Former Pack QB Rivers an MVP candidate

It's not likely to happen, what with the kind of year that Peyton Manning and Drew Brees have had, but former N.C. State and current San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers should receive more consideration for NFL MVP than he's currently receiving.

"No one would argue more vehemently than Rivers that the Chargers have won 10 straight games on the strength of an entire team," writes San Diego columnist Kevin Acee. "But Rivers has had as much or more to do with a 2-3 start turning into the No. 2 seed than anyone."

To wit:

"Over the course of the winning streak, Rivers’ 112.6 passer rating is by far the best in the NFL. His 20 touchdowns in the 10 games are second to Manning’s 21, but Rivers has been intercepted just six times to Manning’s 11. Rivers has completed 69.4 percent of his passes, Drew Brees 69.5 and Manning 66.1."

Rivers is also the Chargers’ most vociferous and animated cheerleader, a friend to every guy on the roster and the perpetrator of three last-minute, game-winning drives this season. ...

Yet, until recently, there were times it seemed all ESPN and NFL Network knew for sure was that Manning walked on water, Brett Favre had healing powers and Brees could raise the dead. ...

Rivers has the endorsement of the 2006 league MVP.

“I don’t see why he’s not in the running for MVP,” [Chargers running back LaDanian] Tomlinson said. “It’s ridiculous he’s played like this and no one has talked about it.”

(Images from the Union-Tribune and Sports Illustrated)

Raleigh No. 19 in smartness

The City of Oaks continues to be considered a place with a number of smart people.

"On the list of the nation's most cultured and scholarly cities, Raleigh lands at the respectable No. 19 spot - not quite as erudite as Nashville, Tenn., but walloping Charlotte, Baltimore and Philadelphia with a fat, hard-cover dictionary," writes Josh Shaffer.

"For the seventh year, a national survey out of Central Connecticut State University has ranked "America's Most Literate Cities," collecting data from places with at least 250,000 residents.

"Raleigh failed to make the Top 10 again this year and actually slipped five positions behind such book-loving capitals as Seattle (No.1) and Minneapolis (No. 3)."

The only other North Carolina cities on the literacy list are Charlotte at 27th and Greensboro at No. 36.

The study weighs population against a string of education-related data: college degrees, newspaper circulation, bookstores per capita, library volumes.

If you look only at education, Raleigh dusts nearly every city in in the U.S., taking No. 3. In that category, only Seattle and Plano, Texas, rank higher for percentage of adults with high school diplomas and those with a bachelor's degree or higher.

Everywhere else, Raleigh tumbles into double digits: tied for 20th for booksellers, sole occupant of the 44th spot for libraries, tied for 22nd in newspaper circulation.

Against list-topping Seattle, Raleigh can't compare. The study shows nearly twice as many bookstores in the rainy Northwest and almost two times the number of published journals. Seattle also has double the number of Raleigh's library branches per 10,000 people: 0.46 compared to 0.24 in the City of Oaks.

Study author and Central Connecticut State President Jack Miller said the data are meant to show how a city uses its literacy, not just its collective IQ. Historically, Olson said, the Southeast as an agrarian culture has lagged behind the rest of the country in literacy studies. Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker said the city's habits may lie deeper than statistics can measure.

"It's correct there aren't that many bookstores, and the libraries of course are a county function," he said. "But it does seem like people read a lot."

New taco joint coming to CV

Sources say that Cameron Village will be getting a taco restaurant soon.

The location: 433 Daniels Street.

The name: 421 Taco.

Yeah, we don't get it either.

Best place to get your drink on, Part Deux

Thanks to Google Alerts, I came across this question from "Heather" (pictured), a Raleigh newbie, asking about the good bars in the City of Oaks. (She's looking for work as a bartender in a "local" joint.)

Well, Heather, we tackled this question some two and a half years ago. Fortunately, Raleigh has undergone a change during that time. And while some of these establishments are still topping the list, the fact of the matter is there are a number of newer locally-owned watering holes in "Jellyfish City". (I'm gonna keep pumping that til it sticks. I envision lots of t-shirts. OK, not really.)

The "old-school" faves (and these are just mine, for what it's worth) are still Mitch's, Flying Saucer, Hibernian, Tir na Nog, Humble Pie, Raleigh Times and Player's Retreat.

Some of the newer places that Heather should try, in my opinion, are Boylan Bridge Brewpub, The Foundation, The Landmark, Busy Bee and The Borough.

Y'all want to help Heather -- and other Rawlee newbies -- out with some other bars?

Worshippers like DTR's options

The Florida Times-Union (in Jacksonville) had a recent feature on the amenities (dining, shopping(!)) that church worshipers enjoy in Downtown Raleigh.

You can tell Jon Huret and Brandon Baughman revel in all the options open to worshipers in downtown Raleigh.

They don’t mean the number of congregations available to them — and there are plenty. Rather, it’s the variety of nearby eateries and coffee joints they can visit to pray and talk faith before or after attending services with their congregation, Vintage 21 Church.

That’s what they said as they walked one recent Sunday up Hargett Street to the Morning Times, a popular breakfast spot in the heart of the city’s surging downtown.

“It’s a 10-minute walk, if that,” Huret, 26, said of the jaunt from church to the former newspaper building, where they intended to hold a one-on-one spiritual accountability session.

“There are lots of places to grab a quick breakfast and hit the 10 o’clock service,” added Baughman, 26.

There are a dozen churches downtown, dotting the skyline with towering steeples.

“All of the churches have remained vibrant by drawing from a larger area, and by tapping into those living and working downtown,” said the Rev. Chris Chapman, pastor of First Baptist Church.

Most of the downtown churches are busy during the week as well as on Sundays, Chapman said, thanks to outreach efforts for the inner-city’s working poor, homeless, elderly and others in need. ...

There’s a broad spectrum of dining and retail establishments downtown, many of which are open before, during and after worship services on Sunday morning.

That’s been fueled by Raleigh’s ongoing $3 billion downtown “renaissance.” The 500,000-square-foot convention center — the Raleigh Marriott City Center, which opened in 2008 — and Fayetteville Street City Plaza, which opened in October, sparked other development. ...

Retail is also growing downtown, with the city boasting a 90 percent occupancy rate for commercial space.

Pastors like that kind of development because knowing there are places to eat and play may entice suburban worshipers, said the Rev. Ed McLeod, pastor of First Presbyterian.

Churches have been active in strategic planning for downtown, said Mitchell Silver, the city’s planning director.

Ministers attend planning sessions and provide most of the meeting space for large gatherings, he said. They spoke up for the needs of the homeless and for affordable housing.

A vibrant faith community is necessary to create a well-rounded, dynamic downtown, Silver said.

“They actually complete the downtown experience,” he said.

It's encouraging to see A) this type of positive press from an outside publication, and B) that regulars to DTR are talking up its amenities.

Another positive: Downtown Raleigh's retail spaces have yet to be overrun with storefront churches. With all due respect to these very important institutions, it's discouraging to drive through a small town (where most of these reside) and see retail space after retail space taken up by churches. I don't write this as a knock against the churches but more of commentary that they show that traditional retail has not survived and the tax breaks that the churches receive probably aren't helping the towns' bottom lines.

Having said all that, it's nice to see that Raleigh still has a symbiotic relationship going on between churches and businesses. Let's hope it continues.

Adams gets two on Rolling Stone's best album list

Ryan Adams' 2000 album Hearthbreaker has been named the 38th-best album of the decade (even though we're still technically a year away from the end of the decade) by Rolling Stone.

"When you're young, you get sad, then you get high," whooped Ryan Adams on his solo debut. As the leader of alt-country heroes Whiskeytown, Adams had written his fair share of songs about youth, sadness and altered states. But Heartbreaker gave these themes a classic heft, in weather-beaten country-folk songs that marked Adams as an heir to the Band and Gram Parsons. Best of all was the slow-rolling "In My Time of Need," an alternately devastating and transcendent neo-Dust Bowl ballad. "Can you take away the pain of hurtful deeds?" he sang, sounding plenty sad, but not quite so young, or so high.

In addition, the Raleigh ex-pat's 2001 album Gold has been named the 81st-best album of the decade. Gold features "New York" and "When the Stars Go Blue."

The top album of the decade, according to Rolling Stone, was Radiohead's Kid A.

Oh, well. So much for THAT argument

Just when I was about to pat myself on the back for my loquacious and completely logical argument that N.C. State should dramatically study who attends its games and who doesn't, the Wolfpack goes and plays a game in Historic Reynolds Coliseum.

Or did they?

The problem is apparently nobody went to the game. (OK, some folks did make it out. Only about 4,300 -- way less than what Reynolds holds.) Take a look at the photo below. That's not just darkness in the background. It's a black hole of nothingness.

And here I thought it is just the fat cats that are staying away from Pack hoops -- and only when State is playing at the RBC Center. I guess even with a 6-1 team (now 7-1 after the win over "Jawja" Southern) that is receiving votes in the Top 25 polls, and even playing in the place that people seem to remember fondly, the fans stayed away.

Alas, it appears that the two-plus decades of mediocrity have finally seeped into the State fan base. It wasn't that long ago that Pack fans could pat themselves on the back for their loyalty to the basketball team. But when you've been so "meh" for so long, even the diehards apparently can't justify making an appearance.

(Photo by Corey Lowenstein of the News & Observer)

Is it time for another R-Line line?

The city has announced that more than 150,000 commuters have "taken a free ride on the R-Line since the downtown circulator bus began operations last February." Some 152,634 passengers enjoyed the free, hybrid buses from its first day of service, Feb. 13, to December 5. This means an average of 519 passengers rode the R-Line every day including weekends (the bus carried an average total of 535 riders each weekday, 719 on Saturdays and 241 on Sundays).

In short, it appears the R-Line has been a success. So is it time for another route (or two)? If so, where should such a route go?

Here are some suggestions:
-An express bus to and from Cameron Village (not sure where the DTR stop would be)
-A state government area loop of some sort
-A route that would "touch" surrounding neighborhoods (Oakwood, Mordecai, Boylan Heights, South Park, etc.) and could meet up with the current R-Line
-An express route from Glenwood South to N.C. State
-Perhaps a loop that goes south on Dawson Street, over to the Convention Center and then straight up Person?

Leo looks back at '09

Leo over at The Raleigh Connoisseur has taken a look back at 2009 and the things he wished for Raleigh when the year began. It's a very good retrospective. My thoughts on a couple topics are in bold.

Another year, another Raleigh Wide Open, and another Beerfest are in the books. Back in January, I wrote a post about realistic goals that could happen within a year’s time for downtown Raleigh and I would like to re-visit that list. Read the 2009 Downtown Wishlist first.

Grocery Store

...

I think this will actually take more time then most people think. The big box style of grocery store requires lots of nearby residents and with a big parking lot in front so more people can come with their cars. An urban grocery store needs support by lots of residents close by and downtown does not have that density at all. Downtown’s population is not growing much so we’ll have to revisit this as the economy bounces back and people are buying downtown.

Leo is right that this will probably take longer than expected. But it should happen. I applaud Taz for his piecemeal and admirable attempt at filling the DTR grocery void. Raleigh doesn't have the luxury of Charlotte, where a local chain (HT) decided to bite the bullet for the good of the community, put a store "Uptown" and wait for it to make money.

At least one corporate re-location to downtown

I’m not even going to research this one because I am out of touch with the downtown corporate scene. RBC Plaza opened in late 2008 and the bank filled some floors as well as others signing leases in the rest of the building. If anyone can elaborate on the rest of the office space in downtown and how it is fairing, I’m sure readers would appreciate the information.

You could argue that Campbell Law’s move to downtown is similar to a corporate relocation. I’ll take it!

I, for one, am so pumped that Campbell Law is now downtown. It will probably take some time to see the impact -- from a retail/housing standpoint -- of students in DTR. But the expansion of Second Empire is a good, early sign.

Leo closes by asking, "What would you like on your 2010 wishlist?"

First on the list -- and my guess is Leo would agree -- is more, better retail. I was half-joking with someone the other day about how cool (and sorta hokey) it would be to have a Mast General Store on F Street. (Yeah, probably would never, EVER happen, but still ...) I will always be bummed that both Urban Outfitters and H&M chose malls for their first Triangle locations. Yes, I'm pleased they're coming/here, but the impact both -- or even one -- of those stores would've had on DTR shopping would've been incalculable.

My other wish list item would be to be able to fully embrace some Raleigh event as THE event, like an Austin City Limits Music Festival or something along those lines. SPARKCon may just be it. Maybe that will be obvious in 2010.

More good news on the economic front

Who cares what Forbes thinks? The Raleigh area is doing just fine, thank you very much.

(OK, admittedly, we have ALL cared what Forbes thinks about us over the years, so why stop now? Still ...)

"Looking for work? Worried about keeping your existing job? Well, the employment picture is improving a bit in the Triangle and is especially strong in Fayetteville," says WRAL.

"That’s the good news from the latest hiring survey report from Manpower Employment Outlook Survey for the first quarter of next year.

"In Raleigh-Cary and Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan statistical areas, Manpower projects a 'modest' job market, based on its survey of employers. Unemployment stood at 8.4 percent in November. ...

"Nationally, the hiring picture remains bleak. With unemployment at 10 percent, some 12 percent of companies are looking to hire while the same percentage is expecting to make layoffs. ...

"The survey results didn’t surprise Dr. Michael Walden, an economist at North Carolina State University.

" 'These forecasts are directly in line with how economists are assessing the economy,' Walden told WRAL.com and Local Tech Wire. 'There has been an increase in optimism compared to the summer, ands this is reflected in the more positive expectations for hiring in 2010. The "consensus" economic forecast suggests net job gains beginning in the first or second quarter of 2010.' ...

"In Raleigh-Cary, Manpower’s Michael Doyle noted that the job picture had improved from the previous quarter when only 6 percent of companies planned to make hires while 12 percent were expecting to make cuts. ..."

Hopefully this good news will continue. Raleigh still has grand plans for the city and its people; a burgeoning economy will go a long way in seeing these projects through.

Raleigh Curios-city: The Shimmer Wall

This is the fifth in a feature that (hopefully) sheds the light on some of the more, uh, unique aspects of Raleigh. Know of something that Raleigh has that no other place does -- be it a building, a organization, a group or whatever? Then tell us about it!


The newest of Raleigh's signature icons is The "Shimmer Wall" that graces the west side of the new Convention Center. It can be seen from several vantage points throughout the city, most notable being the southern entrance into the city (THE most-used skyline shot, this one courtesy of triangleinsiders.com).




The CREE Shimmer Wall (as it's officially known, I reckon), is a "9,284-square-foot piece of art adorning the side of the Raleigh Convention Center. This spectacular piece is made up of 79,464 light and dark aluminum squares that change shape and disappear as the squares flap in the wind. The piece looks high-tech, but it's not," according to the convention center's website.

" 'It's a completely low-tech thing,' said Thomas Sayre, principal with the Raleigh architecture firm Clearscapes, which created the piece. 'It's just the wind.'

"The wall depicts an image of an oak tree and has become a symbol for Raleigh, the City of Oaks.

"It is backlit at night by 56 light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, fixtures that can be programmed to flash and display more than a million different colors."

The Shimmer Wall has, by and large, been embraced as a positive image for the city, combining its high-tech image with its iconic, historic image.

And it looks super-cool at night.

(Photos via wikipedia, NewRaleigh and Flickr)

State should consider drastic changes for basketball attendance

Sidney Lowe's Wolfpack played hard but just could not hit enough shots to get past Northwestern last night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at the RBC Center, falling to the Wildcats, 65-53.

But, to me, that's not the story. Take a look at this photo by Ethan Hyman of the N&O.




Granted, it was taken at the very end of the game, a game that was decided with some five minutes to go. But if you watched the game at all, you would know that the prime, lower-level seats were not that much more full during the game than at the end.

The official attendance was somewhere around 11,000 (in a 19,000-or so-seat arena). The majority of those 11,000 had to have been in the student seats (along the sides and behind the goals) and in the upper levels, because they sure as heck weren't in the so-called "fat cat" seats.

And the unfortunate thing is this is nothing new.

Yes, I know State basketball has been mediocre-to-bad for about, oh, 20 years. (Trust me: I know.) And I also understand that it is the right for any season ticket holder, whether you are a single guy, a family or a corporation, to use or NOT use your ticket. State has not, in my opinion, done that great a job of putting together attractive early-season games over the years, though that has gotten better the past couple of seasons.

Nonetheless, there is a chronic problem of what appears to be the same types of fans not showing up game after game. And something has to be done.

Of course, the easiest solution is to start winning, and winning a lot. (Everyone loves a winner.) But realistically, it will be a couple of seasons at least before the Pack can begin to win back many bandwagon fans. Heck, it may take much, much longer than that.

Another solution would be to play the early-season, non-conference games at historic Reynolds Coliseum. Make it general admission seating and not part of the season ticket plan, and you'd have a raucous atmosphere. (I believe it was former player Gavin Grant who -- not altogether jokingly -- suggested State play all its games at Reynolds.) This solution would be complicated and would lose revenue, so it will never happen.

The best solution, in my mind, is also one that would never happen because of A) money and B) controversy: use the technology that we have in this day and age (video, TV feeds from games, still photos) and figure out which seats are "chronically" unused each game. (George Orwell would be proud.)

The Wolfpack Club could then send the owner(s) of those seats a cordial letter, encouraging them to come, politely asking why they don't come and if there's something that can be done to make the experience "more enjoyable." (Yeah, I know: win.) Then, over time, track those same seats. If they're still not being used, refund the owner(s) their money for tickets and any remaining Lifetime Rights (LTRs) fees, figure out who actually does come to the games and reward the diehards by shifting them into better seats.

James over at Yet Another N.C. State Sports Blog believes that there's too much money involved in LTRs to do something like this and that it could potentially be a PR nightmare. He's exactly right. This is just a pipe dream. The people who own those seats likely give the most money; it's hard to tell those folks, "thanks, but no thanks." But the majority of Wolfpack fans are not "fat cats." Your core fanbase would applaud it as an inspired move to improve the atmosphere at the RBC Center. (An improved atmosphere would lead to a better home court advantage and then better results. Better results = better recruits = EVEN better results.)

There's always the fear of alienating your biggest donors. But can you really alienate a ghost?

Update: I'm not the only one who thinks the attendance is pathetic.

Update 2.0: Coach Sidney Lowe spoke with 620 The Buzz today (Friday, December 4). One of the topics was fan support.

A crowd of just over 11,000 showed up at the RBC Center for that game, which brought the conversation with Lowe to the topic of fan support. It's a hot discussion in the Triangle, kicked started earlier in the week when Roy Williams took a jab at the Tar Heel fan base for skipping out on early season contests. Lowe also wants to see more support for home court advantage, even if that means giving your tickets away to friends if they were going to be unused.

"[Fans] are missing out on a group of young men who are proud to be wearing that uniform, care about playing hard and pleasing their fans," said Lowe. ...

Ultimately it comes down to creating an intimidating environment, similar to what Lowe saw at Michigan State

"Our guys walked on the court just to shoot around, and the lower bowl was just packed," Lowe said. "The heckling and everything just started, and that's an intimidating factor."