Looks like we are going to have a Biblical offense, if nothing else. I dont care how good we are going to be, I’m looking forward to the start of a fresh season. Go Wolfpack!

UPDATE: I like to see this from the head coach.

Hey I’m back! Its been a while I know, but for those who still check in now and then here are a few things:

First of all happy fourth of July! Its glorious to be American and we should all appreciate the risk, dedication, and sacrifice it took to sign the declaration of independence and officially make America the land of the free.

As many of you know I am in MA for the week for work and went to see a Red Sox game last night with Jillian. It was a great experience, almost unreal, and it was a learning experience too. I would like to say that it was like returning home, but it really felt more like an introduction. Its been so long since I was last at Fenway that it felt like my first game and my first day as a fan. Sweet Caroline!

Here are some links:

NC State was endowed with $2 million to promote capitalism. Wouldn’t surprise me if UNC countered with some socialism.

Tom O’Brien has been very successful recruiting, not for this comming year, but for the next years football season. Sounds like he is putting a good program together.

The Swiss won the America’s cup over New Zealand, 5-2. I am kind if disappointed because New Zealand was dominant coming into the Americas cup, and it just doesn’t seem right for Sailings most esteemed trophy to be held for another four years by a landlocked country.

I have been busy lately and not very inspired which is why I haven’t written much. Here are a few things:

• At the Raleigh REI garage sale I got a hammock with a mosquitoe net that packs up super small and will be really nice in the summer for backpacking on sunny weekends since I’ll be able to leave my tent and sleeping pad and still wont have to worry about bugs. I also got Ian a LED head lamp (absolute backpacking necessity) and got dad a new backpack. All great deals.
• The fantasy draft for my fantasy baseball league is tonight and I am too excited. Its the first year of a three year keeper league so that adds a new element, and things should be really interesting. I hate the pressure of not knowing what kind of team you are going to end up with but I love the excitement of the draft. Once its over then it’ll be a relief to at least know who I have to work with this year.
• We are planning a backpacking trip for next weekend that should be a lot of fun. James Ian and I are going with mom out to shining rock. We are all geared up and ready to go and just need some nice weather. Shining rock is so beautiful year round and should be even more so in the spring.
• I am very excited for baseball season to start next week. The Red Sox are looking good, with their one major question mark answered, moving Papelbon into bullpen as the closer. The rest of the guys in the pen should be great, and Taverez should be ok holding down the fifth spot in the rotation until Lester is ready to start. One guy that has been great this spring is Devern Hansack. Some are saying he could take over the role of closer by the end of the season and allow papelbon to move back into the rotation. Lester could then fill in for any injuries to starters down the road. You can never have too much pitching.
• NC State baseball is doing well this year too. They have won their last two ACC series, both two games to one, over VT and WF, after losing their opening ACC series one games to two. I would like it better if they were sweeping series, but the ACC is very good and winning series is doing very well. The greatest thing about the win over WF is the emergence of Jimmy Gillheeney as a dominant starter. He is only a freshman, but against Wake forest he pitched 5 and 2/3 three hit innings with nine Ks. Pretty awesome, and its nice to know he’ll be sticking around for the next two years. NC States series this weekend is at Boston College.

Wolfpack won again today over Gardner web 8-0 to improve to 4-0 and I went out to see the game even though it was freezing out. Once again our pitching was lights out. I got to see Andrew Brackman pitch for the first time, and he was very impressive with 8 Ks in 5 shutout innings. Gillheeney and and Brown then came in and closed out the game with 4 more shutout innings.

Offensively we looked good too. For power we had two doubles and a homer and we played some small ball, with a stolen base and two sac flies. The guys were looking confident and patient. That is one thing that has really impressed me, is how patient they are. In four games the guys have 30 walks and the team OBP is 462. If they can keep that up then they will have a great offensive season.

NC State’s baseball season opened this afternoon with a 9-4 victory over William and Mary. Defensively it was a little bit sloppy with the pack committing 3 errors. However Andrew Brackman was rock solid starting, with 5 IP and 1 ER, our two RP closed out with 2 innings a piece and 1 ER between them. I was very impressed with the team offensively. They had 2 HRs by two of the new guys, LF Jeremy Synan and SS Tommy Foschi. The rest of the team also had two doubles and a triple, so it looks like we may have some good hitting this year. Here is an article that overviews this years team.

UPDATE: I went to the game today (Saturday) and it was a blowout. 12-0 after the first inning and we finished with a shutout 23-0. Despite how one sided it was, it was a lot of fun to watch. We had three triples (should have been four), five doubles, three home runs including one grand slam, and the guys were patient at the plate, walking nine times. I was impressed that they did not rely on their incredible offensive effort to win, but also played great defense (no errors, and Tommy Foshi at SS was a lot of fun to watch) and incredible pitching by the starter, Surkamp, and Gillheeny, who came in for Surkamp in the 6th and finished out the game with four one hit innings. As usual the crowd was great, with heckling that at one point had me crying I was laughing so hard. We’re two and oh baby!

Saturday was one of the most satisfying days of my life. Not only did we get to go out and do habitat for humanity, and prime and paint a whole house, but NC State pulled off a very improbable win over a very cocky UNC. Engin Atsur was still healthy enough to play, and he lead the team to victory.

Watching the game I was stunned to see the difference between NC State without Atsur, and NC State with Atsur. Every time Atsur sat down to get a breather UNC came rumbling back within a few points. Then Atsur would come out, calm the team down, and build the lead back up again. Atsur got hurt during NC State’s win over Michigan, before ACC play began. NC State was awful against the ACC when he was gone. He came back against Virginia Tech last week and we won, and he was back against UNC Saturday, and we won again. NC State needs its point guard, and whether or not Atsur can play will make all the difference for the rest of the season. With Engin Atsur, I am now convinced we can hang with the best. Without him we are last in the ACC. The good news is that he is back and playing again. The bad news is that he is only 70%. Hopefully he will continue to get better and the rest of the season can be more of what we saw Saturday.

Any success by the NC State basketball team this year is a resounding tribute to Sydney Lowe and what he can do with nothing. Last night he won a huge one by upsetting Virginia Tech at Blacksburg. Virginia Tech was first in the ACC, and was 12 for their last 14, with wins over UNC and Duke, ranked 16th nationally. Apparently no one told the Wolfpack this though, because they came out there shooting 53.1 percent for the game, and they won 70-59. Pretty awesome!

NC State baseball is right around the corner with 10 days to go before our opening game on February 9th. Pre-season rankings have us at 28th, which is a good place to be. On the map, but with plenty of room to move up. We only have three starters in the field left from last years team so the real question mark is how good will we be offensively and defensively. We are set to have great pitching, led off by Andrew Brackman who has been ranked as a pre-season 1st team all American. Since great pitching makes for a good team, it should be a fun season for baseball this year.

For football word is just in that we have a commit from Germany for defense, and from the article it seems he will be pretty exciting to watch. Here is another article concerning football commitments for NC State, UNC, and Duke. NC States schedule has been set and I am really looking forward to seeing how next season will play out. Two out of conference games that should be good, Louisville in Raleigh, and ECU at ECU. If we are doing well, a win over a highly ranked Louisville on a Thursday night on ESPN could get some attention, and a win over ECU at ECU will be very satisfying after getting clobbered by them this year. Should be an exciting season.

Darrell Davis was recruited to play football, but is now on the basketball team at NC State, and he is loving it. Here is an article from gopack about him. I’m excited for him and we’ll see how he can fit into Lowe’s system.

Congrats to Sydney Lowe and NC State for winning their first ACC basketball game on Saturday. As I have said before this year is gonna be really tough, so its nice to be able to put away a few wins.

Also congrats to Virginia Tech for beating Carolina. Good ole Hokies.