GarageGabs

Getting this up kind of late, but the Canes played a fantastic game last night, beating Boston 5-2.  This whole “just have fun” thing that Laviolette suggested to the team seems to be working pretty well as Carolina put in some straight up BEAUTIFUL goals last night.  Eva J and myself attended the game, and had a good time.  Carolina begins a 4 game road trip against Northwest Division opponents Tuesday vs. Calgary.

Recap 

By the way, not sure how many people remember my post complaining about the turkey on the scoreboard.  Well, now it’s a snowman.  He stands there on the scoreboard the entire game and juggles the same 3 snowballs.  I can’t take any more of this snowman.  Make him melt.  Please remove the snowman.  Thanks.

I spent all day Friday afternoon at the dentist office. I wasn’t having any work done myself, it was my father who was having MAJOR oral surgery. The plan was, to have my dad home by 5 pm, and then ride out to Garner, with my friend Ajit, and get some footage from the NC 4-AA High School Semi-Finals game between Garner and Durham Riverside. Didn’t turn out that way, my dad was in surgery an extra 2 hours, and I ended up getting home around 9 pm. Lucky for me they had to re-schedule the game due to rain huh? Not really, Ajit was out of town last night, and I am a season ticket holder with the Hurricanes….so I went to the Canes game.

I missed a great High School football game. Garner fell to Riverside 15-13, missing a chance at the 4-AA finals. Garner could never stop Weslye Saunders who scored both Riverside TD’s, one rushing, one receiving, and ran in a 2 point conversion. Saunders, a 6-5, 270 pound beast, is a guy the Trojans knew they had to stop.

Saunders caught a 13 yard TD pass with 1:32 left in the 4th quarter, giving Riverside a 15-6 lead. Garner quickly responded, with a 55 yard catch by Josh Oglesby to the Riverside 10, and a Darrice Payton 1 yard TD run with 43 seconds to play.

Garner attempted an onside kick that went directly to Saunders, who fell on the ball to end the game. “It didn’t matter where that kick went, I was going to get on it,” said Saunders. “But then he kicked it right to me.” Yeah right buddy.

Anyway, congrats goes out to Riverside, they advance to the finals to face arguably the best team in the State in Charlotte Independence. The game will be played in Duke’s Wallace Wade Stadium, next Saturday. I will be pulling for Riverside.

Recap

Video

Pre-Game Story on Saunders

Carolina got back in the win column last night with a 4-2 victory vs. Montreal.  Eric Cole scored 2 goals, and Justin Williams broke a 2-2 tie in the 3rd period.  We had a good time at the game, “Eva J” brought along her friend Kaliah.  The Hurricanes next game is Saturday as they host Boston.

Carolina skated with a purpose last night, it was obvious that they were determined to get back to winning.  They hustled to the puck, defended fairly well, and outshot Montreal 48-27.  I truly believe Carolina is about to go on a bit of a run.

Recap 

Well, that’s one down. I can’t say that I didn’t see this coming. I’m actually quite glad that he went ahead and took his name on the mix. Now maybe people will focus on candidates that are more likely

Cowher Has No Interst In NCSU Job

Also, Norm Chow and David Cutcliffe say they haven’t been approached yet.

Ohio State 89 @ UNC 98

I don’t have a lot to say about this game that you don’t already know. The national media is all over Ohio State because they are young, talented, playing with out freshman sensation Greg Oden, and more than hung with UNC. I say whatever, Oden had better be the next Patrick Ewing because Ohio State shot LIGHTS OUT from 3 land. I’m not saying they aren’t good, but I don’t see them shooting 13-26 every night, and with the youth they have, I just see a lot of inconsistency on the horizon.

As for UNC, my goodness this team has a lot of weapons. The addition of Lawson at the point is helpful, but the kid better learn to hit his free throws if he wants to get big minutes. They can run, or bang, and they are deep. I believe the Heels can play just about any style of ball they like. As long as that style isn’t playing down to the competition, I think this team is hands down your ACC winner….at least.

The ACC went 3-2 in the other games tonight, taking the Challenge 8 games to 4.

NC State’s next opponent, Virginia, lost to Purdue, 61-59.

Keep an eye out for an ACC Preview over the next couple of days.

A few other names are popping up. As far as I know, Bill Cowher has not turned down the job yet either, so that pretty much blows up Adam Gold’s blog.

Here are the names in the mix currently:

Paul Johnson (Navy)- My pick if we can’t have Cowher.
Bill Cowher (Pittsburgh Steelers) Not happening
Jimbo Fisher (LSU assistant) Possible, but if Alabama wants him, he’s off the board
Norm Chow (Tennessee Titans assistant) Love to have him, but highly unlikely
David Cutcliffe (Tennessee Vol’s assistant) Has shown interest, I’d say his chances are rising.

Steve Logan His name has been “brought up” I can tell you now, NC State fans would NOT be happy with this hire. Not happening.

The ACC/Big-10 Challenge resumed last  night with 10 teams in action.  The ACC is off to an early 4-2 lead, with 6 games left to be played tonight, including the big Ohio St. @ UNC Game.
I’m planning on having an ACC Preview in the next couple of days.

Here are Tonights Games-

Here are the results so far-

Michigan 67 @ NCSU 74

Indiana 51 @ Duke 54

Penn St. 73 @ Georgia Tech 77

Maryland 72 @ Illinois 66

Miami (fl) 59 @ Northwestern 61

Florida St. 66 @ Wisconsin 81 

I wasn’t able to make the game last night so I gave my tickets to my neighbors, Brad and Miranda.  From what I’m seeing, the Canes played pretty bad last night, even after getting 4 days rest.  I’ll try and get a game report from Brad later this evening….that should be interesting.

Recap

Now that the business of removing Chuck Amato is over, NC State can begin looking for a replacement.

The first good news in the situation was that NCSU hired Chuck Neinas to act as a consultant during the search. Neinas is the same guy that worked out Butch Davis to UNC. Also, this means that Lee Fowler can have a more “hands off” approach with the matter, especially when it comes to the media. When they ask Lee questions, he can just say “Neinas is working on it.”

The second development is the actual Butch Davis deal. Davis is being payed 1.72 million per year by the Heels. So, in this “monkey see, monkey do” business, the bar has been set.

Now on to a couple of candidates:

1. Bill Cowher- The NCSU pipedream. The hype around Cowher was created because he is an alum of NC State, and he owns a home in Raleigh. Fact is, Cowher isn’t gonna be the next coach at State. Local radio-head Adam Gold has gone as far to state in his blog that Cowher will hold a press conference tomorrow to officially turn down the job. I don’t know what makes Gold an authority, but I happen to agree with him, at least on the final result.

2. Paul Johnson- The current head coach at Navy. A much more likely candidate. Johnson has led Navy back to a respectable level and is known as an offensive minded coach. He aslo has some local ties, and is a Western Carolina graduate. NC State fans seem solid on Johnson as a first candidate after the Cowher discussion turns to reality.

That’s all I know at the moment, I really believe Johnson will be the next coach at State, and to be honest, I’d be happy with that. I’ll try to stay updated on a day to day basis.

The ACC/Big 10 Challenge tipped off tonight in Raleigh NC, as the 4-0 North Carolina State Wolfpack knocked off the 7-0 Michigan Wolverines, 74-67. This was a very impressive win for the Pack as they rallied from an early 14-4 deficit and the loss of starting point gaurd Engin Atsur. State would lead by as much as 21 points in the 2nd half.
As a State fan, the game was beautiful to watch. The Pack played an intense brand of basketball marked by hustling, solid defense, and good passing. State’s already thin lineup was pushed to the limit when Atsur (Senior PG) left the game with what appeared to be a strained hamstring with about 14:26 left to play in the first half and the Pack looking at a 14-4 deficit.

Brandon Costner (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Ben McCauley (19 points 8 rebounds) were magnificent, as were Brian Neiman (8 points, 6 rebounds) and Dennis Horner (5 points 4 rebounds) coming off the bench. This game will obviously raise expectations for Pack fans as this is supposed to be a pretty darn good Michigan team we just knocked off.

The Pack played perfect tonight and will need to play just like this to be competitive in the ACC. State’s next game is December 3rd at Virginia.
ESPN Recap

PackPride Recap