North Carolina State University Athletics
Annabelle Vaughan's Bowl Diary
12/21/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
I can't believe we've been here a week! This hotel room is starting to feel like home (even though the balcony doors are open and there's a great breeze blowing in off the marina, which is probably not what home feels like right now!).
Both teams attended the awards luncheon today, which was held across the street at the convention center. The Wolfpack sat on one side of the room and the Gophers sat on the other side. The first thing Coach Amato said when he spoke was that we were glad we weren't Gophers! Both bands were there, and I must say that our band made a very impressive entrance. With Coach Amato leading the way, the band came dancing in to the drums and then lined up in front and started playing the fight song - over and over! The players all joined in, clapping and dancing. I was pretty impressed. They played a highlight tape during the luncheon, which was highlighted by Adrian Wilson's lick at North Carolina. Even the Minnesota side of the room oohed and aahed over that one. Derek Green was recognized as our scholar athlete. As an offensive lineman, you don't hear Derek's name much, but he is a great young man.
We were supposed to go over to the stadium this afternoon, but at the last minute cancelled the trip. If we had gone, it would have been the first time all year that we had done a walk-through the day before the game. I don't think superstition had anything to do with it, but you never know with coaches!
The sun has been in and out today, but they say showers may be here tomorrow. I guess Wolfpack fans can't get too upset about that - I remember rain against Arkansas State, Indiana and Wake Forest, all of which were Wolfpack WINS!
Coach Amato met with the folks who are broadcasting the game this evening. They need to know everything - from how to pronounce names to what plays we're going to run (don't worry - Coach didn't tell them anything!).
The most exciting thing that has happened around here today was a lizard getting into Betty and Eddie Gardner's room. Eddie might be a great equipment manager, but I guess Betty had to get housekeeping to come help her with the lizard removal!
The players are all in meetings right now and I think the seniors are going to address the team. I know this game will be very emotional for those guys, who will be wearing the red and white for the last time.
I hope everyone will tune in to TBS tomorrow night at 7:00. I don't think the stadium is going to be packed, so the guys would love to know that at least everyone is tuned in!
December 26 -- 5:00 p.m.
Wow - things have really been busy today! You can tell that game day is
only two days away. The players began meetings this morning at 7:15, but
practice started a little later than usual. The team is mostly fine-tuning
the game plan right now, but practice was still pretty intense. The sun was
FINALLY out and it was warmer, although a brisk wind kicked up this
afternoon.
There was a fair-sized group of media waiting for us back at the hotel today, so Philip, Levar, Clayton, Koren, Ray and Jarvis had to spend about half of their free time today doing interviews. At 2:45, we loaded the buses again to head down to the beach, where most of the players took part in a press conference (which is actually held on the beach!) and the rest wandered around the Beach Place shops and restaurants. A bus took some of the players to the mall afterwards, but I think most of the guys are in their game-modes now and will probably stick close to the hotel.
It's good to see some of the players' parents around. Jeff Fisher's family is here from Pennsylvania, and I know more of the families are coming in tonight and tomorrow.
Tomorrow, the team has meetings in the morning, then an awards luncheon, and then their typical day-before-the-game routine. We are going to Pro Player Stadium for a walk-through tomorrow afternoon.
The hot tub looks pretty inviting out my window. Clayton White is going to do a live interview on WRAL Sports tonight at 11:20, so you can watch and pretend you're here!
December 24, 2000
A good time was had by all at the Las Olas Riverfront last night. A boat picked up the players, staff and
families (a pretty large contingent) at the hotel dock and then took us down the new river to the Welcome
Reception. The boat captain was a good tour guide, pointing out the homes of the rich and famous or just the
rich. We saw houses worth $15 million and boats worth more than that!
Once the teams got to the landing, they were both seated in an outdoor pavilion and both coaches were introduced. Coach Amato joked that Minnesota's players must be bigger, because he couldn't see any empty seats on their side of the aisle. Our four game show contestants (Phil Rivers, Levar Fisher, Derek Green and Julius Patterson) didn't do so well. Although the questions did seem pretty biased towards Minnesota ("Which NFL coach is a Minnesota alum?" and stuff like that), it was pretty bad when our players had to struggle to answer how many touchdown passes Philip threw this year!
After the welcome, both teams were served hot dogs and wings by the Hooters girls and then were able to wander around the shops and restaurants for a while.
The wind and rain came in the middle of the night and this morning's practice was pretty messy. Despite rain for much of the hour-and-a-half, Coach got his full workout in, followed by conditioning. After practice, there is a church service scheduled back at the hotel, and then the seniors are heading to visit a children's hospital.
The players have all been asking me about this diary. Evidently their friends and families are reading and many of them have asked me to send messages. Let me just say that although the guys are having a good time, I think it is very hard for everyone to be away from their loved ones at Christmas.
I think I'll take Christmas Day off from writing, but I'll be back on Tuesday to let you know about all of the festivities. Merry Christmas Wolfpack fans!!!
December 23, 2000
OK - where's the sun?!?!? Today is cloudy and breezy and a few rain drops
fell while we were at practice. But at least it 70-something degrees. The
weather folks are promising sunshine starting on Christmas Day, so things
are looking up.
The team practiced early again today, working out for about two hours in shorts and shoulder pads. Following practice, Coach Amato gave his guys an early Christmas present by putting them through the much-dreaded agility drills (I think the guys like these even less than gassers!). It's pretty funny to watch our big lineman doing the going through these workouts and then watching Chris Hubert, the seven-year-old son of one of our equipment managers, lining up and doing the drills right with the big boys.
Coach Amato said that practice was much more intense today than yesterday. Christmas Eve will be the last contact practice and then he'll start tapering off before the game. Darius Bryant missed again today as he battles the flu. Poor Darius has his wife and child with him, but I don't think he's having much fun.
This afternoon, the whole NC State group will get on a boat right outside our hotel and travel down the river to the Las Olas Waterfront. It will be the first time the two teams get together. Evidently, the two squads are going to compete in some type of "Family Feud." Our contestants are going to be Phil Rivers, Julius Patterson, Derek Green and Levar Fisher. Coach Amato told the team we didn't stand a chance with those four! They've promised some good eats at the event, which is what the players are really concerned about.
I'll fill you in on all the festivities later.
December 22, 2000 -- 1:30 p.m.
The players had an early wake-up call this morning, as meetings began at
7:15 a.m. The three busses left for practice just before nine and the squad
had a pretty intense two-hour workout, including running some of Coach
Amato's signature "gassers." Defensive linemen Darius Bryant and Sean
Locklear missed practice this morning, as both are running fevers.
Coach Amato said that practice was "fair" this morning, which means Saturday's workout will be even more physical! Practice ended with some 11-on-11 work on the goalline, which was highlighted by an tremendous hit by freshman linebacker Corrie Dawson on tailback Carlos Doggett.
After more meetings, the team will have more free time until curfew tonight. A group is going to the mall, some to the beach and some to the pool. But, wake-up is early again tomorrow, so some players may choose to take a nap this afternoon!
December 21, 2000 -- 8:00 p.m.
The team reported for a meeting at 1:00 p.m. today and has been busy ever
since. After a team meeting, offensive and defensive meetings, we loaded
three busses and headed to Dillard High School, where the squad practiced
for a couple of hours in shorts and shoulder pads. Practice was very
intense and very spirited, with some of Coach Amato's famous "board drills"
and some goalline work. All of the players made it down except Jatavis
Sanders, whose grandmother passed away yesterday.
It got a little chilly when the sun went down, but there was a hot pizza waiting for each player to take the chill off when they left the field.
As I write, the team is getting showered, ready to board the busses and head to Ft. Lauderdale Beach. They want to make sure they take advantage of every moment before curfew.
Philip Rivers is on my balcony, amazed by the view. There are yachts in the marina with Christmas lights strung all the way up and other boats going up and down the river. You can see the skyline of Ft. Lauderdale and the hotels that line the beach. Jarvis "Big Earth" Borum is waiting to check his e-mail. He says the best thing so far has been the weather, but he's hopeful there's better things yet to come!
Practice is in full pads tomorrow, so more news then!
December 20, 2000 -- 8:00 p.m.
It was great to step off that plane last night (actually, this morning) and
not be freezing cold. Our charter flight was delayed last night due to bad
whether in other parts of the country. The coaches, their families, the
athletic department staff and about 30 players finally touched down in Ft.
Lauderdale at around 3:30 a.m. this morning! There were some pretty tired
folks stumbling to the elevators when we finally arrived, but everybody is
VERY happy to be here.
Most of the other players will meet us here today right after lunch and we'll begin practice this afternoon. Our equipment staff arrived on Tuesday and they have a training room, equipment room, lockerroom and meetings rooms all set up and ready to go. Eddie Gardner and his staff have done a great job and were even up to great us when we arrived.
The hotel is right on the Marina, and there are cruise ships docked outside the window that are bigger than the hotel! The pool is beckoning, so I'll write more later.
