North Carolina State

North Carolina State (79) vs. Wake Forest (77) 01/28/2023

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Game #113 of 363 31% complete

This game was extra special for me because I was able to take a self tour of the campus. My daughter graduated from Wake in 2011. Some of the buildings brought back some good memories. Of course, I had to buy a Wake shirt. I visited the Collins dorm which was her home for freshman year. The campus with old buildings is reminiscent of the IVY leagues schools here in the northeast.

One of the major differences between a major p5 game and a mid-major school is the pre game festivities. Wake puts on an impressive show. I was shocked to see the Deacon mascot ride a motorcycle onto the court for the player introductions.

With North Carolina down the road in Raleigh and being a major ACC rival, there were quite a few fans from NC State. This was the 168th meeting between the two rivals. I was sitting next to three young enthusiastic fans who took an interest in my Operation 351 mission. As the game progressed, I slowly turned into a Wolfpack fan and cheered along with them.

Former Deacon Mugsy Bogues made an appearance to participate in a half time presentation. He was waving and smiling towards the cheering Wake fans.

So I need to talk about Wolfpack player D.J. Burns. To date, I have never heard of this gentleman. In all my Operation 351 travels, I have never seen a player so dominate the game as Burns did today. At 6’9″ and weighing 275, he was fed the ball every play and bulled his way to the basket scoring with whirling moves and quick footwork. Burns ended up 31 points and nine rebounds and was basically unstoppable down the stretch.

Burns is receiving the ball in the above picture.

The hallways of the arena were filled with Wake memorabilia. Two notable displays were a tribute to coach Skip Prosser who died of a heart attack in 2007 in his office after jogging on the Wake campus. Also honored was Tim Duncan who is perhaps the best-known Wake graduate.

Damari Monsanto led Wake with 24 points with many long range three pointers. Tyree Appleby from Wake also put on an impressive show with 19 points. The transfer from Florida has been compared to Alan Iverson in looks and style of play.

Wake Forest led for most of the game and had a 10-point lead in the first half. The Wolfpack whittled the lead down and took the lead with minutes left in the game. Although the ACC is having a down year, it was fun to watch a heated ACC conference game.

The final score above did not include a final three by Wake that was added late.

Colgate (74) vs. North Carolina State (77) 11/13/2021

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Game #99 of 358 28% complete

I visited the Quail Ridge bookstore in Durham on Saturday morning. I always try to visit an independent bookstore on my trips and buy a book to support them. This store however did not need my help as I waited in line behind customers holding baskets of books. I recommend this bookstore with its well organized shelves and friendly help ready to serve. At the risk of inflicting guffaws from my readers, I admit to purchasing an autographed copy of Nicholas Sparks book The Wish. Yeah I like his books so think what you want. :).

I recommend lunch at the Italian restaurant Amedeo’s before any NC State game. Right down the road from the PNC Center, the walls are adorned with NC State memorabilia from all sports. The pasta deluxe dish filled me to the brim along with a bottle of Peroni.

As had happened in the past, my perceived time of the game taken in the past from the NC Sate web site was an hour earlier than the actual game time (1PM vs. 2PM). Not sure if the time was changed or I messed up. So when I drive up to the PNC at about 12:30, the parking lots are almost empty. I did see some ushers gathering on the outside so I figured I was in the right place. The usher kindly informed me that the game time was 2PM so the gates will not open till 1PM. So what does one do after eating a heavy pasta lunch? You walk several times around the arena to kill time getting your steps in till the gates opened.

I will give the PNC two Operation 351 awards.

Award 1 – Best Bar in an Arena

This bar was way too high class for a basketball/ hockey arena but definitely a pretty slick site at a college basketball game.

Award 2 – Most Humungous TV Screen

The TV screen on the scoreboard was like watching a 100 ft TV in your living room. The image was sharp and enticing to watch vs. the live game itself.

I do want to say that the PNC did lose some points by not providing a program. No excuses for a D1 school to not provide a program, free or otherwise.

So now for some basketball. After almost witnessing an upset yesterday by Brown at North Carolina, my hopes for another upset today almost came to fruition. Colgate, like Brown yesterday, gave the ACC powerhouses fits. It was not prudent of me to cheer out loud for the underdogs at these two games but I gave under the seat fist pumps when Colgate continued to hang on right to the end..

The crowd was somewhat muted throughout the game perhaps in shock at the thought of losing. It came down to the last play when a NC State player Manny Seaborn was fouled on a very questionable call. The two foul shots put them up by two. After Colgate threw a long pass down the other end of the court, a Colgate player fouled, sending the Wolfpack back to the line. A replay review confirmed that the foul occurred before time had ended. The NC State player missed the foul shot. Colgate then attempted a three quarter court shot to win the game but was not even close. I was hoping to see a replay of UC Riverside’s upset over Arizona State.

Since this was an afternoon game, I had Saturday night free. My name on the Duke waiting list proved fruitless as tickets to Coach K’s last go around make tickets tough to find. I also considered going to the Carolina Hurricanes hockey game but tickets were over a $100. Not too much of a hockey fan to justify the cost. So perusing the web for Saturday night events in the Raleigh/Durham area, I came across the perfect scenario for a Jimmy Buffet parrothead like myself. The play Escape to Margaritaville was playing at the DPAC. Having seeing it once before made no difference. I ended siting in the upper balcony next to the president of the local parrot head club so I unabashedly sang all the lyrics out load with the rest of her crew. Till next time!

FINS UP!