Many props to long-time ACC sportswriters Al Featherson and Brett Friedlander for their latest columns that will be linked towards the end of this entry
Also, our local radio guys like Dave Glenn, Joe Ovies, and Adam Gold have defended us all week as well. Maybe from now on the hosts won’t waste time on their shows featuring Parrish, Decourcy, etc…since they have proven to lack perspective and knowledge on the topics relevant to their listening audience? Why give these guys a stage when the hosts’ own opinions are much more interesting and accurate? Why have “experts” on the radio who know less about the topic than the actual hosts? Hopefully, if any of our local radio guys read this entry, then they will take those questions as a compliment, an honest suggestion from someone who listens daily, and chooses local sports talk over satellite radio.
Gold and Ovies have already weighed in on the Sendek/Lowe/NC State/Hate State topic here and here if you haven’t read their columns yet.
We have 5 years of data from Sendek coaching at ASU that proves NC State fans were exactly right about Herb Sendek’s record at NC State, yet these experts that we are subjected to on local radio aren’t ever asked to discuss Herb Sendek and his lack of progress at ASU.
We are still waiting for that update on the “revival in Tempe”, Seth. How about you, Gary? Remember this comment:
I decided right then I wasn’t getting off the phone until I got Herb Sendek to pat himself on the back a little bit. I wanted him to talk about how well he’s been doing since N.C. State fans pushed him to Arizona State in 2006 despite the fact that Sendek was coming off five consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, and I wanted him to contrast it to the current struggles in Raleigh.
Why don’t you call him now and ask him about his 1-10 Arizona St. team and contrast that to the struggles in Raleigh? Where are all of these articles on Herb Sendek 5 years later about his progress at Arizona St.? How could such a great coach be struggling in year 5 of a rebuilding job? I can’t wait until some other major conference jobs come open and the national pundits start pushing Sendek’s name for these openings.
Anyways, here are the two articles from Featherston and Friedlander.
Full link an absolute must read:
Just because Sidney Lowe hasn’t worked out is no reason to consign N.C. State to college basketball’s dustbin. There is no reason that State can’t compete at the highest levels of the sport – up there with Duke and UNC. The school has great facilities (I’m not talking about just the RBC, but also about the Weisinger Brown practice facility), a passionate fan base, no unusual recruiting restrictions. They play in a great conference and they’re always on TV.
And they have a great history of success, even if guys like Brando and Patrick don’t know it.
Obviously, N.C. State has its share of delusional fans who thought that Rick Barnes would jump at the chance to replace Herb Sendek and who now think the Pack can lure Jamie Dixon or Jay Wright or Mark Few. But every school has fans like that. Just because new AD Debbie Yow is unlikely to hire a proven BCS-level winner does not mean she can’t make a great hire … maybe a mid-level Division 1 head coach such as the guys Duke, N.C. State and Georgia Tech all found in the early 1980s when they picked up Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano and Bobby Cremins from Army, Iona and Appalachian State, respectively.
She just has to find the right guy.
By the way, I wonder if the headline writer for Parrish’s story actually knows anything about the “Ugly Duckling†fairytale. Think about it – in the Hans Christian Anderson story, the ugly duckling grows up to be a beautiful swan … more beautiful than any of the ducks it was compared to.
Considering the potential of the currently ugly Wolfpack program, that might not be such a bad characterization after all.
One of my favorite things to do on a Sunday morning is getting up early, turning on the television and watching The Sports Reporters on ESPN.
It’s not that I’m looking for deep insight, breaking news or any kind of professional inspiration from writers who are far better at their craft than I could ever dream of being.
I just enjoy listening to the superstars of my field try to sound like experts about people and issues with which they are only marginally familiar.
What these guys lack in actual knowledge about things such as, say, the ACC, they make up for with a string of clichés and stereotypes passed down in Final Four hospitality rooms from generation to generation.
Or in the case of the N.C. State basketball program, they simply kneel down before the shrine of Herb Sendek and rewrite history.