Dear N. C. State
For the past 27 years I have rooted for, cheered, and hoped that you would establish yourself as a powerhouse that could compete with the likes of Duke and Carolina on a regular basis.In my time as a fan I have seen the ups and the downs of the program, suffered through the Les Robinson era, and watch potential get squandered. I have seen people like Jeremy Hyatt be our "superstar" or Ishua Benjamin destined to be our saving grace. I have endured people who cheer for Duke or Carolina simply on the basis of name recognition talk about you even though they don't know the difference between a field goal or a free throw or refer to a center as "the tall one".
I have watched you lose ACC championship games to Duke two years in a row knowing that if we didn't win we were NIT bound. Then a few years later you lost another one to Carolina and the vicious cycle continues.
Those losses were acceptable because you played above your potential. I pulled for you with Les Robinson because the "3 point offense" was the best that you could do. But tonight you had a 16 point lead against Wake... not Duke and you turned that into a 10 point deficit. These are the games that make me regret all the time I have continued to spend on you and your programs. You are consistently inconsistent and I am starting to believe that this will never change.
Tomorrow I'll get up and try to forget that my talented team is only destined to perform to the level of its competition (Maryland, Wake) and I'll get ready for the Carolina game. But don't feel bad this years team, you under perform just like almost every team from the past 26 years. (except the 90's they couldn't under perform)
