing the field had even crossed their mind.The best part of Alabama to live in is the area of the Gulf Coast. I live in Fairhope, AL. Gorgeous sugar white sand beaches, and totally crazy football. I have totally become a SEC fan since moving to LA (Lower Alabama). NC has never experienced anything like it.
Grey: This pains me to say because I hold both undergraduate and graduate degrees from NC State, but we don’t have excellence in academics right now, at least as perceived by our peers, the measuring bodies and more importantly our endowment. We have a value play which ironically is similar to our sporting experience — what can we get for cheap.
Stanford and Duke have excellence in academics that translates to alumni and corporate giving that then in turn allows them to dabble in this sports thing. Having spent a lot of time at Duke, they just “get it” more at every level.
NC State and Woodson need to first and foremost focus on academics and the endowment. If they view sports as a line item in their plan to do so, then that’s fine, but I’m skeptical of that. People cite Duke basketball, the resurrection under K and the overall improvement of the national reputation and applicant pool, but that was 30 years ago and a lot has changed. With everyone trying that model, I’m not sure it is prudent to do the same thing. It would be much better for the university and all of its alumni to see us become a top 25 educational institution than it would be to see it become a top 25 sports program.
^
Ryebread. I thought we were on the same page when I readmeasuring bodies and more importantly our endowment.
Then I realized you weren’t talking about those girls in the tight black slacks and skimpy tops.
Now that I’m on your page I offer my biased opinion: We need to work one along with the other or we will surely lose one. I’m putting my trust in Randy Woodson. He seems to be about as good a chancellor as we can hope for. (Didn’t we just receive our biggest endowment or grant?)
I laughed out loud reading this article about the SEC culture being special. A site dedicated to NC State and the ACC, and you write that you’re home on the couch watching the Wolfpack on tv, and then turn the game off in the first quarter to watch, drum roll, the SEC games! Because of fans like you, this is why the ACC will never be special. SEC fans support the team at home, on the road, and treat every game like it’s special. And yes, I was there in Clemson Saturday to the bitter end pulling for the boys. You want a top rate football program, you have to have top rate fans. So, just turn the tv off, don’t go to games, and we’ll continue to get leftover recruits and be a second rate football conference. And, you can continue to complain about it in your posts.
Wow, SFN touched a nerve with you packman12, didn’t they.
Look, I was one of those. At home. 2 children. And a load of other things going on. This is what Wolfpack athletics are – really, any athletic program:
ENTERTAINMENT
When I stopped getting entertained, I go on to something else. Yep, turned off the game in the 2nd quarter myself to play with my kids. Sue me. Yep, turned on SEC football when the kids went down. Guess what? Both of those things gave me something that NC State did not: ENTERTAINMENT.
I spend a metric shit ton of money on LTRs to Carter Finley and have done so for many years. I put in my time in the student section, going to fundraising events, answering the call when they ask for more money, and answering the call to re-up after an 0-8 football season. ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED asked Russell Crowe in Gladiator?
Hell no I wasn’t entertained. Because we were better than that. You can call yourself a “better fan” for sticking it out to the end and props to you pal. Props. But for everyone else in this world who have spent good money chasing bad in Wolfpack Athletics, we look at this situation in a much different light.
It’s really a chicken and egg scenario. Does it take great fans to be a great team? Or does a great team get you great fans?
When the product on the field operates at the level that they did a week prior v. Florida State, you won’t find my butt leaving the seat. Even in a loss. I’ll sit to the bitter end WHEN THE PRODUCT ON THE FIELD WARRANTS IT.
Note that does not require WINNING. It requires EFFORT. It requires PASSION. It requires a character trait that isn’t ROLL OVER AND DIE. What I saw on Saturday were 11 deer in the headlights that could quite literally do nothing right. They’re still my boys, but I can also be honest.
How about this, lets give everybody ribbons because gosh darn it, they’re trying. When the ribbons cost a quarter, sure, let’s do it. When the ribbons cost MULTIPLE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS EVERY YEAR FOR THE REST OF MY GOD GIVEN LIFE, that equation becomes much more complicated.
Everyone has a budget. Entertainment is typically a line item in it. I have finite resources to spend on things that entertain me. It just so happens that this entertainment is comfortably cushioned inside of “supporting my beloved alma mater” at the same time. I can do that. I continue to do that.
But don’t sit there and call anyone else out for being a bad fan for turning off the TV on one of the worst performances we’ve had this season and recent memory. You made your choices. You sat there. I’ll get you one of those 25 cent ribbons. Everyone else has to make decisions too. For me, I chose the kids. Later that evening, I chose the Ole Miss game.
And DAMN, I was friggin entertained. And it cost me about $70 / mo for that one from the hijacking that DirectTV gets from me every month.
I just love it when people tell me what to do with my free time (sarcasm).
Our fanbase is a great one. It would be nice if it would be rewarded once in a blue moon…
I laughed out loud reading this article about the SEC culture being special. A site dedicated to NC State and the ACC, and you write that you’re home on the couch watching the Wolfpack on tv, and then turn the game off in the first quarter to watch, drum roll, the SEC games! Because of fans like you, this is why the ACC will never be special. SEC fans support the team at home, on the road, and treat every game like it’s special. And yes, I was there in Clemson Saturday to the bitter end pulling for the boys. You want a top rate football program, you have to have top rate fans. So, just turn the tv off, don’t go to games, and we’ll continue to get leftover recruits and be a second rate football conference. And, you can continue to complain about it in your posts.
Ah yes. The Lee Fowler dictum.
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