Love this article…
MD - you and FUBeAR both have the same .750 batting average for our attended FU @ NCSU games, as we’ve attended the same four.
There is a difference though. I believe you were actively working with the FU Football Program in 2 of the 3 wins…so you are .667 in your ‘involved’ winning %. My ‘involved’ record pales in comparison.
In the only one (of the 4) that ‘you and I’ lost, I was playing (very badly that night) & was a Game Captain. We got pretty well stomped. I heard Coach Hendrix recall from his FR year that we were ‘in it’ until halftime. We weren’t. Unless the D or special teams scored, we were only going to put up a goose egg. As Coach Caldwell eloquently said to us at one point that night, “we ain’t peed a dang drop!” - and we didn’t. Now, to be fair, they had more than a few future strong NFL & USFL Players on that Wolfpack D…and they were Head Coached by Monte Kiffin (as Coach Hendrix also recalled), long considered a Defensive genius, but they also had another high-pedigree Def. Coach with Pete Carroll as their DC. Their D whipped our O bad on the field & in the Coaches Box that night.
So, you could say my ‘involved’ record is .000, but I prefer to think of it as .500* - the asterisk denoting “unofficial”…because, though I had been enjoying the pleasures of tailgating and attended the 1984 game as an ‘uninvolved’ fan, fairly early in the game, an FU Trainer came looking for & found FUBeAR in the stands with the Furman crowd. He had been dispatched by Coach Caldwell to get FUBeAR to come help him Coach the OL, as he was having “heart palpitations” and feared that he was “about to fall out.” So, I didn’t screw too much up for a couple of series while he caught his wind & got his ticker back tickin’ on time and I hung around with him /the OL on the sideline the rest of the game…just in case. So, I’d like to think I contributed something to 1 of those 3 wins.
So…I’m .000 or .500 ‘involved,’ depending on how ‘pure’ one want to be vs. your .667. My point in sharing all this is…well, I think they are interesting and/or funny stories, but more importantly, to petition you to attend to put your magic Wolfpack-Beater mojo on the Paladins this Saturday night. FUBeAR can’t make it to Raleigh, which considering my 1982 performance there, is probably actually a good thing…but they need some success mojo. Now, if you’ll assure us that you have faithfully passed along your secrets and various victory incantations to Caleb & Danny, we can probably consider this an excused absence. But, please inform them that a Furman victory lies squarely on their shoulders & they need to bring it home, as you have previously done so well.
Again, great article. Thanks! #FUATT