Pack Backers
Posted March 1, 2006, 10:08 AM ET

My favorite fan base in college athletics exists in Raleigh, North Carolina. "Wolfpack Nation" consistently produces the most interesting debates on my radio shows.

It doesn't matter if it is football or basketball season, State fans always add an interesting twist to the season at hand.

Take football, for instance...every year, NC State fans are excited about the prospects of the upcoming season. And like any good fan base, they should be upbeat. Every team and its fans should hope for the best and strive to be the champs.

Chuck Amato has done an amazing job in Raleigh in rallying the troops and the masses to support the reincarnation of Wolfpack football. All you have to do is look at the great facility upgrades at Carter-Finley, and you get the impression that there are big things on the horizon at NC State.

Amato is a salesman. Thousands of fans have bought into the concept that the Wolfpack will be not only an ACC power, but a factor in the national picture, too.

The problem with this picture is that Amato hasn't proven he can coach or lead the Pack to any championship...unless of course you think being the current Muffler Bowl champs is a big deal.

Amato and the Pack have yet to finish higher than fourth in the ACC during his tenure, and back-to-back losses to arch-rival UNC has made thousands of Wolfpack fans upset...and rightfully so.

Despite the sub .500 record in ACC play during the Amato era, State fans have for the most part given him a pass...they like his sound bites, flashy shoes and goofy glasses...and the fact that he talks about National Championship dreams for Wolfpack football.

Don't let the fact that State hasn't won an ACC championship, much less play for a national title, since 1979. That's right...1979. Even pitiful Duke has won an ACC title in football more recently than the Wolfpack.

This week, Amato mentioned in a speech that he wants NC State to bring the first national championship in football to the Carolinas.....Um, Chuck...that's been accomplished before. Clemson won it all in 1981, and for the record...Appalachian State is the current national champ in Division 1-AA...By the way, Chuck...you open with the defending national champs at Carter-Finley in September.

Now, let's move on to basketball....a sport in which the Wolfpack actually has some tradition and history. The Pack won it all on the national scene in 1974 and 1983. State has also won numerous ACC titles, their most recent during the 80's under Jim Valvano.

You remember Jim Valvano...the charasmatic, fun-loving kid from New York. Jimmy V. was a huge hit with the fan base with his quick wit, great one-liners and the fact that he was completely different than stuffy-old Dean Smith. Plus, Valvano had the ability to hang at least two ACC championship banners and a national title in the grand-old Reynolds Coliseum...for the record, I still miss that place.

Amato has similar traits to Jimmy V...except for the winning part...but that leads us to the leader of the Wolfpack basketball program, Herb Sendek.

Think the polar opposite of Amato and you get Sendek. Herb isn't a jokester, at least not in his public persona. He doesn't wear the flashy threads or stupid shades.

What Herb does is win enough to tease the Wolfpack Nation...unless he's playing Duke or UNC. Sendek is poised to take NC State to their fifth straight NCAA Tournament. A feat that has been accomplished only once in Wolfpack basketball history.

NC State is one of 21 programs in the country that have made the last four NCAA Tournaments. The dreaded Tar Heels can't even make that claim...neither can Maryland, the national champs from a few years back. But despite the consistency, a large contingent of Wolfpack Nation treats Herb like he is a disease.

I can't figure it out....and that's why I love talking with Wolfpack Nation on my radio shows. Listening to NC State fans use rational explanations in their support or contempt of their coaches and programs is really fascinating. I've never seen or heard a fan base that is on opposite ends of the spectrum in their thought process.

Herb hasn't won an ACC title even though he's been close, but he is 13-9 in the ACC tournament. The late Jimmy V. won two, but was only 9-8 in his ten years in Raleigh. During V's 10-year run in the league, half the time State was eliminated in the first game of tourney...under Sendek, that has happened to the Pack only once.

Sendek graduates his kids, is void of any NCAA investigations, and has his program going to the Big Dance for the fifth straight year....but Wolfpack nation calls and emails me religiously stating that the guy has got to go.

Go figure?

Amato can't finish higher than fourth in the league and is king...Sendek has the Wolfpack basketball program on solid footing and State fans are clamoring for a new man in charge.

Bring in Rick Barnes or Bobby Knight, or how about Tubby Smith?...It makes for a fascinating discussion.

All I've got to say is God bless Wolfpack Nation...nobody delivers the goods like NC State fans.