Battle Vs State.....

Our final game of the trip was against NC State. For those of you that don't know, we are to NC State what Duke is to us. On the way to Raleigh (with a quick stop at Duke) I thought up all possible comebacks for anyone that would chrip me that night. Carolina Blue in a sea of red?? So here's what I came up with:
1. Last time NCST won a national championship was 1985 - we've won 3 since then.
2. That was probably the last time NCST was at a final four - we've been there at least 8 times
3. We've won the last 7 games and 11 out of 12. No members of that team had EVER beaten Carolina in their careers.
4. Name the last lottery pick that came from NC State????? Anyone? Me..heck I don't even know. Tom Gugliotta and David Thompson were the only 2 retired jersey names that I knew.
This among other little things, I had in mind to fire back if need be. I knew that the Wolfpack fans won't be like the "Wine and Cheese crowd" from Chapel Hill.

We got to the RBC Center (also where the Carolina Hurricanes home) around 6ish for a 9 pm start. Our tickets were in a special section that allowed those ticket holders to come in a half hour before the doors open to the general public and go to a lounge for food and or drinks. So Dante and I got to go in at 7 and have a beer while we waited to sit courtside. Everywhere we went in that place, people were giving us a hard time. Everyone from the door people saying that our tickets were fake, to the concession people jacking up prices, and even the occasional student booing in Dante's face. So we got to sit as close as we could to the court for warm ups again. We yelled out Dexter's name to get his attention. He looked over at us (I was wearing his number again) for a second, realized that we had seen him last week, and smiled and pointed to us. That was pretty cool. After that we got the attention of the student section right in front of us and some kind words were exchanged. Dante had to stop me from continuing but I knew that I would get the last laugh somehow.

The game was great from our point of view. We started out the game with a 3 point play to start the game and it shut the ruckus Wolfpack fans up a bit. The game was a close one for the most part with us going into the locker room up 4 after with standing a small run at the end of the half. State ended up coming out of the locker room on a 10-1 run to start the half. The place was ruckus but we showed a bit of poise and got control back and went on a huge run of our own. With about 5 mins left in the game, we had a 17 point lead and people started to clear out knowing that the game was over. I was kind enough to wish everyone a safe ride home.

So once it was official and we had won by 15, I decided to go back down to the students section to get the last word in. I ran down, got everyone attention and thanked them for a great time. I told them that they were great hosts and that I'd love to come back again next year. Once I started, I got a course of swears and other profanities yelled at me. I made sure to bring out all the facts and get back at everyone that said something directly towards me before the game. By this time, girls were now swearing at me too so I thought that this would be the time to make my way out. On my way back up the stairs, a bunch of the students on a set of stairs parallel to me shouted death threats to me and that they would see me in the parking lot. Seeing that I had pissed off about 300 people, I decided to go to the bathroom and tie up my shoe laces in case I needed to run. Once I got out of the bathroom, Dante and I took a few more pics before making our way outside. Once outside I was a bit freaked out that someone would jump me. I was really scared and jumpy. We eventually made it to the car safe and started our journey home. What a way to end the trip!