To my readers from Germany, I say "Hallo, Freunde!"

If you scroll down the side of the sidebar to the right, you'll find an app entitled "Feedjit," which maps where visitors are viewing this site.

I took a peak at it today and, lo and behold, not one, not two...but THREE folks from Germany viewed YANCSSB in the last few hours.

I dare say that qualifies this site as an international sensation. I further feel qualified to make the gigantic leap and declare this site, YANCSSB, the web equivalent of David Hasselhoff. Germany is mine, Web America. Dibs.

So given that, I've decided to send out a progress report to my German friends on their native son, Markus Kuhn...and do so in their native tongue (courtesy BabelFish):

(Continues)

College-Student im 2. Jahr Markus Kuhn setzte sein starkes Spiel für den Satz diese letzte Fußballsaison fort, obwohl er seine spielende Zeit sah, etwas wegen des Hervortretens einiger anderer Spieler nach dem defensiven Grundsatz zu vermindern.

Er beendete das Jahr mit 11 Solo- Geräten und neun Vorlagen, einschließlich vier Geräte für Verlust. Er verwundet oben mit zwei Säcken, einschließlich ein sehr großes im Miami-Spiel, das sicher dem Gewinn half, zum der Wolfpack Schüssel geeignet zu erhalten.

It's stark, zum sich von Kuhn nicht vorzustellen fortzufahren, als Spieler auf dem Hochschulniveau zu wachsen. Er hat alle körperlichen Werkzeuge, die notwendig sind, im Haupthochschulfußball zu konkurrieren, aber, gegebenes he' relativer Neuling S.-A. zum Spiel, it' s verständlich, dem sein Spiel mehr benötigt, das damit er eine beginnende Rolle poliert, erwirbt.

Aber das Wolfpack kann Kuhn eher eher als später zurück am defensiven Gerät benötigen. Tiefe am defensiven Gerät, innerhalb der defensiven Linie, ist dünner als an den Enden, in denen Kuhn jetzt spielt. So don' t ist überrascht, um Kuhn zu sehen, mehr nächstes Jahr mitten in der Linie zu spielen.

Ich kann ein großes Jahr nächstes Jahr sein für Kuhn in seiner Juniorjahreszeit sehen. He' s blieb bis jetzt gesund und hat Ethik einer große Arbeit. There' s kein Grund, dass, mit diesem offseason verbrauchten zu denken, seinen Entwicklungsprozeß fortsetzend, dieses Kuhn can' t ist ein Hauptbeitragender in den letzten zwei Jahren seiner Karriere.

Dank für die Prüfung innen auf Kuhn und dem Wolfpack!

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Pack players get fatter, shorter, and other anomalies

Pack Pride story on roster changes
Updated 2008 Roster

The bulk of the article on roster changes deals with players who either gained weight or lost it over the Spring, but there are a couple of curious updates, including YANCSSB's favorite player, Markus Kuhn, who apparently shrunk in North America's higher gravity:

Sophomore defensive end Markus Kuhn is up five pounds to 280 pounds. He's also listed an inch shorter at 6'4 and switched numbers from #62 to #91. #91 was previously worn by Ted Larsen.

And he switched numbers, which means I need to update my Markus Kuhn graphic:
















The bad news is that, like every season, there are some casualties heading into the fall. Signees William Beasley (LB), Tobias Palmer (CB) and Marty Everett (DT) failed to qualify academically and I can only assume will prep this coming year. All three were solid signees for State, all ranked three stars by scout.com. Also not planning to attend State this fall are Ray Mangram (S) and Thomas Locust (DT). Per PackPride:

Mangram will head to Georgia Military College, a decision he made prior to signing with NC State, and the future destination of Locust, a defensive tackle out of Cerritos (CA) College, is unknown. Coaches at Cerritos informed Pack Pride that Locust not enrolling at NC State wasn't due to academics.

The distressing part of this news is that all five players are on the defensive side of the ball where State lacks the most depth. It's doubtful any of the bunch would've played much this year, but with injuries, who knows. Keep these five guys in the back of your head as "What could've beens" if/when State goes down Injury Rd.

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ESPN features Markus Kuhn in piece on foreign-born players

Mark Sclabach's piece

Got to give some love to my favorite Wolfpack player, Markus Kuhn. His story is remarkable--he and his dad trekking to the U.S. to do some door-to-door recruiting.

But moreso than that, he's just a beast. If he stays healthy all four years, I could see Markus being a dominant lineman at the college level. With his speed, he would make a nasty middle linebacker in the mold of a Brian Urlacher at the pro level, able to break RBs in two with his size and strength and pass defend across the middle with his quickness.

Willie Young may be getting all the preseason ink at the other defensive end position, but Kuhn will be making the big plays this season, mark my word.

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