Greetings all. I hope some of you have more energy than I do this morning - after the past three days of being drenched, sunburned, and swinging from elation to depression to elation to depression to elation, I'm ready for the weekend. Unfortunately the biggest hurdle is yet to come, and I don't just mean making it past two awake at the office this afternoon. But enough of that - on to some more pressing matters.
As I sit writing this, I can find no NC State news worthy of note that is not baseball related. As all of you have doubtless already heard all about the achievements of the Pack 9 this weekend and the task still at hand, it seems redundant to attempt to rehash it in news form. I fear this may signal an emerging trend for the summer that plagues us college sports fans - absolutely nothing happens. Future editions of Wolfpack Breakfast Links may end up being only weekly over the summer or some similar solution - it remains to be decided. For now, I have put together something ugly in which I talk a lot about baseball, how Carolina sucks, and link to a great N and O piece all should read. All this such that you might more easily get your hopes up in time for the possibility of having them crushed this evening. Happy reading, Pack.
Tudor over at the N and O provides an accurate barometer of my feelings over the past two days. Here he is reflecting the absolute dejection Saturday night, and here he is illustrating just how big a victory today was for the team. The fact that we were able to go out and play with fire against Wilmington was huge - and we have the momentum on our side now. Here's hoping whichever fan from the audience has to pitch for us tonight will have some of that feel-goody rub off on them.
To drift off topic slightly, the thing that really separates a program like Carolina and a program like State in my mind is the ability those programs have to withstand adversity. I had a Walmart fan tell me recently that even though she attends Western and not UNC, she has "been a Carolina fan my whole life. I'm a true fan who sticks with my team no matter what." What she said struck me, not because it was a particularly unique statement from a Walmart shopper, but because I realized for the first time what it implied. Carolina fans think they have seen adversity. They think "sticking with my team" means losing one or two games a season in basketball, baseball, jumping jacks, etc (and ignoring football). We are so much stronger, not only our fans but our teams, in nearly every sport, because of NCStateShit. Pain has taught us to overcome. Overcome we shall.
Battle speech or sermon? I can't decide. Either way, it felt good to write and segues nicely into a piece not related to baseball that I completely forgot about until just now. Time to change the intro above the jump! While I do that, you read this:
Can it be? Reporting from the N and O that paints Carolina in an unfavorable light? Either way, it's a good story, albeit one without much real substance. The point, however, is as valid as Canela liking donuts. The infuriating thing about the Carolina scandals is that they are being handled completely differently than the Valvano issues at State. Arguably the offenses are now worse - but the system is attempting to mitigate, rather than target, eliminate, and resolve, the damage. To a psychotic State fan, it sounds like conspiracy - to anyone else it sounds like vague corruption of the system with apathy. Either way, it's unacceptable, and more editorials like this should exist. This is one of those pieces that come along once in a while that just make you think about how things are for a second, the kind everyone should read and consider before they go back to simply accepting the status quo as "what is."
Okay. That's all for now. Comment below and make plans for the revolution. Or explain pitching strategy for tonight to me. It's going to be a long workday - I need somebody to talk baseball with.