The News & Observer today released another in their recent series of “Animation” Cartoons (supposedly) designed to spoof local coaches with their second spoof on NC State Head Football Coach, Chuck Amato. (You can grade Coach Amato by clicking here).
The newest Chuck Amato spoof is causing quite a lot of controversy and division of opinion on NC State message boards this afternoon. Other than saying that we think that the cartoon goes a bit overboard and is anything but flattering, we are going to refrain from commenting on the cartoon because one of the members of our author team (Jeff) plans on running an editorial on the topic in the coming days.
But, we can’t withold from sharing the following observations and complaint —
We just went to www.newsobserver.com and took a screengrab of the front page of the N&O’s website. We have carved useless stuff off the right hand side of the page and are left with the picture that we are sharing below.
In addition to the questionable Amato-cartoon that is prominently highlighted on the front page, take a look further down the page at the TWO “Special Features” that BOTH serve to paint UNC’s football program in a very attractive light.
Let’s recap a moment.
On the day before college football season begins in the Triangle…the geniuses at the News & Observer have chosen to run and feature on the front page of their website:
* A two-minute audio slideshow that could be run as a Carolina propoganda piece on the wonders of the “Old Well Walk” and coach John Bunting.
* A video of “Meet the Heels Day” that primarily focuses on a happy John Bunting holding a baby, signing a young fan’s shirt and happily interacting with fans.
* A made-up cartoon of extreme criticisms (like the representation that NFL draftees were “jumping ship”) that depicts Coach Amato as a full-fledged, unadulterated pimp riding in his corvette while new lyrics to the song “It’s hard out here for a pimp”.
Wow. Welcome back Frank Daniels, Claude Sitton and Mickey McCarthy.
