CHAPEL HILL – Bug Howard tweeted out something he thought was an innocent joke he was in on with a few UNC basketball players Tuesday morning. It didn’t take long for Howard to realize that it was going pretty wild on the social media circuit, and Tuesday evening after practice, Howard explained what was behind his tweet.
A few of his teammates also offered their take, one of whom, Kendrick Singleton, was with Howard when the tweet occurred.
First the tweet: “Maybe if we did a Men's basketball pick up game at halftime of our games maybe people will show up? Will you?”
The following is what Howard had to say followed by what Kendrick Singleton and Damien Washington said about the tweet:
Bug Howard
Q: On being given a hard time by some teammates.
Howard: They’re not really giving me a hard time, just joking around.
Q: On why he thinks that’s happening.
Howard: Because of the Twitter tweet that I tweeted, I guess.
Q: On what prompted it and what kind of issue attendance is at UNC games.
Howard: I wasn’t sure about the attendance during the game, I just seen a picture this afternoon, so when I seen the picture I was sitting with some basketball guys and we just had a talk, and they was just trying to figure out ways they could help get people to come out and support us. You’ve got basketball fans an you’ve got football fans and you’ve got volleyball fans, you’ve got all different kinds of fans and we were just trying to figure out ways to get all the fans together and come to a certain event. Football tries to get people to come to volleyball and stuff like that.
Q: On who came up with that suggestion for the basketball team.
Howard: It was a collection of guys. I ain’t gonna say no names. So, that’s who it was.
Q: On that he gets credit for it since he tweeted it out.
Howard: I guess so since I tweeted it out.
Q: On if h thought it would go off like that.
Howard: No, I really didn’t think it was going to go off like that. I was kind of doing it as a joke, really. It got out of hand (laughter).
Q: On if he’s deleted it.
Howard: Nah, I haven’t deleted it yet, it’s still up. I don’t think it was nothing too harsh, but I just want to thank the fans that do come out and support us every Saturday. We’ve got a great fan base, we’ve got good students, they give us energy every Saturday.
Q: On what is the most interest response he’s gotten.
Howard: Ah, I think it was from a State fan, I can’t remember. (laughter) It was pretty bad.
Q: On what can be done to improve the attendance other than a halftime pickup game (laughter)
Howard: (Laughter) I’m not sure about that. I wish I had the answer to that.
Q: On if he ever notices during a game that there are a lot of empty seats
Howard: Not really. I would just be focused on the game, focused on trying to get a win
Q: On what having fans there would add.
Howard: If we have a packed crowd I feel like we feed off better energy-wise with a packed house. That’s why I feel like we should pack the stadium.
Kendrick Singleton
Q: On what he thinks about the tweet
Singleton: It’s just a funny thing. We’ve been hanging out with the basketball players a lot, they pretty cool guys. We all are family, we support each other. Bug, Bug’s a funny guy. He was like, ‘I bet I do it,’ and I’m like, ‘I bet you won’t do it.’ And he did it. Pretty funny.
Q: On that it came from somewhere and there’s some truth to it, if they notice the crowd when there’s that many empty seats.
Singleton: I don’t really realize it until after the first drive. I be zoned in, and then after I come off the field, the first drive I take a peak and notice things.
Q: Good weather, Big Ten team, if it bothers them at all.
Singleton: It’s out of our control, definitely, definitely it’s out of our control. No, it don’t bother us because we have to show up either way. It happens. It’s been like that for a couple of years now. This is my fourth year, my senior season. We’ve had a few games where the crowd comes but we haven’t really been like that. Maybe it will change after this.
Damien Washington
Q: On the tweet, his thoughts and if he was around Howard when he tweeted it.
Washington: I wasn’t but he actually communicated it to the group message that we have, and my take on it is awareness of the fans to just be at the games, trying to get everybody to support us and I support what he said. Obviously, some of it was a joke, but at the same time he was trying to bring awareness to the fans and make sure they come to the games.
Q: On that for a joke to land it has to have some truth to it.
Washington: Some jokes have some truth to them.
Q: On if the crowd bothers them, especially no bad weather and a Big Ten team in town.
Washington: At some point, you know we’ve got to play and do whatever we’ve got to do to win, and hopefully that will bring in the fans. But, I guess it is a little discouraging that your fans aren’t coming to the games to support you, regardless if it’s A&T or if we’re playing Illinois. Say we were playing Alabama, everybody would be here, the stadium would be packed. I guess it’s just a heads up to the fans to come and support us.
A few of his teammates also offered their take, one of whom, Kendrick Singleton, was with Howard when the tweet occurred.
First the tweet: “Maybe if we did a Men's basketball pick up game at halftime of our games maybe people will show up? Will you?”
The following is what Howard had to say followed by what Kendrick Singleton and Damien Washington said about the tweet:
Bug Howard
Q: On being given a hard time by some teammates.
Howard: They’re not really giving me a hard time, just joking around.
Q: On why he thinks that’s happening.
Howard: Because of the Twitter tweet that I tweeted, I guess.
Q: On what prompted it and what kind of issue attendance is at UNC games.
Howard: I wasn’t sure about the attendance during the game, I just seen a picture this afternoon, so when I seen the picture I was sitting with some basketball guys and we just had a talk, and they was just trying to figure out ways they could help get people to come out and support us. You’ve got basketball fans an you’ve got football fans and you’ve got volleyball fans, you’ve got all different kinds of fans and we were just trying to figure out ways to get all the fans together and come to a certain event. Football tries to get people to come to volleyball and stuff like that.
Q: On who came up with that suggestion for the basketball team.
Howard: It was a collection of guys. I ain’t gonna say no names. So, that’s who it was.
Q: On that he gets credit for it since he tweeted it out.
Howard: I guess so since I tweeted it out.
Q: On if h thought it would go off like that.
Howard: No, I really didn’t think it was going to go off like that. I was kind of doing it as a joke, really. It got out of hand (laughter).
Q: On if he’s deleted it.
Howard: Nah, I haven’t deleted it yet, it’s still up. I don’t think it was nothing too harsh, but I just want to thank the fans that do come out and support us every Saturday. We’ve got a great fan base, we’ve got good students, they give us energy every Saturday.
Q: On what is the most interest response he’s gotten.
Howard: Ah, I think it was from a State fan, I can’t remember. (laughter) It was pretty bad.
Q: On what can be done to improve the attendance other than a halftime pickup game (laughter)
Howard: (Laughter) I’m not sure about that. I wish I had the answer to that.
Q: On if he ever notices during a game that there are a lot of empty seats
Howard: Not really. I would just be focused on the game, focused on trying to get a win
Q: On what having fans there would add.
Howard: If we have a packed crowd I feel like we feed off better energy-wise with a packed house. That’s why I feel like we should pack the stadium.
Kendrick Singleton
Q: On what he thinks about the tweet
Singleton: It’s just a funny thing. We’ve been hanging out with the basketball players a lot, they pretty cool guys. We all are family, we support each other. Bug, Bug’s a funny guy. He was like, ‘I bet I do it,’ and I’m like, ‘I bet you won’t do it.’ And he did it. Pretty funny.
Q: On that it came from somewhere and there’s some truth to it, if they notice the crowd when there’s that many empty seats.
Singleton: I don’t really realize it until after the first drive. I be zoned in, and then after I come off the field, the first drive I take a peak and notice things.
Q: Good weather, Big Ten team, if it bothers them at all.
Singleton: It’s out of our control, definitely, definitely it’s out of our control. No, it don’t bother us because we have to show up either way. It happens. It’s been like that for a couple of years now. This is my fourth year, my senior season. We’ve had a few games where the crowd comes but we haven’t really been like that. Maybe it will change after this.
Damien Washington
Q: On the tweet, his thoughts and if he was around Howard when he tweeted it.
Washington: I wasn’t but he actually communicated it to the group message that we have, and my take on it is awareness of the fans to just be at the games, trying to get everybody to support us and I support what he said. Obviously, some of it was a joke, but at the same time he was trying to bring awareness to the fans and make sure they come to the games.
Q: On that for a joke to land it has to have some truth to it.
Washington: Some jokes have some truth to them.
Q: On if the crowd bothers them, especially no bad weather and a Big Ten team in town.
Washington: At some point, you know we’ve got to play and do whatever we’ve got to do to win, and hopefully that will bring in the fans. But, I guess it is a little discouraging that your fans aren’t coming to the games to support you, regardless if it’s A&T or if we’re playing Illinois. Say we were playing Alabama, everybody would be here, the stadium would be packed. I guess it’s just a heads up to the fans to come and support us.
