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There has always been, in the words of Carl Degler, an “Other South.” This isn’t your racist, or indifferent, paternalistic, and conservative South. My white grandfather fought hard in the 1950s and 1960s for integration and desegregation in eastern NC. He faced social backlash among kin and friend alike, damage to business, and threats of physical violence, including bomb threats and cross burnings on his property. My mother recalls that time vividly. Any hint of racial pandering and nationalistic bombast, you lose my vote. Period.
I find the voter suppression efforts by the state Republican Party and persons and organizations aligned with it over the last few years despicable. And yes, I know firsthand that Jones Street was for years dominated by plenty of Democratic turds and crooks aplenty.
I generally agree with Rye but I don’t think Electoral College reform is needed. It works like it’s set up to work. Just as the Senate and House form a counterbalance, the College keeps metropolitan areas, or a small number of heavily populated states from determining election outcomes. Democrats lost this one because they nominated a loser candidate, and the Democratic Party is out of touch with working class voters. Globalization didn’t just happen; it’s been happening for several centuries, but it’s altering elections more now in this country than ever. To say this is the most divided our country has been is just plain nonsense, but if we don’t find some true statesmen and leaders, it’s going to get a whole lot worse.
Conservatism is and was stuck and modern liberalism has run amok. Hence the result.
As said previously, I have very little confidence that our country, collectively, will be in a better situation four years from now. I’m not one of the loonies about to jump off the ledge over Trump’s election; similarly, though I despise Clinton, I wouldn’t have jumped off the ledge had she been elected. My two hopes are that the country isn’t more divided and facing more problems four years from now, and that there’s a political realignment. Neither of the two parties own my allegiance anymore, and the third party quacks are equally as incapable.
I have no problem talking and listening to folks of other persuasions and opinions. I am a registered Democrat but have frequently voted otherwise, probably 50/50 when it comes down to it (in national, state, or local.) I will change to unaffiliated, just haven’t done it yet. Neither party has a monopoly on good ideas, good intentions. The whole protest backlash junk is laughable to me. If you really expected one person to make that much change, you’re already in for a big, big disappointment. Count me among those who wasn’t thrilled with any of the presidential nominees. Count me among those that also wasn’t surprised, in spite of the polling, of the result.
As a parent of young children, my hope is that we try to leave this place a better one than it is, or was. I’m not nostalgic. I know our history. We, and our major parties, share a collective responsibility to fix the many problems this country has, but it’s still a beacon for most of the world. These problems weren’t created in one election cycle, and they won’t be solved in one.
When the ball is on the floor, and there’s nobody diving for it, that’s lack of intensity/hustle. If you aren’t hustling back on defense, that’s lack of effort/intensity. In my book, and the way I was taught, you come out of the game.
I didn’t watch the two exhibition games, but we still defend the pick and roll and perimeter ball screens worse than most D-1 teams. What frets me most this early is that this shoudl be the most capable bunch yet. And the staff should’ve engrained early on that if you don’t do certain things defensively, we have someone right behind you who will. I’m not seeing that attitude yet.
Tax more, spend less. Something akin to Simpson-Bowles. Yes there will be pain among some groups and individuals.Both parties need have too few statesmen among them, people incapable of digesting complex issues and making decisions that benefit the whole and all the while advocating for those they represent.
This election was all about anti-establishment politics and the Democrats not fulfilling the promise of 8 years ago, particularly among working class folks. Good luck bringing back jobs and controlling health care cost without swelling the deficit/debt, and without increasing tax revenue, cutting expenditures.
Predictions–very little done in the way of entitlement reform or defense spending. Very little momentum in the way of manufacturing increase. Very little accomplished overall.
^Agree with McCallum. After two games, I’m underwhelmed and unexcited already. Potential is sky high but we lack intensity and focus. I don’t doubt we’ll improve and be playing our best basketball in March if everyone stays healthy and no schisms develop. But won’t most everyone else? That has nothing to do with playing time, coming back from injury or transfer, or experience playing together, but everything to do with preparation and coaching. Maximize strengths, minimize weaknesses.
No surprise, defensively we look indifferent and incapable at times. Offensively, shot selection is still an issue as with all Gott teams. We will win plenty and probably slither into the tournament. We won’t play fast enough because we don’t defend well enough in half court, or rebound well enough to get out into transition, and we won’t routinely use pressure–traps or presses–to speed up tempo and increase our scoring opportunities despite the fact that we have a bench that would enable us to do this. So far, I have little confidence in Gott’s use of bench and oncourt combinations.
^chop, I’ve tried to make that case many times. It’s all the more important in football because the roster is so big, and depth is so important.
My feeling is that ADs in power conferences have gotten risk averse and sloppy. They may utilize search firms too much, and not just to avoid publicity.
Hiring the big name, or the “hot coach” is a popular choice, especially for arousing interest and fan support, but it’s usually not the recipe for success if you’re trying to build a top caliber program, and do it on the relative cheap.I’m excited. I think we may be slow out of the gate but come on strong if everyone is healthy and eligible. For me, there are plenty of known factors. We’ll score it well. We won’t be great on defense. We should be competitive and have a chance in most games.
The unknowns for me:
1. How well will each player accept his roll? Does the staff communicate this effectively so that everyone buys in?
2. Has the depth actually created a culture of competition, and will the staff reward players who compete on both ends of the court with playing time?
3. Will Gott speed up the tempo to play to his strength–offense? Or will we play slow, and not maximize depth and his strengths, a very frustrating hallmark of his tenure, both here and at Bama.
4. How hungry are we? Gott’s teams won’t be great on defense, but one of the reasons I’m very optimistic is that this roster has the look of Year 1, with far more talent and depth, and that roster was his best on defense (even with CJL and Wood) than all others because they played hungry, especially down the stretch in ACC and NCAA play. That hunger and talent hasn’t been replicated since. With a roster consisting of a transfer that sat a year, a guy coming back from an injury who sat 2 years, a potential lottery pick who sat due to an injury, a couple of international players, and some real skill, this team could be very hungry and dangerous. When we hongry, we eat.We’re not there talent wise, and unfortunately I think the lesson to our staff after the last two, is that we’re on the way.
Not so. Gameplans last week and this week had flaws, and until you close the talent gap, you better pretty much be flawless or take advantage of the oppositions miscues.
I don’t buy the playing with a hangover bit. I’ve had plenty, and competed with plenty. Don’t drink your own kool aid after a hurricane and a close loss. Clemson was easier to gameplan for, and they also laid an egg. We had a little to do with that, but the tigers hades 500 in offense, threw in uncharacteristic pick 6, and coughed it up three times on our side of the field.
Our offense was good enough to eat some clock, but hardly spectacular against Clemson. Today, the offensive gameplan was putrid, and the execution poor as well. Instead of attempting to smash Louisville, we tried to be cute. Defensive gameplan was bad. but given how many times we forced field goals and how long they stayed on the field in he first half, I can’t complain much. Not sure I saw a blitz until we were down 40. Said it all year long, the front four’s strength is not the pass rush. They need help from the blitz. The back 7 need help in coverage, and the only way is to force quick throws and take risks.
Scores are deceptive. The only difference between this week and last is that we stunk worse on offense, gave turned it over early, and Louisville put it in the end zone. As close as the final was last
week, Clemson could’ve just as easily put up 30-40.And it was optional to watch the tape? Really?
Clemson wasn’t nearly perfect, nor were we, and we had a shot to win. Credit to the staff for putting us in a position to win, more credit to the players for playing their rears off and competing and coming up with some timely plays. But I’m picky, and I think our staff didn’t execute a perfect gameplan. We killed their run game when Gallman went down, and d-line dominated the line, which was essential. We were still lucky we avoided the big pass play because we were beat long multiple times.
Coaches can learn something from this one.
1. GO WITH WHO BRUNG YA. Trickery and deception has its place, but not at the end of the game when you’re dominating the line of scrimmage. Shove it down their throats. The throw and kick decision on 2nd down at a minute looked panicked and not well conceived. Not the first time we’ve seen this, and young coaches make mistakes. Made zero sense outside of hoping to catch them off guard. A 6-7 minute drive, mostly on the ground, you’re down to a minute and have 2 timeouts. Line up and put the ball in the hands of Dayes or Samuels. Dayes didn’t touch it enough in the first half and was fresh. You kick on third at the earliest with that much time and 2 TOs.
2. Side-to-side lateral football against speed doesn’t work. We didn’t smash them enough early. Vertical passing game still isn’t where it needs to be, and this is partly because outside of Harmon, we don’t seem to have much of a deep threat. Our very accurate QB still occasionally floats the ball too much in middle of the field and on outs. We also didn’t exploit matchups against Boulware in the passing game enough. He’s weak in coverage.
3. As much as the decision to throw in regulation on first down and kick on second bothered me, the last series of the first half on defense bothered me more. We didn’t bring much pressure until Clemson got to our 30-yard line, then Hux decided to blitz, and we put them in a bind. Then on 4th and long, we brought nothing, and Watson burned us. Pressure kept us in the game. Aside from the opening second half pick-6, an anomaly, dropping into coverage was a disaster all day on obvious pass downs. Front 4 dominated run game but really only got some pressure only a few times that disrupted throws. When we dropped, Watson ate us up.
4. Defense played their tales off, but having ends cross or stunt inside on third and longs was just plain dumb. We lost containment multiple times for this reason, and consequently Watson extended drives.
The book on Clemson is pretty clear. Execution is the key, and it ain’t easy. Clemson will try to run the TB, Wayne Gallman, and establish the run with him. They run Watson more in tight games, or on key conversion downs, or when coverage breaks down, but his number doesn’t get called a lot on isolated runs otherwise. The OC’s are far more patient than Chad Morris ever was. They’ll take the short stuff. The key is stop Gallman early and get off the field on third down. Try to force Watson to be impatient on throws. We need to press on the outside and hope the corners can hold up. Our LB’s cannot be put in bad coverage situations. Bring pressure. We’ll give up some big plays but the risk is worth the reward–hit Watson, don’t leave LB’s in coverage. Nickle is spying Watson all day, or somebody else with speed if we’re disguising coverage. Ends absolutely have to contain him.
On offense, we have to run it well and stretch the field vertically. Clemson’s DB’s tackle well, so trying the edges with the run or the short pass as much as we do, imo, is not going to work very well. Hit them up them gut with the run. QB has to be sharp and can’t float passes in the middle of the field.
McCrory/Cooper – closer than the polls suggest, and I’m going back on my prediction a few months ago, and saying Cooper with the win
Burr over Ross – by 3-5
Clinton over Trump – by 6-8 in NC; Trump just doesn’t get enough of the educated, successful Republican vote; only way margin is closer is if Clinton’s base and the young folk don’t show up at the polls
And not much in the way of change. If you want to make a difference, work at the local level. Fed and state politics didn’t get screwed up over night, and it won’t get fixed with 1-2 election cycles. But it will have to start getting fixed incrementally, or it will soon get to a point where it’s not fixable without major strife, and I don’t mean the political kind
i never had the pleasure. But I see it as the beginning of the end for Crapital Blvd as it once was.
I admittedly didn’t follow the briles situation at Baylor. he’s an offensive guru but has no roots or connections in Nc or the SE. Defense? Nada. Look below to the ranks of coaches, who, like Briles, earned their stripes building–high school, or FCS, or smaller programs. established relationships in SE territory (doesn’t necessarily mean NC). I’ll throw some names around as time permits
I like dd. He just isn’t showing me enough in the game management, defensive adjustment, recruiting phases of the game. Young coach, but what bothers me most is the repeating of mistakes. bonehead ones.
Long season to go. But this is why is always favor firing head men who’ve proven they can build a program, and win, at a smaller school, as opposed to inheriting a winning program or plugged into a successful program as an assistant. Being part of success can convince the stubborn among us that we have the answers. He says a lot of the right things, but he hasn’t shown a lot of the right stuff, to be mediocre, much less compete with the big boys.
Methinks there’s also a little too much Midwestern wood chopping in him. Need a little more hot sauce. for recruits. How many late game teachable moments do you need to figure out how to spike it, throw it to the sticks, or the frigging sideline?
We out gained them and had fewer turnovers yet lost the game. Rarely do you see this combo. And when you do, look squarely at the coaches.
Defensively, we’re a nightmare. Vanill, vanilla, vanilla. Our front 4 may be better than average, but we don’t bring enough heat or disguise it well enough when we do. The tenura-archer combo was handsdown better with what they had to work with.
Dd looks very Sendekian at this point. and I hate to admit it.
I disagree that NCSU has built in disadvantages to recruiting. The quality of high school football played here, on average, is not as great as many other regions, but due to population growth in NC alone, there are plenty of really good programs that would rival other powerhouses in any state. There’s plenty of talent. Not only have we not taken advantage of the *NC scandal, we didn’t take advantage of a downturn in UT football (which Jones has now revived), which once raided western NC, or a leveling off in UVA or VTech. It remains to be seen if Spurrier’s retirement will help. USC began raiding NC under his watch, and now Dabo has started plucking top talent. You cannot let poachers raid your backyard.
No one harkens for the Amato years when they recognize he at least upgraded the talent, from his FL connections. If one doesn’t have many NC connections, that adds a disadvantage. If the head man could use his prior ties to lure talent from another region, as Amato did, then it wouldn’t matter. But so far, I don’t think we’ve seen it. I think we’ll score this year. Just not sold on the other side of the ball.
“Champions in the classroom, champions in the community and something he was standing for, champions on the field.” Sorry, as I said under TOB, this is a load. 30k plus students have to be champions in the classroom or community or else they flunk out, lose scholarships if applicable, and fail at a meaningful life. Plenty of valuable lessons to be learned via sport, whether it’s at the pee-wee level, or the D1 collegiate level, but the standard by which coaches are judged is wins against peers and rivals. That crap doesn’t sell, if you don’t win. It’s like saying “honor the process.” If the process doesn’t produce successful outcomes in the “W” column, nobody gives a hoot about process.
I’m not down on DD. I hope he’s successful. I hope we’re more competitive this year and win a few more. He hasn’t made the talent leap as fast as I’d hoped, and that is in part due to the damage of the Amato and TOB years, particularly as they impacted NC recruiting, or the lack thereof. And he hasn’t shown he can or his staff can outcoach teams with comparable, or perhaps beatable talent. I still think it’s shameful that we haven’t been able to capitalize more on the *NC scandal. I’m telling you from firsthand knowledge, that he needs to show he can win, to lure recruits, because “playing time” only sells so far to elite recruits. If you’re good, you’re not scared of competition. He has to win. It has to happen in this season or the following one, and see an upswing in recruiting, or else he won’t be around long.
