I love the work of the guys at StateFans Nation. They have a great blog and they dig up some very interesting news and statistics. Always a great read.
But there’s this thing.
State fans have a reputation as being a bit, well, sensitive. Years of being their neighbors’ whipping boy has made them acutely aware of every slight and they are always very quick to jump up and shout that THEY ARE TOO as good as Carolina and Duke.
It’s a simple self-esteem issue. Or is it school-esteem? Whatever it is, it’s amazing to see it in action, because it’s just so widespread. Nearly every Wolfpack fan I know has a touch (at least) of it. Frankly, it’s why they are so fun to needle. They’re like that friend you had as a kid that everyone jokingly picked on, because he’d take it so seriously. It’s like cheap entertainment. Make a small throwaway comment and get a long tirade in response.
Where am I going with this? Here, that’s where. This piece at SFN just screams of self-doubt combined with an extreme desire to succeed. I understand the desire to prove others wrong. We all feel it. But collecting articles so that some day in the future you can SHOW THEM ALL!? I don’t know. That’s the sort of thing that, if you’re going to do it, do it privately. Keep it as motivation if you must (of course, these are fans, not the actual players or coaches), but don’t let everyone know about it.
Hopefully if Sidney Lowe really does take State up to (or near) the level of Carolina and Duke, the Wolfpack fans will have built up enough strength that they won’t feel the need to go back and say I told you so. They’ll just happily and confidently throw those old posts away and enjoy their success.