Wolfpack Basketball, Superheroes, and the National Anthem

I was fortunate enough to attend the NC State-Pittsburgh basketball game today with my younger brother.

Then again, I’m the one who got him the tickets for Christmas, so he BETTER had let me tag along.

He was too cool to take a selfie with me, but oh well.

It was one of the ugliest games I’ve ever seen, but State escaped with an 86-80 win.

State forward Wyatt Walker got ejected within the first two minutes for tripping a Pitt player (it was bush league, for sure, but I don’t know if it was bad enough to get kicked out), and then State guard Markell Johnson busted his ass trying to block a shot.

That was momentous enough for me. I had never seen a State player get ejected from a basketball game.

Served him right for that icky man-bun/ponytail he sports 😂.

He left the game unable to move his legs. It was pretty ugly.

Still, it was encouraging that State won without two of its better players.

It also turns out that Johnson didn’t suffer a serious injury, so that was a relief, even though he didn’t play the rest of the game.

It was a fun time either way. I always enjoy being able to catch a game at PNC Arena.

Although I did NOT expect to see Spider-Man at the game:

Apparently I missed the memo about it being Superhero Day at PNC 🤷‍♂️.

I also saw Batman, but he was busy taking a picture with a couple of kids, and I didn’t want to be the weird adult who begs Batsy for a selfie.

One of my favorite things about NC State games is when they play the National Anthem.

No matter who the singer/performer is, when he or she gets to “…and the rocket’s red glare…” the fans always shout “RED!”

Then during “…and the home of the brave!” all the fans replace “brave” with “WOLFPACK!”

It confused the dickens out of Boo-Thang the first time we went to a game together 😂.

So any time we’re watching a game on TV, and they broadcast the anthem, I always make sure to shout “RED!” and “WOLFPACK!” just to be consistent.

I could have done without the 5.50 bottle of Cheerwine, though. It’s a tasty SODA, but not worth the price of a 12-pack of Milwaukee’s Best Ice.

Yes, it’s “soda”, and not “pop”, despite what my wife says.

Please don’t tell her I said that.