Fowler Hits New Low: A Call To The Board Of Trustees
We’ve all seen (as VaWolf82 summarized) numerous examples of Lee Fowler making thoughtless and insulting statements about the people who, in the aggregate, pay his salary.
Fans unhappy with the 8-38 Periclean Age of Herb Sendek, for instance, were a “lunatic fringe” consisting of “50 people on the Internet.” Just yesterday, when asked to name the “greatest challenge facing NC State athletics,” Fowler did not (as one would hope) respond with “my own general ineptitude.” No, according to “Coach,” the biggest challenge to NC State athletics (other than getting a new football coach) is fan message boards on the Internet. Hapless football teams, winless volleyball teams, and bottom-seeded soccer programs are, one must assume, comparative small potatoes.
Fowler’s enthusiastic bashing of NC State fans has, sadly, had an effect. When an athletic director makes regular attacks on his own fans – and no athletic director in the country has done so with the consistency and vitriol of Lee Fowler – it inevitably gets picked up in the media. Combine Fowler’s gas attacks with the generalized media love for Herb Sendek, and you have an ever-growing myth that NC State partisans are a uniquely terrible bunch, a collection of red-clad Peck’s Bad Boys who drove the noble Herb to the Valley of the Sun. And much of this bad rep, again, is due to Fowler, the sports administration equivalent of the Dixie Chicks (shut up and work, Mr. Fowler), attacking the fans with monotonous regularity.
Still, there was a line that even Fowler didn’t cross, and it was accusing fans of criminal and threatening behavior. No more. Fowler nimbly leaped that Rubicon in an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, in which he asserted that NC State fans “drove [Sendek] away for the security of his family.”
What the hell?
Is there credible evidence – any at all – that Herb Sendek’s family was truly threatened by the NC State fan base or members thereof? For that matter, is there any credible evidence that Sendek himself faced threats other than continued domination by Roy Williams and Coach K?
Fowler’s comment is an irresponsible, inappropriate, and absurd allegation by someone who, stripped of tinsel, is a contract employee of NC State. Enough, I suggest, is enough. Given that Fowler appears incapable of controlling his own statements, it is high time – past time – for the Board of Trustees to step in and muzzle him.
Fowler’s comments are sufficient reason to dismiss him from employment right now. Failing that, Fowler should be told in no uncertain terms that his continued employment is premised on a complete and permanent cessation of his attacks on the alumni and fan supporters of this university and a similar end to his media pining over the departure of Herb Sendek. Failure on Fowler’s part to comply would lead to his immediate termination for cause.
This university, and its supporters, deserve better than Lee Fowler and his runaway mouth. The Board of Trustees must act.
Let me sign my name in 100 % agreement!
Here. here
I’ll join the undersigned!
Jed needs to load up the truck and move to Beverly…Hills that is.
Totally inexcusable.
Dear Lee,
Party at my house when you get fired.
TopTenPack
The funny thing is that, in reality, Lee more or less told Herb that he should leave. He’s the one who pushed Herb out.
I am glad you guys feel this way. I am utterly outraged by this conduct and wanted to make sure I was not overreacting. I honestly can’t believe he said this and can do so with impunity.
Not on topic here but it seems as though PJ’s name is no longer “out there”…
You haven’t seen anything yet…. Wait till he signs Shane Montgomery as new HC……. The words “full scale revolt” by the fan base come to mind. Why… does this guy still represent NCSU?
Me too.
Do we have any reason to believe that the BOTs are concerned with LFs mouth?
Can someone please start fireleefowler.blogspot.com!?
We need to have some kind of central location to archive all the insults and missteps this incompetent man has made!
Amen, Brother. Amen.
“Do we have any reason to believe that the BOTs are concerned with LFs mouth?”
I don’t know. I have been told that his antics are wearing thin. However, they are his employers, and are the proper destination of complaints about his conduct.
I concur wholeheartedly.
he asserted that NC State fans “drove [Sendek] away for the security of his family.”
Even if that is his opinion it is totally inappropriate for him to be bashing the fan base. If collegiate sports are a business he just attacked the customer…again.
Yo, BOT; take care of business!
Great work.
As I posted in the other entry, I have fucking had it. This was the proverbial straw for me. In the past I’ve just laughed off Fowler’s buffonery. But reading this quote made me see red.
He’s a cancer to our school and our athletics program.
Un-believable. Absolutely inexcusable. No other university would tolerate this behavior. I can’t think of any comment from any other athletic director even coming close to this.
For what it’s worth, I’m going to express my displeasure to Fowler, Oblinger, and all the BoT members. What else can I do? Probably not much since I’m not a big contributor, but if anyone has ideas I am all for it. I love NC State too much to sit idly by while this man keeps destroying it.
Fowler’s oral flatulence is absolutely inexcusable!! He has got to be corked!
when was this article printed, and do you have the link?
Seriously, Fowler seems to lack impulse control. When his mouth opens, everything on his mind comes out. The man is truly mentally ill.
I mean we as fans seem to have stopped pushing for him (PJ)….especially on pp.com’s boards.
http://www.fireleefowler.com/
Is this man accountable for anything that he says or does? In what other job can you bad mouth your company and your “target audience” and not be responsible for anything. Not only is this embarrasing for the school and the athletic department, this is something that Coach Lowe shouldn’t be having to deal with. It really isn’t fair to him.
How long is Fowler going to last?
The last thing you want in an AD is an adversarial personality. Lee has proved over and over again that he cannot handle his position. The majority of the athletic programs have struggled in recent years, and he is a horrible fan liason.
There is simply no excuse to have an AD that cannot be trusted to make a hire or relate with fans.
I say we all hit fireleefowler.com 15 times a day just to get the count up and give it some attention.
Seriously, what else can we do to run him out?
Maybe we should give Lee Fowler that movie the Wedding Crashers, but change the name to “Wolfpack Fan’s Hopes and Dreams Crasher”
Rule # 1- Dont throw ur fans under a bus!
Rule # 2- It doeasnt hurt to have one of your teams occasionally win at least a share of the ACC title.
Rule # 493b-When you talk trash about State fans….the only person needing security is you!
Rule # 68-Whether or not a potential coaching candidate would make “A Great Fishing Buddy” should have absolutely no bearing on whether or not he is interviewed for the job!
Rule # 99- You are not the little short guy running the bar in Cheers….so we will no longer refer to you as “Coach.” On second thought….considering his light intellect perhaps that is exactly what we should call you!
MA…..MEATLOAF!