"If you're going to San Francisco"
You're supposed to "wear flowers in your hair," according to that groovy 60's song. But in 2005, if you're a fan of a certain unfortunate ACC school, you'll be wearing your team colors.
Yes, San Francisco and college football go together like ... well, I don't really know what analogy to draw here.
Why do I bring this up? Because this weekend, the ACC confirmed what we'd already suspected - that the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco will be inviting an ACC team to square off against Utah. That means that all eight bowl-eligible ACC teams will have a bowl to attend. That also means that someone will have to trek cross-country to play in an otherwise forgettable bowl in a city that probably has more Deadheads than college football fans.
But don't tell that to Utah fan. Nope, he's already started the trash talk. At least, some guy with the email moniker DBorg (Bjorn's younger brother, Dwayne?) sent this salvo to my in-box this morning.
"what abourt NC State playing Utah in the Emrald Bowl?? Quess you think your Team is to good to play Utah?"
(Spelling errors were left as is to give you the true feel of the message)
First things first. State is not "my team." I only cover the Wolfpack. I do not give money to the Wolfpack Club and the State athletics deparment sure as heck ain't paying me.
Second, my story in today's paper merely offered an analysis of where I thought State would likely wind up. Not where I wanted them end up (Orlando, anyone?).
Third, as anyone who knows anything about bowls will tell you, teams are chosen based on how well they travel and how many people will watch the game on television. It doesn't really matter which team is more deserving, etc. So saying a team will play in Boise, and not San Francisco, doesn't mean that the team is too good for the team already committed to play in San Fran.
So, to answer your question, Mr. Borg, I don't know if N.C. State is "to good" to play Utah. But I do know that very few, if any, Wolfpack fans want to travel all the way to the West Coast to find out.
Due to recent automated spamming attacks on our blogs, we are temporarily requiring commenters to authenticate themselves via TypeKey® before posting comments to any News & Record blog in order to prevent denials of service. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.