Kenan Expansion: The Tarheel Spin Machine in Motion

While breezing through some articles this morning on the internet, I came across this piece titled, “Plan to expand Kenan excites Davis”.

My initial reaction to reading the headline was, “Uh oh…there goes our football facility advantage over the Tarheels…and here comes another decade of built-in excuses by Lee Fowler and his coaching staffs about how unfair that it is for anyone to even try to win at NC State without the best facilities in America at their disposal.” (You see, losers are ALWAYS looking for a reason – usually outside of their control – to rationalize why they don’t do better).

Then I read the article and realized what was really going on here – spin. In Chapel Hill, this is also known as stretching the truth. It looks like Butch Davis has already picked up on how to old Tarheel propaganda at work.

Read the article and identify the obvious difference between the current reality of Kenan expansion and what Butch Davis is selling. You need to look no further than the comments of the Athletics Director to see the truth around the current situation regarding Kenan expansion.

PINEHURST – North Carolina football coach Butch Davis said Monday the school is hoping to begin a $100 million renovation of Kenan Stadium within the next 18 months.

Although athletics director Dick Baddour said through a departmental spokesman that the plan is “still in the early stages,” he confirmed that he held his FIRST meeting last Thursday with a special task force to discuss the expansion. Baddour, who was on vacation, would not put a price, start date or time frame on the project, but the athletics department is working with an architect and a consultant.

Carolina has had tentative plans for several years to to fill in the East end zone (forming the stadium into a complete bowl), add luxury boxes, and build a new academic support center.

On Dec. 4, the Chapel Hill Town Council approved a plan that would add about 8,800 seats to the stadium, but the details of the project would still need to be approved by the Board of Trustees. It also would likely require a fundraising effort by UNC’s Educational Foundation.

So, Carolina has had these exact same plans on the board for ‘several years’ and the Board of Trustees have not approved the project and the Ram’s Club has not begun raising money for the project…but, Butch Davis is telling high school kids:

(Davis) said recruiters will be able to tell prospects: “Hey, you’re liable to play the very first game as a freshman, you’re liable to run out there in the stadium, and this be a finished product.”

I know that I don’t know much about “Curry Math” (aka “Carolina Math”)…but I have a hard time making those numbers work.

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28 Responses to Kenan Expansion: The Tarheel Spin Machine in Motion

  1. noah 07/24/2007 at 4:58 PM #

    Does anyone know what percentage of capacity Kenan’s been operating at for…ohh…the last 20 years?

    During the Sheridan years, I think we averaged about 45,000 a year. They hadn’t restricted us to 52,500 yet, so that was about 85 percent capacity.

    During Amato’s years, I’d guess we’ve been somewhere around 90 percent. I don’t expect that to change drastically anytime soon.

    Kenan holds around 58,000, I think? I’d be willing to bet that for the last decade, average attendance (and I’m talking about through the turnstiles, not tickets-sold) has been around 70 percent.

  2. McPete 07/24/2007 at 5:20 PM #

    I heard something about casino revenue paying for it, and tix will be comp’d.

  3. boxorice 07/24/2007 at 5:26 PM #

    Not an Indian Casino, but an Indian Casino. Didn’t you hear that it was the Taj Mahal?

  4. StateFans 07/24/2007 at 5:32 PM #

    noah, NC State has actually been operating at close to 100% capacity for each of the last 5 or 6 years. In fact, a couple of years ago we ‘techinically’ led the nation in attendance with something like 107% of stadium capacity. (UPDATE: Check out this link I found)

    You won’t get anything CLOSE to an accurate count from UNC due to their grossly inflated.

  5. Clarksa 07/24/2007 at 7:21 PM #

    Will he park bulldozers and dump trucks out front to show the “progress” being made?

  6. beowolf 07/24/2007 at 7:44 PM #

    SFN, why can’t they just Photoshop in the stadium renovations the way they Photoshopped the State fans into carolina blue? No muss, no fuss, and the way the academics works over there, they could give the Photoshopper course credit in media relations.

  7. PAPacker 07/24/2007 at 8:04 PM #

    sorry for the tangent, but how do I email the site administrator on here, I have a request.

  8. john of sparta 07/24/2007 at 8:37 PM #

    Lord a mercy, folks…………….don’t you realize that 3 years ago
    is Ancient History…if you aren’t Expanding, you aren’t Recruiting.
    think of it this way: computers. Every Single Second something
    changes. 3 YEARS behind is too many. finally, it has come down
    to this = last year is what holds back this year.

  9. BoKnowsNCS71 07/25/2007 at 8:00 AM #

    I see it now — Butch Davis in the cornfield thinking “If you build it — they will come.”

    But I see it more like “Butchie from Cincinnati” — “The end is near.”

  10. RickJ 07/25/2007 at 9:29 AM #

    The most important expansion that needs to be made at Kenan is the distance between each row and the individual seats.

  11. tobaccordshow 07/25/2007 at 9:37 AM #

    The most important expansion that needs to be made at Kenan is the members of the dating pool to include the opposite sex.

  12. lush 07/25/2007 at 9:53 AM #

    ^^ my microflamalga started flaring up when i heard this! shawnie will soon be gone.

  13. partialqualifier 07/25/2007 at 9:59 AM #

    Noah, you have a terrific point. What damn difference does it make if you build a 100,000 seat stadium if you aint getttin’ but 35,000 fannies in the seats?!? Butch Davis will soon see what Mack Brown saw….

    Did anyone see Butchie Boy on NFL Network the other night? He had on his Carolina Blue tie and was praising his mighty Heels. I know he used to work for them, but it still chaps my ass to see all the free publicity UNC gets!

    Speaking of ass-chapping….good point tobaccordshow!!! LOL!

  14. PAPacker 07/25/2007 at 10:03 AM #

    It is another example of the Tarhole spin machine but it’s hard to be that gleeful about it when I ask myself, “How many years in a row have they beaten us?” Where is UNC picked to finish in the other division? May the string end this fall.

  15. highonlowe 07/25/2007 at 10:26 AM #

    Speaking of the Tarhell Spin Machine and free publicity, the N&O is doing them huge freakin’ favor to even publish this hypothetical tripe. Almost every D1 school in America has “discussions” about refurbishments ands renovations, but most are not reality (like this one), and almost none are conveniently splashed across the sports section of the local rag.

  16. RAWFS 07/25/2007 at 10:29 AM #

    Seriously, you have to wonder why a school that can’t fill what it has now wants to expand their football stadium.

    I guess it doesn’t matter, they have to have it because NCSU completed ringed in its stadium and Tar Heel sensibilities would never, ever allow for NCSU to have something that is considered better.

    Maybe Leerfield Sports will pay for it. They paid for their rules-violating Jumbotron scoreboard a couple of years ago, IIRC.

  17. BoKnowsNCS71 07/25/2007 at 11:06 AM #

    Butchie will only stay in the shadow of his father — Roy.

    And the x’s and O’s and the o’s and x’s will tell it all.

    We got our eye on you Butchie.

  18. CaptainCraptacular 07/25/2007 at 11:59 AM #

    *They paid for their rules-violating Jumbotron scoreboard a couple of years ago, IIRC.*

    Just curious, what rules did it violate?

  19. newt 07/25/2007 at 12:50 PM #

    Everytime I’ve been to Kenan Stadium for the State game it has been packed out.

    With State fans.

  20. WolftownVA81 07/25/2007 at 1:23 PM #

    ^which is why a stadium expansion won’t hurt my feelings. Prospective recruits will see the empty seats so no advantage there. But at least it’ll be one more viable game I could attend.

  21. BoKnowsNCS71 07/25/2007 at 2:31 PM #

    Sigmund Freud may have it nailed — “Arena penis envy”

  22. RAWFS 07/25/2007 at 2:36 PM #

    The Tar Heels had a bad habit of blaring music while the opposition is at the line of scrimmage. That goes against the ‘artificial noisemaker’ rule.

  23. packwolf90 07/25/2007 at 3:29 PM #

    Even with that artificial noise they don’t come close to being as loud as Carter-Finley. Some people say it’s because of how close the fans are to the field and others say it’s the rabid fan base. I don’t care what the reason is C-F has got to be one of the loudest stadiums for it’s size.
    The only affect the expansion will have is it will make a HORRIBLE parking situation even worse.

  24. chris92heel 07/25/2007 at 4:52 PM #

    Kenan upgrades were promised to BMFD during the negotiation process.

    The people that matter have made the commitment to it.

  25. CarnifeX 07/26/2007 at 10:40 AM #

    the parking situation is a joke at kenan. I don’t understand how they can even claim to have anything even remotely related to a tailgate.

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