NC State Wolfpack vs Miami Hurricanes: 02/04/17 @ PNC Arena

Last weekend my wife and I drove up to Raleigh, NC (kid free) to catch my first official NCAA Men's basketball game that wasn't apart of a conference tournament. The tickets were a Christmas gift from the wife.

I grew up in Charlotte, NC so ACC basketball was (and still is) a big thing. I guess you could say Charlotte is a part of "Tobacco Road" seeing how the ACC Tournament has been held in Charlotte on a number of occassions. My dad was a UNC Tarheels fan, so me being the little rebellious kid that I was (not really) latched onto the NC State Wolfpack from an early age.

I grew up watching the Wolfpack play my dad's Tarheels and I can somewhat remember State's last NCAA Championship and coach Jim Valvano's enthusiam on the court after the win. Most of my memories though came in the mid-90's as I was working my way through high school. Even though my playing days were over, sports really started to take more of an importance. My dad took me to an ACC Tournament when I was in high school and I remember what a great time it was...even if we didn't have the best of seats. While I didn't get to see the likes of Rodney Monroe, Chris Corchiani or Tom Gugliotta play, I did get to see Todd Fuller play when he was at the peak of his college game.

Being a fan of the Wolfpack ain't easy. If you're from the NC area or a fan of the ACC then you should know what I mean. This year's basketball team has been so frustrating to watch. To have the talent that they have, yet to lose and lose games in the fashion that they have is tough. Freshman Guard, Dennis Smith, Jr. is pretty much all but gone after this season. If he doesn't declare himself for the NBA I'll be surprised. Malik Abu has been fun to watch grow and develop and he's turned out to be a good player for the Wolfpack, but Beejay Anya (on the cover of the program) confuses me. Seeing him in person on the court...the dude is big. He reminds me of Anthony Mason (Knicks/Hornets forward, RIP). He's got some decent offensive skills, but you would think a guy of that size would be a good, shut down type of defender. He's not. The Wolfpack's most recent game (a blowout by Florida State) Beejay didn't even travel with the team. Guess he's in coach Gottfried's dog house. I wonder if Gottfried knows he is in the fan's dog house?

I don't know what is wrong with the last few Wolfpack teams, but year after year we are teased with signs of great things to come...only to end up disappointed. However can you be disappointed when you really didn't expect much out of your team? Regardless, it was a great experience and I love that my wife thought to do something like this. PNC Arena is also home to the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes, and the building was beautiful. Hard to believe it was built in 1999. Now that I've been, I really would like to try to attend another game in the near future. Maybe if I keep attending games I'll finally see them win one for a change? One thing that I didn't expect to see at the arena was the student section was so small. On TV it looks much bigger, but in reality it was maybe 5-6 rows deep? I also didn't expect the NBA type atmosphere...the introductions, music and such. Lots of fun, can't believe I've never experienced this before last weekend.