Quote:
Originally Posted by digamma
Were they on probation in 1991?
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They were on probation in 1990 and didn't go to the tournament that year (that was the year of the infamous debacle when State became the first #1 team in ACC tournament history to lose to a #8 when State got trampled by Bob Wade's Maryland team). Valvano was ousted in 1990.
A lot of State fans are real, real bitter about the last 20 years. They have pretty much castigated everyone from the
News and Observer (which they view as a Carolina propaganda organ) to the university to every coach who followed Valvano (now including Lowe) for never getting things back to the good ol' days.
It did not help that when State went downhill, Duke was in the ascendant. It also didn't help that ESPN was becoming the media force it has become. Guess what the featured rivalry was when ESPN made its rise? Duke-Carolina. If ESPN came up earlier in the 1970s-early 80s, it very well could have been State-Carolina as aside from the 1978 Final Four, Duke was a nonfactor. I don't doubt that Duke and Carolina are worthy of their positions and their rivalry, but I do think the heightened focus on it has pretty much sucked all the oxygen out of NC State, Wake, and just about everyone else in the ACC. Time was Carolina was the sole constant in the league while various other teams (State, Duke, Maryland, Tech, Wake) would rise up to challenge for a number of years before settling back again. Now, it's Duke, Carolina, and not much else and it doesn't seem likely to change for the foreseeable future, probably until K retires and then we get to see how Duke weathers that storm. Maryland had a good stretch, but that seemed to coincide with UNC's falloff under Guthridge and D'oh!. Once Roy came back to UNC and got the program back up again, Maryland seemed to fall back pretty quickly.
I do begin to wonder whether we have a better chance of winning the football title in the ACC than the basketball one (and that's saying something given the struggles in both programs the last few years). I guess it's my pessimistic side, but I've kind of let it go and settled for the mediocrity in some respects because as I've gotten older and have had so many life changes, I've come to realize that getting my blood into a boil over this fall from grace by State athletics in general doesn't do me any good and in the grand scheme matters a hill of beans.
Technically, this should all be true of the Hurricanes as well, but dammit they're winning right now, so they bring me much joy and happiness and I'll gladly follow them to the ends of the earth.
