Dad and NCSU Sports

I never really noticed before, but my dad is a big sports fan. Or shall I say, he is a big NC State basketball and football fan.

But you can’t blame him, for NC State’s football team had a great season and will be playing in the Gator Bowl New Year’s Day. Naturally, the family is going (less my brother Cameron, who will be returning to LA).

State’s basketball season is also off to a good start. Dad, a few friends of his, and I went to a game tonight. The game was played at NC State’s Historic Reynolds Coliseum instead of its new stadium. Like the old days, the pep band was blaring, cheerleaders were flying, fans were stomping on the bleachers, and the smell of popcorn was thick with nostalgia.

The highlight of the game was Julius Hodge’s triple-double (I don’t really know what I am talking about, for I just learned what this meant this evening). Playing as number 24, Hodge is sophomore guard and was the number three draft pick, according to dad.

What was amazing about Hodge’s performance tonight was that he will go down in the books as the first NC State Men’s Basketball player to ever earn a triple-double. And to think, out of the 750 games that have be played in this historic building, it wasn’t until tonight that a start sophomore could make the feat history.