Into the Wolves' Den

Rogers on his trip to the RBC Center

January 20th, 2012

 

I opened this piece with a picture of the "Hurricanes" version of the RBC center because almost every NC State fan I talked to last night reminded me that "it's a hockey arena." I'm still not entirely sure why they felt it was necessary to tell me this. My best guess: they probably assumed I would be judgmental of the atmosphere in the RBC (because, you know, UNC grads think they are better at everything).

ANYWAYS, if you missed the introduction on our front page, I went to the BC/State game last night in the RBC. It was not my first trip into the arena by any means, but it was my first time seeing an NC State home basketball game in person. So, instead of predictably talking about the game or looking ahead to the UNC/State match-up next week (like a real sportswriter would), I decided to describe my experience at the Royal Bank of Canada Center; which the Wolfpack call home when the court isn't frozen solid with 3/4" an inch of ice.

First, you might ask why the hell I was even at a State game. Excellent question. I recently moved to Raleigh, and Jim Pomeranz (my uncle) was kind enough to invite me to a game with his season tickets. This is important because to understand my experience you have to know a few things about Jim. First, he knows everyone. I mean that literally. As you might imagine, this can be a good or bad thing. On the one hand, it's always exciting to be around someone who is outgoing because you get to meet a lot of people. On the other hand, it's annoying because you have to meet a lot of people. But seriously, we couldn't take three steps through the RBC's outer walkway without running into someone Jim knew. One reason for that is how long he's been around the program. While enrolled at NC State, Jim was a big part of the student sports publications, and has consequently become an active member in the Wolfpack club. Needless to say, he's a walking, talking NC State historian. So other than the fact that Jim is always great company, being the history major that I am, I couldn't think of a better way to enter into the Wolves' Den for the first time.

Because it's late and I've had a few beers, I'm going to write this in bullet form.¹

1. Atmosphere. As I hinted at the beginning of this piece, State fans seem slightly embarrassed by the atmosphere in the RBC. I say "seem" because that's just the vibe I got from them. I don't really understand it for two reasons: 1) The court is surrounded by students, which makes the arena pretty loud when it needs to be, and 2) it's still way better than the Dean Dome's atmosphere.

2. Beer. Yes, you can drink beer in the RBC center for ACC games.² I had no idea this was the case. If I had been aware of the beer sales, this piece would be about my recent trip to the RBC and not my first trip to the RBC. Now before you look down your nose at me, I don't mean this in some frat-boy-drinking-beer-makes-me-cool kind of way, it's just refreshing³ to drink an ice-cold beer while watching a ball game. I recently remarked to a friend that I would pay $30 to drink just one frosty Budweiser in the Dean Dome. Even though last night wasn't in front of my Heels, it still felt great.

3. Attendance. Recently, a State fan was giving me a hard time for the Tar Heels' attendance numbers in Kenan in the last few years. My reply was that I would never waste a moment of my life caring about another team's attendance. I will not break that promise here. But, I will waste some of my time calling out a fan base that makes fun of another team's attendance when their own attendance in a major sport sucks. Come on Pack fans, I always give the Wolfpack their due, but you guys don't see the irony of clowning UNC football fans when your own basketball support is clearly lacking? Of course, my uncle explained that because of the RBC's ownership there are a lot of corporate seats that are out of the hands of diehard Pack-Backers. And while that may be true, it doesn't change my point.

4. Banners. I grew up in North Carolina, so I have spent my entire life hearing jokes about UNC's penchant for banners. With that being the case, I was surprised to see four NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship banners hanging in the RBC. For both of State's titles ('74 & '83), each one had a separate banner in red and white. Naturally, I called the UNC basketball office to let them know how we could quickly double our already impressive amount of accomplishments.

As for the actual game:

1. CJ Leslie is good. He's probably my favorite non-UNC player in the country. A lot of that isn't related to basketball. From what I've seen off the court, he seems like a really cool dude. Too cool. That might be why most State fans don't like him as much as I do. Leslie will explode for a spectacularly athletic play, and then totally disappear. It can be baffling at times.⁴

2. Lorenzo Brown is at least 2nd Team All-ACC right now. Just take a look at his stats if you don't believe me. Based on that, it isn't really even much of an argument. But after seeing him play Thursday night, I'm even more sold. The dude can really play. Although he might only be playing point out of necessity, there's no way Ryan Harrow would be performing better than 'Zo right now. Everyone expected Brown to be a scorer who played point guard; not many expected him to be a point guard who can score. It's going to be fun watching Rodney Purvis and Brown play in State's backcourt next season.

3. Richard Howell. If Brown is the most improved player in the ACC this year, Howell is a close second. Mostly known as one of those seventh/eighth-man-type bruisers throughout his career, Howell has become a legitimate feature-threat. He's developed a pretty nice face-up game from fifteen feet in, and still rebounds like a grown man. Although he's too undersized for the next level, Howell is going to be a handful to guard for the rest of his career.

4. State's Bench. It's terrible. While they might have the second- or third-best starting five in the league, there is nothing after that worth noting. The Pack are going to have to stay out of foul trouble if they want to accomplish anything big this season.

 

There you have it. I behaved, I wore neutral colors, and I generally enjoyed myself. If State had lost (or done anything other than blow BC out) the laid-back atmosphere may have been different. But, all in all, I can't complain. As time passes, I have really started to benefit from just enjoying sports instead of deriding the Heels' rivals or smashing things any time my teams lose. If you haven't tried it yet, it's never too late.