Chilling anniversary: The Broken Nose

It was a horrifying moment. A chilling blow in the middle of a contested ACC game. Blood began to flow immediately. The shocked victim looked up, grabbed his nose, saw the blood pouring out, and had to exit the game. Who can ever forget it?

But then — oh, the bravery! The strength of character! Despite such a terrible injury, the player returns the very next game. He has to wear a mask to protect his broken nose, but how amazing that a player can do that, right?

SFN wishes to salute the media for being so fastidious, so compassionate … so late. Little was said at the time when Dennis Horner had his nose broken during the Georgia Tech game last year on this date, February 6. In fact, one would have thought that such injuries were common in basketball such that they didn’t deserve days upon days of fresh stories and media obsession.

But that was before what is now called “The Foul.” If you haven’t heard about it yet, then ¡Bienvenido a América! It is being replayed more than the Kennedy assassination. It was that moment during the Duke/Carolina game when Tyler Hansbrough, about whom everything is special, received a Brutal Awful Horrible Broken Nose During a Game So Unprecedented The Poor Dear My God I Am Crying Actual Tears Just Thinking About It I Need a Moment ….

It took up at least three-quarters of the front page in this morning’s News & Observer sports section, dwarfing an article about an important ACC game last night. The N&O even offers a photo gallery of “The Foul” and a video link discussing it, among other reminiscing.

We attempted to find even one photo of Horner’s injury to publish on this anniversary, but … well, at the end of this post is the best screenshot we could find.

WRAL insults not only Horner and all the countless other basketball players throughout history who have received broken noses and played with masks because that’s what basketball players do and not because they are particular, reporter-wetting heroes, but also the American Revolution as well, by calling it — and we are not making this up — “the foul heard ’round the world.”

The Charlotte Observer is more circumspect, calling it simply “one of the most memorable confrontations in college basketball’s greatest rivalry [sic].” Maybe that’s because they listened to Hansbrough, who told them

It was made out like it was this huge trauma thing. My nose was broken. That’s the way I looked at it. I still played. I wasn’t down.

Just like Dennis Horner, a year ago today.

Oh, here’s that screenshot:

Flashback Media NCS Basketball

25 Responses to Chilling anniversary: The Broken Nose

  1. Mr O 02/06/2008 at 10:33 AM #

    I bought the N&O yesterday to read during lunch. Usually they have a solid writeup/preview on gameday. The front page had a huge article on UNC/Duke, Bobby Knight retiring and something else. No big deal, the story on our game was going to be inside somewhere. Flipped throught the sports section slowly and got all they way through without noticing any mention of our game. Surely that is impossible I thought. So I flipped back through and on the page where the Duke/UNC stories continued, in the upper lefthand corner of the page, there is a capsule about our game about the size of a credit card.

    WTF? Last night was a huge game for the hometown team. I realize the Duke/UNC game is even bigger and deserves some coverage, but why can’t we get an article about our game on the day it is played?

  2. beowolf 02/06/2008 at 10:38 AM #

    “If it ^Tyler bleeds, it ledes ^even next year.”

  3. RAWFS 02/06/2008 at 10:50 AM #

    Beo – this is an instant classic post.

  4. beowolf 02/06/2008 at 10:57 AM #

    Thanks, RAWFS.

    Oh, and I’m not sure what happened to the end of the article, but I just fixed that — for those of you looking for the screenshot.

  5. wufpup76 02/06/2008 at 11:08 AM #

    i love the ribbon! 🙂

  6. RickJ 02/06/2008 at 11:12 AM #

    Mr. O – The NC State story in Tuesday’s N&O was on the front page, not the sports section. The article was about the game Tuesday night between the team managers for the Duke & UNC teams. Buried within that article was the mention that the Duke & NC State managers had played a game the night before the Duke vs. NC State game.

  7. highstick 02/06/2008 at 11:18 AM #

    When you called yourself a “psycho” and your game plan sometimes includes “initiating contact”, sometimes you get your ugly ass face smashed!!! I think he’s a dang hemophyliac anyway!

  8. EverettBeez 02/06/2008 at 11:27 AM #

    I mean really – it was only a flesh wound.

  9. packbackr04 02/06/2008 at 11:28 AM #

    i dont even have an article in my paper this am about the only ACC game played last night!

  10. Rick 02/06/2008 at 11:33 AM #

    Well played, well played

  11. partialqualifier 02/06/2008 at 11:37 AM #

    I would pay good money to see it happen again…lol!

    I loved when all the announcers (esp Billy Packer) went on and on about Hansbro’s obstructed vision caused by wearing the mask. He shoots 5 feet and in…just how good a vision does he need? Damn that was irritating!

    For some reason I just had a thought that it would have been great to watch Bob Knight coach against UNC twice a year for 20 years or so. Not neccessarily at State…but he is one guy that would have fought them and their “mystique” to the ends of the world!

  12. highstick 02/06/2008 at 11:49 AM #

    Alpha, “pulling for Carolina is like pulling for North Korea”? LMAO! Did you learn that from Jesse Helms!

  13. whitefang 02/06/2008 at 11:52 AM #

    Not only does he shoot “5 feet in”, but it not like he has to actually dribble the ball to get there. He has a special dispensation from the Pope of referees that says moving 5 feet without dribbling the ball is OK.

  14. choppack1 02/06/2008 at 12:23 PM #

    The big question is – if Tyler’s jaw was broken instead – could he breath?

  15. Dr. BadgerPack 02/06/2008 at 12:43 PM #

    ^No, but it would surely make him a better listener.

  16. redfred2 02/06/2008 at 12:44 PM #

    This is WAAAAY, WAY off topic, but I was just listening to NPR about the lawsuit, which was settled out of court, involving money already ‘owed’ to former collegiate athletes because of the money they brought into the universities for providing their services on the field. The athletes say that a paid “education” isn’t enough anymore, they want part of the return. It’s all just further blurring of the lines.

    This involves all college athletes, not just those involved in major sports. I say if that’s fair, then make them repay the money once they’re out of school, or just pay them to play and don’t even require them attend classes. Better yet, start using academics as a major criteria to determine who is worthy of a free ride to an institute of “higher learning” int the first place.

    PS. About Tyler’s nose, he breathes harder than any other player in the nation.

  17. RAWFS 02/06/2008 at 12:48 PM #

    Alpha, “pulling for Carolina is like pulling for North Korea”? LMAO! Did you learn that from Jesse Helms!

    Actually, I heard that on Taylor Zarzour’s old show on 1090. I wish I could take credit for the line, because it’s so….true.

  18. gannon 02/06/2008 at 12:48 PM #

    I’m still surprised that the blow didn’t led to a lost contact.

  19. the_phisherman 02/06/2008 at 1:33 PM #

    What I can’t believe is that Horner got called for a foul on the play where his nose was broken.

  20. Clarksa 02/06/2008 at 1:52 PM #

    I’ll agree with RAWFS, instant classic!

  21. Sweet jumper 02/06/2008 at 2:01 PM #

    Monte Towe played against Maryland on Super Sunday in 1973 with a mask for his broken nose, a splint for his broken wrist and a pinched nerve down on of his legs. He never complained and he never missed a game. That defines toughness. Tyler Hopsboro is a wuss.

  22. highonlowe 02/06/2008 at 2:10 PM #

    oh, come on guys. It really really reallly hurt! And lil’ Ty still played! He’s an American hero!

    /vomits

  23. Sweet jumper 02/06/2008 at 2:12 PM #

    Tyler rides the short bus.

  24. newt 02/06/2008 at 2:52 PM #

    I would not have known about the N&Os coverage today if I had not read about it on this site.

    I can’t find time to read all the NC State sites I want to read in a day for the best information about NC State (Statefans, Section 6, PackPride, Xanga NC State football blog, Strutting Wolf, and several others).

    N&O, much less something like Charlotte Observer, is totally irrelevant to me, including the online versions.

    I love that.

    If that’s true of a pot-bellied, pushing 40, used-a-typewriter-in-college geezer like me, you know no 18-year-old recruit is reading the print edition of any paper and I have to wonder if they’d bother with the online version either when there are so many more interesting places to go.

    And the great thing is that NC STATE HAS ONE OF THE BEST ONLINE COMMUNITIES GOING! The NC State sites draw the attention of fans from other schools who do not have such an active online community. This could well be attributed to the void in decent coverage from what used to be called “traditional” sources, i.e. newspapers.

    I used to bemoan the downfall of the print newspaper, but I’m starting to see the bright side as it relates to the hand-me-down coverage NC State has received all my life.

  25. LRM 02/06/2008 at 7:19 PM #

    Duke plays at Carolina tonight? I had no idea. You’d think ESPN or the N&O would have something to say about it…

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