Didn't see that one coming did you?
There are a lot of questions about this one. WRAL has video of the incident here. The gist of the story is a Presbyterian fan was seated about 20 rows up from the UNC bench and screamed "Deon, miss it" or something to that effect while Deon Thompson was at the free throw line. Roy turns, says something to the individual then beckons security who eventually took the gentleman out. During the postgame press conference Roy opted to say very little about it only pointing out that he did not want fans there at the game on tickets provided by UNC to say anything negative to the UNC players.
Dan Wiederer at the Fayetteville Observer jumped all over the situation calling Roy "hypersensitive" and then decided to take his life into his own hands by calling UNC SID Steve Kirschner out for providing the "predictable Tar Heel spin." Kirschner, to his credit responded to Wiederer. No word if phrases like "revoked media credentials" ever came up but Kirschner did provide a clarification as to what happened.
Kirschner e-mailed me Sunday afternoon, taking exception with my post as well as to clarify exactly what it was Williams was doing when he summoned Smith Center security to help him deal with the fan in question.
"First, Coach Williams didn’t tell security to throw the guy out of the building," Kirschner wrote. "He asked security to see if that guy had a ticket for that seat because he wanted to know who gave him the ticket to a seat behind our bench. Security tossed him because he appeared to be intoxicated and our security (and Duke’s, Maryland’s NC State’s and pretty much anyone else’s security staffs) eject fans if they think they are."
My apologies to Kirschner for accusing him of "predictable spin" in my original post. That, in retrospect, was out of line and not what I was intending to say. It was a poor description.
If the fan was indeed intoxicated, then it’s up to arena security to use their best judgment on how to handle that situation. End of story.
I am not sure the video lines up with that description but I also cannot hear what Roy ultimately tells Smith Center personnel when they come over. The individual in the video looks as though he might be intoxicated but it also appears the officers did not really talk to him to actual determine that. If Roy wanted to know whose ticket it was, that would be consistent with his vendetta against UNC ticket holders who either do not show up for cupcake games or opt to give their tickets to an opposing fan.
All that is beside the point which is this question: Was Roy being too snippy with an opposing fan heckling UNC during the game? Perhaps or more correctly, it is probably something the head coach of the Tar Heels should not concern himself with. It seems like small potatoes for a coach of Roy's stature to worry about. Speaking for myself, I am of the opinion that if you are in an opposing team's arena, then you should act like a guest. Now, if you paid for general sale tickets then obviously you should enjoy yourself, especially if you are sitting in the designated section for your team. If your tickets came via a fan of the team or you are sitting smack in the middle of that team's fans in their building, then it would prudent to keep your mouth shut as much as possible. This is clearly the case here and Roy took exception probably because, as Kirschner said, the seat was likely a UNC season ticket holder's seats given to this guy.
Now the more comical take on this story is the one Wiederer himself trotted out that has been repeated in some form or another on Twitter:
As for those UNC fans who will blindly defend Williams’ reaction, ask yourself this: if Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski had pulled the same stunt at Cameron Indoor Stadium, how would you have viewed it?
As arrogant? Overbearing? Dictatorial?
First of all, the reason Krzyzewski would be called all those names is because they apply to him whether he is ejecting hecklers from Hansbrough Indoor Stadium or not. Secondly, we could also tack on hypocritical given the general behavior of Duke fans at any given moment. One opposing fan yelling "miss it" pales in comparison to the alarming levels of classlessness on display in Durham night in and night out. Setting all that aside, I would think the reaction would be the same: endless grief from the media and opposing fan bases. Anyone who thinks otherwise has not been paying attention.
And if you get any grief from your Wolfpack friends simply tell them "4,297." That was the total attendance at the RBC Center on Saturday when the Pack took on Georgia Southern. With numbers like that, Sidney Lowe could talk to each fan individually about their behavior.