ESPN's 30 for 30: Survive and Advance!

[gatorbogey]

pretty stellar re-telling of ncsu's fabled journey to the nat'l title w/ valvano and company.

perfect for the eve of the tourney...

[UFreak]

I'm enjoying it a lot. Talk about a team that won some close ones!!!

[gatorbogey]

NCSU was pretty much a team that was out of the tourney. their bubble would have been burst if they lose any game along the way. had to win the acc tourney, just to make the ncaa's.

9 game miracle for sure.

almost lost it [emotional] when players tell about the team getting letters etc about their journey. valvano read one from a wife who's husband was a fan but in a coma. she thought having the tv on and games on would help. related how their journey gave her hope.

obviously the miracle journey gave coach that hope against his battle w/ cancer.

[hoopnscoopuf]

Wonderful show! I saw every game of their survive an advance (except the Wake Forest game). Almost forgot about the Louisville/Houston semis. Wow.

This is the best 30 for 30 yet.

[TampaGatorFan]

My wife and I just watched it. Kleenex time for sure.

[rtgator]

Originally Posted by hoopnscoopuf

Wonderful show! I saw every game of their survive an advance (except the Wake Forest game). Almost forgot about the Louisville/Houston semis. Wow.

This is the best 30 for 30 yet.

That NC State team was better than most give them credit for.

NC State had a great guard combo, Sidney Lowe and Derek Wittenberg. I saw them play Louisville in Freedom Hall early in the season and was very impressed. They almost beat Louisville on the road.

(As hoopnscoopuf mentioned, Louisville later played Houston's Phi Slamma Jamma team in an epic Final Four game. Most observers thought the winner of the Louisville-Houston game would cruise to the title.)

Then, NC State lost Derek Wittenberg to injury. Without Wittenberg, NC State lost several games and had to win the ACC tournament to get invited to the NCAA tournament. But, by then, they had Wittenberg back.

While their path through the tourney was a classic case of survive and advance, I wasn't as surprised as most people when they won. I had seen how good they could be when they had all their players healthy.

[RealGatorFan]

Billy should require the team to watch it...every night before we play.

[akaGatorhoops]

My family knew the valvano family well. My dad played a year at Iona and remains very close to the program. Jimmy, of course, was an Iona head coach. We sat with his wife and kids at home games. In fact, I think my sister got some hand down infant clothes from mrs. V.
Anyway, I was only a young kid, but I remember him being as genuinely gregarious as he is perceived. And my dad though the world of him.

[mac4lyfe]

Time really flies and life is so short. It seems just like yesterday watching them cut down the nets.

[TampaGatorFan]

Originally Posted by akaGatorhoops

My family knew the valvano family well. My dad played a year at Iona and remains very close to the program. Jimmy, of course, was an Iona head coach. We sat with his wife and kids at home games. In fact, I think my sister got some hand down infant clothes from mrs. V.
Anyway, I was only a young kid, but I remember him being as genuinely gregarious as he is perceived. And my dad though the world of him.

He was a true gentleman in every sense of the word. He was taken from us all far too soon.

[GboroGator]

That was tough for me to watch. I was in my early teens at that time living in Virginia, and a huge UVa fan. UVa really underachieved during the Ralph Sampson era. Having to watch NC State beat them in the ACC final and in the Regional Final in Sampson's last game was heartbreaking.

[PSGator66]

It was great!

[diamondted13]

Originally Posted by akaGatorhoops

My family knew the valvano family well. My dad played a year at Iona and remains very close to the program. Jimmy, of course, was an Iona head coach. We sat with his wife and kids at home games. In fact, I think my sister got some hand down infant clothes from mrs. V.
Anyway, I was only a young kid, but I remember him being as genuinely gregarious as he is perceived. And my dad though the world of him.

Very cool aka. So was Coach V your dad's head coach? Or did your dad play under someone else?

[gatorbogey]

found this write up about the show

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013/...ry-series.html

[akaGatorhoops]

Originally Posted by diamondted13

Very cool aka. So was Coach V your dad's head coach? Or did your dad play under someone else?

No.... Coach V. was at Iona well after my dad.
But my dad was very close to the program and we went to virtually every game... even on the road. In fact, I learned to hate UK as a little kid when we travelled to Alaska for the "Great Alaskan Shootout". Iona drew the Cats... and go figure, their fans packed the place. I remember being so frustrated by the "Go Big Blue" chant that I wanted to cry.
Jimmy had some very good teams at Iona, and some verygod players. Jeff Ruland and Steve Burtt were a couple of the top players in the country.

[gatorsfa]

Like all of us, Jimmy V was flawed. If I recall correctly, Ruland thought Valvano misled him in saying Jimmy would stay at Iona and not go to NC State. And of course, Valvano was forced out at NC State based on enforcement issues. But I thought the way he handled his cancer was way more important than anything he did as a coach. In the end, he motivated a generation and more about living life and addressing death with grace. Flawed, yes, but left a legacy any of us wld be proud of.

And I recall the Whittenberg/Lowe team as one of the best in the country when healthy. Valvano schooled Guy Lewis but NC State was a heckuva team that year.

[Tasselhoff]

When I was fighting cancer I watched his speech at least once a month and probably more as things got tougher. For me personally... Jimmy V will always be a hero and someone who truly helped me through one of the hardest times of my life.

[gatorbogey]

Originally Posted by Tasselhoff

When I was fighting cancer I watched his speech at least once a month and probably more as things got tougher. For me personally... Jimmy V will always be a hero and someone who truly helped me through one of the hardest times of my life.

great testimony!
thanks

[akaGatorhoops]

Originally Posted by gatorsfa

Like all of us, Jimmy V was flawed. If I recall correctly, Ruland thought Valvano misled him in saying Jimmy would stay at Iona and not go to NC State. And of course, Valvano was forced out at NC State based on enforcement issues. But I thought the way he handled his cancer was way more important than anything he did as a coach. In the end, he motivated a generation and more about living life and addressing death with grace. Flawed, yes, but left a legacy any of us wld be proud of.

And I recall the Whittenberg/Lowe team as one of the best in the country when healthy. Valvano schooled Guy Lewis but NC State was a heckuva team that year.

Good post.
Yes... Rutland was upset, though I am not sure he was promised anything about the nc state job in particular. Instead, I think he was hurt that jimmy left and did so without talking to him. They were very close. They did not talk for a long time, and Ruland aired some dirty laundry when he thought jimmy was covering his butt at nc state.
It was a sad story, as Ruland once thought of him as a second father.
But you nailed it with the overall sentiment of your post.

[GolphinGator]

I have not seen it yet, but it makes me think of our Norm Sloan. Maybe they will do one on that NC State team and the back handed job the NCAA did to him and his coaches at Florida.