Fowler Makes His Performance a Public Issue; Sidney Lowe Q&A with Chip Alexander

There is an awful lot of interesting stuff for a Daily Update for it be a random Friday afternoon in late April. SFN will definitely have a lot more on the topics included in this entry in the coming days, but we wanted to get this out there for your comments as soon as possible.

Today there is a report by H. Williams Kellenberger in today’s Rocky Mount Telegram regarding last night’s WPC Caravan stop at Benvenue Country Club where Lee Fowler chose to make his job performance a public issue of debate.

We would like to thank the world’s biggest public-relations nightmare for choosing to open the door to public scrutiny of his job performance. Until now, no media outlet who would ever hope to be included on Fowler’s interview schedule or treated with any dignity from NC State’s Sports Information Director would dare touch the topic of analyzing NC State’s athletics performance under Fowler. Thankfully for all of us, Fowler himself has now chosen to make the issue a topic that is open to public scrutiny. Now that Fowler has oppened the door, we implore the media to GO FOR IT!

At least one member of the media has finally taken notice that there is a growing contingent of NC State fans who have started to question Lee Fowler’s job performance at NC State. Lee responded to some of his critics last night with a blatant admission of how he only cares about NC State’s performance BECAUSE of the importance of his pay check:

“I want to make sure they get this on the Internet tonight,” Fowler said, “that I do love to win. I hate losing and Wolfpackers always say, ‘Well, he doesn’t care as much as I do because he doesn’t understand.’ Well, I do understand.”

“What’s funny about N.C. State is that they pay you a check every month, and if I don’t win, and we don’t win, they’ll quit paying me that check. So I really do care about winning.”

We don’t like helping “Coach Fowler” too much around here; but, now that he has let the cat out of the bag it is too late. We couldn’t agree more with Noah’s comments in our comments section:

Lee Fowler, in case you didn’t realize it, is an idiot. Someone needs to explain to him that you don’t punch down. You punch up.

If you’re a fan, you complain about the guy above you…the coach, the AD, whatever. But if you’re the AD, you complain about the league commissioner or the NCAA. You don’t swing at the people below you on the org. totem pole.

Also, Chip Alexander did a lengthy interview with Sidney Lowe. I would recommend reading the whole interview, but here are a few of Sid’s answers:

On JJ Hickson declaring for the NBA draft:

My gut? It’s hard because he’s talked at times about the team and the guys and how he’s really enjoyed playing with these guys.

When we were in [the gym] doing some things [individually] and I gave him some instructions and said, ‘This is how we need to play the game,’ he said to me, ‘Coach, are we going to play this way next year?’ And I’d say, ‘Yes we are, that’s the plan.’ Then, on the other end, he’ll ask me did I hear anything from the league [NBA].

I think it’s just still up in the air right now. We’ll sit down and find out where he’s going with this, who all is coming out. … There are players who could have gone last year and stayed in [college] and had great years. Now they’re lottery picks. He’s certainly a lottery pick is he comes out the proper year.

On injuries to Degand and Johhny Thomas:

A: I think Farnold is ahead of Johnny. We certainly need Farnold because he has that thing you can’t teach, that speed. And he was playing pretty well for us when he got hurt. So Farnold, knock on wood, should be ready to go and Johnny will take a little longer.

08-09 Basketball AD & Department General Media NC State Administration Sidney Lowe

57 Responses to Fowler Makes His Performance a Public Issue; Sidney Lowe Q&A with Chip Alexander

  1. packbackr04 04/25/2008 at 1:22 PM #

    mikeD, i dont give a shit what the other players “feel”… they are getting a free education to play basketball for NCSU and the team that said univesrity fields each yr. I also dont understand how anyone on any team would not want to play with someone of JJ’s Caliber. We hear about how much it means to win, well doesnt JJ give the other guys on the team about a thousand times better chance of winning if he does play? Its not about trust for JJ, its about $, and if the other players would begrudge him the opportunity to set his family up for life, then they arent teamates i would want to be a part of. If My coworker had the opportunity to take a job making millions a yr. and he went and listened to the offer. Then decided not to go and wait for the next big offer…. im not going to blackball the guy in the office just b/c he explored his options. what kind of screwed up logic is that? he makes me and everyone in the office better by merely being around, who doesnt want someone like that around if even temporarily???

    I think JJ played more for/with the team than anyone else last yr, so to say he isnt playing for/with the team is ludacris unless you have some knowledge that he dogged it or took a dive in a game. And if he is using NCSU as a stepping stone to get to the next level…. so what. i used my first job to get to the next level too?

  2. Trip 04/25/2008 at 2:35 PM #

    Wow. I was wrong… the LEAST likely scenario played out for UNC. Lawson/Ellington declared and Hansbro didn’t. Ellington better practice warming the bench because thats all he’s going to do right now in the NBA until he figures out how to do something other than shoot 3’s.

    Anyway… My parents probably wish that I could have graduated in 3 years like Costner. 😛

    Extremely sad news about Thomas… I had high hopes for him after watching some game film and hearing from people that had watched him play, it’s gonna suck if he loses his athleticism as that was the #1 thing that Sid brought him in for as he’s not an exceptional shooter. Either that means that Degand is ahead of schedule or Thomas is behind schedule… Hope for a speedy recovery to both of them.

    Sidney does indeed “Get it” as far as the fans on those damn internets… I love my team, and I love the players… they’re just taking years off my life watching them right now and I must vent about that. Too bad Fowler doesn’t get it.

  3. James 04/25/2008 at 3:04 PM #

    spanky – shoot me an email at [email protected] – I still keep in touch with the staff on the magazine I used to edit while I was at State. I’m sure they’d like to run a profile on the organization…

  4. packof81 04/25/2008 at 3:11 PM #

    “What’s funny about N.C. State is that they pay you a check every month, and if I don’t win, and we don’t win, they’ll quit paying me that check. So I really do care about winning.”

    Well, Lee Fowler is still there and we ain’t been winning.

  5. smile102 04/25/2008 at 3:30 PM #

    “Wow. I was wrong… the LEAST likely scenario played out for UNC. Lawson/Ellington declared and Hansbro didn’t.”

    Is there any downside to “testing the waters”. Sounds like a smart thing to do even if you don’t want to go.

  6. Wulfpack 04/25/2008 at 3:38 PM #

    ^Can only “test waters” once — which is fine if you are a junior.

  7. PackerInRussia 04/25/2008 at 4:09 PM #

    “What’s funny about N.C. State is that they pay you a check every month, and if I don’t win, and we don’t win, they’ll quit paying me that check. So I really do care about winning.”

    What’s funny about NC State is that they pay you (LF) a check. Period.

  8. Trip 04/25/2008 at 4:14 PM #

    Is there any downside to “testing the waters”. Sounds like a smart thing to do even if you don’t want to go.

    Only if you’re a junior.. which Tyler is the only one.

  9. 70wolf 04/25/2008 at 4:18 PM #

    Knowing that he was assistant coach on one of the most corrupt teams in NCAA history (the coach went to jail didn’t he ! ) who in their right minds would hire him for any athletic job ? If he didnt know what was going on he was an idiot (my choice) and if he did know, he was, by definition,involved. We need to fire whoever hired him at the same time we boot him in the arse. By the way “in the day” I coached CYO basketball for the 12-15 age group and little league baseball for the same age group – so you can call me “coach” too. !!!…..a proud member of the “Fowler 50”

  10. mafpack 04/25/2008 at 4:29 PM #

    This time SFN, I will say you’re definitely in the right to go after our knucklehead AD (not that you need my permission at all to post the truth). I love it when you guys find good stuff like this and quote directly from the horses mou… rear end. Nice work!

    In my mind Hickson probably should not be very happy with where he’s projected to go this year in the draft, but will that be enough to keep him around another year in hopes of raising his draft value? I’d love to see him stay another year, if not for us, for his own development and maturation. Though I don’t kid myself with that line of thought for very long…

  11. wolfman 04/25/2008 at 5:10 PM #

    Internet fringe lunatic #899 reporting for duty. And I think that’s hilarious coming straight from the horse’s @$$. Lee, what’s funny about NC State is, you’ve been losing, and shaming all the people who really care about NC State, and we keep paying you anyway.

  12. turfpack 04/25/2008 at 10:54 PM #

    192 SCHOOLS N.C.STATE IS NOT ONE OF THEM-Surpise!Surprise!OH NO WE SUCK AGAIN!
    How can this be true?We have the I know man-the mighty Lee at A.D.
    Lee has fallin and he can’t get up-He can if he would get his foot out of his mouth.
    Davidson his 14-I said Davidson has 14-We have 30,000 students at N.C.STATE and we don’t have one frecking team????????
    I say FIRE EVERYONE start over-OH WAIT WE’VE DONE THAT ALREADY-START OVER-NOW THE FIRE PART NEEDS TO BE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!
    Lee I hear a sucking sound from the toliet or is that you career I hear???
    As the lunatic fringe or crazy fans-We get to punch in etheir direction-UP OR DOWN(Oblinger or Lee)
    Sounds like someone days are numbered around here.(Let’s ask the A.D.)

  13. GoldenChain 04/25/2008 at 11:59 PM #

    If Sid is telling JJ he’s gonna coach next season like he coached this season, I don’t know if I ca take it.

  14. ADVENTEROO 04/26/2008 at 8:56 AM #

    OK…Try this LINK…

    http://nacda.cstv.com/directorscup/nacda-directorscup-current-scoring.html

    It was the “ratings” that Joe A from Duke used to fluff up his resume.

    I went back to the Todd Turner years and did an Excel spreadsheet of our standiings versus the OTHER 11 ACC schools…even though some were not in the ACC then.

    We are abysmal…in the BOTTOM Quartile. Unfortuanetly this started with Todd (Monteith TOLD me to do it) Turner. Mary Ann Fox did NOT have any success with Les…(no pun intented)…then her comes LEE.

    No matter how you slice and dice the data….we are in bad shape. It will take MORE than an NEW AD……The AD must have some direction and initiative…and Dr. O. does NOT seem interested in Athletics. I think that there is a secret society that was formed during the Valvano lynching that still controls the Chancellor and AD…

    I WOULD think that the Lunatics of this blog and others would have an impact…but I doubt it.

    LF will be here FOREVER since his resume does NOT look nearly as good a Baddour’s or Alleva’s…

    Face it…We’re STUCK with him. It will take a MASSIVE PROTEST (Students NOT going to games, the BULK of the WPC NOT purchasing tickets (then ALL our past LTR Pledges are GONE), Wendell Murphy getting involved (Wendell Murphy, PO Box 1139, Wallace, NC 28466 – Tried to find a good email address for Smithfield foods…none available)…

    Otherwise, we’re fornicated….

    At LEAST TOB seems to be moving in the right direction (I THINK that Sidney WAS a great HIRE…really want him to succeed…but he needs some managerial HELP…which LF can NOT give him). Maybe, someday, someway…TOB will be our AD and that will move us FORWARD…

    GO PACK

  15. westwolf 04/26/2008 at 9:57 AM #

    I find hope in the fact that this type of public defense of one’s job is usually the beginning of the end for that person. Let’s hope.

  16. Cardiac95 04/26/2008 at 10:07 AM #

    So we’ve established that Lee “wants to win”.

    And some have suggested that they want more from Lee in terms of what he’s going to do to turn things around. That’s certainly reasonable.

    For me though, after 8 years of “results”, having a “plan” isn’t going to do a whole lot for me. Its time for success.

    Lucky for him, TOB landed in his lap, which means at least one major revenue sport is in good hands & on the right path. All other sports seem to have major ????

  17. kyjelly 04/26/2008 at 10:26 AM #

    No one knows the juco Sid is talking about because he has no clue …….If JJ and he most likely will go ,and Brandon leaves …….Sid ,staff ,the whole program, which will remain status quo where and how does he fill that void?
    Flower is a clown and Sid appears to be sideshow Bob in this outfit.

  18. GoldenChain 04/26/2008 at 10:52 AM #

    “So we’ve established that Lee “wants to win”.”

    NO. We’ve established that HE SAYS he wants to win!
    As you point out, the results say something different.
    WTFreak would any AD at a D1 school making 6 figures NOT SAY that he wants to win?

  19. StateFans 04/26/2008 at 12:58 PM #

    Fowler wants to get PAID…therefore he SAYS he wants to win.

    Nothing else can be established as fact based on eight years of behavior and reality.

  20. old13 04/26/2008 at 2:38 PM #

    NOTHING, as far as I can tell, has indicated that the administration or BOT would ever stop Foulup’s paychecks if no NCSU team ever won again or if he never went to the office (does he now?!).

  21. highstick 04/26/2008 at 7:24 PM #

    The NC State Cheer and Dance Team was in 1st place for a short time tonight on TV. But, was that a “rerun”???? I’m sure Lee will lay claim to excellence in “cheer, dance, and bass fishing”!

  22. Bynum State Fan 04/27/2008 at 12:04 AM #

    We better be on track. I am getting tired of those unc and duke blogs giving us crap.

  23. blackdom 04/27/2008 at 10:15 AM #

    well fowler has no right to even have a job ,but his hire Sid? Wow some insight on what is happening with his team?
    No way Sid is still in denial I can’t believe it? A college coach does call the the plays not a pt guard.

  24. packbackr04 04/28/2008 at 10:41 AM #

    can somoene please transfer from the basketball team. please.

  25. thekind 04/28/2008 at 10:46 AM #

    I could understand if Foul-up said that he wants to win because he loves and cares and bleeds State. But what does he say, “for the paycheck”.

    Foul-up- You are a CLOWN!

    Pack your bags.

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