The coming week will see an influx of football stories as camp begins, so just a reminder to the new folks that there are a variety of topics being discussed over on the SFN Forums.
As far as recent comments on The Scandal:
Anne Blythe at the N&O wonders if UNC can play big-time football and preserve its integrity:
But will those fans, for years to come, see a team that contends for championships? Will UNC, stung by agents helping players, an assistant coach helping an agent and an embarrassing case of plagiarism, still seek to play with the big boys of college football?
UNC has struggled to maintain its storied academic reputation and, at the same time, build a modern football program that excites a large enough fan base to fill 63,000 seats and contribute mightily to the big-time costs associated with national championship aspirations.
“I’ve got an acute sense of the true nature of the tension,” Thorp said Thursday. “Nearly every public university, including many, many great public universities, are wrestling with the issues that we’re talking about.”
Seems the answer is much simpler, considering they haven’t been able to maintain their integrity even while playing small time football: no, they can’t.
Caulton Tudor says the Kenan home schedule lacks verve:
Against that complicated backdrop, the Tar Heels will open their season on Sept. 3 in a Kenan Stadium that many of those same fans won’t even recognize – the upshot of an epic $75 million expansion that turned the once-cozy South end zone area into a high-rise luxury complex for the richest fans.
What’s more, the opponent for the grand opening of the Blue Zone will not be an ACC foe. It won’t be ECU or LSU or Syracuse, either. It will be James Madison, an excellent program in the Football Championship Subdivision, which is still more frequently referred to as Division I-AA by most fans.
It’s not a stretch to think this opener will be the most awkward and most subdued in decades for a school that has been playing football since 1888…
UNC officials once envisioned the opening of the 2011 season as a landmark celebration of football growth, popularity and ascent in national visibility.
Instead, these first few games in redesigned Kenan Stadium could pan out to a multimillion dollar sports psychology study.
Meanwhile, our very own GAWolf has a brilliant suggestion for restoring The Flagship’s integrity: hire Todd Turner.
