No one told the folks over at the Flagship that football news between the 4th and the All Star Break is rarely a good thing. We’ll run through this InfoPack style and let the regular SFN readers handle the commentary.
First, Andy Staples says the NCAA should “hammer” the Heels in a short column titled “Carolina Blues” (SI.com):
Any discussion of the litany of allegations the NCAA hurled at North Carolina last week must begin with these two: The Tar Heels allegedly employed an agent’s runner as its associate head coach, and a woman employed by coach Butch Davis to tutor his son provided several players improper assistance. If proven, those violations rank alongside any of the last decade…
…If North Carolina is guilty of both, the NCAA would be justified in sanctioning the Heels as harshly as it did USC last year—even if the Committee on Infractions doesn’t find evidence of a lack of institutional control, which draws the most severe penalties.
Staples writes another column titled “Cheating for Dummies: Your guide to smarter NCAA rule-breaking” (SI.com):
5. Plausible deniability is your greatest ally
Butch Davis’ name doesn’t appear in the NCAA’s notice of allegations against North Carolina despite what appears to be widespread corruption in the football program. That’s because Davis — as far as we know — built enough walls to keep himself from getting tarred. Young assistants, remember this and you’ll go far. The head coach never meets the money guy. He never meets the handler. He never meets the agent runners. All business is conducted through assistants and lower-level employees. That way, no one can count phone calls between the coach and the handler on phone lines whose records are public because of state open records laws. We know exactly how many times Tressel corresponded with Terrelle Pryor’s handler, Ted Sarniak, and we know exactly how many times Oregon’s Kelly called or texted Lyles. Head coaches, whatever you do, DON’T SEND THE HANDLER A HANDWRITTEN NOTE THANKING HIM FOR “ORCHESTRATING” SOMETHING. I’m looking at you, Chip Kelly. Follow this rule, and you can escape a scandal by sacrificing an assistant or an athletic department employee. Just remember the sacrificial lambs always must get paid. How do you pay the sacrificial lamb? See rule Nos. 1 and 4.
Next, Lenox Rawlings says we’ll soon find out how much the UNC folks care about their integrity and touches on how this current scandal is being handled in contrast to the one 50 years ago (Winston-SalemJournal.com):
Many things hang in the balance, none more important than how the world outside Chapel Hill judges the university’s integrity…
…Colleges long ago rewrote their definitions of acceptable commercialism. Sometime soon, perhaps before winter, the state will learn whether Carolina’s leaders also radically diluted their definition of what passes for properly responsible behavior.
Also, Tom Sorensen tells us ways to fill the void amid the NFL lockout (CharlotteObserver.com):
Sept. 3: There’s a lot to love about college football. There are the marching bands, the crazed students and the alumni who pass their passion from generation to generation like a prized antique. But you know what we love most? Athletes play the game not for money but for love.
So on the first football Saturday of September we sit in front of the TV to watch the amateurs compete. Oops. It’s North Carolina.
Finally (for now), former UNC defensive end Michael McAdoo is suing both the school and the NCAA after being declared permanently ineligible (WRAL.com):
Defensive end Michael McAdoo is also seeking unspecified damages from the school and the NCAA, which the lawsuit accuses of “gross negligence” in ruling him ineligible based on inaccurate information. McAdoo’s attorneys filed the lawsuit Friday in Durham County Superior Court, claiming he was “improperly and unjustly” declared permanently ineligible in November.
One quick question — Is Michael McAdoo receiving even MORE impermissable benefits by being treated differently than any other student if he is getting his legal work done pro bono by a firm or a lawyer with any ties to UNC? If not…how is he affording the cost of so many high powered attorneys who have been spending so much time already writing a 59 page complaint?
As always, you can discuss the UNC Scandal and other items of interest on the SFN Forums.
