CHOPPACK,
You are 100% SPOT ON. Our athletic department was virtually castrated in 1990. Claude Sitton of N&O fame privately (and semi-publicly) declared that he was going to “get” Valvano. Bring in a BOG commission chaired by Lonnie (SP?) Poole that said, “Gee Coach, why don’t you just GIVE the players some spending money so that they won’t have to SELL their shoes or their tickets….”. NOW couple it with a VERY jealous Faculty and you have the pefect storm. Run the Chancellor OUT OF TOWN. Elect, by Kangaroo Kourt, ONE OF THEIR OWN, Dr. Larry Monteith of EE fame and bring in Todd Turner, the most inept AD in the recorded history of collegiate athletics. BTW, MANY of the folks on the faculty senate (who are TENURED as was Uncle Julius Nyang’oro (SP?) ARE the PROTEGES of the folks that “GOT” Jimmy V and you can see WHY it has taken almost 22 years to swing the pendulum BACK. They STILL tell stories at the various faculty outings about how their hero, St. Monteith, slayed the mighty dragon, Valvano, and saved the wannabe ivy covered halls (actually a brickyard attesting to the brickmaking industry’s lobbying) and they can reminise for HOURS. Throw in a few jokes with a punchline of “It was ONLY 3 millirenkens…..HA! HA! HaHa!” and you get the picture.
Had Jimmy V EVER been involved with a grade mill or academic scam of this magnitude, the BOG and the Administration would have vacated ALL the basketball wins and tournaments and honors that Case & Sloan had won. It was a bloodbath, athletically speaking, back then and the faculty STILL speaks about such in hushed and revered tones. They consider their “VICTORY” to be MORE important than the Magna Carta and the Revolutionary war. It was THEIR revolution and THEY won.
I lived through it. I wrote letters to everyone, including George Herbert Walker Bush about it. I probably cried over it and I lost a LOT of sleep. I cancelled my Alumni membership and have NEVER donated a penny to the actual university. NOW don’t get me started on how they choose and administer and follow-up on the Caldwell Scholars winners and the “perks” that they get, financially and academically, to keep the “awards and averages” index HIGH. What they, the academiians and the Alumnii association (who joined the call for crucifiixion of Jimmy V) did in the mid 90’s, from an academic fraud standpoint makes old Butchy and Roy and Julius look like kids in kindergarden.
Having said that, I really believe that Randy Woodson and Debbie Yow are bringing back a balance and am excited about the future. What UNC does or handles this “mess” will be talked about FAR LONGER than the jokes about tickets and shoes and amphibious (actually a Jimmy V line).
Thus endeth the rant of the morning….but Choppack has it correct.
