It appears to be fourth and long for the repeal of HB2.

It’s shocking how the reputation of North Carolina has taken a nose dive since what we know as HB2 began in Charlotte and morphed into the most controversial state statute affecting colleges since the Speaker Ban of 1963. Both laws were passed almost illegally, in a rush that did not allow opposition response.

Almost everywhere North Carolinians travel the last year or so, they no longer hear they are residents of one of the fastest growing states in the union, a hub of major universities and big-time sports and one of the most popular retirement destinations for seniors. Instead, they are asked what the hell is going on there.

Kudos to the athletes from each of the Big Four schools who together wrote a letter to state lawmakers, imploring them to repeal the law that doesn’t even seem to make sense to most people.

Known as the “bathroom bill,” it excludes gender identity and sexual orientation from statewide anti-discrimination protections. It also requires transgender people to use restrooms in schools and state government buildings that match the gender on their birth certificates, when no abusive or dangerous incidents have been reported in any bathrooms before or since the law was passed.

The state lost 17 NCAA and ACC championship events over the last year, including the forthcoming NCAA basketball tournament, which was moved from Greensboro to Greenville, South Carolina. Of course, the NBA took this season’s all-star game out of Charlotte to New Orleans. North Carolina stands to lose all of its 133 bids for more college events and continue to be boycotted by concert artists, such as Bruce Springsteen, and lose hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues that would have enriched the state.

The athletes likened the situation to a game in the final minutes with the clock ticking. As the NCAA readies to award championships through the 2022 school year, it is even more dire. With the state legislature standing firm, call it fourth and long.

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