I'm a UNC Tar Heels fan. So by me saying that some of you might be assuming that I think Gerald Henderson is the devil (pun intended) for breaking Hansbrough's nose and tooth.
This would be false!!!!
Hang on a second, let me give my fellow Heels fans a second to finish calling me a betrayer and wanting to send me death threats.
OK, I think they are almost done.....
Just a little bit more......
OK, great, we are all friends again. Now allow me to explain my conclusion:
Firstly, if this incident would have happened against two teams in the bottom of the WAC standings, I guarantee you that not near as many people would still be talking about this. But, it happened at the biggest game in the college hoops regular season.
Secondly, I've seen the video. I've seen it over and over and over. UNC fans say that Henderson did it on purpose, he was so bitter that he just wanted to take it out on UNC's star player. But when I watch the video, I can't seem to draw the same conclusion.
Before typing this post, I watched the video 10-12 times to make sure everything I said was accurate. I even paused the video when Henderson makes contact with the UNC sophomore. With the video paused with Henderson beginning to break Psycho T's nose, here's what I observed...
(a) - Henderson is not looking at Psycho T, he is looking at the ball.
(b) - Although it is extremely difficult to tell, it APPEARS as if it is not Henderson's elbow that makes contact (which is what everybody is saying) but an area between Henderson's wrist and elbow.
If you'd like, watch the video yourself and see if you agree. But, I can't seem to find any evidence that shows it was intentional. If it was, Henderson would be looking at Tyler, and he would have smacked him with either his hand, elbow, or shoulder.
So what do we do now? My answer is stop listening or reading about the incident. I don't know if anybody else has noticed this or not, but EVERYBODY IS CONTRADICTING THEMSELVES. Coach Williams, Coach K, Duke fans, UNC fans, the press. Here's what I mean by that:
Coach K says that Henderson didn't do it on purpose but he deserves his one game suspension anyway. To me this is confusing. Either he didn't do on purpose and doesn't deserve a punishment or he did do it on purpose and deserves a punishment. I don't see how "both" is a reasonable response. ESPN claims that Coach K supports the one game suspension "because of the foul". This makes me feel like Coach K is hiding something because a shooting foul seems like a harsh reason to suspend a player. Also, a few paragraphs before coach K says Henderson deserved the suspension for the foul, Coach K claimed that the foul was actually committed by Steve Johnson. OK, so not only are you suspending Henderson for a foul but you are suspending Henderson for a foul he didn't commit. Something seems fishy here to me.
Coach Roy Williams is wearing several different hats in his stance. He is defending Duke, he is defending UNC, he is defending Henderson, he is defending Tyler, he is defending Coach K, he is defending the ACC....probably also defending Peter Pan Peanut butter, I dunno. I admire him for handling this situation with such class, but he has the kind of attitude that is annoying for politicians...."Everyone is right". If someone were to ask him who gets Anna Nicole's child, he'd probably respond "Everyone". I've read/seen most of his interviews on this situation and I can't seem to figure him out. It's kind of like he is trying his best to pretend it never happened and just avoid the questions as much as possible. Similar to Coach K, I feel like he is hiding something. He gives very neutral responses to questions he is asked. Don't get me wrong. Being a peacemaker is a good thing. But Roy needs to be careful because he is being such a peacemaker that at times it seems like he is lying and/or pretending.
Duke fans say that Psycho T deserved what happened to him because he shouldn't have been in the game at that point with such a large lead. I'm going to assume that some of the tone in this comment, which is a paraphrased quote from a Duke blog, is just the heatedness of the rivalry leaking out. I don't care if you are a Devils fan or Heels fan, this was a horrible thing to happen and anyone who roots for an injury on either team(and is serious) is just plain twisted.
However, let's focus on the facts of this statement. It's true, the game was essentially over. And Psycho T was in the game shooting the Free Throws. But when I hear Duke Fan's say this, I never hear them mention the fact that Duke had more starters (according to CBS Sportsline recap and game log) on the floor than the Heels did (3 vs. 2). In fact, the only 2 Duke Starters not in the game had fouled out. I wonder what the response would have been if I had posted that on the blog? There are contradictions, on both ends, flying everywhere.
UNC fans want Gerald Henderson's blood in return. This is where I say that everyone just needs to let it go. While this isn't a contradiction, it's getting on my nerves. It's not like Psycho T is out for the entire tourney! According to most sources, he's not even going to miss a game! Everybody needs to relax. The fact is that these things happen in basketball. Many people are more skilled than Psycho T, but (arguably) nobody plays harder than he does. When you play that hard, things like this will happen. Don't point fingers when it does. That just makes the problem bigger.
Concluding thoughts:
Again, I'm a UNC fan. I have several friends who are also fans of the Carolina Blue. However I also have many Duke friends (What!? Can it BE!?). My observations of being a Heels fan is that Duke likes to be picked on. I know I got so sick and tired of hearing about the Duke Lacrosse team scandal. But nobody would have heard anything about it had that happened here at Valdosta State University. The same holds true here. I feel like people are just trying to find reasons to attack Duke, whatever the reason for that may be.
I've made it clear in the beginning that I don't think it was done intentionally. If I'm the only one that thinks so, that's fine with me. I have tried my best to be completely fair and unbiased in my observations about what the Duke and UNC coaches and fans are saying. I apologize if anything I have said is not in representation of that. I just feel like EVERYONE could be handling this a bit better instead of pointing fingers or making false accusations. If i was wrong about any of my facts or observations, please chime in and let me know.
And now, I will let everyone go and take an Advil, because a UNC fan just defended Duke.
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2 comments:
I would say the same things about it not appearing to be intentional, but those types of statements fall on deaf ears when they come from the mouth of a Duke fan. It was a sloppy play, but not a dirty one.
It's good to read a rational opinion on this, since there are a lot of Duke-haters out there (plenty who aren't even UNC fans) who are more than happy to throw Henderson and the entire Duke program under the bus.
My take on Coach K's comment that Henderson deserves the suspension "because of the foul" is that he's respecting the ref's judgment call that it was a flagrant foul (which brings with it an automatic suspension). I think he disagrees with that call, as it would appear that you and I do, but he's going to respect it. I guess the bottom line is that it's not going to help anyone to protest it, especially since Duke will still make the NCAA tourney regardless of what happens against NC State.
Also, I'm not going to fault Hansbrough for trying to score with just seconds left. It wasn't a clear "running up the score" scenario. That's a gray area that is dealt with in pretty much every game, and neither TH nor Coach Williams has a reputation for poor sportsmanship.
I hear ya, man. I feel weird saying this, but I feel like people are actually trying to make this rivalry BIGGER than it actually is (which is crazy i feel that way because the rivalry is HUGE).
One of the toughest things to swallow about the game of basketball is that so many key outcomes are "judgment calls". This helps and hurts every team that steps on the court. When accident's like this happen, it remains true to form. It is a judgment call if it was intentional, it was a judgment call of UNC was running up the score, etc.
But hey, as the title of the post says, it gives sports broadcasters something to talk about. Between this, finding Jesus tomb, and Anna Nicole's death I think I've had enough TV for awhile (at least, until the tourney).
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