OT: N&O op-ed calls for Roy Williams' head

[Fishy]

The News & Observer, which has done good work in getting to the bottom of the North Carolina academic shenanigans in spite of UNC and the NCAA, has come out with an op-ed that just screws the Heels to the floor.

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,”...

 

[Phorcys]

The biography line of the writer leaves me with little hope that this Op-Ed will sway the NCAA, or broader public opinion in any particular way. He was formerly a journalist for a publication that was formerly something else.

I completely agree with what he wrote, but he does not write from any position of power.

Then again, the avalanche always begins with that final snowflake.

 

[Phorcys]

The avalanche always begins with that last snowflake.

 

[Fishy]

If you're looking for Carl Bernstein, he doesn't work for The News & Observer in North Carolina.

But it doesn't matter who wrote it. What's important is that it's there and that it's their most-trending article. It's not going to toppled UNC, but every hit helps and the hometown paper putting a call for Williams' removal in print is definitely a hit.

To that point, I didn't see it by perusing their site - I came across it while using a Zite, a news-aggregating app. It's made enough headway to attract the attention of the crawling robots of such things.

As for avalanches, I believe it's likely a team effort between the first and the last snowflake and probably all the other snowflakes in between.

 

[Phorcys]

So, the Op-Ed is trending on your apps?

That's a good thing.

But, you are wrong about avalanches: the last flake is the one that brings the structure down.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Anyone know when the avalanche begins?

 

[Phorcys]

Anyone know when the avalanche begins?

Twenty-minutes ago?

 

[pnow15]

Someone should tell Roy that he's not in Kansas anymore.

 

[Drame]

There reason why the UNC admin would never voluntarily own up to this is because they feel there are scores of other schools who were/are just as bad. Why should they alone get punished when the SEC exists and other big time programs don't even pretend to educate their athletes.

 

[TasteofUConn]

The avalanche always begins with that last snowflake.

This is a terrible metaphor.

 

[noeynox]

I have always felt that if this wasn't one of the NCAA darling programs they would at least be whispers of an SMU like death penalty, because its UNC this has become a blame game of everybody does it. NCAA as an institution has no balls.

 

[CallMeBruce]

I have always felt that if this wasn't one of the NCAA darling programs they would at least be whispers of an SMU like death penalty, because its UNC this has become a blame game of everybody does it. NCAA as an institution has no balls.

There have definitely been whispers of a death penalty. It's been discussed quite a bit, in fact. I don't think that's where they'll go, but they're going to get hit hard for this.

 

[noeynox]

There have definitely been whispers of a death penalty. It's been discussed quite a bit, in fact. I don't think that's where they'll go, but they're going to get hit hard for this.

Get hit hard like Penn State, when two years into their sanctions the NCAA said "they've had enough"?

NCAA seems to be living in perpetual fear that the P5 schools are going to break off if they come down too hard on them. UNC BBall is like Texas football. I will believe the NCAA comes down hard on them when I see it. The NCAA first said this isn't an athletic scandal because regular students were allowed to take the classes also. If that isn't an indication that the NCAA was clinching its sphincter hoping this would go away I don't know what is.

 

[UConn990411]

Get hit hard like Penn State, when two years into their sanctions the NCAA said "they've had enough"?

NCAA seems to be living in perpetual fear that the P5 schools are going to break off if they come down too hard on them. UNC BBall is like Texas football. I will believe the NCAA comes down hard on them when I see it. The NCAA first said this isn't an athletic scandal because regular students were allowed to take the classes also. If that isn't an indication that the NCAA was clinching its sphincter hoping this would go away I don't know what is.

You're way off base. The NCAA rescinded the Penn State penalties because it overstepped its authority and was facing a massive lawsuit because of it. Sanctioning UNC for academic fraud would be well within the NCAA's right.

People really need to stop comparing the two situations.

 

[noeynox]

You're way off base. The NCAA rescinded the Penn State penalties because it overstepped its authority and was facing a massive lawsuit because of it. Sanctioning UNC for academic fraud would be well within the NCAA's right.

People really need to stop comparing the two situations.

Im sure your right. I didn't think the NCAA would do anything to Penn State initially because that was more of criminal matter, but then the NCAA decided to ding Penn State for the cover up. Then they backtracked. Even more evidence that the NCAA doesn't know if its coming or going.

 

[dogpause]

I'd rather see Roy stay. I think he's drastically underachieved and would hate to see someone better take over.

 

[nomar]

This is a terrible metaphor.

It's like the saying, "Your keys are always in the last place you look." (Yeah, because you stop looking for them at that point.)

 

[CL82]

My prediction is a two year post season ban and forfeiture of a negotiated # of games. It should be the death penalty, but that won't happen.

 

[Rico444]

There reason why the UNC admin would never voluntarily own up to this is because they feel there are scores of other schools who were/are just as bad. Why should they alone get punished when the SEC exists and other big time programs don't even pretend to educate their athletes.

Why should you go to jail for a crime somebody else noticed?

 

[CTMike]

It's like the saying, "Your keys are always in the last place you look." (Yeah, because you stop looking for them at that point.)

Wherever you go, there you are.

 

[Jaker]

No doubt Roy is dirty and the NCAA should look into his time at KU as well.

 

[Rocktheworld]

UNC has definitely called Saul at this point

 

[Kembacity]

So UNC is Walter White and Emmert is Gus Fring? Hank? I just want to build the world of this Saul analogy

 

[mcs333]

A fine and maybe a loss of a couple of scholarships. No ban. NCAA really wants no part of this.

 

[NJHusky]

the president of ESPN is a UNC grad so this never gets any airtime on their network