The strategy of pacing ourselves and holding off on blitzing the site in May with all of the Sidney-Lowe articles has worked out well for us. Our discussion on “Lowe is Ready For This” went very nicely.
Today we have another article to quickly re-address as we go back to a piece written by Barry Jacobs that ran in the Triangle’s “The Independent” on May 17th titled
“N.C. State, personality, uptempo play and beating UNC trump Xs, Os–and graduation”
The title – and the article – take a couple of pot shots at NC State…but nothing that is too far out of bounds and nothing with tremendous frequency. My biggest complaint is the unsupportable allusions and explicit acqusations that Coach Lowe may not have a focus on academics simply because it took him so long to complete his academic journey. SFN could not disagree more with this.
We are disappointed that Jacobs chose to paint the fact that Lowe has CHOSEN to work on his degree (unrelated to the NC State job) FOR YEARS prior to 2006 with a nagative perspective. Why not focus on Coach Lowe’s ‘real-world’ experience of advancing to the next level of his profession and his self-attained maturity that guided him to pursue the completion of his academic responsibilities – even 23 years after his immaturity may have cost him the chance at his dream job?
There is NO COACH in the ACC, maybe America, who has been MORE IMPACTED by the importance of an education. Instead of criticizing Coach Lowe’s academic journey, we think Jacobs should have applauded what the man has done.
Other fans aren’t being as soft on Jacobs as we are. One fan on Pack Pride’s message board expressed himself as follows:
I’ve lost a lot of respect for Barry Jacobs during the last few months. I used to find him quite entertaining and as objective and entertaining as any journalist out there in ACC land. Now I find him as an arrogant mouthpiece for Duke and UNC’s elitist attitude. He was the first journalist to IMPLY in an article that NC State wouldn’t dare hire a black head coach. Now that we’ve hired a black head coach he’s more focused on the black coach that we didn’t call. His lack of knowledge on our search is glaring. I get the feeling Jacobs is coasting down the journalistic highway based on his reputation instead of actually going out and writing something worthy of reading.
For the purpose of chronicling the quotes…
On Coach Lowe, Jacobs’ said:
Lowe clearly understands where Sendek failed to connect. He stressed N.C. State’s tradition, and backed up his words by hiring two ex-Wolfpack point guards to serve on his staff. The 46-year-old with the deep, rich voice also spoke of “passion” and “fun” during his introductory press conference, promising an uptempo offense and a style that allows those under his tutelage “to express themselves” through their play.
On Coach Sendek, Jacobs said:
What his program lacked was fun and a welcoming air.
Sendek on the sidelines resembled a gum-chewing undertaker. His players often performed as if afraid to make mistakes and executed a deliberate offensive system that was not particularly enjoyable to watch. Personal names did not appear on the backs of player jerseys, a ploy to accent team unity that fostered disconnection among casual observers.
Much has been made of Sendek’s teams infrequently defeating Duke and North Carolina, including losses in his last nine meetings with the neighboring national powers. But it is a mistake to wholly attribute dissatisfaction to particular results. More than anything, Sendek sealed his own fate by refusing to come to terms with his symbolic duties as head coach.
…teams with large followings and extensive tradition do form distinctive groupings in which a head coach or manager stands as the informal leader. Adherents look to him or her to share their passion and pain, not to shrug off a loss to archrival North Carolina as just another game, as Sendek did.
Sendek appeared indifferent to the essential politics of his role. Where others craved inspiration, he offered mostly cerebration, his words creating a picket fence around the inner man that discouraged easy bonding.
