Danny Green Called NC State Fans 'Country' Before Saturday's Game

When N.C. State plays North Carolina, it is a rivalry game. Ignore what many Tar Heel fans will say -- beating the Wolfpack matters (albeit a lot less than defeating Duke in basketball.)

If it wasn't an important matchup, then Danny Green wouldn't bother referring to State fans as "country."

"From our perspective, their fans are kind of crazy, a lot of country guys over there,'' UNC forward Danny Green said. "They're pretty harsh; they speak their mind, they say whatever comes to mind, they try to hurt your feelings, and it's probably one of the toughest places to play.

"You've got the wolf howling in the background, which is kind annoying. And then when they run out, one time I got hit by one of the batons when they were swinging the flags - I got hit with one of those in the head; that was kind of annoying, too. It's a tough place to play with all of the fans in the crowd; they get into it."

That, folks, is the very definition of a "backhanded compliment." While Green was kind enough to mention that the RBC Center is one of the tougher places to play (it is, but there are definitely tougher), dogging the wolf howls and calling the fans "country" is absolutely insulting.

It doesn't really matter; State fans will never like Carolina players (feel free to add on as many vice-versas as you want) and Carolina paddled the Pack, so Green can say what he wants, I suppose. But that doesn't make it less unnecessarily bourgeois.