GarageGabs

Wow, you’ve got to love the internet. Shortly after top ranked UNC was defeated 82-80 by Marland on national television Saturday, several rival message boards began to float the idea that they had heard a racial slur as Maryland walked off the court. Soon after that, thanks to the modern miracle that is YouTube the slur was brought to life. As Maryland walks off the court you can clearly hear someone sitting in the stands yell “Go back to the ghetto”. Now, it was already embarrassing enough for the Heels that all the sorority type girls were crying on TV over a regular season loss, but this only adds insult to injury. A couple of assumptions to note:

1. The fan that made the comment can not be seen, so, one can only assume that a UNC fan said it. Assumptions probably won’t hold up in court, but in the world of common sense they work just fine. First of all, Maryland players were leaving Chapel Hill, so they would be the only ones being told to go back anywhere. Secondly, at the time, they were walking by the UNC student section, so take that for what it’s worth.

2. The word ghetto. Yeah, it can have many meanings and be interpreted in many different ways. Not necessarily a racial slur. Again, I’m going with common sense here. I’m just guessing that a young girl upset at her beloved Heels losing a basketball game didn’t tell the other team to return to a section of the city where Jews likely live. I’m going out on a limb and guessing that she was referring to race and or socio-economic restrictions. Just a guess.

Anyway, here it is for your viewing and listening pleasure.

Now, I’m sure you’re thinking, “big deal, one fan in 20,000 said something a bit out of line”. I happen to agree with you on that. I’ve heard FAR worse things said (and done) at sporting events. However, it really isn’t UNC athletics, the institution, or even the student body that I want to take to task here. It’s the media, local and national.

Ya see, a couple of years ago current NBA star Chris Paul was making his rounds in the ACC. Paul & his Demon Deacons made a visit to North Carolina State. Reportedly, a few State fans made some comments about Chris Paul’s deceased grandfather. The problem this time was that a local opinion writer named Barry Saunders decided to print this story and call for North Carolina State to officially apologize for the incident. Basically, Saunders was offended by this type of behavior and felt the university should apologize for the actions of a few fans. State fans quickly called Saunders on his bluff, noting that he was exaggerating his material. It was later learned that only 3-4 fans were yelling at Paul and they were actually being reprimanded by other students. Didn’t matter though, the damage had been done. Local & national radio ran with the story & spun it as Pack fans were upset at being called out on their ignorance. Fine, it happened. Given, it was an isolated incident, but it did happen.

Here is the News and Observers reply to the article: ” Taunting Coverage Angers State Fans “

Get where I’m going with this? Fast forward to this weekend. Here we are, just 2 days before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and we have a UNC fan yelling “go back to the ghetto” on NATIONAL television. Local media? Mum. Barry Saunders? Nothing. Local paper? The News and observer ran an article noting that there is “Still More to Do” in regard to racial equality in North Carolina but not a peep about daddy’s girl telling Maryland to go back to the ghetto. I mean, that’s what this reeks of right? Since she was bold enough to put Maryland’s basketball team in a ghetto we might as well theorize that this girl is a spoiled white girl going to UNC on daddy’s dime….correct? Where is the out-cry? Where is the condemnation of this remark? Why doesn’t the school apologize? Am I to make another assumption? Should I assume that this type of behavior is ok?

I know, this is such a petty non-issue. But we live in a society where people get taken to task for minute levels of non political correctness. If you’re going to take one to task, you take them all to task. You do not show favoritism. One person isn’t let “slide”. You don’t look at the context of a situation, rules are freaking rules. Does Barry Saunders know this happened? You can bet he does, rival fans have probably flooded his in-box. In fact, when this is all said and done, that might be the only response you get out of Saunders or any other media. They’ll probably say “rival fans are upset” but never actually touch on the issue at hand. When you don’t want to talk about it……..spin it.

The Long Version Of The Video

*UPDATE* 1/22/08

WRAL, the local news affiliate which is basically located on NCSU’s campus ran this story today-

Tech’s Hewitt Puts RBC Center Incident Behind Him

Go figure, they take the time to drudge up a nearly 2 year old story with still no mention of the UNC comment.

Even More Updates:  A few local blogs are catching on to this “non-story”

UNC Girl Celebrates MLK Day In Style    ( 850 the buzz blog)

 

Tears In, Class Out In Chapel Hill  (ACC Now Blog) 

Somebody has high blood pressure.

Honestly, I get where Coach is coming from, but this is excessive.

I wanted to save the above photo. It’s on the front page of ESPN.com as I type. Appalachian State stunned number 5 Michigan this afternoon, 34-32. The national media are calling it the biggest upset in college football history. I had the pleasure of watching the game at my Uncle’s house. My Uncle has been touting the Mountaineers for quite a few years now. Trying to get us all to “ride up to Boone, NC and check out some real football”.

Did you know you can actually walk out onto Appalachian State’s field and toss football? It’s field turf, and it’s very nice, yet the school is still small town/local enough that you can toss football on it. Anyway, today I finally took my Uncle up on an App. State offer. I figured we’d watch the first half and then head out….as Michigan hammered App. St.

That’s not exactly how it went down. The Mountaineers actually dominated the entire first half. In my opinion, their skill players were BETTER than Michigan’s. Appalachian State looked faster, more prepared, and more creative. Michigan clawed back into the game in the 3rd and 4th quarters, and finally took the lead very late in the game, 32-31. Things then got crazy as App. State drove down and kicked a go ahead field goal with 26 seconds to play. My Uncle and I sat in amazement as Appalachian decided to kick on first down rather than milk clock.

That strategy should have burned them as Michigan hit a long pass putting them in FG range but ended up having the FG attempt blocked as time expired.

I really just wanted to give a big CONGRATULATIONS to Appalachian State & all their fans who have been telling us they were the best team in North Carolina. Way to represent guys!

Ok, I don’t post much lately, but I couldn’t pass this one up.

If you think Duke sucks this is a must watch:

Duke was one and done in the NCAA’s this year. All Coach K can do is talk about how young they are-

Anyway, this is classic Duke:

Well, if you didn’t already know, Duke broke out of their 4 game losing streak by beating Boston College tonight, 78-70. Coach K got all excited and pumped his chest, Dookie V told us how K has “no tolerance” for losing, Duke is back in the hunt, blah blah blah. Basically, all is right for your biggest Duke lovers…including ESPN.

Need Proof?

Hell, why not just have ESPN tell you that all is right? Here’s what the ESPN front page looks like at 12:10 am, 2-15-07.  Honestly, a local paper may as well have printed this headline.

That’s more like it. As in, that’s more like it Blue Devils, we (ESPN) knew ya had it in ya! The Duke Love-Thon continues.

First place in the ACC will be on the line when UNC and Boston College square off Saturday.

McRoberts helps Duke bounce back with win over BC (ESPN)

With a capital A!  That’s right, it’s that time of the year again.  North Carolina and Duke square off tonight at 9 pm in one of the more over hyped games of the year.  How do you hype the game when both teams aren’t on their “A” game?  You focus on the fact that they are both coming off a loss for the first time since 2003.

In all seriousness, this should be a good game.  Watching Hansbrough and McRoberts bang into each other all not creating uncalled travels should be a joy.  Prepare for numerous closeups of Coach K and Roy Williams,  as ESPN focuses on the coaching excellence at these schools.  Hell, the biggest surprise about this game is that ESPN isn’t going to air it on 3 channels.  I expect Carolina to win.  I just don’t think Duke is all that good.

There are other ACC teams tonight engaging in a couple of nice matchups as  Boston College (playing for 1st in conference but somehow unranked..hmm) goes to Miami and Florida State travels to Clemson.  I’m guessing the FSU-Clemson game will be the best game of the evening.

Despite falling behind by 15 points in the 1st half to NC State, Georgia Tech was able to rally in the 2nd half to beat State, 74-65.  It was pretty obvious State just got tired.  They were running on all cylinders in the first half, but the minutes really began to add up in the 2nd half.  All 5 starters played 33 minutes or more, with only 2 other players playing.  The effort was just not as intense, passes not as crisp, and I thought Engin Atsur was going to die.

Anyway, credit to Tech where credit is due.  They hung tough, and went on an incredible run after the 9 minute mark of half 2.  Javaris  Crittenton, after only scoring 6 in the first half (including a 3/4 court hail mary at the buzzer) scored 15 second half points to lead the Jackets back.  Not crying foul here, but Tech’s run was aided by the men in stripes, they seemed to pocket their whistles in the second half as Georgia Tech got more physical, but oh well, I’ll take it, those kind of calls will benefit the Pack when they have a full bench.  Sidney Lowe has the guys on the right track.

[youtube]JB5OTh3V4ok&eurl=[/youtube]

Also in the ACC tonight, Virginia leads Maryland at the half, 41-31.

Georgia Tech 74 N.C. State 65 (yahoo!)

What a win from the Wolfpack yesterday. Out-gunned and out-manned, NC State pulled off a 83-79 upset over #3 North Carolina in the RBC Center yesterday. Just an absolute brilliant performance to watch as State, who were up most of the game, held off UNC rallies on multiple occasions.

State, who played just 7 players (one a walkon) shot 60.5% from the field, out-rebounded the Heels (one of the best rebounding teams in the nation) 27-22, hit 14 of 17 second half shots, and basically just out played and out coached Carolina. A sweet win indeed for the entire Wolfpack Nation.

The win should put the entire fanbase behind new Head Coach Sidney Lowe as well as giving the Pack a chance to make some noise nationally. The feeling here is just SO HOPEFUL now….we have something to cheer for. The days of competing with our neighbors in the ACC aren’t that far off. If you let athletes be athletes, play with emotion, as well as running an offense…well, good things can happen. A new era has arrived at NCSU, and the future looks very good.

I’ve got the game DVR’d, but I’m waiting for someone to post some youtube videos of the highlights. (there were many) I’ll have some video up, hopefully later tonight.

The Pack went on the road tonight and ended Virginia Tech’s 10 game home winning streak with a 70-59 win. State put 4 players in double figures and got 35 minutes from Engin Atsur. Atsur was solid on the offensive end but still seemed to labor just a bit on defense. Here are a few highlights, check out the jam from Courtney Fells and the amazing commentary from Cliff Ellis.
*edit* Not sure why I put the wrong date in the video. Sorry about the quality.

 

 

Here is a much better look at the Fells dunk: