This is not the first time Roy Williams has expressed his feeling on the NC State game. In 2008 he told the media after UNC drubbed the Pack in Chapel Hill(the infamous UNC fans cheered when NCSU scored game) that he’d rather beat NC State than eat. In fact he told that team none of them were eating postgame unless they beat NC State. During his Wednesday press conference, Roy was asked(again) about what the game means to him.
“It’s always meant a great deal to me. I’ve gone on record as saying that I struggled with them. I was a freshman in college and some old high school buddies that I had played baseball and basketball with were over at State and they gave me enough crap for the rest of my life. I didn’t appreciate it and I didn’t like it. So I’ve always had the feeling that this is an important game. It’s North Carolina against North Carolina State. You know, every kid grows up and Mom and Dad plants seeds about who they’re going to cheer for and they have an influence. I didn’t have that influence.
“I had my high school coach who thought North Carolina was great and then some other people put us down anyway they could to me and I took offense to that. It’s a childish way to react but it’s stuck with me and I’ve always thought that it was a fantastic rivalry. I was in school here finishing up my time when they won nine in a row, I think that’s right, when David Thompson was over there. I think they beat us nine times in a row and that bothered me. So again, during my formative years, they were beating us up too much to make me happy.”
One of the interesting things about Roy is since he grew up in North Carolina and graduated from UNC, his experience with the in-state rivalries lines up with what most UNC fans who grew up in the state experience. Here he talks about having friends who were NCSU fans talking smack to him and being at UNC during NCSU’s nine game win streak over UNC in the 1970s. Later, Roy went on to join Dean Smith’s staff and was a part of many UNC-NCSU games through the 1980s that were highly charged not to mention relevant.
Needless to say Roy Williams takes this game seriously, possibly as much or more than the Duke game. Of course the UNC-Duke game is propelled by the force of its own momentum at this point. UNC-NCSU has been dominated by the Heels for most of the last 20 years which means Roy probably has to drive the point home with the team a little more. Based on last season, it appears to have worked. Harrison Barnes took the game very seriously in both outings last season. John Henson is famous for talking smack on Twitter in the offseason when NC State is losing in football.
There is little doubt in my mind UNC’s head coach and players will be plenty ready for this game.
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This raises an interesting point. Roy Williams doesn’t just beat State, but he’s gotten two of their coaches fired with 20+ point whippings during his tenure. If UNC puts a smack on State a few more times, and a third coach is fired, will this be some kind of record? Has any coach ever caused such devastation to a rival school?
The two rivalries, NCSU and Duke, are completely different for me. I despise NCSU only because of their fan base. Nothing pisses me off more than a bunch of know-it-alls, who don’t really know jack-squat, but are compelled to talk about it ad-nauseum.
I despise Duke because of the air of “we’re better than you on so many levels” that surrounds the whole program.
The first NCSU game always marks the beginning of the best part of the season for me, especially when we run these bastards back to Raleigh wondering what hit them. I’m looking for a slaughter tonight so I can come to the office tomorrow and listen to the excuses.
Roy, don’t forget your Red Ryder, and make sure you have plenty of BB’s.
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/405336_3183785999079_1398600026_33349709_1407179411_n.jpg
Having grown up in Raleigh and most of my friends being Pack fans, I can relate to Roy. It’s probably not fair to generalize, as I know our fan base has some bad eggs too, but the average State fan makes it hard to pull for the Pack when we aren’t playing them..and I am inclined to. I have a friend who attended the State/UNC football game this fall at Carter, and the acts he related that were aimed at him and his girlfriend (for merely wearing UNC garb) were disgusting and stupid…frankly, trying to egg on a fight..over a GAME! We have one or two decent Pack fans who frequent this site, and I urge you to call out your fellow fans when you hear/see that type of behavior. I know I would in a similar situation. Rivalries are good stuff when approached in the right spirit…when base intelligence cretins take over, it takes the fun completely out of it.
I’ve been ushering games in Kenan for 12 years and I can tell you from firsthand experience that State fans are the rudest, crudest and most trouble-making. That includes Clemson, FSU, Miami, ECU and South Carolina fans who have come to Kenan. There are more fights and arrests at the State game than any other home game during the year. Yes, I have friends who are State fans and we get along fine, so this is not an indictment of the entire fanbase. I’ll just say it’s been my experience that they have a higher quotient of jerk fans than other ACC schools. Go Heels!
I just re-watched the second half of UNC-Va Tach. I am Stoked about tonight. that lineup ran and SPREAD vatech like Fedora’s offense. it was beautiful to watch our guys running and laughing. at 46-44 henson got the rebound, hit marshall and it was off to the races where Marshall found guess who lined up for a three……….wait for it…..wait……wait……..booyah bullock….drano. thats what I have been longing for all season. more cowbell tonight please. GO HEELS.
Let’s do this! Had the willies since this AM when I awoke to some friendly electronic smack chat from my bro-in-law who went to State. Protect…our…court.
Duke fans are a distasteful bunch
– Like eating ice cream with cumin
But NC State’s are unendurable
– My God! They’re barely human!
(To my fans: You can now pick up a copy of my new book of collected verse: “My Poems are Sky Blue: A Tender BoyWilliams Retrospective” at the UNC bookstore. Ask at the counter. Enjoy!)
I am pretty sure that I know more State fans than you do. Some of them are d-bags. Most of them are good people. Having grown up in Raleigh, I know a fair number of UNC fans too. Some of them are d-bags. Most of them are good people. I have little tolerance for bad behavior from anyone – there’s really no excuse for it, and everyone has stories about how horrible the opposing fan base is. As 52bgJ says, it’s a GAME.
At any rate, I am looking forward to this game – not because I expect my team to win, but because they are finally fun to watch again. It will be a good reality check/measuring stick after being pretty successful against lesser competition.
I’m actually excited about the game tonight, which make the first time I’ve been excited about a State game in several years. I think State is definitely on the upswing, and I fully expect them to spend much of next season in the top-25. Tonight, though, it’s going to be the beatdown we’ve all become accustomed to….
Hey Steve the Sate Fan…crawl back into your hole, sub-human. This is war.
…jk, luv u