Hess Fiasco Update – Yow has contacted Swofford; ACC to issue statement tonight [7:39pm]

ESPN is featuring Karl Hess’ ejection of Googs and Corch across all of their networks during college basketball coverage tonight. Kudos to Andy Katz who criticized Hess at halftime of the Florida-Arkansas game for needing to have thicker skin and pointing out the margin in today’s game was an astounding 18 points at the time of Hess’ antics.

A couple of quick mind-boggling statistics to ponder for a moment before the news updates —

* Chris Corchiani played in 124 games for NC State and NEVER got ejected.

* Despite some of the worst profanity and treatment that any college coach in America can imagine, Karl Hess has never ejected Coach K from a basketball game.

WTVD’s Mark Armstrong tweeted tonight:

Don’t know if it’s been reported elsewhere, but Debbie Yow confirms she’s had a convo with Swofford about the ejections. Said ‘more to come’

and then just followed up with the following:

NCSU issues statement saying in part that ACC has agreed to issue a statement tonight.

Joe Giglio has an update at the N&O tonight at this link but has followed up with more updates on his twitter account.

From @jpgiglio —

N.C. State AD Debbie Yow says the school has asked for an explanation for the Corchiani/Gugliotta incident but has not yet received one

Yow said: ‘We want to make sure our fans are being treated fairly.’

More from Yow: ‘I’ve been an AD for 21 years, 18 in the ACC, and I have never seen two people ejected like that.’

According to the ACC handbook, Hess has the power to eject fans, but also has to provide an explanation

If Hess interpreted the ACC handbook literally, Cameron would be empty 2 seconds into every game

Wasn’t picking on Duke there, just making a point … Hess is one of the best officials in the ACC but he made a mistake today

From Giglio’s article —

After the game, Corchiani was still looking for a reason why Hess stopped the game and asked him and Gugliotta to leave.

“I’d like to know why it happened,” Corchiani said. “You could hear us, there’s no doubt you could hear us, and we said something about three or four different times but not once did we use profanity and we never threatened him.”

Corchiani, who played point guard for the Wolfpack from 1988 to 1991 and is one of three players in ACC history with 1,000 assists, said he attended the game with his wife, Stewart, and 11-year-old daughter, Annabelle. Gugliotta, an All-ACC forward for the Wolfpack, played from 1989 to ’92 and was an NBA All-Star with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1997.

“We were just fans, cheering and yelling like everybody else,” Corchiani said.

After Hess’ confrontation with Corchiani and Gugliotta, N.C. State briefly cut into what was a 20-point Florida State lead in the second half. Scott Wood was fouled by Deividas Dulkys at the 6:40 mark, before Hess went to the scorer’s table, on a 3-point attempt.

The atmosphere in the arena was noticeably livelier after Corchiani and Gugliotta walked off the court and watched the remainder of the game from the tunnel leading to the N.C. State locker room.

Wood made all three of his free throws and followed up on the next trip with a 3-pointer to cut FSU’s advantage to 59-47 but that was as close as the Pack would get the rest of the way.

“If State would have come back and won, for me it would have been worth it,” Corchiani said.

Hess declined comment to an Associated Press reporter after the game. ACC head of officials John Clougherty also declined comment on Saturday afternoon.

N.C. State athletic director Debbie Yow was trying to get an explanation from the conference on Saturday about the incident and was waiting to hear back from the league before commenting.

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86 Responses to Hess Fiasco Update – Yow has contacted Swofford; ACC to issue statement tonight [7:39pm]

  1. NCStatePride 02/18/2012 at 9:07 PM #

    I was wondering if there was “no legal issue” because the officials are contracted by the State to perform certain duties, one of those being maintaining a level of order so if they judge something to be causing a problem for the players, they are contracted to ensure production of the game continue.

    …or something of that ilk.

  2. Dogbreath 02/18/2012 at 9:14 PM #

    Look for a statement about 10:50 tonight. Ten minutes before the Sunday edition goes to press. News web traffic on sundays typically runs about 65% of weekdays, so by the time Monday rolls around, this whole thing will have cycled off the radar with nary a peep of commentary.

  3. Howler 02/18/2012 at 9:15 PM #

    Digger is an idiot. Says he is a friend of Hess, and he is sure that Corch and Googs went over the line.

  4. 4PackinMB 02/18/2012 at 9:15 PM #

    UNBELIEVABLE what I just heard on ESPN between games…..True Blues!!!!

  5. YogiNC 02/18/2012 at 9:16 PM #

    Nope, not as long as the issue is free speech. If Corch or Googs had created an atmosphere that would be considered explosive or detrimental MAYBE. And it’s a big MAYBE. They would have to brink on illegal acts, inciting a riot, throwing stuff, or whatever. Speaking their mind, especially when it was probably no different than anything else anyone else was saying (or screaming) is not just cause for enjoining free speech. I have a nephew that I helped put through law school. We talked a short while ago about this. He’d love to take the case. He’s a bulldog too, was part of the asbestos class action law suit. His opinion was that Hess should be thrown under the bus, if not Swofford may go down with him.

  6. redsteel 02/18/2012 at 9:17 PM #

    Just saw Gameday. Hubert and Rece had our back. Of course Digger, who admitted he’s friends with Hess, said the ref was right to do that. Bilas also agreed with the ref because Googs and Corch are former players and know better. Lame.

  7. Dogbreath 02/18/2012 at 9:18 PM #

    Looks like the ACC/UNC thought police reached out to the ESPN brass to reign this thing in. Here comes the scapegoating.

  8. Dogbreath 02/18/2012 at 9:20 PM #

    Figures. Bilas is a tool, whereas Hubert Davis is perhaps the only Tar Heel I ever liked. A low profile recruit who busted his tail to have a nice career.

  9. YogiNC 02/18/2012 at 9:23 PM #

    Supposedly the ACC has a policy that the refs can have anyone removed whenever they feel like it. The problem is if the mitigating factor was over something they said the first amendment takes precedence, no matter what the ACC rule states. NO ONE can make any rule or law that superceed constitutional rights. Unless Hess can show just cause other than they said something he didn’t like then he’s toast.

  10. BJD95 02/18/2012 at 9:24 PM #

    For a former Hole, Hubert Davis is surprisingly fair minded (and a decent announcer). Bilas is your typical arrogant Dukie, and Digger is barely more sentient than his fellow Irish fluffer Lou Holtz.

  11. Old MacDonald 02/18/2012 at 9:27 PM #

    The First Amendment deals with what the government can limit in terms of expression. Private entities (like sports conferences) can make rules about conduct and speech. Please let the “free speech” thing drop. It is a red herring.

  12. BJD95 02/18/2012 at 9:29 PM #

    Watching the worm turn…at this point, I’m expecting a full-throated defense of Hess.

  13. drgreenhouse 02/18/2012 at 9:30 PM #

    Hmm… It almost seems like some people at the conference level have it in for us. The best response would be to disband the practice of having conference official teams and to have officials appointed by the NCAA or even better, an outside source with no skin in the game.

  14. dan the pack fan 02/18/2012 at 9:33 PM #

    I say if we don’t like the outcome of the statement we flood the ACC offices tomorrow with calls. Cougherty is head of officiating, fill his voice mail up!

  15. GAWolf 02/18/2012 at 9:38 PM #

    Two things important for civil cases: liability and damages? I see no real damages here, even if on some crazy off the wall theory one could conjure up liability for a tort.

    Hubert Davis is a super guy, great dad and all around atypical Heel (which is a compliment coming from me).

  16. BJD95 02/18/2012 at 9:38 PM #

    Anyone still feel good about being a member of this cabal?

  17. WIFF 02/18/2012 at 9:40 PM #

    Whether its legal or not is not the issue. These are two high profile alumni and former players. They should be respected. I would expect former players at any school be treated with the same respect. There are a hundred different ways that it could have been handled maturely and respectfully to both parties. Hess did not do that. He acted like a real jerk. Of course it’s not against the rules to be a jerk but most professional organizations would take disciplinary action to prevent their employees from behaving like spoiled children.

  18. RabidWolf 02/18/2012 at 9:43 PM #

    Wasn’t there an officiating crew in football that was barred from calling any games involving State? Could they not do the same thing to this assbag? That should be the very LEAST that should be done here. Hess has ALWAYS had a twig stuck sideways in his ass when it comes to NCSU.

  19. 4PackinMB 02/18/2012 at 9:46 PM #

    This may not be the thread for this comment, but I did have a thought….if this trend or pattern from Thursday/today continues into Tuesday night and we have our fan base in place, then Roy, given his previous actions and reasoning, may want to consider not coming out of the locker room after halftime if he feared for his teams safety….Tuesday shall be interesting.

  20. WV Wolf 02/18/2012 at 9:47 PM #

    The back of my ticket stub says:
    “THE NC STATE ATHLETIC TICKET OFFICE reserves the right to revoke the license granted by this ticket AT ANY TIME.”

    So unless Karl Hess works for the ticket office…

    However the RBC Center website does say:
    “Proper Behavior is expected from all of our guests. Obscene language or gestures, abusive/rowdy behavior and physical confrontation will not be tolerated at the RBC Center and will be cause for ejection and/or arrest.”

    So if Googs & Corch were being too “rowdy” they could be ejected. But shouldn’t that decision be made by the RBC Center staff and/or the cops and not Karl Hess?

  21. WilmyWolf 02/18/2012 at 9:49 PM #

    ESPN’s president is a UNC-CH grad. What more do we expect?

  22. Wulfpack 02/18/2012 at 9:51 PM #

    I really could give two shits about whether it was “legal” or not. We all know it was wrong. If the ACC statement is not sufficient, which I am certain it will not be, then you can bet your ass Yow will raise hell.

    The hell with Bilas and Phelps.

  23. smile102 02/18/2012 at 9:52 PM #

    “NOTHING can usurp first amendment rights” And nothing did here. They can say anything they like, but the constitution doesn’t say they are allowed those seats. Bet we agree to these conditions with the purchase of the ticket, which is a contract.

  24. BJD95 02/18/2012 at 9:55 PM #

    Waiting for that statement…

  25. Dogbreath 02/18/2012 at 9:55 PM #

    9:22 pm EST.

    Cricket chirps.

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