March 04, 2007
indelible images etched
3/4/07
Wow. This was my 22nd consecutive home Dook game in a row, and just as I think I'm approaching "I've seen it all" territory, along comes a finish to a brilliant game that is so ugly that it bears remarking, even here, where 60% of my audience can't tell a moving pick from a ice pick. Suffice to say my beloved Tar Heels won an amazing defensive battle, fought off several Dook surges, and were up twelve points with less than a minute left.
Tyler Hansbrough got an offensive rebound and was fouled by That Moronic Hunk of White Meat Otherwise Known as Josh McRoberts. Thus Tyler is in the game, late, shooting foul shots. He misses - but then, because he is made of fantasticness, got his own rebound.
Miserable Dookie Gerald Henderson runs clear across from the other side of the court, flies into the mix, then crushes Tyler's nose with the kind of uncontrolled vengeance usually reserved for the bad guys in "Die Hard" movies.
Tyler hits the floor with blood spurting everywhere, then is escorted off the court, lest he actually eat Gerald Henderson. In the training room, surrounded by his dad, the doctor and a dentist, his jersey is now crimson with blood. He says what you'd expect him to say: "I want to go back out there. Like this."
Do you know who would be the first to clean him up? Yes, that's right:
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As the evening progressed, the revisionist historians (led by notorious UNC-hater Billy Packer) have tried to say it was an unintentional foul. Having been at the game, where it all happened so quickly, I was ready to believe them. But the video shows Henderson lunging across court, jacked up, pissed off, and ready to "send a message." Anyone who has ever played hoops in an emotional game will tell you two things:
1) revenge is only served boiling hot
2) you don't have to be looking at someone to intentionally break their nose.
Koach K, for his own part, played the part of Disingenuous Hypocritical Coward:
"The game was over before that. The outcome of the game. That was unfortunate that those people were in the game in that way. But that's what happens. You know, I mean it's 20 seconds left. What I'm saying, I'm not blaming anybody, it's unfortunate, we should have both probably had our walk-ons on....I'm not blaming anybody. You know, I'm not blaming anybody..."
There are so many things wrong with this statement that I must again resort to numbering them:
1) It doesn't matter who's in the game, you twisted pair of fuckpants. NOBODY SHOULD SLUG ANYONE IN THE FACE, EVER.
2) Tyler had a sub waiting at the scorer's table, and was only in the game BECAUSE ONE OF YOUR FUCKING PLAYERS FOULED HIM.
3) Koach K, you are NOTORIOUS for playing five players for 40 minutes each, and running up the score for fifty-five point beatdowns on the likes of St. Agnes Girl School For The Blind, you callous twit.
4) We were up 12 points. In the era of the 3-pointer, anything is possible. Dean Smith kicked your predecessor's ass by making up eight points in seventeen seconds before the 3-pointer existed.
5) ALL YOUR STARTERS WERE IN TOO, YOU FRICKIN' SALTED NUT SNACK!!!
Thus, in the course of one sniveling rat-packed moment, Koach K managed to blame Hansbrough and Roy Williams for lacerating Tyler's nose. Look, this is no joke, as my brother Sean can tell you: a blow like that can shatter your occipital bone and permanently disfigure your face, destroy your teeth, even blind you in one eye. Sean saw it happen in 1990 (in choir practice, no less). Let's just call this what it was: unthinkably bad sportsmanship from a program whose era is beginning a long, inexorable slide towards sunset.
Me? I'm with these chicks:
our guys!
a very classless moment for k and the team for sure. i think that's about 99% away from an actual apology. henderson is going to have a fun time from now on every time he hits the court against the heels as i'm sure the crowd will let him have it - problem now since the list is getting so long i will have a hard time remembering the dook players i hate the most :) maybe a future topic to rank the dookies you hate most and for what reason. of course many are very easy (and coincidentally on the dook bench...) :)
Absolutely unbelievable that K suggested that certain players shouldn't have been in the game. Less than 30 seconds before, he had his players doing a full press and fouling, acting like actually had a chance of coming back and winning. Roy was right to point out that "it was not my fault that Tyler got the offensive rebound."
I don't think that Henderson meant to 'send a message' or do any real damage, but his play was totally reckless and he deserved to be ejected. I can't believe Billy Packer's arrogance, suggesting that he knows better than the refs in how to handle the elbow incident.
It was so horrific. I was holding my 15 month old and just glad that my four year old was at Disney On Ice. (We watched the world cup final and had to talk about Zizou's head butt.) It was so violent and horrible--I can't imagine what Tyler's dad felt like, watching his boy get punched in the face like that. Just because he's big and strong doesn't mean he doesn't hurt.
As for K, here's some hypocrisy for you:
"It sends chills through my entire body to hear what Jim did," Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Honestly, if he was here right now, I'd give him a big hug. We need more coaches to have the courage to step up in situations like this and say to our kids, 'That's wrong; I'm not making excuses for you.' If I were in the same situation, I hope I'd be gutsy enough and strong enough to do the same thing, but I can't swear to you that I would."
http://www.gocoachl.com/jlarranaga/articledetail.aspx?ArticleId=351&Id=58
IMF
I just got back home from Chapel Hill about 55 minutes ago. 1:45 AM. I've been watching Sportscenter waiting for a highlight of Henderson's thuggery. Still haven't seen it again on video, though I saw the bloody mess that was Tyler's face in person.
I recognize Lucy's hat! I should have bought one, too, when I was standing in line behind you, as it was a little cool walking out of the Dean Dome after the Senior Day speeches.
Ian, it was nice to finally meet you in person after lurking here on your blog for the past three years. No matter what your favorite banned poster might think, you're slimmer than your photos; Tessa is prettier than her pictures and Lucy is even more adorably precious than her videos.
Annie, it was great to meet you at the Carrboro Commons during hooping practice. Thanks for bringing some of the bigger hoops so that I could finally get one going for a while. It was kind of surreal to find myself hooping under a lunar eclipse.
Caveman, you will be happy to know that Annie is drop dead gorgeous in person. But, even if she looked like a toad, her personality would still make her beautiful. "Blindfold" is a lucky dude.
Annie and Ian, I'll send you both some of the photos I get after I get some sleep.
Neva, sorry I missed you, but I hope you feel better.
Scruggs, tell Don congrats, but don't forget our Hobex "date" before you guys jet out of the ATL.
DFB's & T's, I did my part by bringing home a Carolina victory over dook . . . it's up to YOU to secure an ACC title when you travel down to Tampa later this week!
Go Tar Heels!
At first, I though that Coach K comment about how starters shouldn't have been in was a JOKE! I can't believe that!!!!! But it is so him. My husband was complaining at the 50 secondish mark that K shouldn't be fouling as if he had a chance for a comeback. You don't pull your starters until the other team conceding pulls theirs. Unbelievable. I want to drive up there right now and shake the man. But, we won, so screw him.
Greg, was so tempted to drop all and meet you on I85, but I must say it was nice to already be in my jammies by the end of postgame. Don said they played the UNC radio feed on the ATL sports radio station, and Montross was freaking out about that mauling. Makes his Duke bleeding experience but a flesh wound. And, yes, the move is bittersweet, but back to CLT we go, and we already have a house lined up. Now you can buy ours!!! Great kids neighborhood and lots of space, 10min commute...you know you are tempted!
The other idiocracy about K's postgame statement is that he makes it sound like it would be okay to knock the shit out of Hansbrough's nose if the outcome of the game was still in question.
I loved hearing the Seniors speeches on the radio after the game. That must have been great to see in person.
Also, it was interesting listening to Eric Montross commentate on the bloody nose as he has actually been in the same situation. He said you never forget something like that.
After watching the last 10 minutes of the game on TV last night, I couldn't wait to come here this morning and see what Ian had to say.
And I am not disappointed!
Love the Lucy-bug in her NC finery. A fan is born.
I still can't get over this. I'm not mad at Henderson -- it was a dumb, dirty play and he got tossed for it, with a one-game suspension and I think the punishment pretty much fits the crime. But Geeee-zus, Billy Packer has got to GO! And koach k, how much more proof does anybody need about what a complete tool this freak is? If I take any consolation from his remarks, it's that he was reduced to the pathetic Isaiah freakin' Thomas defense of blaming the other coach, which the nation will see as the joke that it is. This will put a permanent dent in the dippity-do k veneer. Won't actually change anything quite yet, but the more he reveals himself as a pathetic no-good jerk, the harder time he will have recruiting, and fewer and fewer good players will fall under his spell, and maybe eventually he'll start spiraling out of control. 'Cause, he's such a control freak, once he starts undeniably losing that grip, he is gonna go absolutely postal. And that'll be fun to watch.
If I wasn't gettin' on a jet plane tomorrow morning, I would seriously be devoting my energies to organizing a CBS Sports boycott until they get the smug-beyond-belief and completely irresponsible Packer off the air. Seriously. He HAS to go, he has crossed a line which should be grounds for firing.
Emma, the speeches were great. The most poignant moment was when Wes Miller thanked one of his high school JV football coaches, currently battling cancer, as one of his most inspirational influences. The cameras found the coach in the stands and there weren't that many dry eyes, as the man got a very loud ovation. If Dewey had been making his lengthy speech at The Oscars, he would have been cut off by the orchestra about 20% into his speech. But he was funny.
I'm just....it's just that...I mean....GAH.
I FUCKING HATE K, and Billy AssPacker and ...
....
GAH. Words escape me.
I can only just point to Ian's post and say, "DAMN RIGHT.
Very bad play on Henderson's part. I do think he intended to foul hard. i do not think he meant to have tyler's face meet his elbow. Regardless, it should have never happened.
After the technical FTs and there were fewer than 12 seconds left in the game, why was a three pointer thrown up?
Kevin, I believe that this was the last home game for all the seniors, and that the guy who shot the three-pointer was a senior benchwarmer getting his 12 seconds of glory. It's not at all unusual under those circumstances for a coach to let the benchwarmer get his one last chance to score before the home crowd. I doubt that anyone took offense at that.
Just ask Rudy Tomjonovich how an unnecessary shot to the face during a basketball game can fuck your life up. It sounds like Tyler is lucky in that his nose isn't broken and he was only cut and bruised, but that does not absolve Henderson of one iota of guilt. What a sour ending to a great and pretty well-played game. Leave it to Duke to show its true colors even when it is least expected.
Some great comments from emails and the boards: "saying the punch was a result of Hansbrough being out there is akin to telling a rape victim they shouldn't have been wearing that tight skirt."
Also, K's undaunted hypocrisy chonicled in the 2007 season:
At the end of a 71-56 victory over Air Force
On the floor for Duke when the final buzzer sounded: Paulus, McRoberts, Nelson, Scheyer, McClureAt the end of a 57-45 win over Holy Cross
On the floor for Duke when the final buzzer sounded: Paulus, Zoubek, Pocious, McClure, NelsonAt the end of a 69-53 win over George Mason
On the floor for Duke when the final buzzer sounded: Paulus, McRoberts, Scheyer, Thomas, PociousAt the end of a 86-63 win over Miami
On the floor for Duke when the final buzzer sounded: Paulus, McClure, Henderson, Pocious, DavidsonAt the end of 62-40 win over Wake Forest
On the floor for Duke when the final buzzer sounded: Paulus, McRoberts, Henderson, Nelson, ScheyerAt the end of a 75-61 win over Boston College
On the floor for Duke when the final buzzer sounded: Paulus, McRoberts, Nelson, Henderson, Scheyer
Also, Tyler's nose WAS broken and he might have to wear a mask for the ACCs:http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2788363
*seethe*
Great post Ian. I have been fired up all day. As for K's statement about who was in the game, I'll repost here something that I put on one of the message boards:
Tyler was at the line because of McBob's 5th foul. Paulus had fouled out the previous posession fouling Bobby. So, when Tyler went to the line, it looked like this:
UNC
Frasor
Hansbrough (with Copeland waiting at the table to come in)
Burke
Ellington
GreenDook
Nelson
Scheyer
Henderson
Pocius (came in for Paulus because he fouled out)
Johnson (Walk-on who came in for McB because he fouled out)While Henderson didn't start for dook, he played twice as many minutes as the person that did start in his position - McClure. So if not for foul-outs, K would have had his top 5 players in the game - including 4 players that started.
For UNC, you had a senior walk-on who played 3 minutes the entire game (Burke), the back-up point guard who played 9 minutes the entire game (Frasor), the back-up WF who played 10 minutes the entire game (Green), the normally starting shooting guard (Ellington) who played only 15 minutes in the game but did not start because of senior day, and the starting center who is a 76% free throw shooter (Hansbrough) and had a guy waiting for him at the table to come in (Copeland).
K is evil. There is nothing more to be said.
i'm a terps fan (watch out for them in the acc championship) so i share your hatred of dook - and from my 55" HDTV 1080ii that foul was intentional (and tyler's face was bloody red) . my husband and i tivo'ed it in frame by frame and it was clearly intentional. and as for K why the hell was he still taking time outs if the game was over. that man has got to be related to dick cheney.
and where's the praise for the unc women's team finally stopping the dookettes.
here's to a good acc tourney.
Best blog post everBest Goddaughter video ever.
the espn sports guy had a great line:
"If the roles were reversed, and this had happened to McRoberts, Coach K would have shown up for the news conference covered in McRoberts's blood, fighting back tears, urging for the offending UNC player to be suspended for the entire ACC tournament and basically looking like Jackie Kennedy in Dallas after the JFK shooting. God, I hate Duke."
Ian, it was probably a good thing that they didn't show any replays of the event at the game. Kids would have been tossing themselves off the upper deck ala Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka just to land an Atomic knee drop into Henderson's face. If you don't think that piece of garbage didn't do it on purpose, just watch the replay a couple of times: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LebHSBzxJ1c
At least the media today has been ripping Coach K and the dookies. Jim Rome absolutely blasted Rat for the length of his radio show, and did the same on ESPN. Mark Packer, Billy's son, said his dad is losing it and that his call of the foul was atrocious.
Coach K really stooped to a new low today, though, with these comments:
Q: Did the referees do a good job?
A: Yes (pause) I think they did a good job. There’s a lot going on in a short period of time – the blood, the crowd. I’m not blaming anybody, but it’s just unfortunate, and the person it’s most unfortunate for is ‘G;’ because, that wasn’t his intent and that’s not what he was doing during that play. I believe that with all my heart, head, and whatever.
The main thing is for Gerald’s reputation. He’s not that kind of a player.
WHAT A TOOL!
You had me at "twisted pair of fuckpants."
Let's call IT at least the second most inconvenient truth of our current times aside from global warming, or in the informed and in this case far too ecumenical and euphemistic words of our local (and occasionally loco) house 7 year old, "That Dook guy made a bad, bad decision!
I'm selfish now and sure hope the nose and pending decision to wear or not to wear the custom-fit mask, etal. doesn't belabor Bro-man in any way. He's hard to deter, so I"m confident. TH-Total Heart. Keepin ' the faith.
BTW, lines of the day from this purview go to my Georgia peach of a niece Makenna, with whom I was on the phone at the game's start, (the CBS feed for which was waylaid for folks outside of Woody due to the crappy prior game and typical network idiocy)--she exclaimed, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" when the game finally appeared. That and my precocious 3 year old (think LUCY)who repeated, "Stop showing it, stop showing it!!"
Breathe blue.