NCSU is not alone in our disgust at the Duke/UNC double standard

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Other people are beginning to tire of the obvious “kid glove” treatment Duke and UNC have been receiving by the ACC. It is a subject that has been discussed on our blog many, many times.

In this article in the Augusta Free Press, Chris Graham makes many of the same observations we have made. Here are his observations about the latest debacles:

The suits didn’t expect lowly Virginia Tech to almost upset the apple cart 36 hours later in Durham. but a couple of phantom fouls on Tech senior Dorenzo Hudson prevented a Hokie second-half runaway and let the Dookies fight back to post an overtime win.

Sound familiar? A couple of interesting statistics to note, Duke shot 34 free throws to Tech’s 16 and Duke had only 13 fouls called on them compared to Tech’s 25.

Later Saturday, Virginia – long dormant, but threatening to be thorns in the side under third-year coach Tony Bennett – was doing its best to throw a wrench into the march toward the inevitable, somehow leading at the half against North Carolina despite losing star Mike Scott to two chintzy fouls, and taking another lead in the final six minutes after losing Scott to two more quick second-half fouls, including one that would have earned John Henson either a yellow card in European soccer or a Best Supporting Actor honor at tonight’s Academy Awards

In this game UNC shot 23 free throws to UVA’s 6 (yes that is four times as many free throws) and UNC was called for 11 fouls compared to UVA’s 17.

The writer’s conclusions are what interest me. He says:

For those of us who are fans and alums of ACC schools not named Duke and North Carolina, life goes on as always… But we never really do anything that will actually have an impact – like, I don’t know, boycott en masse the season tickets of our favorite schools, to send a message… As long as we keep acting like the sheep that we are, change in the ACC ain’t never gonna happen

The question I have is can the ACC be fixed? Can the ingrained mistreatment of the “other” schools ever be rectified? So far it has not even been acknowledged so how can it ever be fixed?

Time for some audience participation!  Try to guess which player had the foul called on him in this picture:

If you said Virginia player Mike Scott…you were correct! 

At least Len Elmore called the officials to task. Right after they called the foul on Scott, they went over to the monitor to see if Scott had also thrown an elbow. Elmore said, “You can’t cover up a bad call by pretending to check to see if the guy you called it on threw an elbow.”

 

 

 

About Rick

1992 and 2002 graduate from NCSU. Born and raised an NCSU fan. I remember the good ol' days and they weren't in the last 20 years.

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75 Responses to NCSU is not alone in our disgust at the Duke/UNC double standard

  1. BJD95 02/27/2012 at 4:49 PM #

    There is a simple solution, and it’s spelled S-E-C. We need the Hokies to come with us to the pitch meeting, so the timing is great. 🙂

    You need near non-blue unanimity to force real changes, Swoffy’s cabal only needs to pick off two votes. And that assumes everyone is strongly committed to reform, which is dubious at best. For example, I doubt Boston College, Georgia Tech, and Miami really care more than a scintilla. Their basketball programs are black holes. Just keep the ESPN money flowing.

    Oh, and the non-blue fans have plenty much already boycotted the ACCT. Have you seen the Thursday and Friday crowds lately? They will be even more pitiful in Atlanta this year. And the Saturday crowds are almost entirely blue fans, cheering for their shade in one game, and against the other shade in the other game.

  2. 61Packer 02/27/2012 at 4:53 PM #

    A fan boycott of the ACCT? Who wants to pay out the wazoo to go all the way to Atlanta to sit through 4 agonizing days of basketball, which will lead off with 4 games among the league’s worst 8 teams? Is it any surprise that we season ticket holders are now getting ACCT applications in our season ticket packages in the fall?

    The ONLY thing that can keep the ACCT anywhere near its past importance to ACC fans is to move it permanently to Greensboro. But we all know that as soon as Swofford can get it done, the ACCT will end up being bounced around in such exotic places as NYC, Boston, Pittsburg, and Miami. And it’ll be FIVE, not four days of incredible boredom in some distant northern or tropical burg.

    The real solution to this mess, and I believe ESPN would be on board with this, would be to simply hold a 10-team tournament in Madison Square Garden, then send the two finalists to Durham and Chapel Hill to play Duke and UNC, with the 2 winners advancing to the ACCT title game, maybe in Vegas or somewhere appealing.

  3. Thinkpack17 02/27/2012 at 5:16 PM #

    It’s better to let 10 guilty men go free than to convict 1 innocent man.

    Don’t just make shit up. The picture is just awesome and if you watch the footage you can see that as soon as the ref blows his whistle he knows he screwed up. Everyone stops and looks at him, he pauses for a while and finally points to the ground. Dude, you know you f’ed up, just say “My Bad” and give UVA the ball out of bounds. Instead these guys make shit up. This should have been a battle of two ACC POY candidates instead these refs put their own personal fingerprints on the game.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMRTUKcsjXA&feature=player_embedded

    It’s just like CJW’s 4th foul at Duke. Here’s a guy that’s been playing lights out for us and playing his last year against Duke and you give him his 4th off some ghost foul, made up shit.

    We want to see the players play. Unless you actually see a foul, keep your grubby little fingers out of our contests. Idiots.

  4. Gene 02/27/2012 at 5:38 PM #

    “And it’ll be FIVE, not four days of incredible boredom in some distant northern or tropical burg.”

    Meh…Big East fans still get into their six day (?) tournament now. There’ve been some exciting games, like ‘Cuse six OT win.

    We could’ve kept all this from happening, if NCSU got on board with UNC-Ch and Duke and voted against conference expansion.

    Of course, if we did that, the ACC would’ve been picked clean by now by other conferences with better T.V. contracts. A nine team ACC wouldn’t be much interest to T.V. networks, with regards to football(where the money is), with FSU struggling and none of the other 8 schools really doing much to become national powers.

    Until someone bitch-slaps the T.V. Networks and puts some kind of control on the money sloshing through “amateur” college athletics, there’s nothing left for us fans to do but “enjoy” the ride.

  5. 4PackinMB 02/27/2012 at 5:51 PM #

    Truth, that is exactly what I was saying….the whole situation can be controlled by who signs the paycheck….and it isn’t the WWL…..it may sting for a year or two, but in all fairness, we can get back to being the ACC….if there is doubt, look at the Big Ten…. partisanship is not as readily apparent over there and look where it is getting them….7, 8, 9 teams in? As sad as this is to say, mercy how the tables have turned….Duke would be lucky to finish 7th or 8th in the Big Ten….it wasn’t that long ago that every team out there was picking where they might have finished in the ACC…..those days are gone….until we take the conference back….and that lends itself to another comment made earlier….6 or 7 ACC teams in makes us more money than two.

  6. stillapackfan 02/27/2012 at 5:59 PM #

    Ya’ll are hilarious with your conspiracy theories. UNC fans love it I’m sure. Does anyone ever stop to think about how ridiculous it sounds?

  7. LRM 02/27/2012 at 5:59 PM #

    “What if the fans themselves boycott the tournament?”

    That’s essentially what the fans have been doing the past half-decade. No wonder it’s at Phillip’s Arena instead of the Georgia Dome this year.

  8. TruthBKnown Returns 02/27/2012 at 7:00 PM #

    I like the ACC graphic, btw.

  9. wolfmanmat 02/27/2012 at 7:24 PM #

    At least stillaackfan still has some sense. ALL conferences are going to sell their winners guys. The SEC sells UK, the Big 12 sells Texas and KU, the Big 10 sells OSU football. The ACC sells Duke and Carolina because they have been winners. You don’t think they want to sell NC State? Then explain why Jimmy V is in nearly every ACC commercial? You don’t think they want someone to compete with Duke/UNC? Then explain Cuse and Pitt additions? It ain’t for football money like Miami and VT. Cuse and Pitt are marketable basetball additions. The reason the ACC is adding them is because the rest of the ACC hasn’t been competitive or marketable(except Gary and Skip Prosser). The reason we can’t compete with Duke and Carolina is not some complex system. It’s simply consistency in the program and talent. Kids know when they go to Duke/UNC that ROy/K will be there and they will play with other 4-5 star kids and will have a chance to win. Duke and UNC have 10 McDonalds All-Americans…of these, 2 fresh at UNC who don’t even play much and 1 at Duke is red-shirted. They got McDs talent ON THE BENCH. We have a roster that is 7 deep and counted in those 7 is a senior transfer who ain’t Russell Wilson type transfer. He;’s barely ACC material at best. Duke/UNC also have 3 and 4 McDs on each squad who start, we have 1. The ENTIRE rest of the league has 3. This is the reason we don’t compete. Duke and UNC also have tenured, winner coaches. The rest of the ACC COMBINED has less tenure in D1 basketball than Roy and K. This is why we lose. Tenured, consistent coaching and talent, not some rigged system. The ACC wants us to win, we have just been incapable since firing Jimmy V and hiring crap for 20 years.

  10. mak4dpak 02/27/2012 at 8:10 PM #

    Many times this year, like Saturday we blew it, but I do believe there is credibility to the favoritism shown UNC/Duke, the video don’t lie, and how many times have we seen replays of their blatant fouls and nothing called, yet we can barely touch them and we are screwed. Again these are facts and not an escape of accepting we are sore losers. If you don’t realize it, you clearly don’t watch the ACC too much, or check the stats on fouls and free throws, which are always one sided when playing these two. Had our dominating front line not been on the bench against Duke in the second half, we would have definitely won the game.

  11. Wolf74 02/27/2012 at 8:32 PM #

    Nothing ever changes. That has been going on for thirty years and has gotten worse since that homer Swofford has become commish. South Carolina was the smart one and got out years ago. I don’t know if NCSU will ever have the opportunity to leave this corrupt conference but I sure hope so.

    Like a buddy of mine told me the other day, “Swofford got his ESPN deal based on the Duke vs UNC-CHeats rivalry and he isn’t going to do anything to change that. Sure he sold out football and may have given up more money than he got by not promoting football success but do you think he cares? No because he is first and foremost a UNC HOMER!”

  12. runwiththepack 02/27/2012 at 8:32 PM #

    As I have stated before, show game videos to referees somewhere where they have never heard of UNC or Duke (Bulgaria? Estonia? Kazakstan?) and see if they see bias in the refereeing.

    How to do that, i don’t know. But it would be revealing, one way or another.

    It’s so strange. “The rest of the acc” is told that the blues get the calls because the more aggressive team is favored. But if one of “the rest of the acc” gets more aggressive in play, then the officials “adjust” in the second half.

    Do those explanations sound familiar? Look at the puzzled looks on the coaches/players’ faces who have been “receiving” get called for fouls for “giving” the same thing.

    Disgusting – not just the bias, but the verbal contortions some go through to try to explain it away.

  13. 4PackinMB 02/27/2012 at 8:42 PM #

    Wolfmanmat, I think you are missing the point….level the playing field and we all can compete….it is extremely difficult playing uphill against the blues. If the Duke game didn’t open eyes, then maybe the Va-unx game did. Its not selling the best teams….level the field and lets see who truly is the best.

  14. runwiththepack 02/27/2012 at 9:23 PM #

    Yeah, show Jimmy V to appease NCSU fans.

    “OK, NCSU fans, it’s time to get behind Duke and UNC to represent the ACC. OK? OK?? OK???”

  15. wolfmanmat 02/28/2012 at 7:29 AM #

    So in a level playing field we don’t fire Jimmy V, let Les Robinson be a coach, let Herb Sendek be a coach(love that Princeton offense!) and let Sidney Lowe coach without any qualifications other than being a former player? The reason we aren’t competitive for the last 20 years is just about that simple; we had turds at the helm who nobody wants to play for. Part of the reason we aren’t competitive is that we whine over preferential treatment for UNC/DUke and fail to acknowledge that NONE of us would have wanted to play for Sendek/Les/Sid. Can’t expect an 18 year old kid to do different. Carolina stunk with Dough, but were smart enough to make a good, nationally recognized hire, who brought the program back. If you want to blame the ACC for anything, blame them for allowing us to hire Lee fowler. And saying Swofford didn’t build the conference for football or doesn’t care about football is just not true. The VT/Miami/BC/FSU additions are ALL football additions. Look who voted against expansion…a basketball school.

  16. Rick 02/28/2012 at 8:26 AM #

    “Part of the reason we aren’t competitive is that we whine over preferential treatment for UNC/DUke”

    So how exactly does this keep us from being competitive? Please explain how a blog exposing the bias keeps NCSU from being successful. I am waiting.

  17. smile102 02/28/2012 at 10:30 AM #

    Rick, do you agree with the rest of his appraisal, that the primary cause is poor coaches and poor AD leadership?

  18. state73 02/28/2012 at 10:39 AM #

    To change this bias the other ACC schools must start at the top and hire a commish with no ties to any ACC school!!

  19. Rick 02/28/2012 at 11:31 AM #

    “Rick, do you agree with the rest of his appraisal, that the primary cause is poor coaches and poor AD leadership?”

    It has nothing whatsoever to do with the original article. He just wants to criticize others. I do not expect a decent answer from him.

  20. Jediwolf 02/28/2012 at 11:59 AM #

    Good coaches, bad coaches, good players, bad players, it doesn’t matter. All ACC games should be called the same for both teams regardless of the color of the uniform.

  21. smallandpettypat 02/28/2012 at 12:24 PM #

    Cut and pasted without comment. Because none is really needed.

    “In UNC’s case he is referring to Mike Scott’s foul situation including his fourth where John Henson may have embellished some and in turn got the call. This is proof you see of the conspiracy. Since that is I can only guess that UVa missing 11 straight three pointers in the second half was the ACC’s doing. I can only assume UNC’s putrid offensive performance which resulted in a paltry 54 points and 33% shooting was part of the master plan. John Swofford had a chip planted in Mike Scott’s brain that caused him to go 3-13 and take an ill advised three with UVa down only one late in the game. Swofford hit the Buffalo Wild Wings buttin and some photographers flash blinded Sammy Zeglinski causing him to miss a wide open three that would have tied the game. Reggie Bullock didn’t bother covering the shot because he knew the game was in the bag. Wait…you mean the Cavaliers made all those mistakes, missed those shots and didn’t play well down the stretch of their own accord? But what about the conspiracy!?!? You can’t just blame the officiating for a loss and cite questionable calls as the evidence of some sort of conspiracy.”

    Take your tin foil hats off. It makes no sense for the ACC to hold back ten teams while pushing only two. None.

  22. wolfmanmat 02/28/2012 at 7:31 PM #

    The rest of the statement was this: “We fail to acknowledge that NONE of us would have wanted to play for Sendek/Les/Sid.” Please at least acknowlegde that NOBODY would want to play under those coaches. I challenge you to this: ask a UNC fan who the last 4 NC State coaches were. Then ask a State fan who the last 4 UNC coaches were. Bet the State fans knows and the UNC fan misses at least 1-2. We as State fans have become so obsessed with UNC(see the front page of our own website for evidence and you’ll find normally 2-3 articles on State and 2-3 that are just UNC bashing) that we have lost site of why our program has been losing and have failed to DEMAND better from our administration and coaches as Wolfpack fans. Now, go to a UNC message board and see how many posts they talk about State in. Very few. They DEMANDED better out of THEMSELVES when Dough ran the show. They didn’t blame State or Duke for getting calls and making them irrelevant. They did something about it and went out and hired Roy. We need to just let it go, man up and beat them on the court. That’s the only way STate will be able to getting that blue monkey off our back. See football.

  23. gumby 02/28/2012 at 8:06 PM #

    Remember the Duke-UNX game a couple years ago where ESPN covered the game with at least THREE of its network channels simultaneously? That was the date that ESPN and the Swofford cabal made the public statement that the fix was in for the ACC, but it was somehow ignored and overlooked in plain sight by the masses…

  24. Rick 02/29/2012 at 9:25 AM #

    “The rest of the statement was this: “We fail to acknowledge that NONE of us would have wanted to play for Sendek/Les/Sid.””

    I will when you tell me why you added “Part of the reason we aren’t competitive is that we whine over preferential treatment for UNC/DUke”

    I so tire of people complaining about the content of this site. If you want to write something up and send it to us we will add it (provided it is not illegible). Otherwise stop whining about it.

  25. virginiawolf 02/29/2012 at 9:03 PM #

    And the beat goes on … watching the MD/tarhole game. Just in to the second half and MD has been charge with 19 fouls compared to faded blues 11.

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