Van_Denton's Blog

Just curious, once the NCAA Tourney begins, do you pull for the other ACC schools?

I know all year you hear how much UNC fans want to beat DUKE and vice versa.   State fans want to beat UNC more than any other school.  I hear many Wake fans say the same about Carolina.

Still with all those feelings, do you really root agains these schools in the dance or do you pull for them?

Personally, I think it is always more fun if we have some of our teams advance and do well.  I always pull for the Pack first.  After that, I root for the BIG 4 (Wake then Duke then UNC) and then the rest of the ACC in that order.  How about you?

 

Since I was a little kid, watching the ACC tourney has always been a fun time.  Even my school teachers brought in TVs and we would watch the games in class.  We were supporting our favorite teams and in my school we were rooting for Phil Ford in the 70s, a Rocky Mount Sr. High star.   Then a couple of years later, we were rooting for Buck Williams of Maryland, another Rocky Mount Sr. High star.   Of course, my primary loyalties were to the Red and White of NCSU. 

NCSU may not be playing this year on Friday (fingers crossed that they do), but I will still be taking a vacation day and I plan to watch the nation's best basketball conference play 8 plus hours of basketball and eat wings and chips all day.  Whether my team makes it to Friday or not, to me it is always a great tournament and a tradition that I look forward to every year.

Who knows, maybe we can string together 4 Ws.

Do you think the ACC Tourney should always be played in Greensboro?   Or do you think it is better to keep moving it around?  I hear folks say every year that no one takes it as serious as Greensboro and we never have empty seats when it is here. 

While driving to the NCSU game on Saturday, I was listening and rooting for App. State vs. Michigan.   Way to go Mountaineers!   That was a Great victory.  Now they need to take the players over to the Daniel Boone Inn for a celebration.   Ham biscuits, fried chicken, country style steak, corn, etc.

App. State you folks have something special going on up there!

How many of you are counting the days til football season?

I think this is going to be an exciting season for all (most) of us.

The Panther's will likely play better.

State and Carolina fans are eager to see what the new coaches bring.

Wake....can they do it again?  What a year they had.  If State can't do it, I would love to see Wake up top again.

Duke...

As a Wolfpack fan, I can't wait.  This year I think we double our win totals from last year....3 to 6.   Give us 3 years and TOB will have us winning 8-10 per year like he did at BC. 

I will be glad when we get to play Duke again.  4 seasons and no games vs. Duke.  That's too long!

Now that college basketball season is over, many of us are now counting the days to the start of college football.  College football seems to be growing in popularity here and it is obviously huge for some other areas of the country.

With Jim Grobe doing what he does at Wake, Frank Beamer's great program at Virginia Tech and the arrival of Butch Davis at UNC and Tom O'Brien at NCSU.....college football is probably going to become an even bigger deal around here.  Need to also include App State.....2 straight National Titles.

To measure the passion of fans one can look at spring football attendance.   Can you believe the numbers of some schools this spring for a scrimmage?

1. Alabama  92,138 at the spring game
2. Ohio State 75,310
3. Notre Dame 51,852
4. Florda 47,500

As an NC State fan I know that we had 15,000-20,000 at our spring game. 

Does anyone know what the attendance was at other games?

 

For many of us, the ACC Tourney is a special time. I will never forget growing up in a city where it was huge. Most of the cool teachers brought in TVs so that we could watch the games during class. My hometown had 2 star ACC players in the 70s, Phil Ford and Buck Williams. Both would later become NBA Rookies of the year.

In the mid 70s you had to win it to get to the NCAA. I vaguely remember the greatest ACC game ever played between NCSU and Maryland in 1974. That lead to a great run in the big dance and we all know what happened in GSO when the mighty UCLA Bruins fell to the Wolfpack and then NCAA Crown.

I also love it when the tourney is in Greensboro and remember the days when Thacker and Packer called the games and the commercials were "Sail with the Pilot".

 

Some think I am crazy to get so caught up in the games, but on Friday you will not see me here doing the weather (unless everyone calls in sick). For me, ACC Quarter Finals Friday is always a vacation day. Now I just hope the Pack wins on Thursday night so that I can see my team play. Either way, I love ACC basketball and will watch all 8 hours on Friday. There is no doubt in my mind that the best basketball is ACC Basketball.

 

Once the ACCT is done it is time to route for all the ACC schools in the Big Dance. I hope we find a way to get 9 in the dance this year.

Thank you all for being such good sports about this. I expected to get the support of Wolfpack Nation. But, it was nice to see that the UNC fans were good sports too. About 1/3 of the Emails came from UNC fans and not a single negative except the lady that said the bright Red caused her dog to have a Seizure. I hope she was joking!

We are working to get the video onto the blog.

I realize I will get a great deal of payback next time we are knocked off by the heels. I can take it. Hopefully it will be in years rather than weeks.

Most folks know I am a diehard Wolfpack fan. Always have been and always will be. But, I am also an ACC Fan and have always rooted for Wake when they weren't playing NCSU or as long as it would not hurt State's position in the conference.

I think it is so exciting to see what is happening at Wake this year. I know we have many VTech fans around here (Cindy Farmer) and a few Maryland fans (Kevin Connolly).....but, I have to root for Wake right now to finish this off and make it to the ACC Title game. What a story! Picked last in the division and currently 9-1 as of Nov. 15.

Go Deacs!

As of this writing, Oct. 31, 2006...many of the ACC teams are beginning to play Exhibition Games. How do you think the teams are going to do this year?

My guess.....

1. UNC (that was tough for me to admit...but it should be pretty easy for them this year with all the talent and Roy as a coach. Even as a State fan, you have to like Roy).

2. Boston College
3. Duke
4. Georgia Tech
5. Virginia Tech
6. Florida State
7. Virginia
8. Maryland
9. NC State (I know...most think we finish last....we have more talent than people realize...watch out for Courtney Fells...Brandon Costner will also make an impact)
10. Wake Forest
11. Clemson
12. Miami

Special Note: Sidney Lowe is off to a great start with recruiting at State (for a coach on the job only a few months) and within 3 years will have NCSU back in the top 4 of the league...which is an accompolishment in the nation's best league..the acc.

I think the ACC will get only 5 teams in the NCAA Tourney this year and another 4 in the NIT...State may slip into one of those spots.

The Tarheels have the best shot at winning the NCAA this year 06-07. In 07-08..I think it will be a dog fight between UNC, Duke and Ohio State. Hopefully by 2010 or shortly after, the wolfpack will be back in a position to contend.
Certainly with Skip Prosser in W-S, Wake will not be down for long. I would bet the Big 4 schools will all be Top 20 teams again by 2010.

What are your thoughts?

For the first time in the past 20 years, I left a football game early. I missed the catch! I saw it on the Big Screen from outside the stadium and could not believe what I saw and heard. I got a good view of it when I got home and saw that it was ESPNs College play of the day.

I had a good reason for leaving early. My wife and I had volunteered to teach pre-school Sunday school early the next morning and knew we had to get home with our children at a decent hour. We were just trying to beat the traffic. It worked, but I missed the best finish in NCSU football since the Kramer to Danny Peebles pass to beat USC (the one in South Carolina) with NO time left on the clock after a penalty.

So did you stay or leave early?


Anyway, heres to more exciting NCSU football. I wish Daniel Evans and the team all the best.

Do you love college football? Go Pack!

Anyone that knows me or has watched me over the years knows that I am a diehard Wolfpack fan. But, I also enjoy watching other teams too. For me, the college game is the most exciting. Players give their all for school pride. For some they are playing their hearts out for a chance at the pros.

And the bragging rights. As a Packfan, we are hungry for some bragging rights. It kills me everytime UNC beats the Pack. I must be a cat, because I am still here after those 9 lives. I long for the Dick Sheridan days when the Pack beat the Heels five straight years. Do you know what kind of grief you get when so many of your friends are UNC fans. I look forward to my chance to throw some of it back their way. Will it be this year? I think it will be another close game. Hopefully it will be televised this year. That is another story.

Here is my guess for this college football season.

ACC Atlantic Division
1. FSU 7-1 10-2
2. Clemson 5-3 9-3
3. Boston College 4-4 8-4
4. NCSU 3-5 7-5
Maryland 3-5 6-6
6. Wake Forest 2-6 5-7

ACC Coastal Division
1. Miami 7-1 10-2
2. Virginia Tech 6-2 9-3
3. Georgia Tech 5-3 7-5
4. UNC 3-5 6-6
Virginia 3-5 6-6
6. Duke 0-8 2-10

ACC Champion…..FSU
ACC Bowls……FSU, Miami, Clemson, VTech, BC, NCSU, Georgia Tech, UNC….Maryland and UVA possibly
Biggest Upset…..NCSU over FSU in Raleigh

Which is your favorite team? What do you expect this season?