Might as well insert these here. Couple of good ones. The original...
The chops...
Hahaha, good stuff, DevilDJ!
I made one myself. I'll add it in here shortly.
OFC
The Carolina Way VIII
- Thread starter DevilDJ
- Start date
- Status
Hahaha, good stuff, DevilDJ!
I made one myself. I'll add it in here shortly.
OFC
What unc must do: Fire Williams, remove banners, forfeit wins
More important than whatever action the NCAA takes against the University of North carolina for what is perhaps the worst athletics-academic scandal in collegiate history is what the unc administration will do to reel in its corrupt athletic department and its aiders and abettors.
The NCAA is between a rock and a hard place because it badly needs North carolina athletics to be vibrant and healthy. A few years of severe sanctions against unc means a potentially huge revenue loss for the NCAA, from both television rights and post-season play. Before these revelations of extreme cheating, carolina had a squeaky-clean reputation, due in large part to the integrity of late basketball coach Dean Smith. That’s all over now. The unc athletic department will likely never again enjoy such a lofty status in collegiate sports.
On the other hand, unc, as the state’s flagship institution of higher learning, should see the reputation of its university and the integrity of its academics as pre-eminent and thus institute dramatic and historic reforms. Up until now, the unc administration has maintained a laissez-faire attitude toward the athletic department. “Trust us,” was their cry. “We pay our own way, and we follow the rules.” This relationship provided the athletic department reckless freedom to self-destruct.
Once I told former unc athletic director John Swofford I wanted to write a story that, in part, looked into athletic department finances. Swofford placed his hand on my shoulder and said: “Now, Patrick, why would you want to write about a thing like that?”
So went my journey at The Chapel Hill Newspaper as I reported on stories that looked into how the unc athletics department spent its money. Despite North carolina’s status as a state-funded public institution, getting financial information from the athletic department was never easy. Then-unc attorney, Susan H. Ehringhaus, would usually help the AD’s office erect road blocks, and it often required the help of N.C. Press Association lawyers to get unc to provide the information to which the newspaper and the public were entitled.
Now that unc’s house of cards has crumbled, damage control has been carried out, but with all the wrong emphases. The messengers have been killed (Rashad McCants and Mary Willingham), the news media have been bashed, basketball coach Roy Williams has been “dumbfounded.” Swofford recalls nothing. Some sacrificial lambs have moved on (Dick Baddour and Jan Boxill). And Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge are gone.
Now what? As much as it will hurt in the short term, unc has to give Williams his walking papers. Williams, who likes to flippantly refer to the scandal as all that “junk going on,” is a big part of the problem. Despite his status as the state’s highest-paid employee, Williams did not do his job. At best, he is an incompetent administrator who failed to maintain control over the handful of athletes he was supposed to monitor. At worst, he knew all about the cheating and took a see-no-evil-Joe-Paterno approach, hoping his immorality would go undiscovered.
unc should also take down Williams’ now-tainted 2005 and 2009 NCAA Championship banners from the Smith Center rafters. These titles were won by cheating, plain and simple. carolina must own up to its ill-gotten titles and voluntarily disown them. Additionally, all unc victories for any years in which ineligible players were used should be vacated. Williams – and unc basketball – should have those wins wiped from records. The carolina football program, and any other nonrevenue teams that used ineligible players, should face the same fate.
The unc administration must implement a two-tiered system of control over its athletic department, meaning its athletic director must answer to a dean whose job will be to maintain a hands-on, day-to-day connection between the “real” university and athletics. unc should also implement a dual system of economic regulation in which the athletic department does not maintain unfettered control of its finances. It’s time to implement a system of checks and balances between the university and its wayward athletics department.
It’s time for honest leadership to prevail in Chapel Hill. The time of reckoning has come for unc athletics, and the NCAA may not be the agency to provide the incentive that leads carolina back on the road to integrity. The university must take steps to steady the ship and steer it back to the “carolina Way.”
Patrick O’Neill of Garner is a former sports and news reporter with The Chapel Hill News, formerly known as The Chapel Hill Newspaper.
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article22823382.html
More important than whatever action the NCAA takes against the University of North carolina for what is perhaps the worst athletics-academic scandal in collegiate history is what the unc administration will do to reel in its corrupt athletic department and its aiders and abettors.
The NCAA is between a rock and a hard place because it badly needs North carolina athletics to be vibrant and healthy. A few years of severe sanctions against unc means a potentially huge revenue loss for the NCAA, from both television rights and post-season play. Before these revelations of extreme cheating, carolina had a squeaky-clean reputation, due in large part to the integrity of late basketball coach Dean Smith. That’s all over now. The unc athletic department will likely never again enjoy such a lofty status in collegiate sports.
On the other hand, unc, as the state’s flagship institution of higher learning, should see the reputation of its university and the integrity of its academics as pre-eminent and thus institute dramatic and historic reforms. Up until now, the unc administration has maintained a laissez-faire attitude toward the athletic department. “Trust us,” was their cry. “We pay our own way, and we follow the rules.” This relationship provided the athletic department reckless freedom to self-destruct.
Once I told former unc athletic director John Swofford I wanted to write a story that, in part, looked into athletic department finances. Swofford placed his hand on my shoulder and said: “Now, Patrick, why would you want to write about a thing like that?”
So went my journey at The Chapel Hill Newspaper as I reported on stories that looked into how the unc athletics department spent its money. Despite North carolina’s status as a state-funded public institution, getting financial information from the athletic department was never easy. Then-unc attorney, Susan H. Ehringhaus, would usually help the AD’s office erect road blocks, and it often required the help of N.C. Press Association lawyers to get unc to provide the information to which the newspaper and the public were entitled.
Now that unc’s house of cards has crumbled, damage control has been carried out, but with all the wrong emphases. The messengers have been killed (Rashad McCants and Mary Willingham), the news media have been bashed, basketball coach Roy Williams has been “dumbfounded.” Swofford recalls nothing. Some sacrificial lambs have moved on (Dick Baddour and Jan Boxill). And Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge are gone.
Now what? As much as it will hurt in the short term, unc has to give Williams his walking papers. Williams, who likes to flippantly refer to the scandal as all that “junk going on,” is a big part of the problem. Despite his status as the state’s highest-paid employee, Williams did not do his job. At best, he is an incompetent administrator who failed to maintain control over the handful of athletes he was supposed to monitor. At worst, he knew all about the cheating and took a see-no-evil-Joe-Paterno approach, hoping his immorality would go undiscovered.
unc should also take down Williams’ now-tainted 2005 and 2009 NCAA Championship banners from the Smith Center rafters. These titles were won by cheating, plain and simple. carolina must own up to its ill-gotten titles and voluntarily disown them. Additionally, all unc victories for any years in which ineligible players were used should be vacated. Williams – and unc basketball – should have those wins wiped from records. The carolina football program, and any other nonrevenue teams that used ineligible players, should face the same fate.
The unc administration must implement a two-tiered system of control over its athletic department, meaning its athletic director must answer to a dean whose job will be to maintain a hands-on, day-to-day connection between the “real” university and athletics. unc should also implement a dual system of economic regulation in which the athletic department does not maintain unfettered control of its finances. It’s time to implement a system of checks and balances between the university and its wayward athletics department.
It’s time for honest leadership to prevail in Chapel Hill. The time of reckoning has come for unc athletics, and the NCAA may not be the agency to provide the incentive that leads carolina back on the road to integrity. The university must take steps to steady the ship and steer it back to the “carolina Way.”
Patrick O’Neill of Garner is a former sports and news reporter with The Chapel Hill News, formerly known as The Chapel Hill Newspaper.
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article22823382.html
I made a thread about this, but I'm adding the 'Mission Impossible' gif in here also, DevilDJ.
OFC
OFC
manalishi
Waterboy
1497 posts this site
Ignore this Member
Send Private Message
Avatar
Nominate | Report
Posted: Today 5:07 PM
Re: uNC scandal: N&O OP-ED: FIRE ROY & REMOVE BANNERS
There is a rhyme to what Roy and Fedora are saying -- and it is to the marching orders of the PTB. And therein is one of the very reasons that the NOA has been delayed thus far: there are a LOT of people that unc is contacting, with regards to the talking points they should say in the very near future (once the media starts reaching out to them). And who is "them"? That would be all the people who are named in the NOA (athletes and otherwise). Again, a big reason this is taking so long on unc's part: they want to try and reach those people (and inveigle and/or strong-arm) before the media does.
The COI will be tuning in to the "public response" once the news of the NOA hits -- and you can bet that unc will try and get its "accused" all on the same page to try and counter what the media rolls out. That's the work of the good ol' PR firm.
There's a problem, though. unc may have thought they were using many of these athletes, but in the end... the opposite may prove to be true.
Waterboy
1497 posts this site
Ignore this Member
Send Private Message
Avatar
Nominate | Report
Posted: Today 5:07 PM
Re: uNC scandal: N&O OP-ED: FIRE ROY & REMOVE BANNERS
There is a rhyme to what Roy and Fedora are saying -- and it is to the marching orders of the PTB. And therein is one of the very reasons that the NOA has been delayed thus far: there are a LOT of people that unc is contacting, with regards to the talking points they should say in the very near future (once the media starts reaching out to them). And who is "them"? That would be all the people who are named in the NOA (athletes and otherwise). Again, a big reason this is taking so long on unc's part: they want to try and reach those people (and inveigle and/or strong-arm) before the media does.
The COI will be tuning in to the "public response" once the news of the NOA hits -- and you can bet that unc will try and get its "accused" all on the same page to try and counter what the media rolls out. That's the work of the good ol' PR firm.
There's a problem, though. unc may have thought they were using many of these athletes, but in the end... the opposite may prove to be true.
Vid of Roy lyin' his azz off...
http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/unc/article22932786.html
http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/unc/article22932786.html
Lew Margolis...
"Sorry history of collusion." "Yet to take ownership of the wrongdoing that sullied the campus" "Appalling behaviour..."
http://chapelboro.com/category/wchl/features/commentators/
"Sorry history of collusion." "Yet to take ownership of the wrongdoing that sullied the campus" "Appalling behaviour..."
http://chapelboro.com/category/wchl/features/commentators/
Nope. Not over....
manalishi
Waterboy
1500 posts this site
Ignore this Member
Send Private Message
Avatar
Nominate | Report
Posted: Today 2:31 PM
Re: UNC releases NOA: NCAA finds LOIC at UNC-Ch
The gods are smiling... a scheduled afternoon debrief has been cancelled.
Okay, a few items:
-- Crowder and Nyan'goro were very specifically "encouraged" to not speak with the NCAA. Anything they could have said would have only made matters WORSE. (and yes, the rumors are that it was worse -- worse than what Wainstein found) UNC was willing to get slapped with the "failure to cooperate" tag twice, rather than risk having Crowder and/or Nyan'goro slip up in an interview. Think about that -- they'd rather have two guaranteed Level I infractions. Hmm.
-- Regarding Tami, Fats, PJ, and a few other issues: Two reasons they were not included. One, the NCAA lacks subpoena power. And two, the years that would have been affected by those various issues/infractions were already encompassed by the impermissible academic benefits -- so when it came down to manpower and the legal hassles that would have been involved, it appears the NCAA chose the path of least resistance.
-- There are a couple of very specific individuals who have been contacted by unc over the past 10 days (regarding the NOA, and how they should respond if/when questioned), who are NOT HAPPY. Again, we shall see.
-- Regarding the redacted information... I do believe that there's a good chance unc is trying to pull a fast one over on the media. We shall see.
There are a few more items -- with a couple having significant potential. Gonna hold onto them for a bit. Let's see who, if anyone, speaks up first.
manalishi
Waterboy
1500 posts this site
Ignore this Member
Send Private Message
Avatar
Nominate | Report
Posted: Today 2:31 PM
Re: UNC releases NOA: NCAA finds LOIC at UNC-Ch
The gods are smiling... a scheduled afternoon debrief has been cancelled.
Okay, a few items:
-- Crowder and Nyan'goro were very specifically "encouraged" to not speak with the NCAA. Anything they could have said would have only made matters WORSE. (and yes, the rumors are that it was worse -- worse than what Wainstein found) UNC was willing to get slapped with the "failure to cooperate" tag twice, rather than risk having Crowder and/or Nyan'goro slip up in an interview. Think about that -- they'd rather have two guaranteed Level I infractions. Hmm.
-- Regarding Tami, Fats, PJ, and a few other issues: Two reasons they were not included. One, the NCAA lacks subpoena power. And two, the years that would have been affected by those various issues/infractions were already encompassed by the impermissible academic benefits -- so when it came down to manpower and the legal hassles that would have been involved, it appears the NCAA chose the path of least resistance.
-- There are a couple of very specific individuals who have been contacted by unc over the past 10 days (regarding the NOA, and how they should respond if/when questioned), who are NOT HAPPY. Again, we shall see.
-- Regarding the redacted information... I do believe that there's a good chance unc is trying to pull a fast one over on the media. We shall see.
There are a few more items -- with a couple having significant potential. Gonna hold onto them for a bit. Let's see who, if anyone, speaks up first.
At unc, tough questions not yet asked about Williams
Should Roy Williams have known that his players were maintaining their academic eligibility by taking no-show paper classes? Wayne Walden, an academic counselor Williams brought with him to unc from the University of Kansas, admitted knowing about the classes and steering basketball players into them. Williams said that Walden never told him about the sham courses, and Walden does not remember ever telling him.
Why didn’t Walden check with Williams to find out whether he approved of his players receiving academic credit for courses that were largely imaginary? Maybe Walden did not care what Williams thought about the no-show classes. This seems unlikely given their long history together. Williams has said repeatedly that he cares deeply about the education of his players. Why would Walden disregard the priorities of the coach to whom he owed his job?
Perhaps Walden believed that Williams did not really care how his players maintained their eligibility but also did not want to know how they did it. The law defines such a state of mind as “willful blindness,” where you consciously avoid discovering something that you believe is probably true. Willful blindness is punished the same as knowledge because you should not be able to escape responsibility by hiding from the truth.
Roy Williams would surely deny being willfully blind to academic fraud. He directed Walden to urge the players to take fewer independent studies, and that is what happened a few years after Williams arrived. If Walden believed that Williams just did not want to know the truth, is that at least partially Williams’ fault though? Did Williams give Walden the impression that he wanted the players to maintain their eligibility any way they could? Or was Walden simply a rogue employee whose actions could not have been anticipated?
What do unc’s leaders expect of their coaches? Are a coach’s leadership responsibilities limited primarily to the practice and playing fields? Or is a coach responsible for setting an organizational tone that stops his staff from knowingly participating in widespread academic fraud? Is a coach an organizational leader like a CEO who is ultimately accountable for what happens on his or her watch?
Successful coaches in big college sports have come to enjoy enormous power. They are often treated like mini-CEOs (including earning CEO-like salaries). CEOs though are often held ultimately responsible for what they should know, not just for what they do know.
Coaches are often held ultimately responsible for their win-loss record. They lose their jobs if they lose too many games, no matter the cause. Shouldn’t we hold them equally accountable for ethical losses as well? Whoever writes the contract for the next sports coach unc hires might want to keep this in mind.
Joseph E. Kennedy, a professor of law at unc School of Law, teaches criminal law and criminal procedure.
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article23221581.html
Should Roy Williams have known that his players were maintaining their academic eligibility by taking no-show paper classes? Wayne Walden, an academic counselor Williams brought with him to unc from the University of Kansas, admitted knowing about the classes and steering basketball players into them. Williams said that Walden never told him about the sham courses, and Walden does not remember ever telling him.
Why didn’t Walden check with Williams to find out whether he approved of his players receiving academic credit for courses that were largely imaginary? Maybe Walden did not care what Williams thought about the no-show classes. This seems unlikely given their long history together. Williams has said repeatedly that he cares deeply about the education of his players. Why would Walden disregard the priorities of the coach to whom he owed his job?
Perhaps Walden believed that Williams did not really care how his players maintained their eligibility but also did not want to know how they did it. The law defines such a state of mind as “willful blindness,” where you consciously avoid discovering something that you believe is probably true. Willful blindness is punished the same as knowledge because you should not be able to escape responsibility by hiding from the truth.
Roy Williams would surely deny being willfully blind to academic fraud. He directed Walden to urge the players to take fewer independent studies, and that is what happened a few years after Williams arrived. If Walden believed that Williams just did not want to know the truth, is that at least partially Williams’ fault though? Did Williams give Walden the impression that he wanted the players to maintain their eligibility any way they could? Or was Walden simply a rogue employee whose actions could not have been anticipated?
What do unc’s leaders expect of their coaches? Are a coach’s leadership responsibilities limited primarily to the practice and playing fields? Or is a coach responsible for setting an organizational tone that stops his staff from knowingly participating in widespread academic fraud? Is a coach an organizational leader like a CEO who is ultimately accountable for what happens on his or her watch?
Successful coaches in big college sports have come to enjoy enormous power. They are often treated like mini-CEOs (including earning CEO-like salaries). CEOs though are often held ultimately responsible for what they should know, not just for what they do know.
Coaches are often held ultimately responsible for their win-loss record. They lose their jobs if they lose too many games, no matter the cause. Shouldn’t we hold them equally accountable for ethical losses as well? Whoever writes the contract for the next sports coach unc hires might want to keep this in mind.
Joseph E. Kennedy, a professor of law at unc School of Law, teaches criminal law and criminal procedure.
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article23221581.html
NCAA Must Drop the Hammer on University of North carolina Athletics
The University of North carolina released the Notice of Allegations levied upon them by the NCAA today, and the Tar Heels are in serious trouble.
According to the Wainstein Report that was released last year, for the span of 18 years, North carolina, specifically its African and Afro-American Studies program, was providing paper classes for its student-athletes. The NCAA has found those hoax courses to provide impermissible benefits not made available to all students.
There are five allegations of the Level 1 variety that the Tar Heels need to be worried about. They are as follows:
1. Providing impermissible benefits to student athletes from 2002-2011.
2. Jan Boxill, a philosophy professor and the director of the Parr Center for Ethics, as well as the academic counselor for the women’s basketball team, provided impermissible academic assistance to special arrangements to the the women’s basketball players.
3. Deborah Crowder, the former student services manager of the African- and Afro-American studies did not cooperate with the NCAA investigation by failing to interview with the university and the NCAA.
4. Dr. Julius Nyang’oro, the former head of the African and Afro-American studies program, failed to cooperate with the NCAA investigation as well.
5. Due to the first two allegations, the NCAA then accused the University of North carolina of lack of institutional control.
Now if you know anything about college athletics, you know that the last allegation is the big one. When the NCAA finds that the university has lacked any institutional control of any sort, it’s obvious that the NCAA will drop the proverbial hammer, and that is exactly what the they need to do in this situation.
Surprisingly, the program that the NOA mentioned the most was women’s basketball, followed by men’s basketball and football. Head coach Roy Williams was only mentioned once and that was through an interview.
It’s an interesting case because the NCAA is putting the full blame of these indiscretions on the athletic department as a whole. They seemed to be focusing more on the academic side of things moreso than the athletic side.
I don’t have a clue what the NCAA will do, or how soon it will happen. All I know is that the NCAA has to drop the hammer on the athletics department. Women’s basketball, men’s basketball and football must deal with the consequences of the school’s actions, and I know it isn’t fair to the current student-athletes, but that’s the way of college athletics.
These hoax classes were available to all student athletes, so if the punishments handed down have collateral damage on other non-revenue programs, then so be it. This was academic wrongdoing on a colossal level, and the fact that the university had no idea that this was taking place is inexcusable.
North carolina has until August 20 to submit their response.
http://sidelinebuzz.com/ncaa-must-drop-the-hammer-on-university-of-north-carolina-athletics/
The University of North carolina released the Notice of Allegations levied upon them by the NCAA today, and the Tar Heels are in serious trouble.
According to the Wainstein Report that was released last year, for the span of 18 years, North carolina, specifically its African and Afro-American Studies program, was providing paper classes for its student-athletes. The NCAA has found those hoax courses to provide impermissible benefits not made available to all students.
There are five allegations of the Level 1 variety that the Tar Heels need to be worried about. They are as follows:
1. Providing impermissible benefits to student athletes from 2002-2011.
2. Jan Boxill, a philosophy professor and the director of the Parr Center for Ethics, as well as the academic counselor for the women’s basketball team, provided impermissible academic assistance to special arrangements to the the women’s basketball players.
3. Deborah Crowder, the former student services manager of the African- and Afro-American studies did not cooperate with the NCAA investigation by failing to interview with the university and the NCAA.
4. Dr. Julius Nyang’oro, the former head of the African and Afro-American studies program, failed to cooperate with the NCAA investigation as well.
5. Due to the first two allegations, the NCAA then accused the University of North carolina of lack of institutional control.
Now if you know anything about college athletics, you know that the last allegation is the big one. When the NCAA finds that the university has lacked any institutional control of any sort, it’s obvious that the NCAA will drop the proverbial hammer, and that is exactly what the they need to do in this situation.
Surprisingly, the program that the NOA mentioned the most was women’s basketball, followed by men’s basketball and football. Head coach Roy Williams was only mentioned once and that was through an interview.
It’s an interesting case because the NCAA is putting the full blame of these indiscretions on the athletic department as a whole. They seemed to be focusing more on the academic side of things moreso than the athletic side.
I don’t have a clue what the NCAA will do, or how soon it will happen. All I know is that the NCAA has to drop the hammer on the athletics department. Women’s basketball, men’s basketball and football must deal with the consequences of the school’s actions, and I know it isn’t fair to the current student-athletes, but that’s the way of college athletics.
These hoax classes were available to all student athletes, so if the punishments handed down have collateral damage on other non-revenue programs, then so be it. This was academic wrongdoing on a colossal level, and the fact that the university had no idea that this was taking place is inexcusable.
North carolina has until August 20 to submit their response.
http://sidelinebuzz.com/ncaa-must-drop-the-hammer-on-university-of-north-carolina-athletics/
Owens: NCAA doesn't want unc scandal to get any bigger
Vid...
http://www.wralsportsfan.com/unc/video/14690837/
Vid...
http://www.wralsportsfan.com/unc/video/14690837/
Hamilton: Time for unc to put up or shut up
Now we will see if the carolina Way is still alive or if it was buried with Dean Smith on a warm winter day.
Or if it was even real at all.
That’s the only good that can come from the dumpster fire of academic fraud that continues to burn in Chapel Hill. The flames grew more noxious and reached higher on Thursday with the damning, 59-page notice of allegations from the NCAA. It included the dreaded phrase “lack of institutional control” with regard to the largest academic-fraud case in history, most notably involving men’s and women’s basketball, as well as football.
unc has 90 days to respond to all of the charges. At some point –– likely later rather than sooner –– we’ll find out if the decades of pious chest-thumping had substance or was merely lip service. That’s when we’ll discover if the carolina Way isn’t about taking the easy way out — as reams of evidence suggest.
The case goes back nearly four years while the infractions go back decades, altogether creating what Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham labeled as “not a pleasant chapter in the history of this university.”
Of course it’s not pleasant –– getting caught never is pleasurable. Just as unpleasant has been the time, expense and general aggravation of trying to clean up a mess that should never have existed.
To unc’s credit, by all accounts, it has tidied up the situation. It would take a mammoth conspiracy in order for it to happen again, at least in the relatively near future.
Still, that’s not enough. This calls for the school to do more than throw itself on the mercy of the NCAA’s court.
Because make no mistake about it: The NCAA will hand down punishment and it will not be gentle, regardless of what unc does over the next few weeks and months. There will be scholarship sanctions and postseason bans while pages will be ripped from the record books.
Don’t think so?
Florida State was stripped of wins in three sports, including football, and put on probation for four years in an academic-fraud case that involved 61 athletes in 2006 and 2007. Georgia’s basketball team was slapped with four years of probation and reduced scholarships after Jim Harrick, Jr. –– an assistant coach and son of the head coach –– awarded three players “A” grades in a class he was teaching. The women’s basketball team at Purdue got two years probation and lost as many scholarships in 2007 because a former assistant wrote two papers for a former player and then hindered the investigation.
Those are isolated misdemeanor shoplifting cases when lined up to unc’s notorious two-decade stretch.
Bushels of wins could be wiped from the record books for maybe more than a half-dozen sports, just as a few less banners could dangle in the Dean Dome. Such a sentence would rightfully set the athletic department back years, if not at least a solid decade.
The iconic Tar Heels brand will continue to lure some of the nation’s best, though likely no longer the best of the best and certainly not as many. The class of the athlete it will lure –– while down in quality and quantity –– could spare unc from experiencing prolonged stretches of putrid performances. Mediocrity — and perhaps a notch above if all goes right — would gladly be embraced.
Setting things right
unc should punish itself as severely as the NCAA surely will –– isn’t that what its mantra is all about?
That means erasing some history, scrubbing entire wings of its house and handicapping its own athletic fortunes. There should be little for the NCAA to do when the time finally arrives for punishment other than to acknowledge that unc justly judged itself.
The Tar Heels faithful will have to adapt to a new normal while their detractors pop champagne corks before toasting with mocking cheers. The only solace would be if unc’s teams are merely competing. Self-punishment with grace would be a victory and prove the carolina Way is legit.
Otherwise it’s an outdated credo that grew irrelevant with each win, a message that was diluted annually to the point of being merely a saying that looked cool on T-shirts, caps and book jackets.
And it would be as much of a sham as dozens of unc athletes’ transcripts.
http://m.journalnow.com/sports/colu...8d8-f2d0-54f0-9130-c6ef47c8c2bf.html?mode=jqm
Now we will see if the carolina Way is still alive or if it was buried with Dean Smith on a warm winter day.
Or if it was even real at all.
That’s the only good that can come from the dumpster fire of academic fraud that continues to burn in Chapel Hill. The flames grew more noxious and reached higher on Thursday with the damning, 59-page notice of allegations from the NCAA. It included the dreaded phrase “lack of institutional control” with regard to the largest academic-fraud case in history, most notably involving men’s and women’s basketball, as well as football.
unc has 90 days to respond to all of the charges. At some point –– likely later rather than sooner –– we’ll find out if the decades of pious chest-thumping had substance or was merely lip service. That’s when we’ll discover if the carolina Way isn’t about taking the easy way out — as reams of evidence suggest.
The case goes back nearly four years while the infractions go back decades, altogether creating what Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham labeled as “not a pleasant chapter in the history of this university.”
Of course it’s not pleasant –– getting caught never is pleasurable. Just as unpleasant has been the time, expense and general aggravation of trying to clean up a mess that should never have existed.
To unc’s credit, by all accounts, it has tidied up the situation. It would take a mammoth conspiracy in order for it to happen again, at least in the relatively near future.
Still, that’s not enough. This calls for the school to do more than throw itself on the mercy of the NCAA’s court.
Because make no mistake about it: The NCAA will hand down punishment and it will not be gentle, regardless of what unc does over the next few weeks and months. There will be scholarship sanctions and postseason bans while pages will be ripped from the record books.
Don’t think so?
Florida State was stripped of wins in three sports, including football, and put on probation for four years in an academic-fraud case that involved 61 athletes in 2006 and 2007. Georgia’s basketball team was slapped with four years of probation and reduced scholarships after Jim Harrick, Jr. –– an assistant coach and son of the head coach –– awarded three players “A” grades in a class he was teaching. The women’s basketball team at Purdue got two years probation and lost as many scholarships in 2007 because a former assistant wrote two papers for a former player and then hindered the investigation.
Those are isolated misdemeanor shoplifting cases when lined up to unc’s notorious two-decade stretch.
Bushels of wins could be wiped from the record books for maybe more than a half-dozen sports, just as a few less banners could dangle in the Dean Dome. Such a sentence would rightfully set the athletic department back years, if not at least a solid decade.
The iconic Tar Heels brand will continue to lure some of the nation’s best, though likely no longer the best of the best and certainly not as many. The class of the athlete it will lure –– while down in quality and quantity –– could spare unc from experiencing prolonged stretches of putrid performances. Mediocrity — and perhaps a notch above if all goes right — would gladly be embraced.
Setting things right
unc should punish itself as severely as the NCAA surely will –– isn’t that what its mantra is all about?
That means erasing some history, scrubbing entire wings of its house and handicapping its own athletic fortunes. There should be little for the NCAA to do when the time finally arrives for punishment other than to acknowledge that unc justly judged itself.
The Tar Heels faithful will have to adapt to a new normal while their detractors pop champagne corks before toasting with mocking cheers. The only solace would be if unc’s teams are merely competing. Self-punishment with grace would be a victory and prove the carolina Way is legit.
Otherwise it’s an outdated credo that grew irrelevant with each win, a message that was diluted annually to the point of being merely a saying that looked cool on T-shirts, caps and book jackets.
And it would be as much of a sham as dozens of unc athletes’ transcripts.
http://m.journalnow.com/sports/colu...8d8-f2d0-54f0-9130-c6ef47c8c2bf.html?mode=jqm
unx alum Bob Lee...
Contract Extension for Goofy Ol’ Roy ????
New Definition of Impeccable Timing: A contract extension for unc‘s goofy ol’ Roy – LINK – ….. hey, why not more pension bonuses for Dickie and a few plaques for Jan Boxill ???
http://boblee.saidwhatmedia.com/2015/06/06/contract-extension-for-goofy-ol-roy/
Said in jest but BL's comments are a pretty damning indictment of Roy. Lee has no love for Baddour and Boxill. Lumping "goofy ol' Roy" with those two speaks volumes.
Contract Extension for Goofy Ol’ Roy ????
New Definition of Impeccable Timing: A contract extension for unc‘s goofy ol’ Roy – LINK – ….. hey, why not more pension bonuses for Dickie and a few plaques for Jan Boxill ???
http://boblee.saidwhatmedia.com/2015/06/06/contract-extension-for-goofy-ol-roy/
Said in jest but BL's comments are a pretty damning indictment of Roy. Lee has no love for Baddour and Boxill. Lumping "goofy ol' Roy" with those two speaks volumes.
NCAA Allegations only part of North carolina's problems
While the NCAA's Notice of Allegations is not good news for the Tarheel faithful, something even more ominous will arrive in June.
As I pointed out in my last article about unc troubles, you cannot rely on accurate or fair and balanced news from the unc websites. They are still in denial. Here's a piece from USA Today. Short and sweet. SBN's Tarheel Blog had to report this, but they relied on Scout's Inside carolina for details.
I mentioned something more ominous than the NCAA Notice of Allegations. Remember the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)? As reported by the Raleigh ABC TV affiliate channel 11 eyewitness news, unc-Chapel Hill will receive the SACS Board decision on academic fraud will be made public on June 11th.
What I find interesting is how unc has maintained all along a "move along, nothing to see here" attitude with both the NCAA and the SACS. There is a segment in the Tarheel fanbase who shrug their shoulders, believing that as long as unc basketball isn't harmed, they are perfectly willing to let the football program take the hit. Fans being fans, they don't seem to understand the taint on the university.
unc has been caught with their pants on fire. If they continue to fight against the inevitable, they are going to suffer far more if they had just accepted the process. Transparency may hurt over the short term, but it seems to me that the road they've chosen will come back to bite in at least one of the three battles unc faces.
http://www.aseaofblue.com/2015/6/6/8740243/the-ncaa-noa-part-of-north-carolina-problems
While the NCAA's Notice of Allegations is not good news for the Tarheel faithful, something even more ominous will arrive in June.
As I pointed out in my last article about unc troubles, you cannot rely on accurate or fair and balanced news from the unc websites. They are still in denial. Here's a piece from USA Today. Short and sweet. SBN's Tarheel Blog had to report this, but they relied on Scout's Inside carolina for details.
I mentioned something more ominous than the NCAA Notice of Allegations. Remember the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)? As reported by the Raleigh ABC TV affiliate channel 11 eyewitness news, unc-Chapel Hill will receive the SACS Board decision on academic fraud will be made public on June 11th.
What I find interesting is how unc has maintained all along a "move along, nothing to see here" attitude with both the NCAA and the SACS. There is a segment in the Tarheel fanbase who shrug their shoulders, believing that as long as unc basketball isn't harmed, they are perfectly willing to let the football program take the hit. Fans being fans, they don't seem to understand the taint on the university.
unc has been caught with their pants on fire. If they continue to fight against the inevitable, they are going to suffer far more if they had just accepted the process. Transparency may hurt over the short term, but it seems to me that the road they've chosen will come back to bite in at least one of the three battles unc faces.
http://www.aseaofblue.com/2015/6/6/8740243/the-ncaa-noa-part-of-north-carolina-problems
The NCAA takes a swing at unc
If Crowder referring to herself in the third-person seems rather self-important, it also was self-aware. Most everyone in the athletic department knew who “Debby” was and what she was doing, the NCAA clearly reveals. That’s why unc has been hit with the dreaded NCAA charges of “lack of institutional control.”
NCAA investigations often snag lower-level officials and coaches, the ones tasked with the dirty work of college sports. That was the case at unc, where besides Crowder, the people most implicated were tutors and staffers, including Jan Boxhill...
Make no mistake, though: There’s little chance unc coaches and administrators didn’t have at least an inkling of what was going on with athletes. College coaches know most everything about their prized assets, including what classes they’re taking and, especially, who is struggling. To suggest they were ignorant of an academic release valve widely known in the athletic department strains credulity.
unc could only help itself by shushing Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham, who continued this week to dilute the university’s expression of remorse with some ill-advised defiance. “I think at times I would be disappointed with maybe actions of what we did as a university,” he said of the notice of allegations Thursday. “Other times I’d be disappointed in how things were characterized that I would think would be inaccurate.”
Perhaps he should focus instead on repairing the damage his athletic department has done to his school, its students and alumni. Debby may have been disappointed. All of unc should be.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/editorials/article23223549.html
If Crowder referring to herself in the third-person seems rather self-important, it also was self-aware. Most everyone in the athletic department knew who “Debby” was and what she was doing, the NCAA clearly reveals. That’s why unc has been hit with the dreaded NCAA charges of “lack of institutional control.”
NCAA investigations often snag lower-level officials and coaches, the ones tasked with the dirty work of college sports. That was the case at unc, where besides Crowder, the people most implicated were tutors and staffers, including Jan Boxhill...
Make no mistake, though: There’s little chance unc coaches and administrators didn’t have at least an inkling of what was going on with athletes. College coaches know most everything about their prized assets, including what classes they’re taking and, especially, who is struggling. To suggest they were ignorant of an academic release valve widely known in the athletic department strains credulity.
unc could only help itself by shushing Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham, who continued this week to dilute the university’s expression of remorse with some ill-advised defiance. “I think at times I would be disappointed with maybe actions of what we did as a university,” he said of the notice of allegations Thursday. “Other times I’d be disappointed in how things were characterized that I would think would be inaccurate.”
Perhaps he should focus instead on repairing the damage his athletic department has done to his school, its students and alumni. Debby may have been disappointed. All of unc should be.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/editorials/article23223549.html
Tarheel Denial
The NOA was freed, but...
At unc, Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham calls it halftime.
To Roy Williams, it is a day where your future at unc is secure with the contract extension.
For Kenneth Wainstein, the money is in the bank for a report that was barely considered by the NCAA.
For the die-hard Tarheel Nation, denial still conquers rational thought as evidence of fraud & misconduct has been laid in front of them....since October.
For Jay Smith & Mary Willingham, their courage and desire to witness change for a better tomorrow will only be referred to as "them: the whistleblowers" by those who only care about wins on the field instead of victories in classrooms and victories against stereotypes, exploitation & corruption.
To Dan Kane, hats off to him. He is the focal point for hatred thrust upon him by doing what he loves. His journalistic prowess is admirable.
For ESPN, they have plenty to cover with the NBA Finals and Belmont Stakes. No need to live up to their moniker as "Sports Leader". Most of us know about ESPN's billion dollar deal to cover ACC regular season and tournament games. unc's scandal never received the minimal coverage as Florida State, Auburn, Penn State, USC, etc. This is a sports based scandal. But still, no coverage. Bet that call came from ESPN President, John Skipper, who is a graduate of unc.
For those banners that hang from the Smith Center rafters: let it be known that while Tarheel Nation points to them with pride, the rest of us laugh in disgust, for that fine institute in Chapel Hill boldly exclaims, "Cheaters do prosper".
For the NCAA, we now see that "white washing" is common practice. AFAM Department Head Julius Nyang'oro & Secretary Debby Crowder provided Wainstein with the blueprint of the bogus class scheme and the NCAA looked past 1993-2000. If anyone else should be charged with lack of institutional control, it should be the NCAA.
To former student-athletes, reform is needed and they can only help this flawed system that our children will inherit unless we change it now.
Let's not forget unc graduate James Woodall, the Orange County District Attorney who cleared Julius Nyang'oro on a fraud charge for his cooperation with Wainstein: cleared on one charge as he admits to hundreds of others?
For the scapegoats, their loyalty to the people who they are protecting is almost heroic and idiotic at the same time.
For many, this is about sports and water cooler talk.
For some, the almighty dollar.
For others, it's about morals and decency.
But for those who believe in reform, the time to act is now.
To the majority, it's not about decency, it's about bragging rights.
It's the carolina Way. Woodall clears Nyang'oro, NCAA clears Roy, ESPN covers LeBron & Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner, unc ignores facts and Tarheel nation continues their denial/fight.
Tobacco Road is forever tainted.
Now it's time for the second half.
http://tarheeldenial.blogspot.com/
The NOA was freed, but...
At unc, Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham calls it halftime.
To Roy Williams, it is a day where your future at unc is secure with the contract extension.
For Kenneth Wainstein, the money is in the bank for a report that was barely considered by the NCAA.
For the die-hard Tarheel Nation, denial still conquers rational thought as evidence of fraud & misconduct has been laid in front of them....since October.
For Jay Smith & Mary Willingham, their courage and desire to witness change for a better tomorrow will only be referred to as "them: the whistleblowers" by those who only care about wins on the field instead of victories in classrooms and victories against stereotypes, exploitation & corruption.
To Dan Kane, hats off to him. He is the focal point for hatred thrust upon him by doing what he loves. His journalistic prowess is admirable.
For ESPN, they have plenty to cover with the NBA Finals and Belmont Stakes. No need to live up to their moniker as "Sports Leader". Most of us know about ESPN's billion dollar deal to cover ACC regular season and tournament games. unc's scandal never received the minimal coverage as Florida State, Auburn, Penn State, USC, etc. This is a sports based scandal. But still, no coverage. Bet that call came from ESPN President, John Skipper, who is a graduate of unc.
For those banners that hang from the Smith Center rafters: let it be known that while Tarheel Nation points to them with pride, the rest of us laugh in disgust, for that fine institute in Chapel Hill boldly exclaims, "Cheaters do prosper".
For the NCAA, we now see that "white washing" is common practice. AFAM Department Head Julius Nyang'oro & Secretary Debby Crowder provided Wainstein with the blueprint of the bogus class scheme and the NCAA looked past 1993-2000. If anyone else should be charged with lack of institutional control, it should be the NCAA.
To former student-athletes, reform is needed and they can only help this flawed system that our children will inherit unless we change it now.
Let's not forget unc graduate James Woodall, the Orange County District Attorney who cleared Julius Nyang'oro on a fraud charge for his cooperation with Wainstein: cleared on one charge as he admits to hundreds of others?
For the scapegoats, their loyalty to the people who they are protecting is almost heroic and idiotic at the same time.
For many, this is about sports and water cooler talk.
For some, the almighty dollar.
For others, it's about morals and decency.
But for those who believe in reform, the time to act is now.
To the majority, it's not about decency, it's about bragging rights.
It's the carolina Way. Woodall clears Nyang'oro, NCAA clears Roy, ESPN covers LeBron & Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner, unc ignores facts and Tarheel nation continues their denial/fight.
Tobacco Road is forever tainted.
Now it's time for the second half.
http://tarheeldenial.blogspot.com/
Tio @TingleThoughts
@jaysmith711 @paperclassinc @dankanenando Thoughts? http://tarheeldenial.blogspot.com
Jay Smith @jaysmith711
@TingleThoughts @paperclassinc @dankanenando The loyalty of the scapegoats--Boxill most of all--is one of the great mysteries of the scandal
MORE...
@jaysmith711 @paperclassinc @dankanenando Thoughts? http://tarheeldenial.blogspot.com
Jay Smith @jaysmith711
@TingleThoughts @paperclassinc @dankanenando The loyalty of the scapegoats--Boxill most of all--is one of the great mysteries of the scandal
MORE...
Another "prong." Becoming clearer that underlings are taking the fall while higher-ups skate and/or are ALLOWED to skate....
KU chancellor's husband worked closely with people implicated in unc's massive academic fraud case
Kansas University Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little has said that she was unaware that one of the worst academic fraud cases in U.S. history was occurring while she held top positions at the University of North carolina.
At the time, her husband, Shade Keys Little, held positions as assistant and interim associate dean in the department charged with tutoring and advising students at unc and worked closely with people in the thick of the scandal, according to unc documents and Mary Willingham, a former unc employee and whistleblower.
“He knew, I knew, we all knew,” said Willingham, who, with Shade Little, was a staff member in the athletics tutoring program. “We talked about it openly in staff meetings, that these guys were taking these paper classes. I mean it wasn't that it was really a secret.”
Through a KU spokeswoman, Gray-Little and Shade Little declined to comment for this story.
For a previous Journal-World story, Gray-Little said: “I’ve read of the painful revelations about the academic experiences of some student-athletes at carolina over the past several years. If I’d known of the problems in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies that have since come to light I would have taken action to address them.”
The complex scheme of fake classes at unc began to surface in 2009, the year Gray-Little accepted the KU chancellor position.
Shade Little was an assistant dean and interim associate dean of the program that oversaw the student-athletes’ tutoring program when the irregular AFAM classes were being held, unc documents show. He also advised student-athletes, Willingham said.
Shade Little was one of 14 staff members listed in the August 2007 Tutor Handbook for the Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes, or ASPSA.
Wayne Walden, former academic adviser for basketball coach Roy Williams both at KU and unc, also was a colleague of Shade Little’s.
No unc staff member with the title of dean or higher has lost a job or been formally disciplined as a result of the investigations.
Wainstein did not interview Shade Little or Gray-Little nor did he request the contents of their emails. People immediately above and below Shade Little and many of his colleagues in academic services and the Academic Support Program for Student Athletes were interviewed.
Wainstein, whose team was paid $3.1 million by unc for the report, would not respond to requests for an interview, refused to respond to written questions and refused to provide records that might have had some bearing on why he did not interview Little or Gray-Little.
Willingham said Wainstein’s report focuses mostly on Crowder and Nyang'oro and some advisers and not on what unc’s top administrators knew.
“Wainstein did not request emails from a lot of people who should have known,” Willingham said.
“What about Bernadette? Hers aren’t in there. What about Roy Williams? Why aren’t his in there? What about Wayne Walden? There were like two. Why aren’t mine? Where are my emails?” Willingham asked. “Why didn’t they go after the higher-ups' emails?”
According to unc records, Shade Little was hired as the assistant dean of academic services at unc in 2003. At the time Gray-Little was executive associate provost. She was promoted a year later to dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the General College. In that position, the AFAM department, as well as academic services, where her husband worked, reported up through her.
There were two occasions, the report found, where if the right questions had been asked and the right actions had been taken, the paper classes could have ended much sooner.
One of those occasions was when senior associate dean of undergraduate education Roberta “Bobbi” Owen raised questions about the independent studies classes, the report said.
Owen reported directly to Gray-Little. Shade Little’s boss, Fred M. Clark, associate dean, reported to Owen.
In 2006, Gray-Little was promoted to executive vice chancellor and provost.
In April 2008, the university announced that Shade Little would become interim associate dean of academic services when his boss, Fred Clark, stepped down.
Willingham said the topic of Crowder’s pending retirement took up much of the time at staff meetings that were attended by Shade Little. Counselors, advisers and tutors were worrying about what would happen after Crowder left and how they would keep their athletes eligible, Willingham said.
By the time that email was written, KU had announced that Gray-Little and her husband were moving to Lawrence.
Shade Little’s last day at unc was July 17, 2009, according to university records.
She (Willingham) wonders why Wainstein did not interview more administrators such as Gray-Little.
But none who were interviewed by Wainstein had a spouse actually working in the Academic Support Program for Student Athletes, she said.
http://m.ljworld.com/news/2015/jun/...worked-troubled-unc-program/?templates=mobile
KU chancellor's husband worked closely with people implicated in unc's massive academic fraud case
Kansas University Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little has said that she was unaware that one of the worst academic fraud cases in U.S. history was occurring while she held top positions at the University of North carolina.
At the time, her husband, Shade Keys Little, held positions as assistant and interim associate dean in the department charged with tutoring and advising students at unc and worked closely with people in the thick of the scandal, according to unc documents and Mary Willingham, a former unc employee and whistleblower.
“He knew, I knew, we all knew,” said Willingham, who, with Shade Little, was a staff member in the athletics tutoring program. “We talked about it openly in staff meetings, that these guys were taking these paper classes. I mean it wasn't that it was really a secret.”
Through a KU spokeswoman, Gray-Little and Shade Little declined to comment for this story.
For a previous Journal-World story, Gray-Little said: “I’ve read of the painful revelations about the academic experiences of some student-athletes at carolina over the past several years. If I’d known of the problems in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies that have since come to light I would have taken action to address them.”
The complex scheme of fake classes at unc began to surface in 2009, the year Gray-Little accepted the KU chancellor position.
Shade Little was an assistant dean and interim associate dean of the program that oversaw the student-athletes’ tutoring program when the irregular AFAM classes were being held, unc documents show. He also advised student-athletes, Willingham said.
Shade Little was one of 14 staff members listed in the August 2007 Tutor Handbook for the Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes, or ASPSA.
Wayne Walden, former academic adviser for basketball coach Roy Williams both at KU and unc, also was a colleague of Shade Little’s.
No unc staff member with the title of dean or higher has lost a job or been formally disciplined as a result of the investigations.
Wainstein did not interview Shade Little or Gray-Little nor did he request the contents of their emails. People immediately above and below Shade Little and many of his colleagues in academic services and the Academic Support Program for Student Athletes were interviewed.
Wainstein, whose team was paid $3.1 million by unc for the report, would not respond to requests for an interview, refused to respond to written questions and refused to provide records that might have had some bearing on why he did not interview Little or Gray-Little.
Willingham said Wainstein’s report focuses mostly on Crowder and Nyang'oro and some advisers and not on what unc’s top administrators knew.
“Wainstein did not request emails from a lot of people who should have known,” Willingham said.
“What about Bernadette? Hers aren’t in there. What about Roy Williams? Why aren’t his in there? What about Wayne Walden? There were like two. Why aren’t mine? Where are my emails?” Willingham asked. “Why didn’t they go after the higher-ups' emails?”
According to unc records, Shade Little was hired as the assistant dean of academic services at unc in 2003. At the time Gray-Little was executive associate provost. She was promoted a year later to dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the General College. In that position, the AFAM department, as well as academic services, where her husband worked, reported up through her.
There were two occasions, the report found, where if the right questions had been asked and the right actions had been taken, the paper classes could have ended much sooner.
One of those occasions was when senior associate dean of undergraduate education Roberta “Bobbi” Owen raised questions about the independent studies classes, the report said.
Owen reported directly to Gray-Little. Shade Little’s boss, Fred M. Clark, associate dean, reported to Owen.
In 2006, Gray-Little was promoted to executive vice chancellor and provost.
In April 2008, the university announced that Shade Little would become interim associate dean of academic services when his boss, Fred Clark, stepped down.
Willingham said the topic of Crowder’s pending retirement took up much of the time at staff meetings that were attended by Shade Little. Counselors, advisers and tutors were worrying about what would happen after Crowder left and how they would keep their athletes eligible, Willingham said.
By the time that email was written, KU had announced that Gray-Little and her husband were moving to Lawrence.
Shade Little’s last day at unc was July 17, 2009, according to university records.
She (Willingham) wonders why Wainstein did not interview more administrators such as Gray-Little.
But none who were interviewed by Wainstein had a spouse actually working in the Academic Support Program for Student Athletes, she said.
http://m.ljworld.com/news/2015/jun/...worked-troubled-unc-program/?templates=mobile
Lots here. Ironic that it comes from one of those academically substandard SEC schools unx always looks down on...
unc Should Lose Accreditation and AAU Membership
http://georgiabasketballblog.com/unc-should-lose-accreditation-and-aau-membership/
unc Should Lose Accreditation and AAU Membership
http://georgiabasketballblog.com/unc-should-lose-accreditation-and-aau-membership/
Another call for unx to man up. Won't happen but reassuring to see others notice the cheating. WSJ too. Close to home , tarholes....
Editorial: unc Chapel Hill should sanction self hard to finally leave scandal behind
If unc Chapel Hill officials really are serious about putting academics above athletics, they will finally start to shut their athletic/academic scandal down by imposing hard sanctions on its athletics before the NCAA acts – including vacating victories and titles and taking ineligibility for some post-season action.
The NCAA wouldn’t have to recognize those self-imposed sanctions. But the public would.
The school should do whatever it takes to show the only thing that matters is restoring honor and dignity. And yes, that could well entail a loss of face for the celebrated men’s basketball team, a team for which some on our editorial board have long rooted. But sometimes an institution has to lose itself to find itself, to get back to its true mission.
The vague notice of NCAA allegations that unc released Thursday raised more questions than it answered. But one thing is for sure: It dragged this once-proud school through the mud one more time, leading to nationwide rehashes of the scandal, with its no-show classes and all the rest.
Now the school will lawyer-up and likely use every bit of the 90 days allotted to it to produce its response to the NCAA. During that cycle and after, we’ll hear more and more about how big-money athletics strangled carolina’s honor. Reporters will keep digging, publicizing details that the school should have released.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Chancellor Carol Folt and company could quickly come out with some hard sanctions on athletics and, once and for all, release every last detail they know about this scandal to the public and profusely apologize. Then people would really believe them when they say it’s time to put this in the past and move forward together.
But that, of course, won’t happen.
carolina lives in the real world of Big Money athletics. And it’s killing them.
Here is the joint statement unc CH Chancellor Carol Folt and Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham released Thursday.
“We take the allegations the NCAA made about past conduct very seriously. This is the next step in a defined process, and we are a long way from reaching a conclusion. We will respond to the notice using facts and evidence to present a full picture of our case. Although we may identify some instances in the NCAA’s notice where we agree and others where we do not, we are committed to continue pursuing a fair and just outcome for carolina.
“We believe the University has done everything possible to address the academic irregularities that ended in 2011 and prevent them from recurring. We have implemented more than 70 re-forms and initiatives to ensure and enhance academic integrity. We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of those measures and, wherever needed, put additional safeguards in place.”
http://www.journalnow.com/opinion/e...cle_dd711434-0bad-11e5-a5ad-5bce5bdcc9f0.html
Editorial: unc Chapel Hill should sanction self hard to finally leave scandal behind
If unc Chapel Hill officials really are serious about putting academics above athletics, they will finally start to shut their athletic/academic scandal down by imposing hard sanctions on its athletics before the NCAA acts – including vacating victories and titles and taking ineligibility for some post-season action.
The NCAA wouldn’t have to recognize those self-imposed sanctions. But the public would.
The school should do whatever it takes to show the only thing that matters is restoring honor and dignity. And yes, that could well entail a loss of face for the celebrated men’s basketball team, a team for which some on our editorial board have long rooted. But sometimes an institution has to lose itself to find itself, to get back to its true mission.
The vague notice of NCAA allegations that unc released Thursday raised more questions than it answered. But one thing is for sure: It dragged this once-proud school through the mud one more time, leading to nationwide rehashes of the scandal, with its no-show classes and all the rest.
Now the school will lawyer-up and likely use every bit of the 90 days allotted to it to produce its response to the NCAA. During that cycle and after, we’ll hear more and more about how big-money athletics strangled carolina’s honor. Reporters will keep digging, publicizing details that the school should have released.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Chancellor Carol Folt and company could quickly come out with some hard sanctions on athletics and, once and for all, release every last detail they know about this scandal to the public and profusely apologize. Then people would really believe them when they say it’s time to put this in the past and move forward together.
But that, of course, won’t happen.
carolina lives in the real world of Big Money athletics. And it’s killing them.
Here is the joint statement unc CH Chancellor Carol Folt and Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham released Thursday.
“We take the allegations the NCAA made about past conduct very seriously. This is the next step in a defined process, and we are a long way from reaching a conclusion. We will respond to the notice using facts and evidence to present a full picture of our case. Although we may identify some instances in the NCAA’s notice where we agree and others where we do not, we are committed to continue pursuing a fair and just outcome for carolina.
“We believe the University has done everything possible to address the academic irregularities that ended in 2011 and prevent them from recurring. We have implemented more than 70 re-forms and initiatives to ensure and enhance academic integrity. We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of those measures and, wherever needed, put additional safeguards in place.”
http://www.journalnow.com/opinion/e...cle_dd711434-0bad-11e5-a5ad-5bce5bdcc9f0.html
Cookie weighs in on Bernadette. Not pretty. At all. Lulz...
Cookie Newsom @newsom_cookie
@DevilDJ32 she was a cipher. Careful not to stand for anything that could keep her from advancing. Her farewell party showed no one knew her
Cookie Newsom @newsom_cookie
@DevilDJ32 she was a cipher. Careful not to stand for anything that could keep her from advancing. Her farewell party showed no one knew her
Too much to quote but some good stuff today from Dr. Ridpath Jay Smith and others as they ream B-Rad. Lulz...
https://twitter.com/drridpath/with_replies
Ok...I WILL quote this. Jay Smith on BGL's ( Bernadette Gray-Little ) response re: an non-reading unx football player...
Jay Smith @jaysmith711
On unc scandal, what did Bernadette Gray-Little know, and when did she know it?
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2015/jun/06/g...ed-unc-program/ …
Professor Wolf @ProfessrWolf
@jaysmith711 I guess we are too believe the '-Littles didn't discuss professional matters at home.
Jay Smith @jaysmith711
@ProfessrWolf Right. Also that when BGL told Madeline Levine "there's nothing we can do" about a non-reading fb player, she wasn't covering.
https://twitter.com/drridpath/with_replies
Ok...I WILL quote this. Jay Smith on BGL's ( Bernadette Gray-Little ) response re: an non-reading unx football player...
Jay Smith @jaysmith711
On unc scandal, what did Bernadette Gray-Little know, and when did she know it?
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2015/jun/06/g...ed-unc-program/ …
Professor Wolf @ProfessrWolf
@jaysmith711 I guess we are too believe the '-Littles didn't discuss professional matters at home.
Jay Smith @jaysmith711
@ProfessrWolf Right. Also that when BGL told Madeline Levine "there's nothing we can do" about a non-reading fb player, she wasn't covering.
Tudor's version of "Everybody does it..."
unc only latest example of where loose admission policies can lead
If there’s one overriding lesson to be learned from North carolina’s ordeal with the NCAA, it’s an old one. In fact, it goes directly to the same problem that’s tarnished the image and reputation of schools almost from the inception of intercollegiate athletics.
That lesson: Colleges can’t take proper emphasis on academics for granted when there’s so much money, attention and public adulation to be gained through athletic success.
Almost everything that went amuck at carolina could have been avoided if the academic guidelines for extending athletic scholarships would have been essentially the same as those for academic scholarships.
It’s that simple. The teams may have won fewer games and some players might not have made it to the NFL or NBA, but what went wrong in Chapel Hill isn’t complicated.
The paper classes, no-show classes and curriculum smoke-and-mirror antics that led to so much money in legal fees and so much scrutiny from the NCAA came about as the result of bringing in athletes who either weren’t academically qualified to attend carolina or had no real interest in pursuing a college education. Both, in some cases.
Although thousands of Tar Heel fans were stunned to discover that their school – a school with such a historically clean record with the NCAA – could be guilty of such fraud, many of those same fans are correct when they offer the defense that other schools do it, too.
The failure of colleges to self-police themselves into establishing and upholding appropriate academic standards for athletes basically is what split the NCAA into its various competitive divisions
http://www.wralsportsfan.com/unc-on...e-loose-admission-policies-can-lead/14698392/
unc only latest example of where loose admission policies can lead
If there’s one overriding lesson to be learned from North carolina’s ordeal with the NCAA, it’s an old one. In fact, it goes directly to the same problem that’s tarnished the image and reputation of schools almost from the inception of intercollegiate athletics.
That lesson: Colleges can’t take proper emphasis on academics for granted when there’s so much money, attention and public adulation to be gained through athletic success.
Almost everything that went amuck at carolina could have been avoided if the academic guidelines for extending athletic scholarships would have been essentially the same as those for academic scholarships.
It’s that simple. The teams may have won fewer games and some players might not have made it to the NFL or NBA, but what went wrong in Chapel Hill isn’t complicated.
The paper classes, no-show classes and curriculum smoke-and-mirror antics that led to so much money in legal fees and so much scrutiny from the NCAA came about as the result of bringing in athletes who either weren’t academically qualified to attend carolina or had no real interest in pursuing a college education. Both, in some cases.
Although thousands of Tar Heel fans were stunned to discover that their school – a school with such a historically clean record with the NCAA – could be guilty of such fraud, many of those same fans are correct when they offer the defense that other schools do it, too.
The failure of colleges to self-police themselves into establishing and upholding appropriate academic standards for athletes basically is what split the NCAA into its various competitive divisions
http://www.wralsportsfan.com/unc-on...e-loose-admission-policies-can-lead/14698392/
unx alum Bob Lee...
…. Meanwhile…. re: Roy:Roy-Williams-1
….. I have not discussed ORW’s “new contract / extension” with Bubba. Neither my opinion nor my approval was necessary. Whatever the “why’d they do it” ….. and there are a bazillion conjectures on that…. I do NOT think it was simply to stick the Flagship’s thumb in the eye of the ABC Mob. Although I’m sure there are more than a few folks over “there” who would like to.
“We” don’t know the whereas & therefores in The New Deal. It may well contain a self-destruct clause that activates if Roy strips buck nekkid and runs down I-40 singing Mammy Little Baby Loves Shortnin’ Bread or is caught in a compromising position with Fats Thomas, Brittany Griner and Neil Fingleton. Covering “anything goofy ol’ Roy might do” in a contract shorter than War & Peace would be impossible.
Now, if Sylvia Hatchell gets a new deal, that might generate some serious eye blinks over there. Her program’s fate is so “iffy” that Vegas isn’t offering odds.
Is The NCAA “afraid to harm the unc Brand”? There could be some truth in that. Could you possibly think even less of The NCAA if they came out and admitted that?
My first thought when I heard about Roy’s New Deal was “what’s next?” …… more bonuses for Dickie and name a building for Jan Boxill ???? Neither of those have been reported…… yet.
http://boblee.saidwhatmedia.com/2015/06/08/rimshots-060815/
…. Meanwhile…. re: Roy:Roy-Williams-1
….. I have not discussed ORW’s “new contract / extension” with Bubba. Neither my opinion nor my approval was necessary. Whatever the “why’d they do it” ….. and there are a bazillion conjectures on that…. I do NOT think it was simply to stick the Flagship’s thumb in the eye of the ABC Mob. Although I’m sure there are more than a few folks over “there” who would like to.
“We” don’t know the whereas & therefores in The New Deal. It may well contain a self-destruct clause that activates if Roy strips buck nekkid and runs down I-40 singing Mammy Little Baby Loves Shortnin’ Bread or is caught in a compromising position with Fats Thomas, Brittany Griner and Neil Fingleton. Covering “anything goofy ol’ Roy might do” in a contract shorter than War & Peace would be impossible.
Now, if Sylvia Hatchell gets a new deal, that might generate some serious eye blinks over there. Her program’s fate is so “iffy” that Vegas isn’t offering odds.
Is The NCAA “afraid to harm the unc Brand”? There could be some truth in that. Could you possibly think even less of The NCAA if they came out and admitted that?
My first thought when I heard about Roy’s New Deal was “what’s next?” …… more bonuses for Dickie and name a building for Jan Boxill ???? Neither of those have been reported…… yet.
http://boblee.saidwhatmedia.com/2015/06/08/rimshots-060815/
Ridpath...
NCAA finally delivers Notice of Allegations to unc
the rot and stench of the worst athletic academic fraud scandal in NCAA history, at one of our public ivies, will never go away.
http://bdavidrid.authorsxpress.com/2015/06/08/ncaa-finally-delivers-notice-of-allegations-to-unc/
NCAA finally delivers Notice of Allegations to unc
the rot and stench of the worst athletic academic fraud scandal in NCAA history, at one of our public ivies, will never go away.
http://bdavidrid.authorsxpress.com/2015/06/08/ncaa-finally-delivers-notice-of-allegations-to-unc/
Only at unx can an "Ethics" prof be busted for being unethical , an AFAM major from Shad's '05 team return to his alma mater to monitor the classroom attendance of unx athletes , African Americans support the exploitation of other African Americans in the name of winning ballgames , "learning specialists" trash fellow educators ( including tenured professors ) AND a member of their CURRENT men's basketball team get a seat on an NCAA advisory board while the team he plays on has been accused of LOIC. Oh yeah. Just the kinda kid ya want having "a voice in the future of college athletics..."
ACC Basketball: unc's Joel James one of two college basketball players on NCAA advisory committee
Joel James, a rising senior at North carolina, has been selected to represent the ACC on the NCAA’s National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Each of the 31 Division I conferences selects one student-athlete to represent it on the committee. The members of the advisory committee respond to proposed NCAA legislation, review and comment on governance matters and participate in administering athletic programs.
James is a member of the advisory committees for unc’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and the ACC’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council. He attended the NCAA Leadership Forum in Florida in April.
“I was a little shocked but also quite proud to hear that I was selected to represent not just unc, but the entire Atlantic Coast Conference,” James said in a school-issued release. “I was fortunate to meet some interesting and respected people who work in the NCAA at the leadership council meeting. They are dedicated people who are fully committed to helping student-athletes at all levels get the most out of their opportunities at their respective universities.”
James’ term on the committee begins July 1. The West Palm Beach, Florida, native is one of two men’s basketball players from across the country chosen to serve on the committee.
“If you have spent any time with Joel, you realize how engaging and thoughtful he is about so many issues," said Cricket Lane, unc's assistant director of athletics for student-athlete development. "He also has an awesome sense of humor that will make the meetings enjoyable.”
“He is a wonderful young man," unc basketball coach Roy Williams said. "He has grown as a person each and every day since he came to carolina. I know he will take his position very seriously and will help student-athletes across the ACC have a voice in the future of college athletics.”
http://www.fayobserver.com/blogs/sp...814-0ed9-11e5-8a00-e32688f56a7b.html?mode=jqm
ACC Basketball: unc's Joel James one of two college basketball players on NCAA advisory committee
Joel James, a rising senior at North carolina, has been selected to represent the ACC on the NCAA’s National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Each of the 31 Division I conferences selects one student-athlete to represent it on the committee. The members of the advisory committee respond to proposed NCAA legislation, review and comment on governance matters and participate in administering athletic programs.
James is a member of the advisory committees for unc’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and the ACC’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council. He attended the NCAA Leadership Forum in Florida in April.
“I was a little shocked but also quite proud to hear that I was selected to represent not just unc, but the entire Atlantic Coast Conference,” James said in a school-issued release. “I was fortunate to meet some interesting and respected people who work in the NCAA at the leadership council meeting. They are dedicated people who are fully committed to helping student-athletes at all levels get the most out of their opportunities at their respective universities.”
James’ term on the committee begins July 1. The West Palm Beach, Florida, native is one of two men’s basketball players from across the country chosen to serve on the committee.
“If you have spent any time with Joel, you realize how engaging and thoughtful he is about so many issues," said Cricket Lane, unc's assistant director of athletics for student-athlete development. "He also has an awesome sense of humor that will make the meetings enjoyable.”
“He is a wonderful young man," unc basketball coach Roy Williams said. "He has grown as a person each and every day since he came to carolina. I know he will take his position very seriously and will help student-athletes across the ACC have a voice in the future of college athletics.”
http://www.fayobserver.com/blogs/sp...814-0ed9-11e5-8a00-e32688f56a7b.html?mode=jqm
David N. Camaione: Coaches should know
Regarding your reporting on the NCAA and unc-Chapel Hill: Coaches and support staff meet weekly, biweekly or at worst monthly to discuss a host of issues. Teaching sports skills is just one topic; another hopefully is the academic progress of each athlete.
Normally an assigned academic counselor for a given sport will attend meetings. Usually there is a report of whether athletes are attending classes, turning in schoolwork and taking quizzes and exams. Surely the staff would then be aware of any irregularities.
Head coaches have a responsibility to know how each scholarship player is doing academically. Didn’t these coaches promise parents of recruits that they would steadfastly watch over the welfare of their sons or daughters? Having attended such meetings recently at a major Midwest university, I witnessed each coach and staff member with laptops, being given in-depth academic knowledge on each athlete. They clearly knew the status of the athletes under their supervision.
How can such a scandal have lasted so long without informed coaches not being aware of the problem? If any head coach was not in attendance or suppressed wrongdoing, then serious dereliction of duty comes to mind. A world-class institution will suffer greatly for failure to do one’s job.
DAVID N. CAMAIONE, PH.D.
PROFESSOR EMERITUS, UCONN, SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article23533789.html
Regarding your reporting on the NCAA and unc-Chapel Hill: Coaches and support staff meet weekly, biweekly or at worst monthly to discuss a host of issues. Teaching sports skills is just one topic; another hopefully is the academic progress of each athlete.
Normally an assigned academic counselor for a given sport will attend meetings. Usually there is a report of whether athletes are attending classes, turning in schoolwork and taking quizzes and exams. Surely the staff would then be aware of any irregularities.
Head coaches have a responsibility to know how each scholarship player is doing academically. Didn’t these coaches promise parents of recruits that they would steadfastly watch over the welfare of their sons or daughters? Having attended such meetings recently at a major Midwest university, I witnessed each coach and staff member with laptops, being given in-depth academic knowledge on each athlete. They clearly knew the status of the athletes under their supervision.
How can such a scandal have lasted so long without informed coaches not being aware of the problem? If any head coach was not in attendance or suppressed wrongdoing, then serious dereliction of duty comes to mind. A world-class institution will suffer greatly for failure to do one’s job.
DAVID N. CAMAIONE, PH.D.
PROFESSOR EMERITUS, UCONN, SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article23533789.html
They all have. Sara Ganim of CNN has done a number of stories on it...
https://twitter.com/sganim
...SI , Sporting News , BusinessWeek , you name it. They've all done stories. Here's the thing. ESPN is helmed by a unx alum , John Skipper. OTL's Bob Ley was allowed to do a couple of special reports on the scandal but other than that? Not much from the "worldwide leader." Go figure. The NOA/LOIC was/is a huge story and it barely warranted a scroll on ESPN. Consciously or not , when sports fans don't see a story on ESPN , they often don't think it's much of a story. If Duke ( or just about any other school ) was mired in a 4+ year cheating scandal , Skipper's network would be all over it. Another example of the insulation unx enjoys. Bad enough they get coddled here in NC. It's even worse when the biggest sports network on the planet purposely marginalizes/ignores the worst scandal in collegiate history. Anyway , virtually all the majors have done stories on it.
Couple of editorials...
unc-CH must address culture that led to NCAA charges
Though the NCAA huffs and puffs about rule-breakers, its “penalties” never have amounted to much: lost scholarships, perhaps a probation, a temporary ban on post-season play. The truth is, neither the organization nor its member schools care much for punishment. People make mistakes. Uh, oh. Oh, golly, we’re sorry. They didn’t mean it. We don’t want to hurt the kids.
But in the case of perhaps the worst scandal in college sports history, the athletics-academics disgrace at the University of North carolina at Chapel Hill, with “paper class” shenanigans dating back 20 years, the NCAA has itself a real problem. The organization has released its notice of allegations and has used the term “lack of institutional control” as pertaining to the unc program. That’s supposedly one of the most serious accusations the NCAA can make. Now the university will respond, and sometime around March of next year the NCAA will determine sanctions, if any, against the athletics program.
Those schools that have been punished in the past, losing face and money (no post-season bowl bonanzas, for example), are surely saying to the NCAA: You brought the hammer down on us for doing far less than the “carolina Way” crowd did. So we are watching.
Athletes exploited
Indeed, despite the university’s obfuscation and attempts to keep the lid on years of phony classes and academic advisers steering athletes to courses designed to keep them eligible but hardly to advance them toward a degree, this four-year saga has been and remains an embarrassment. The reporting of The News & Observer’s Dan Kane and a $3 million investigation by Washington attorney Kenneth Wainstein confirmed the worst, a long-running exploitation of athletes who were just that and not in fact “student-athletes” all universities talk about.
The university’s response will be interesting. At this point, with Wainstein’s having confirmed virtually all of the reporting by Kane, unc-CH surely won’t try to defend the indefensible.
But it may very well make an argument that has been made by other schools facing potential sanctions: Yes, there were problems, but all the people involved are gone. Why punish athletes who weren’t part of the problem or deny scholarships to those dreaming of college careers who now are in high school?
A culture problem
It’s quite true that in the course of unc’s scandal, a chancellor left and an athletics director retired. And the athletes in those phony classes are no longer on campus. Yes, current Chancellor Carol Folt wasn’t ruling the roost while the scandal was in progress, and Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham wasn’t in charge.
But this great university had a shocking, inexcusable and almost institutionalized culture of exploitation going on that brought shame on the university’s reputation, and not just its athletics reputation.
If the NCAA brings forth a weak-kneed punishment, its other members are going to react strongly and may even take the organization apart. But if it really comes down hard on unc-Chapel Hill, it’s going to mess with a key ingredient of member schools of the Atlantic Coast Conference, for example, sharing in hundreds of millions of dollars over a multi-year period.
Money may, in fact, be a major factor in any determination of punishment. Universities enjoying the huge stadiums, the luxurious booster perks, the bowl trips, the television deals have made themselves prisoners of the dollar. Many new presidents have found out quickly that they can’t touch the athletics program at any schools because too much money is involved. The university’s “brand” is sold to apparel companies. Football and basketball teams become for some a university’s sole identity.
unc-Chapel Hill is more, much more, than its athletics program, and the vast majority of alums know it. The question is whether the NCAA’s punishments will be a lesson, albeit a painful one, or merely a temporary slow-down on the way back to the status quo.
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/article23538064.html
John Davis: unc wrongdoers deserve punishment
Regarding the June 9 editorial “unc dilemma”: Astonishing, incomprehensible and completely unacceptable that after years of investigations, culminating in an NCAA conclusion of “lack of institutional control,” not a single individual from the unc faculty or administration has been singled out or punished in any way for dereliction of duty or destruction of the reputation of this once prestigious university.
From top to bottom, it has become clear who was responsible for this travesty, yet they all have been permitted to resign or retire or leave with full benefits and no sanctions of any kind for their misdeeds.
What a horrible heritage for others who have served their school so proudly in the past. And what a horrifying lesson for students who should be learning that actions have consequences and that wrong-doers must be held accountable for their misbehavior.
JOHN DAVIS
DURHAM
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article23687197.html
unc-CH must address culture that led to NCAA charges
Though the NCAA huffs and puffs about rule-breakers, its “penalties” never have amounted to much: lost scholarships, perhaps a probation, a temporary ban on post-season play. The truth is, neither the organization nor its member schools care much for punishment. People make mistakes. Uh, oh. Oh, golly, we’re sorry. They didn’t mean it. We don’t want to hurt the kids.
But in the case of perhaps the worst scandal in college sports history, the athletics-academics disgrace at the University of North carolina at Chapel Hill, with “paper class” shenanigans dating back 20 years, the NCAA has itself a real problem. The organization has released its notice of allegations and has used the term “lack of institutional control” as pertaining to the unc program. That’s supposedly one of the most serious accusations the NCAA can make. Now the university will respond, and sometime around March of next year the NCAA will determine sanctions, if any, against the athletics program.
Those schools that have been punished in the past, losing face and money (no post-season bowl bonanzas, for example), are surely saying to the NCAA: You brought the hammer down on us for doing far less than the “carolina Way” crowd did. So we are watching.
Athletes exploited
Indeed, despite the university’s obfuscation and attempts to keep the lid on years of phony classes and academic advisers steering athletes to courses designed to keep them eligible but hardly to advance them toward a degree, this four-year saga has been and remains an embarrassment. The reporting of The News & Observer’s Dan Kane and a $3 million investigation by Washington attorney Kenneth Wainstein confirmed the worst, a long-running exploitation of athletes who were just that and not in fact “student-athletes” all universities talk about.
The university’s response will be interesting. At this point, with Wainstein’s having confirmed virtually all of the reporting by Kane, unc-CH surely won’t try to defend the indefensible.
But it may very well make an argument that has been made by other schools facing potential sanctions: Yes, there were problems, but all the people involved are gone. Why punish athletes who weren’t part of the problem or deny scholarships to those dreaming of college careers who now are in high school?
A culture problem
It’s quite true that in the course of unc’s scandal, a chancellor left and an athletics director retired. And the athletes in those phony classes are no longer on campus. Yes, current Chancellor Carol Folt wasn’t ruling the roost while the scandal was in progress, and Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham wasn’t in charge.
But this great university had a shocking, inexcusable and almost institutionalized culture of exploitation going on that brought shame on the university’s reputation, and not just its athletics reputation.
If the NCAA brings forth a weak-kneed punishment, its other members are going to react strongly and may even take the organization apart. But if it really comes down hard on unc-Chapel Hill, it’s going to mess with a key ingredient of member schools of the Atlantic Coast Conference, for example, sharing in hundreds of millions of dollars over a multi-year period.
Money may, in fact, be a major factor in any determination of punishment. Universities enjoying the huge stadiums, the luxurious booster perks, the bowl trips, the television deals have made themselves prisoners of the dollar. Many new presidents have found out quickly that they can’t touch the athletics program at any schools because too much money is involved. The university’s “brand” is sold to apparel companies. Football and basketball teams become for some a university’s sole identity.
unc-Chapel Hill is more, much more, than its athletics program, and the vast majority of alums know it. The question is whether the NCAA’s punishments will be a lesson, albeit a painful one, or merely a temporary slow-down on the way back to the status quo.
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/article23538064.html
John Davis: unc wrongdoers deserve punishment
Regarding the June 9 editorial “unc dilemma”: Astonishing, incomprehensible and completely unacceptable that after years of investigations, culminating in an NCAA conclusion of “lack of institutional control,” not a single individual from the unc faculty or administration has been singled out or punished in any way for dereliction of duty or destruction of the reputation of this once prestigious university.
From top to bottom, it has become clear who was responsible for this travesty, yet they all have been permitted to resign or retire or leave with full benefits and no sanctions of any kind for their misdeeds.
What a horrible heritage for others who have served their school so proudly in the past. And what a horrifying lesson for students who should be learning that actions have consequences and that wrong-doers must be held accountable for their misbehavior.
JOHN DAVIS
DURHAM
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article23687197.html
Pretty obvious whose side NC politicians are on. unx gets hit with LOIC charges? Let's set up a worship service for the guy who started it all...
N.C. lawmakers honor Dean Smith during Wednesday session
Legislators have recalled the late Dean Smith as a great coach and great man who cared about students, his community and social justice.
House and Senate members spoke Wednesday at the Legislative Building in praise of the former men's basketball coach at the University of North carolina at Chapel Hill while passing a resolution in his memory. Smith's widow and daughter watched from the Senate and House gallery.
The Hall of Fame coach died in February at age 83. He spent 36 seasons with the Tar Heels and led them to two national championships.
Rep. Graig Meyer of Orange County praised Smith for his efforts at integration in Chapel Hill. And Rep. Ed Hanes of Winston-Salem recalled his encounters with Smith while playing on unc's junior varsity basketball team.
http://m.greensboro.com/news/n-c-la...ab6-0fb5-11e5-87ee-af095749ee40.html?mode=jqm
N.C. lawmakers honor Dean Smith during Wednesday session
Legislators have recalled the late Dean Smith as a great coach and great man who cared about students, his community and social justice.
House and Senate members spoke Wednesday at the Legislative Building in praise of the former men's basketball coach at the University of North carolina at Chapel Hill while passing a resolution in his memory. Smith's widow and daughter watched from the Senate and House gallery.
The Hall of Fame coach died in February at age 83. He spent 36 seasons with the Tar Heels and led them to two national championships.
Rep. Graig Meyer of Orange County praised Smith for his efforts at integration in Chapel Hill. And Rep. Ed Hanes of Winston-Salem recalled his encounters with Smith while playing on unc's junior varsity basketball team.
http://m.greensboro.com/news/n-c-la...ab6-0fb5-11e5-87ee-af095749ee40.html?mode=jqm
Interesting. I thought Roy and basketball weren't implicated...?
flair11@flair11
@nitstan @Wufwuf1 @dankane @joeovies Did UNC redact the word 'basketball' from their NCAA NOA?
Wufwuf1@Wufwuf1
@flair11 @NITStan @dankane @joeovies Last sentence is damning.
flair11@flair11
@nitstan @Wufwuf1 @dankane @joeovies Did UNC redact the word 'basketball' from their NCAA NOA?
Wufwuf1@Wufwuf1
@flair11 @NITStan @dankane @joeovies Last sentence is damning.
Don't even know this kid but here's to hopin' he gets to spend all kinds of time on his academics because the program he plays for has been nuked back to the Stone Age. If he's such a smart kid why's he listening to another unx homer instead of availing himself of the massive amount of incriminating evidence readily available on-line...?
Already a Morehead scholar, Hillside's Beasley joining Tar Heels
Beasley said he knows all about the scandal that had unc students getting passing grades for very little work in courses created by a secretary in what was the Department of African and Afro-American Studies. He said his history teacher at Hillside used to tutor unc athletes during the troubled timeframe and told him the mess wasn't exactly as it has been portrayed.
“That was something that kind of troubled me when I was thinking about going to carolina,” Beasley said. “Of course, the media blew it up a lot more.
http://www.heraldsun.com/sports/unc...d-scholar-Hillsides-Beasley-joining-Tar-Heelshttp://www.heraldsun.com/sports/unc...d-scholar-Hillsides-Beasley-joining-Tar-Heels
Already a Morehead scholar, Hillside's Beasley joining Tar Heels
Beasley said he knows all about the scandal that had unc students getting passing grades for very little work in courses created by a secretary in what was the Department of African and Afro-American Studies. He said his history teacher at Hillside used to tutor unc athletes during the troubled timeframe and told him the mess wasn't exactly as it has been portrayed.
“That was something that kind of troubled me when I was thinking about going to carolina,” Beasley said. “Of course, the media blew it up a lot more.
http://www.heraldsun.com/sports/unc...d-scholar-Hillsides-Beasley-joining-Tar-Heelshttp://www.heraldsun.com/sports/unc...d-scholar-Hillsides-Beasley-joining-Tar-Heels
- Status
