As the brother of brothers, I have to empathize with the situation Jeff Capel found himself in last night in Chapel Hill. If you missed it, some background:
- Jeff Capel is the head coach of Pitt and a longtime Duke man.
- Jason Capel is an assistant coach at Pitt and a former UNC player.
- UNC was very bad when Jason Capel was there, by North Carolina standards. They went 8-20 Capel’s senior year after Joseph Forte left college early to enter the NBA draft. Many—many, many—think Capel’s treatment of Forte helped persuade Forte to leave school early. Many—many, many—also think that 8-20 team would not have gone 8-20 with Forte on the court.
Pitt beat UNC last night, on the road, and after the game Jason Capel was heard saying this:
Jeff Capel, after the game, stood up for his brother, saying UNC had been “trolling” Jason on social media. Why did Jason think that? Seemingly because Jason used to wear #25, and Jason used to stick his tongue out, and yesterday’s pregame graphic from the Tar Heels featured the current #25 (walk-on Creighton Lebo, and yes, they’ve used other walk-ons in these) sticking out his tongue:
Was Jason wrong? Absolutely. But here’s why Jeff did the right thing:
You have to stick up for your brothers, even when they’re idiots.
There is a time and a place for getting real with someone, and that time and place is not the midst of the fray. If your brother thinks UNC’s a bunch of haters and says so, you have to go with that, even if you think he’s being the biggest idiot in the world. I’ve put my brothers in this position. My brothers have put me in this position. If you have brothers, you and your brothers have probably put one another in this position too. You don’t, you know, escalate unnecessarily, but you do what Jeff Capel did: You pretend your brother is entirely justified as you move through the situation and get the hell out of there.
Now.
The second act of last night’s drama.
First, we have this statement from Illinois’s student section:
Second, we have this statement from the University of Iowa:
So it appears that Illinois’s students pretended they were a Boys and Girls Club in order to get discounted tickets, and Iowa realized it, and Iowa said hell no but hey local youths, get on in here for some basketball. Maybe Iowa’s lying, but whatever. Illinois students aren’t entitled to a discount at an Iowa game.
What Illinois students should do is just buy new tickets, or some rich alum who—again, you don’t always have to be reasonable—decides to say the students were telling the truth and Iowa’s a bunch of frauds should buy the tickets. Buy 150 or 200 or however many tickets at full resale price. No, you won’t have your own section, but you can still cause trouble. Arguably more, given you’ll be hitting them from different fronts.
And finally, the third act:
St. John’s got punked on its own court and it didn’t fight back. You can do that if you’re a good guy, but sometimes you have to not be a good guy, and St. John’s is in a position to stop being a good guy right now. Fight back, Johnnies.
Relatedly, St. John’s isn’t winning this NIT. They’re off our list. We’ll revisit the list tomorrow, but they’ll be off it. If you pass up an opportunity to brawl, you lose our respect.
**
The menu tonight:
7:00 PM EST: FAU @ UAB (CBSSN)
Will Jelly Walker be back? I’m assuming he’s a game-time decision yet again, so I don’t freakin’ know. But this is FAU’s toughest remaining game on paper, and it’s a big chance for both the Owls and the Blazers (fun combo, props) to get back in the NIT picture. Best of luck, fellas. Game of the NITe.
7:00 PM EST: Michigan @ Northwestern (ESPN2)
7:00 PM EST: Wisconsin @ Ohio State (FS1)
The Big Ten chapter of NIT contention will be holding a meeting at 7:00 Eastern. Normally, the Big Ten doesn’t schedule games concurrently. Makes you wonder what sneakery they’re up to.
8:00 PM EST: Stanford @ Utah (P12N)
8:00 PM EST : Oregon State @ Arizona State (P12N?)
10:00 PM EST: California @ Colorado (P12N.)
10:30 PM EST: Oregon @ Arizona (ESPN)
11:00 PM EST: Washington State @ USC (FS1)
The Pac-12 chapter of NIT contention is busy this evening, and all over the map. Utah, Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon, USC, and Washington State all have realistic hopes in our area, but for the rest? Well. Dare to dream.
9:00 PM EST: Loyola Marymount @ BYU (CBSSN)
11:00 PM EST: Santa Clara @ Gonzaga (CBSSN)
11:00 PM EST: San Francisco @ Saint Mary’s (ESPNU)
And lastly, the WCC chapter of NIT contention is in action. Everyone’s on the outside looking in, but the entrance of most of these teams to the fray would be met with jubilation from the faithful. (That’s us. We’re the faithful.)
8:00 PM EST: Hornets @ Bulls (League Pass)
Bulls play tonight.
