Thorp, Baddour, Davis appear before UNC-CH BOT — UPDATED 3:50 p.m.

Doing a great impression of three guys standing uncomfortably against the wall at an 8th-grade dance, UNC-CH’s Chancellor, Athletic Director, and Football coach appeared before UNC-CH’s Board of Trustees to talk about the massive ongoing scandals.  It is widely thought that UNC-CH BOT members were responsible for hiring Butch in the first place, so we should not be surprised by today’s made-for-media dog and pony show. You can read about it here in an article posted by the N & O.

I think the key quotes from that article are:

“We have found no information that Coach Davis was involved in any of the problems that have surfaced, and I know he feels a lot of responsibility for what has happened,” Thorp said.

and

Thorp and Baddour said the NCAA and the school are close to wrapping up the investigative phase of the probe. NCAA investigators will turn over their findings to the enforcement staff, beginning the process of determining what sanctions – if any – UNC will receive.

So the findings have not even been turned over to the NCAA’s enforcement staff — that is key information and might explain why UNC-CH fans are running around saying ridiculous things about the NCAA not finding any violations, etc.  The NCAA apparently hasn’t even started the process of evaluating the facts for violations.  When asked when the entire NCAA process might be over, Baddour said:

“I don’t know what to tell you on that,” Baddour said. “That is out of our control.”

 

The BOT is so interested in protecting the integrity of the University that one of the few questions asked of the three by the BOT (if not the only question) was to Butch about the impact of the scandals on his recruiting.  They really mean business over there!

Before I sign off I want to ask readers to scroll down the front page of the blog for new items, particularly ones that have been “bumped down” — so much new stuff is going up all the time during this busy season that it is easy to miss great pieces that take a lot of time to write and deserve your attention.  Also, our message boards are busier than ever.  There are great discussions on many topics at a depth we can’t get to on the front page.

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3:50 update

Some additional quotes from today’s media performance have come to light and they are too good not to share.

From this extended article  posted by the News and Observer we learn of this cringe-inducing quote, which sounds like something a teenage girl would write in a love letter during History class:

“I believe you were the right fit when we hired you and I continue to believe that,” Baddour told Davis during the meeting. “In fact, I believe it even more strongly now.”

Does anyone else find that quote just totally bizarre?  What is going on over there, seriously?  This is Alice in Wonderland stuff.  Strengthening that conclusion is this quote from Thorp:

“We don’t have plans to take any more actions than the ones we’ve taken,” Thorp said. “Obviously something could happen. Some information could come out or the NCAA could send us information that we don’t know about that could change that. But we’ve been working on this for four months … and we don’t think there’s a lot of new information that’s going to come out, so we feel really good about where we are.”

“we feel really good about where we are”?  I don’t even know what to say.  Also buried in that quote is the idea that Thorp thinks that the NCAA could know something that UNC-CH doesn’t.  Now that’s interesting.

I also want to elevate these excellent thoughts into the main entry:

the same Carolina fans and power structure that seem to support Butch Davis and think that it is acceptable that he wasn’t doing his job to ‘know’…are the same people that have criticized Jim Valvano for 20+ years because he ran a ‘loose program’ and didn’t know that his players were doing when they sold shoes and tickets in private and weren’t sharing their exploits with the world on the internet.

LOVE the hypocrisy.

UNC Scandal

43 Responses to Thorp, Baddour, Davis appear before UNC-CH BOT — UPDATED 3:50 p.m.

  1. Skoll 11/18/2010 at 11:58 AM #

    An image of Kevin Bacon on Franklin St is all that is missing from this article. “ALL IS WELL!!!”

  2. PackerInRussia 11/18/2010 at 12:16 PM #

    I’ve been waiting for the three monkeys picture!

  3. TheCOWDOG 11/18/2010 at 12:23 PM #

    Missed the whole damn thing. I was 30,000 feet above and in the weeds.

    New mantra. Gonna make it mine.

  4. PackFanInLA 11/18/2010 at 12:24 PM #

    WOW – look at that body language.

  5. Alpha Wolf 11/18/2010 at 12:27 PM #

    This comes to mind too:

  6. Packfan28 11/18/2010 at 12:30 PM #

    Well, I’m glad Butch is there instead of getting his team ready to play football.

  7. old13 11/18/2010 at 12:34 PM #

    Joke(s) of the day (week, month, year, decade, century?): The Three Stooges/UNC-CHeat/UNC BOT/BOG!!!

    And, unfortunately, it is mostly NOT funny as it is an absurd affront to the honest faculty/staff members and students on that campus, not to mention the System members and N.C. taxpayers!

  8. highstick 11/18/2010 at 12:36 PM #

    You can also use the Marx Brothers!

    Aren’t they cute in their little ties and matching suits???

    And the “hand positions” look like the Pope getting ready to take communion!

  9. backnine 11/18/2010 at 12:41 PM #

    OK N&O, that meeting tee’ed up a fantastic article just waiting to be written. There’s so much to be gleaned from what took place there – or rather didn’t take place – that even an 8th grade school newsletter writter could pen that article. The ongoing whitewashing by the three amigos, aided and abetted by the UNC BOT during this meeting, did a poor job of even being transparent in their attempts to gloss over the mess. This thing was a stunt and everyone knows it.

    So will the state’s media take the bait and write sunny articles about how pleased the UNC admin is with their handling of the process. Or, will someone in the media, take a bolder approach and actually ask the questions that should have been asked by the BOT. Will they further ask why the BOT failed to ask such questions? We’re not talking about going after this gang with an abundance of sharp, aggressive questions, but rather, just ask the fair and valid questions that NEED to be asked but aren’t. These guys are collectively thumbing their nose at the publics intelligence and trust. Is there no one who buys ink by the barrel who will call them out on it?

  10. Mike 11/18/2010 at 12:42 PM #

    The fox applies for a new job guarding the henhouse. This is hilarious – the contraditions aboudn every time they open their mouths.

  11. MatSci94 11/18/2010 at 12:51 PM #

    If what the TSA is doing is ‘security theater’, does that make this ‘compliance theater’?

  12. MP 11/18/2010 at 1:17 PM #

    Geez, look at that photo. I’m starting to think that Thorpe is getting a kick out of portraying his ‘control’ over Big Bad Butch.

  13. durhamwolf19 11/18/2010 at 1:23 PM #

    THe key point was that the NCAA has been to UNC 7 times (at least) according to Thorp. They don’t come that many times to pat you on the back and say job well done.

  14. bradleyb123 11/18/2010 at 1:28 PM #

    This is a little disheartening. And surreal at the same time. It sounds like the BOT is mainly interested in building a football powerhouse, too. If THEY aren’t interested in integrity or doing the right thing and terminating Butch, and Baddour isn’t, and Thorp isn’t….. then who is?

    I’m beginning to think the unfathomable: That Butch might survive this scandal.

    If you can’t count on this group taking action (BOT, chancellor or AD), then who can you count on?

    And the media won’t ask any real questions, either. This is almost as bad as a corrupt government, one that also controls the media.

    How can they be brought down? Brought to justice?

    My rant may sound like a meltdown, but it really isn’t. I’d really like to know. How can something like this happen, and NO ONE IN CHARGE CARES ENOUGH TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT???

    The UNC system is failing us all in this.

  15. lsutton5144 11/18/2010 at 1:31 PM #

    If Bill Friday were still president of the UNC system, the idiot who asked the recruiting question would probably be relieved of his duties on the BOT.

  16. newt 11/18/2010 at 1:34 PM #

    Two choices to describe these folks: 1) dirty scum or 2) mentally challenged.

  17. ppack3 11/18/2010 at 1:37 PM #

    I’m assuming the answer to their recruiting question of Butch was that recruiting was going GREAT! Said Butchie, “Man, since we dropped that dead weight, (John Blake, Head Recruiter) our recruiting has really picked up some steam!”

    Honestly, your lead recruiter is gone, you are facing sanctions, you are hoping for a halfway decent Bowl while sitting at 6-6 with 2 games left, and half of the team has been suspended and/or kicked off of the team. I’m sure your recruiting will maintain it’s past levels of greatness, even though you got to that point by lying, cheating and who knows what?!

    I still think that Baddour, Thorpe and the BOT are being held hostage by Butchie, for one reason or another. He has something on them.

  18. ppack3 11/18/2010 at 1:39 PM #

    ^ Hence, the ‘Softball’ question about recruiting.

  19. Pack78 11/18/2010 at 1:51 PM #

    15-second video of DB ‘accepting responsibility’ for all that has happened means that he is out the door at the end of this fiasco (if unx has ANY integrity!!!???) and BD is out as well.

  20. StateFans 11/18/2010 at 1:53 PM #

    What is so sad is that none of these jokers seem to understand what is wrong and why Butch Davis deserves his ass handed to him.

    “We have found no information that Coach Davis was involved in any of the problems that have surfaced, and I know he feels a lot of responsibility for what has happened,” Thorp said.

    ^THAT’S THE POINT!!!!

    If this is true…this is EXACTLY WHY ANY coach &/or administrator has to be fired! They weren’t doing their job. They did not know of these widespread and very public problems. They are PAID to KNOW. They are PAID to run an organization that should be set up to know.

    Good God, man!!! MULTIPLE players were PUBLICLY Tweeting & Facebookinng this stuff for months. WE ALL KNEW.

    Why do you think SFN started following Marvin Austin’s tweets a full year ago?

    He was tweeting about strip clubs in Charlotte and all of these trips he was taking and time he was spending with former UNC pro players like Kentwan Balmer. It was CRAZY and 100% obvious to us that things were amiss. So, the average person who knows how to cut on a computer could see that this stuff was happening without any effort at all…but the people that run the program couldn’t/didn’t “know” about any of it?

    It’s NUTS!!!

  21. StateFans 11/18/2010 at 2:00 PM #

    And…for what it is worth — which is evidently not much —

    the same Carolina fans and power structure that seem to support Butch Davis and think that it is acceptable that he wasn’t doing his job to ‘know’…are the same people that have criticized Jim Valvano for 20+ years because he ran a ‘loose program’ and didn’t know that his players were doing when they sold shoes and tickets in private and weren’t sharing their exploits with the world on the internet.

    LOVE the hypocrisy.

  22. highstick 11/18/2010 at 2:40 PM #

    I actually HATE THE HYPOCRISY!!

    UnC has truly become an Ivy League school now, folks. They think they are superior to everyone, smarter than everyone else, and they can fool anyone they want…

    WROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  23. packof81 11/18/2010 at 2:46 PM #

    The BOT stinks. They are complicit in this and therefore corrupt.

  24. Old MacDonald 11/18/2010 at 2:59 PM #

    Anyone else find it funny that Thorp keeps trotting out to say that he is behind Butch. Seriously, how many times has it been now? 5? Why does he feel compelled to say it so much? Does he think people don’t believe him?

  25. ppack3 11/18/2010 at 3:07 PM #

    ^ Exactly, Packof81. They hired him. They are partially responsible for allowing John Blake to do the things that he did. They are responsible, at least in part, for the things that Butchie did (or did not) do/know about. They are as complicit as Baddour. All Butch has to say, is that he intends to take them all down if they fire him.

    Hence, the softball questions and seemingly appeased attitude.

    Some people may say that this is a conspiracy theory. I say, these guys aren’t stupid. Most of the analysis of this situation revolves around the UNC BOT, Baddour, Butch and Thorpe being complete idiots. They aren’t, I assure you. What they are? Political. They are all in a highly charged political situation that has each of their respective jobs on the line. They sold their souls, and gave Butch Davis the free reign that he needed in order to build a money making football powerhouse. They neither controlled nor asked questions about how the recruiting practices or the academic achievements were being accomplished. They looked the other way. Now, Butch has them over a barrel.

    Butch is going to milk his contract dry, and will be nowhere to be found when the penalties are to be paid. He is going mimic John Calipari and Pete Carrol, among others. MMW.

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