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What’s more infuriating than listening to NC State fans communicate their woes over twitter, Facebook, and message boards is the fact that the instances that cause NC State fans to vent in the manner in which they do continue to happen and go unpunished. Could you imagine the out lash if UNC lost to Syracuse in the manner in which State did. What would Roy be saying if the roles had been switched Wednesday night. What would tarheelfan.com have written.
Every headline, every article by major publications following the game heralded the effort of Marcus Paige. There was little to no mention of the foul controversy. The story is how great UNC is. The story is not the blown calls. This is the same for the loss to Syracuse, the loss to Carolina in the 2012 semifinal. No one cares if State lost because of a bad call. Its always the same.
Bad fans who say nasty things, throw objects, spray paint rivals campuses exist. Its our job to educate them and get them to change their thought process. But their outbursts don’t excuse the poor officiating. Some will argue that these are mute points. We’re just angry, fringe fans unable to grasp the fact that NC State is a below average athletic institution with a rich history and an average present. But when fans from teams outside the ACC notice, maybe our own conference officials should. See .
1) NC State vs. UNC 2012 ACC Tournament Semi-Final
With 12 seconds left, Kendall Marshall makes a tough basket against NC State guard Alex Johnson. The play itself is not so alarming. Some can argue that it was a tough basketball play in which Marshall used his body to create space for a shot. What is alarming is that NC State was plagued by charge calls where much less body was used (if any at all). Specifically, a charge call against C.J. Leslie with 8:30 left in the game. The aftermath, the Wolfpack’s best player is forced to sit on the bench to avoid a fifth foul in a tightly contested game. The argument here is clear, the calls should be consistent. But, they were not. The calls benefited Carolina. State lost.
2) NC State at Syracuse February 15, 2014
With 15 seconds left, NC State is up by 1 against the number one team in the nation. On a Syracuse offensive possession, NC State creates a turnover in which TJ Warren has an uncontested lane to the basket. In a last ditch effort to prevent Warren from putting the game out of reach and hand SU their first loss of the season, Cuse’ guard Tyler Ennis fouls Warren from behind as Warren gathers his feet go up for the lay up. TJ Warren makes the contested basket and puts State up by 3 with a chance at four. The following can only be described as an officiating blunder. The refs deny the and one by saying Warren was not in the act of shooting when the foul occurred and then go on to deny the flagrant foul which is the only acceptable call if the and one was not given. The aftermath, State turns over on the ensuing inbounds play and loses.
3) UNC at NC State February 26, 2014
The argument of those who don’t see the inconsistency of officiating is that at the end of the game NC State was called for 21 fouls compared to the 23 against UNC. What they fail to see is how the calls at key moments of the game against NC State or NOT against UNC create an uneven contest in which the Wolfpack must overcome almost insurmountable odds to have a chance. Early in the second half with NC State up 9, TJ Warren is called for a phantom charge. His third. This forces him to sit. Kills the momentum and creates matchup advantages for UNC. With 7 seconds left and the game tied, TJ Warren is clearly fouled by McAdoo, no call. On the ensuing 50/50 ball, Tyler Lewis and Marcus Paige, who are equidistant from the ball, jump and stretch to secure the loose ball. It’s a loose ball. No one has possession. They’re both jumping to it. Both tangling arms to get at the rock. Foul on State. We haven’t even gotten to the infamous James Michael McAdoo trap. You know, the one where you can hug an opposing player with the ball, snuggle up real close, tell him how he’s your favorite player and not be called for a foul because the sweet nothings you whispered in his ear negate any physical interaction which may have been misconstrued for a foul. The aftermath, its still painful.
What the author of this article fails to realize is that if anybody is tired of NC State fans complaining about referee involvement in the outcome of games its the fans making the complaints. We don’t enjoy watching the Wolfpack lose in the closing seconds due to a call/non-call which is inconsistent with how the game was officiated up to the closing minutes.
Furthermore, the author correlates fans venting on the officiating of the game through social media with those who throw debris on the court following the loss. While originating from the same fan base, these are two distinctly different issues. No one can defend the actions of those “fans” who disrespect the institution they root for by hurling trash at officials; however, for the author to say “such a scene would never happen at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It would never happen at the Dean Smith Center. It would never happen at probably 99 percent of sports venues,” is uniformed and lazy. fans have been caught telling opposing fans to return to the ghetto, fans deface property on UNC’s campus. There are countless cases of “fans” engaging in actions that embarrass their fan bases.
But that is not the issue here. The issue is the consistency of “bad calls” toward the end, at key points or against key NC State players in games of significant conference importance. I submit the following examples:
