UNC officials continue “cooperation” by declining to speak with WTVD plus random thoughts on local media…

General UNC Scandal36

We would like to give the folks from WTVD credit again. Last week, Mark Armstrong got this quote from UNC Chancellor Holden Thorpe:

‘You’re right. Nobody checked it, and I wish we had because we wouldn’t have said so strongly in the appeal hearing that the paper was his work.’

This week, WTVD apparently has followed up with UNC officials for interviews.

Full link.

Marvin Austin, who was one of the players kicked off the team for violating an NCAA ban on gifts, appears to be of the same opinion.

He’s moved on to a contract with the New York Giants, but he’s still a player in the UNC scandal – implying on Twitter that bending or breaking the rules for top athletes is far more widespread than anyone wants to admit.

Austin compared UNC to other schools and other coaches that have seen their share of athletic troubles, tweeting this Monday:

JULY 18 – 2:58PM

yeah, just like jim tresel, bruce pearl, rich rodrigez, and jim colhone didn’t know…just face it to be an elite in college athletics. U gotta bend the rules..oh yea let’s not forget oregon and auburn….yea butch has only been coachin for 20 year.

ABC11 put in multiple phone calls Tuesday to top school officials. No one would agree to an interview.

It is great to see a local media outlet digging for the story and publishing the results of those efforts. Even if UNC won’t give interviews, then UNC’s denial to cooperate is certainly newsworthy. As is a denial by UNC to cooperate with court orders surrounding the media’s request for public records such as Butch Davis’ personal cell phone if it was in fact used to conduct the state’s business

Would someone in the local media update us on the lawsuit regarding phone records and emails of persons involved in the scandal? If there is a court order to not discuss it or legal counsel is advising you not to discuss it, then just let us know. This is a fair request in our opinion.

And where is Butch Davis’ in all of this? Butch seems to have buried himself in a bunker. Anyone heard from Butch recently?

Meanwhile, another issue of the ACC Sports Journal has come and again there was hardly a mention of the scandal that has rocked Chapel Hill. A few paragraphs regurgitating the scandal in the UNC season preview, but none of the hardcore investigative journalism the publication became known for when it delved deep into the stories of former NC State players Tramain Hall and AJ Davis and how they “arroved” at NC State.

I have been reading the ACCSJ since I was a teenager and it is a shame that the one publication ACC fans could always count on to cover stories like this one involving UNC has sat on the sideline for the most part. The ACCSJ instead thinks we need another set of team previews that we can get from every other publication, fan site, and blog. Using team previews for the section focused on each school is basically a waste of an entire issue. I can get previews from everywhere. From the ACCSJ, I look for the team sections to discuss unique angles, behind the scenes stories, etc….things we don’t get from regular sources.

A suggestion for sports talk show hosts…when you ask a question to your guest, can you just cut yourself off at the end of the question and let the guest talk? We really don’t care who you have already interviewed that day, who is coming up, where you are hosting today’s show from, etc…we want to hear the guest talk. Especially when it is near the end of the segment and you are taking up 30+ seconds promoting your show right in the middle of the question taking away time from your guest.

JP Giglio of the N&O has been very active on Twitter recently. If you aren’t following Joe, then I certainly recommend it.

jpgiglio Joe Giglio
@
@tarheelfanblog Bottom line, she was still around the program because of Butch Davis
12 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

jpgiglio Joe Giglio
@
@tarheelfanblog Davis kept Wiley around, with her shuttling Drew to and from practice and school, after she was fired by the school

There has been a lot of good work done by various blogs and media outlets throughout the scandal. This particular piece written by Robbie Pickeral and Ken Tysiac was tweeted last night. Since this scandal has gone on for so long, I think reviewing previous stories to refresh our memories would help everyone’s perspective:

The football program’s former academic coordinator, Cynthia Reynolds, who worked at UNC for eight years before she was dismissed last summer, fits that description. Contacted by The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, she said she was concerned about approaching football coach Butch Davis when she heard that undergraduate Jennifer Wiley – who also was mentoring football players – was not only tutoring Davis’ son Drew, but also driving him around town.

Reynolds was worried that crossed a line of familiarity that is unacceptable. The academic support program has rules prohibiting tutors from socializing with athletes. Reynolds – who was reassigned away from football after seven years in the job in 2009 and was released in August, and then filed an age discrimination complaint against the school with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last month – feared those same rules weren’t being applied in the Davis household.

However, “in my opinion, if I had gone to Coach Davis, my job would have been on the line,” Reynolds said.

Anyone remember that article? I wonder if the NCAA ever had a conversation with Reynolds? It would be really interesting to get a second interview with Reynolds since the McAdoo trial ended with total embarrassment for the institution that “dismissed” her after Butch Davis “arroved” in Chapel Hill.

General UNC Scandal

36 Responses to UNC officials continue “cooperation” by declining to speak with WTVD plus random thoughts on local media…

  1. packhammer 07/20/2011 at 1:31 PM #

    Regarding the above, good information on NC freedom of information law here: http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/access-public-records-north-carolina

  2. graywolf 07/20/2011 at 2:25 PM #

    “They didn’t give an interview because they don’t HAVE to give an interview. They are full of arrogance and don’t feel the need to answer to the public. They have the majority of the BoG in their hip pocket, and know they won’t be forced to do anything they don’t want to do.” (from Truth)

    This is true until the NCAA comes along and punishes you for your arrogance towards them which should happen very soon and the longer it takes the worse the punishment is going to be

  3. TruthBKnown Returns 07/20/2011 at 2:46 PM #

    graywolf, that’s true. But they can be fully cooperative with the NCAA while stonewalling the local media and the general public. I’m afraid they are being cooperative with the NCAA (or at least, they have them convinced that they’re being cooperative!). But out of arrogance, they make the rest of us feel like they are not cooperating when they don’t give TV interviews, don’t answer questions, and don’t release records they were sued to release.

    But maybe the NCAA considers their level of cooperation to be acceptable.

  4. wolfpacker 07/20/2011 at 3:30 PM #

    One thing you are failing to realize is that if the NCAA were to finish up and go back and find things that unc FAILED TO DISCLOSE, this would be much more detrimental than unc disclosing them in the first place. Only they could be so arrogant that they don’t think that the NCAA will uncover all the dirt, so they just go along with the verdict. THEN, the BEANS START SPILLING and the NCAA realizes that unc tried to pull a fast one on them…

    Then is when you will see the MUSHROOM CLOUD. Don’t think that the NCAA isn’t aware that these guys are trying to be sneaky and have been all along. They know, and they are seeing through it all. unc is in a LOSE, LOSE, LOSE situation, and their hopes of controlling the media and this just blowing over is about as probable as them finding out that the paper that McAdoo submitted was plagiarized on their own.

    Have you ever thought that BMFD may have told Austin to lie? That may be some of the dirt that he has on BMFD. These guys were allowed to parade around the stadium as if they were still part of unc after they weren’t allowed to play. There’s a REASON, they didn’t want to piss them off because they HAVE TONS TO REVEAL.

    unc has been very nice to all parties that have been dismissed, thus far. Many of them got hush money and may still be getting the funds.

    This agenda actually started a long time ago and it was put in place at a time when unc was trying to help expose academic issues in athletics. For this, the NCAA NEVER EVER thought unc would be involved in such acts, but now they are finding out differently. Stay tuned, as more is to be revealed…

  5. golf76 07/20/2011 at 5:43 PM #

    Let’s see, . . . “arrogance,” . . . “arrove,” . . . there appears to be a similarity.

  6. TAEdisonHokie 07/20/2011 at 8:16 PM #

    Gowolves – The story about Fulmer refusing to attend an SEC media day, and the reason why he did it, is true. Here’s an article from that time:

    Tennessee’s Phil Fulmer gets testy amid questions of subpoena
    http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college/2008/07/tennessees-phil.html

    QUOTE:

    “The Tuscaloosa News reported that copies of the subpoena — which stems from Fulmer’s involvement in a University of Alabama scandal in 2004 — were floating around among media members. Attorneys in Alabama threatened to subpoena Fulmer in 2004 because of the investigation that landed the Crimson Tide on probation. The event caused Fulmer to miss the 2004 SEC Media Days”.

    …and here’s another article with more detail….

    Attorney alleges conspiracy between NCAA, Fulmer
    http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1719629

    QUOTE:

    “The lawyer for two former Alabama assistant football coaches who were fired in the wake of a recruiting scandal claims the coaches were victims of a plot that includes the NCAA, the FBI and Tennessee head coach Philip Fulmer, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports in Tuesday’s editions.

    According to the report, Thomas Gallion, who is representing Ronnie Cottrell and Ivy Williams in a $60 million defamation suit against the NCAA and others, alleges that Fulmer informed on the Alabama program in 2000 in exchange for his program receiving leniency in investigations of its own academic fraud scandal.”

    Personal comment: I’ve lived in SEC country since 1990, and there is NEVER a dull moment! The constant and open warfare between SEC teams is very entertaining. But, nothing they’ve done since I moved down here can top what’s going on in Chapel Hill.

  7. choppack1 07/20/2011 at 9:12 PM #

    Nice job DU. For those of you who are wondering about the criticism of Dave Glenn and ACC Sports Journal:

    DU had been a long-time defender of both of these parties. Like many objective (almost to a fault) Pack fans – this scandal and Glenn’s reaction have pushed him over the edge. For him to come out swinging on this is a pretty barometer of what a fair-minded individual thinks.

    I remember the T. Hall article well. It was obvious the ASJ put a ton of effort into a story to really try to burn the staff. They didn’t print anything that accused Amato and staff of breaking rules, but they basically said that the staff was unethical in its pursuit of Hall.

    As pissed off as I was when I read the article – I’d be defending the ASJ now if they had aggressively pursued this story. Surprise, surprise – they haven’t.

    And to Dave Glenn I say Congratulations! You’ve found one of the few State fans who at one time really respected you – and have proven to him, you are who that lunatic fringe thought you were – a UNC hack.

  8. highstick 07/20/2011 at 9:34 PM #

    Fun, ain’t it, Hokie! Watching the SEC games, both on the field and off!

  9. Daily Update 07/20/2011 at 9:43 PM #

    Well said Choppack.

  10. choppack1 07/20/2011 at 10:43 PM #

    Thanks DU – I have enjoyed your thoughts on the scandal.

    I’ve been trying to tell myself that if this were my school my thoughts and actions wouldn’t be that different – but good gosh man, these people have made an effort to bring down other coaches before. It’s their job to report on this kind of thing and do research.

    Funny thing though – if Butch Davis was a few more games under .500 and recruiting looked bad – I guarantee Dave G. would be leading the charge like he did against Coach Doh.

  11. Daily Update 07/22/2011 at 8:10 PM #

    Chop pack: I finally agree with you.

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