2

4/27/2006 9:40:25 PM

Quote :

"Let's assume for a second that Lee Fowler is insane. Another few days like Wednesday and that will be a safe assumption. But for now, let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Let's consider that maybe, just maybe, he isn't behind the search to replace Herb Sendek as basketball coach at N.C. State, that instead, someone with an airplane and a pig farm is in charge of hiring and firing within the State athletics department, and Fowler, the athletics director, is merely a front man. One of these two scenarios has to be true. Either the AD has lost his mind or the State basketball coaching search is being led by a bag man. Rarely do we get to watch something as fascinating as this unfold, but big-time basketball always has been a unique form of entertainment in Raleigh. We can go all the way back to Jackie Moreland in the '50s, when State's entire athletics programs was handed a "death penalty" by the NCAA for basketball recruiting violations, to find an equivalent to Wednesday's news. And not even that bizarre '50s episode trumps what we have now. N.C. State, having been turned down by at least four coaches, turned to the last man on earth -- Phil Ford. The former North Carolina point guard, with no experience as a varsity head coach, no ties to N.C. State and no chance in red hell of ever sitting on the Wolfpack bench, was approached by someone associated with the State athletics program about becoming the head coach in Raleigh. Not beloved Sidney Lowe, not Monte Towe, not Dereck Whittenburg, not Nate McMillan, not Eddie Biedenbach, all former N.C. State players now coaching elsewhere. Phil Ford. Needless to say, State Nation is apoplectic. This isn't just any former Tar Heel. This is -- and you can ask almost any Wolfpack fan -- the most hated Tar Heel of them all, the devil incarnate, the last human being on the face of the planet who could rally State fans for anything other than a diploma bonfire. You have to understand their plight. This has been hard on Wolfpackers, who have endured more in 50 years of college basketball than any other program anywhere. From the death penalty of the '50s, State endured a point-shaving scandal in the '60s, an NCAA probation in the '70s, the Valvano crucible in the '80s, Les Robinson's reformation in the '90s and the current situation that started with Sendek walking away after his own unique decade in the Wolfpack psyche. Still, nothing could've prepared State fans for this. They are now genuinely concerned for their program, for their reputation, for their AD. If this is true, they know one of two other things also has to be true: Either the situation in Raleigh is not all in Fowler's hands or he's lost his mind. Let's assume the latter isn't true. Let's assume Fowler has no intention of letting Ford, an assistant with the NBA's New York Knicks, anywhere near the N.C. State bench. Let's assume he's so angry that this news leaked out that he's, well, about to go crazy. Wouldn't you? Listen, there's no way Fowler contacted Ford. There's just no way, so forget that. It didn't happen. And there's no way anybody else, however loosely related to Wolfpack basketball, could've considered Ford for this job. Something else has to be true. Something sinister. Something insane. There's a pox on State's house right now, and it's infecting the collective mind of what we collectively know as N.C. State basketball. Apparently, that involves people other than Fowler. It involves people with money, lots of money. In one day, State was turned down by two coaches. In one day, simultaneous negotiations with two job applicants broke down. In one day, millions and millions of dollars were rejected. On that same day, someone with more money than sense approached Phil Ford about the job and turned this thing from a job search into a commitment hearing. A day ago we could heed the wisdom of those who believed this would all be taken care of in time and we would look back and not remember what transpired before. But not now. On an otherwise sane Wednesday, Ford said somebody connected with N.C. State contacted him. It was a day that will live in infamy. "

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060428/NEWSREC0105/604280306

4/28/2006 8:14:36 AM

if they thought that Herb caught it bad here, if they even come anywhere CLOSE to bringing in Ford then this fanbase will erupt...

4/28/2006 8:19:40 AM

My knowledge of Phil Ford:

-used to play for Carolina
-longtime assistant under Smith and Guthridge
-got a drunk driving conviction
-now an assistant with the New York Knicks

Can someone else fill in the holes please (like details on playing career)?

If Wendell Murphy is running this coaching search...well, when you lie with the pigs...

[Edited on April 28, 2006 at 8:39 AM. Reason : .]

4/28/2006 8:38:34 AM

i will never cheer for the wolfpack if a TARHEEL is at the helm.

4/28/2006 8:39:50 AM

^ Yeah. If they're gonna consider getting a grad from a rival, Johnny Dawkins would be head over heels better than Ford.

4/28/2006 8:41:51 AM

Phil Ford is not and never was a candidate. Quit bringing it up.

4/28/2006 9:01:28 AM

FIRE.. uhh. fire somebody

4/28/2006 4:49:38 PM

Quote :

"-got a drunk driving conviction"

Try TWO drunk driving convictions. They let the first one slide.

4/28/2006 5:21:55 PM