As Herb Sendek attempts to improve his 1-12 record against Carolina coaches not named Matt Doherty,
NC State is preparing to battle (formerly-heated) rival, UNC-Chapel Hill tonight in the RBC Center. (Sendek is 0-6 vs Carolina Coaches not named Matt Doherty in Raleigh. Hell of a home court advantage!!!!)
The last time these two “battled”, the Wolfpack was thoroughly embarrassed in a rout of epic proportions. The spanking had ESPN talking, the media talking, the bloggers on the internet talking, and further underscored the Wolfpack’s irrelevance in Big Four Three country.
Without as much as tossing the ball for tonight’s opening tip, Wolfpackers have already been made the public laughingstock in at least two articles that graced the pages of the state’s two largest newspapers this morning when “our”:
* Athletics Director (who has never stepped foot into a job outside the wonderful world of college athletics)attempts to tell those of us who work for a living how things operate in the “real world.” (Maybe his former boss and convicted felon, Dana Kirk provided Fowler some hard-core insight for street cred.)
* Basketball Coach offers another public exhibit of why he has to turn to Larry Harris to deal with every interpersonal issue that has ever risen in his program and why he cannot build relationships or motivate players from places like Harlem, rural North Carolina, or most any place on the planet earth.
I have no doubt that you have already seen the articles and have come here for some commentary. * (This blog is NOT desgined to be a “portal” for NC State news. For that kind of breadth, depth, and efficiency of news gathering, there is no competing with PackPride.com. We are designed to analyze and comment on the news…not report the news)
But, in the event that you are here without seeing the stories yet, they are linked below:
(1) Charlotte Observer: Will Herb Sendek Survive?
(2) News and Observer: Sendek Declines Hostility
Before I could get to work this morning, I had received 6 different communications (email and telephone) regarding these articles. Some of the calls were from my Carolina friends of mine who were rolling over with hysteria about quoting Buddha. Of course, the irony here is that Wolfpackers will be the ones labeled “stupid” and “close minded” for not caring at all about what the hell Buddha thinks…or that a quick check of the NCAA Basketball record books does not cite a single reference to “Buddha”. Then again, the record books don’t cite a Herbert Sendek, either.
Interestingly, almost every one of my communications with fellow Wolfpackers also included reference to their morning interactions with their Carolina friends. Just to share some comments of what our Tar Heel friends are thinking (quotes are, of course, paraphrased from the conversations):
* “My attorney this morning (Carolina guy) who generally doesn’t follow sports that much. He said that he had always been somewhat agnostic about this Sendek stuff, but that he sounded like a cook this morning. He’d fire him for that craziness regardless of your perspective of losing.”
* “Aren’t we playing a basketball game tonight? Why in the world would anyone’s focus be on this stuff the day before the State-Carolina game? Why would Sendek even take time to entertain and answer these questions? His focus should be on Roy William’s 3-0 record against him…not friggin Buddha.”
* “The guy that sits beside me was ROLLING with laughter over his morning coffee. He swears that Sendek pulls says this stuff just to get State people all in a lather. Why would he answer these questions right before the game? He just likes to get everybody going. Since he basically admits that nothing bothers him (aka – he doesn’t care), then why not “give the gift of hostility” to the people that do care?”
* How ironic that this guy is the coach at NC State!! Nothing could be further from a good fit. Who originally hired this guy?” (Personal note: Answer, Carolina graduate, Todd Turner.)
I have a ton of personal comments on these two articles; A lot more comments than time right now. But you needn’t worry…stay tuned in the next 24-48 hours I will be ripping into both of these from various angles.
Before I do, please feel free to share some of your thoughts in the comments section of this entry. I’d love to incorporate your perspectives into some of my responses. (Remember, you have to input an email address that will NOT be seen by the public. AND your comments will not immediately show up on the blog. Give it a little time.)
