North Carolina State University Athletics
Haynes' World: A Hair-Raising Experience
7/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
July 16, 2001
By Tony Haynes
Perhaps most of us long for the days when we were impressed by everything. Youth seems to do that. When you're eight or 10 years old, enlightenment is an ongoing process.
The first ACC basketball game I ever attended was at Reynolds Coliseum. And though many games and years have since passed, I still have memories of how the atmosphere made my skin tingle. My senses are still filled with the smell of popcorn, the sound of the old organ and the excitement I felt as I followed my father into the magnificent building.
Admittedly, it is now a challenge to recapture those same feelings. In my professional life, I have broadcast Finals Fours, Bowl games and plenty of other sporting events. And while the enjoyment still exists, there's nothing quite like the feeling that comes with doing something for the first time.
So many players have come and gone that it's often difficult to remember them all. The huge arenas and outdoor stadiums that once seemed so mesmerizing now all look the same.
It all reminds me of a conversation I once had with the great Wally Ausley. Eager to pick the legendary Wolfpack broadcaster's brain, I asked him to name the most exciting games he'd ever called.
"That's hard to say because they all seem to run together now. When you've done so many, they all seem the same," he said.
Bummer.
Fortunately, it's not always that way. Occasionally, one of those magical events comes along that brings back the goose bumps. NC State's last regular season game at Reynolds two years ago made us all feel like kids again. Several months later, the first game at the ESA couldn't have been more thrilling. Both occasions dripped with enough emotion and energy to last a lifetime.
Now we look forward to a new era in NC State football. The Carter-Finley Stadium we've cheered in for the last 34 years is getting a facelift. Remarkably, the opening phase of the renovation project is moving along at a faster than expected pace.
"Were installing the seats (in the south end zone) now," Wolfpack Club Executive Director Bobby Purcell said last week. "We're scheduled to be finished the first week of August with the end zone stadium construction project. The building of the football center will begin subsequent to that."
On the north end, the new video scoreboard is already taking on a majestic presence as it continues to be raised on four massive beams.
The other day, I jumped in the car and drove out to Carter-Finley. It was a quiet Saturday afternoon. There was no tailgating, no fans sat in the stands, and no players were on the field. I craned to hear the sound of the NC State fight song, but all I heard was a defining silence.
Yet, as I surveyed the scene, the hair on the back of my neck stood at attention. Then my skin tingled just as it did that day so many years ago when I watched that first college basketball game at Reynolds.
It was great to feel like a little boy again.
