Paul suspended by Wake Forest

[GoReds]

Anyone see the replay of this incident last night? I don't think there is any doubt that Paul was deliberately going after Hodge.

Wake Forest's Paul suspended for low blow

By AARON BEARD, AP Sports Writer
March 7, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Wake Forest star Chris Paul was suspended by the school for one game Monday for hitting North Carolina State's Julius Hodge in the groin during a game.

Paul, a sophomore point guard, will miss Friday's Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinal, the school said Monday. The Demon Deacons, seeded second, will play the winner of Thursday's Florida State-N.C. State game.

Paul will be allowed to practice Tuesday and could return to the lineup Saturday if Wake Forest advances to the tournament semifinals.

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Athletic director Ron Wellman said the school consulted ACC commissioner John Swofford before announcing the suspension.

Paul apologized to Hodge, N.C. State, his teammates and Wake Forest's fans.

``Sunday night was emotional for me for many reasons and I let my emotions get the best of me,'' Paul said. ``However, that is no excuse for my actions and I fully accept and agree with my suspension.''

Paul, the leading vote-getter on The Associated Press preseason all-America team, is averaging 14.9 points and 6.6 assists. He has been one of the stars of the No. 3 Demon Deacons (26-4, 13-3 ACC), who have tied the school's single-season record for overall and conference victories.

Hodge was not expected to comment Monday on Paul's suspension, N.C. State spokeswoman Annabelle Vaughan said

Paul's low blow with 12:48 left in the first half set the tone for the game in Raleigh, which ended when he hit a runner at the buzzer for a 55-53 win.

On the replay, Paul was behind Hodge as the lanky senior was battling for position to rebound a missed 3-pointer by Ilian Evtimov. After Cedric Simmons got the rebound, Paul reached around from Hodge's right side and hit him in the groin. Hodge, the reigning ACC player of the year, crumpled to the court.

With Hodge laying on the ground, his older brother, Steve, walked onto the court to see if Julius was OK -- and to yell toward Wake Forest bench and the referees. After he left the court, Steve Hodge was escorted from the area.

Once Julius Hodge got up, he yelled and gestured toward Paul and the Demon Deacons' sideline on his way to the bench.

After the game, Paul said the two simply became entangled.

``I don't believe I popped him,'' Paul said. ``It was just the heat of the game. I've got too much respect for him to try to pop him on senior night.''

When told that replays showed him hitting Hodge, Paul responded, ``I haven't seen the replay.''

[15fan]

Guess this is a good thread for me to ring in on.

Was Paul's "punch" (it really didn't look like there was enough force to call it a punch - I'd say more of a slap, but I'll play along) wrong? Yes.

Should Paul be disciplined? Yes.

Personally, I'm shocked that it took CP3 this long to snap. He's been mugged all year long. I'd have gone postal much earlier in the season.

It's too bad State couldn't shoot any better than 9 of 22 from the free throw line. A big win was there for the taking.

"Hodge was not expected to comment Monday on Paul's suspension, N.C. State spokeswoman Annabelle Vaughan said."

I think the State fans...heck, all ACC fans will agree with me on this: "Hodge" and "not expected to comment" are two things I never thought I'd see together.

[letsgojunior]

Originally Posted by 15fan

I think the State fans...heck, all ACC fans will agree with me on this: "Hodge" and "not expected to comment" are two things I never thought I'd see together.

Agreed... Julius Hodge is perhaps my least favorite player in the entire ACC. It's a tossup between him, McCants, and Nik Caner-Medley.

Good luck in the tourney this week, 15Fan. Should be some great matchups.

[RedFanAlways1966]

``Sunday night was emotional for me for many reasons and I let my emotions get the best of me,'' Paul said. ``However, that is no excuse for my actions and I fully accept and agree with my suspension.''

Dang... seems as though some MLB athletes could take lessons from the college kid. Admit to a wrong-doing... amazing.

****Barry****Bonds****, do you hear this kid?
Sammy "Corky" Sosa, do you hear this kid?

[TC81190]

Good lord, first the shove, now punches given to the jewels. That sport is getting looow...

[KronoRed]

Originally Posted by TC81190

Good lord, first the shove, now punches given to the jewels. That sport is getting looow...

Gonna need pads pretty soon

[TC81190]

Originally Posted by KronoRed

Gonna need pads pretty soon

[KronoRed]

It's a shame that sport hasn't caught on big time

[Playadlc]

Yeah, well, not to condone what Paul did, but if I had a crowd chanting this at me all game, I'm going to be pretty pissed off too. Man, am I glad he hit that shot to win.

Tasteless taunt was low, too

By BARRY SAUNDERS, Staff Writer

'I killed your grandfather. I killed your grandfather." Say what? Are you out of your freakin' minds?
Yeah, I'm talking to you, the N.C. State University Wolfpack basketball fans who taunted a Wake Forest player with that chant during Sunday's game.

Chris Paul, a Wake Forest guard, was the object of the fans' wrath even before he low-blowed the Pack's Julius Hodge, a move that has resulted in a one-game suspension.

No doubt about it: It was a cheap shot, and Paul should have gotten the old heave-ho from the refs. He didn't, however, deserve to be so callously reminded that his grandfather was beaten to death during a robbery in 2002.

Answer me this, dawg: To whom was it so important for the Wolfpack to win that you'd try to rattle a kid that way?

I reckon it just shows the power of the crowd, because individually, none of the jock sniffers making the chant would have had the nerve. Instead, they'd have been asking Paul for his autograph.

Not all of the Pack's fans engaged in the tasteless chant, but those who didn't should have expressed disapproval of the clowns who did. Me, I'd have pimp-slapped somebody.

Dean Buchan, Wake Forest's sports information director, assured me that Paul heard the taunts from the fans and was affected by them.

"Taunting the opposing team is a part of the atmosphere of college sports," Buchan told me, "but we've never heard anything chanted quite that severe."

Lest Hodge think the insults hurled at his assailant are a sign of the home fans' affection for him, someone had better remind him of the things those same fans shout at him after he goes 4-17 from the floor or misses a key free throw.

"But dude," you say, "you don't understand how important ACC basketball is around these here parts."

Bull hockey. Nobody knows better than I how reverentially we regard ACC basketball. Who is the man who nursed a career-long grudge against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar because UCLA beat the Tar Heels in 1968's championship game?

Shaft? No, me.

And who is the man who requested, on every team he ever played, uniform No. 43 in honor of his favorite former Tar Heel center, Rusty Clark? That would be me, too. (I had too much reverence to ask for 33 or 44, worn by Charlie Scott and Larry Miller, respectively.)

Dwayne Ballen, a buddy of mine who has been a part of CBS' NCAA coverage for the past five seasons, said he doesn't think fan civility has lessened, but he thinks the rowdiest fans have become even rowdier.

"Everybody wants to be on 'SportsCenter,' even the fans," Ballen said. "ESPN has a segment where it rates the fans' fervor on game day. What do you think that's going to do? It encourages their fervor."

Fervent fans are one thing; foolish, unkind fans are another.

When I asked Buchan if anyone from NCSU had apologized for the fans' boorishness, he said, "No. I know Chris is going to offer his apologies for his part in this."

Classy move. Somebody at NCSU -- like, say, the chancellor -- should show similar class by calling Wake Forest and apologizing to that kid whose grandfather was murdered.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/sau...-8570823c.html