Haters Welcome, Trash Talk encouraged

(I wrote this piece hours before the YAHOO interview with Roy Williams. Comments coming)

Haters are welcome...

But realize this: Thoughts can be deceiving, especially on Twitter.

People will browse one's profile and instantaneously think they know one's story. Perhaps when someone reads "Go Duke" on mine, they assume it's die hard, Cameron Crazy, hate everything about Carolina, worship at the Temple of  Krzyzewski, and think Grant Hill should run for mayor of Durham. In some ways, I am.

Let's talk about my personal thoughts on the Tarheels. I only dislike UNC on the hardwood, field, wherever our teams battle in sports. One of my closest friends is a huge Carolina fan. I know former athletes who competed for UNC and know many others who have graduated from there. I worked at UNC and lived in Chapel Hill for almost 16 years. It's a competitive sports relationship and has nothing with the schools individually.

A Tarheel fan is loyal, through thick & thin. No matter what problem arises, they are willing to go down with the band and the ship. You can never be surprised what might get said. Always competitive, it makes this rivalry bigger than any other. But then, a few more miles down the highway sits North Carolina State and the 'Pack are competitive, too Throw in Wake Forest and this area is an athletic war zone, all year long. That's what I love; The love/hate that energizes this state. We yell at one another. We often curse and bash each other. We mourned together through Eve Carson, Adhijit Mahato, and Dean Smith.

Some may ask, "Why the blog?"

Writing is therapeutic. I have read all seven inquiries, both NOAs, and SACS findings. Dan Kane, who I respect, doesn't write my holy grail. Neither do Outside the Lines or The Sports Reporters. Nor Jay Smith or Mary Willingham, though Cheated painted a mental picture of corruption that was bigger than I could have imagined. I analyze without bias. The way I perceive something may not be how the next person sees it. 

So why?

"Roy is a saint", they say. "He couldn't have known." All evidence says Roy was not aware of the blatant fraud in which surrounded him, his program, and his school as a whole. Wayne Walden knew. The Wainstein Report, NCAA's Notice of Allegations, and emails between Walden and Debby Crowder proved that is true. Eveyone knows this happens. It happens on every campus. My 75 year old dad knows this. My baby mama knows and she thinks UVA plays the Dallas Cowboys once a year. Hollywood has made movies about academic misconduct of athletes for a quarter of a century. So if you don't know, it's because you don't want to know. Plausible Deniability comes to mind. Everyone knew, except Roy.

So why write about Roy?
Beause Williams should have known. It's his job to know. That's why he makes the big bucks. Walden was his boy at Kansas. Roy thought so much of him, he brought Walden to Chapel Hill when McSwain fell ill. AFAM classes drastically increased upon their arrival. 10 AFAM majors on 2005 Championship Team. Granted, this system was implemented before he arrived, but Williams admitted to seeing clustering. If anyone, anywhere could have done something, Roy Williams was one of them. We, as the public, have been lied to by the institute and feel gullible listening to Roy Williams deny all allegations that he knew nothing. Roy is free and clear, but men's basketball is still wrapped in a tangled web.

I know I bash UNC (the institute) from time to time, but that's also therapeutic. I guess I'm disappointed in them. Reckless practices could cost them dearly; That hurts the entire Tobacco Road, not just the stretch through Chapel Hill. UNC made a science out of cheating and exposed it themselves through Ken Wainstein.  I also bash some of Tarheel Nation who insult, threaten, and wish evil upon me. But it's all in the spirit of the game, right? I take nothing personal.

Schools and people will continue to get caught. Only when we demand change in the definition and protocols of the student-athletes will we see said change. The students -athletes should be compensated as employees, and given a legitimate field of study to guide them in their athletic dreams.

The NCAA better step to plate and swing for the bleachers. If they don't do that, the NCAA should disband and dismantle because they would confirm that they are a useless organization with no control over those in which they govern.

So, if you ask me who my favorite all-time UNC athlete is and I respond, "Rashad McCants", I am doing two things. Number one would be lying. Jordan is the GOAT or Vince Carter would be my real answer. And number two: I am trying to get under your skin because the response was priceless. It's a rivalry thing. Nothing personal. Haters welcomed.

What if....

What if...
Roy Williams didn't know? Was he really that "out of the loop" on the "Carolina Science of Eligibility"? Did Roy really not know about anything beside the fact his players were flooding AFAM paper classes and it worried him that his boys were getting steered that way? Cause if he did know, I'm sure Roy would have went straight to Wayne Walden, the basketball team's academic advisor. He would gotten to the bottom of any scandal on his Rolex. According to the Wainstein Report, Walden didn't recall ever having a conversation with Williams about bogus classes. Convenient.

What if...

Debby Crowder actually hated sports and had no reason to construct the fraudulent(in more ways than academic) scheme to keep troubled student-athletes eligible? Would there have been no shadow curriculum at UNC? Was it completely on Crowder's shoulders? The alleged mastermind. The architect. The brains. Nino Brown. The Godfather....well, Godmother. According to the Wainstein Report, the scheme started and ended with Don Debby.

What if... 

Mary Willingham turned her back? What if she "left well-enough alone"? What if she were a cold-hearted, uncaring learning specialist who felt nothing about the kids and their future? In my opinion, Willingham was vindicated and thrown under the bus in the same breath. With her assertions that Roy knew of the scheme, Wainstein allowed for rebuttal to help Williams deny these claims. 

What if...

Tarheel Nation unified and yelled conspiracy? Would that be enough to deter News & Observer from running more stories? It seems like it scared other media outlets into becoming more vigilant for UNC. I resent how media has placed this case on the back burner, as though it is not worth covering. The shovel has been supplied; all one has to do is dig. Thank you, Dan Kane & the staff of N&O.

What if...

The NCAA was feared? Would that prevent schools from committing academic fraud, misconduct, impermissible benefits or whatever the NCAA wants to call it? I'm old school; it was called cheating in my day. In UNC's case, it was the "norm" for decades. And what if the NCAA still instilled fear with appropriate penalties for wrong-doing? Could you image if the Death Penalty or a television black-out were still viable options on the table? Would the NCAA dare to punish UNC to the fullest extent of the law? Could you fathom John Skipper not being able to watch or broadcast the Carolina games on his own network ESPN? I don't want to imagine UNC receiving the Death Penalty, even if it is warranted.  As a fan of competition, there is nothing greater in sports than the Duke/UNC rivalry.

What if...

Marvin Austin never started a Twitter account? What if questions were never raised?

What if...

UNC would be willing to sacrifice all others sports to save the men's basketball program?

What if...

the Wainstein Report was a figment of our imagination? What if Kenneth Wainstein blew more smoke than Governor Martin, Cheech & Chong and Snoop Dogg combined, in order to project mirrors and illusions for the sole purpose of protecting Roy Williams and Mens Basketball? What if UNC retained Wainstein & company to aid in damage control?  Retained to serve as a medium between school and scapegoat(s)? To protect Dean Smith's legacy? Was it the university's plan to divulge so much information that there would be no reason to doubt the Wainstein Report? What if UNC's main purpose for hiring Wainstein was to bleach the white-washed with crucial, damning evidence that it would never be questioned? Retained to completely exonerate one of, if not the most revered college basketball program in the history of the NCAA? 

What if?

Here's a little story...

1986: I sat in a house with nothing but natural-born Kentuckians. My family, as it be. The powerhouse Louisville Cardinals, led by Pervis Ellison and legendary coach Denny Crum, were taking on a little-known private school out of Durham, North Carolina name of Duke University.

Everyone rooted the Cards, with the exception of my mother, who was the only true sports fan in the house. You see, her father raised her to be a as Wildcat, for he loved the University of Kentucky. Her motto: Mom's 2 favorite teams were U.K. and whoever was playing against Louisville. That day, she was and I became a Duke fan. That summer, our family moved to Chapel Hill. I attended Coach K's Basketball Camp. And it's all history from there.
As a 12 year-old kid from Cincinnati, I didn't understand the intensity this rivalry. The biggest rivalry I knew was the Bengals/Steelers. That was absolutely nothing compared to Tobacco Road.

And the crowd goes wild...

It almost feels like someone hit the buzzer beater as time expired. The crowd explodes with joy and rushes the court. The hero carried off the court by his loving teammates. 

But...
There was no last second shot.
The crowd exists on social media.
No party on Franklin Street.
Roy Williams is still your hero.

As SACS announced that UNC would be given one year probation for the academic fraud that took place for almost a quarter of a century, it seemed minuscule. Realizing that was the worst penalty given without the loss of accreditation made me wonder if what UNC had practiced as standard procedure for years was enough to get their accreditation card pulled. 

What I did realize was that many Tarheel fans considered this a victory. A victory, in the name of sports. Quoting Twitter user @DevilDJ32: "There was a time when UNC would have been humiliated at hint of probation from SACS...or LOIC from @NCAA. No more. Speaks volumes." I couldn't have said it any better.

I wonder if Jim Boehiem and Syracuse are watching this case closely. Some aspects of the case seem similar. The NCAA said that Boeheim failed to monitor the director of basketball operations, Stan Kissel, who committed academic violations after being hired by Boeheim to address academic issues within the program. 

Did Roy Williams fail to monitor Assistant Coach Joe Holladay and Academic counselor Wayne Walden? Williams brought these two with him from Kansas. Walden's name is all over the Notice of Allegations, including emails exchanged with Debby Crowder, one of the "alleged" masterminds of the bogus class scheme. 

Roy Williams told Kenneth Wainstein he was weary of the clustering of AFAM classes, believing these players were steered in that direction. Ten members of the 2005 National Championship team were majoring in AFAM. My question: Why would Williams try to stop the clustering of black student-athletes from studying African-Afro American classes/majors if he knew nothing about the scheme? 

A part of the whole dilemma was these student-athletes were being pushed into the classes. By telling Walden to stop the clustering, it seems like Roy knew something. Remove black student-athletes from AFAM classes? His players have only accounted for 167 AFAM classses enrollments for 2003-2011. You can do the math.

I started this blog to poke fun at friends of mine who suffer from Tarheel Denial. I heard some Tarheel fans are called "ABCers" (Anybody but Carolina), retaining that pseudo-belief of UNC being innocent on all charges from NCAA & SACS. 

As I began being more vocal on the flawed NCAA and my own personal feelings about this case, I have received hate tweets,hate messages on Facebook, Instagram, etc. So now, I speak on Roy Williams, his tainted wins and banners even more. I know UNC wasn't the first to use these practices, but they damn sure let the cat out of the bag with the Wainstein Report. 

An added note to the TarHeel fans: Stop saying that this scandal is sensationalized and about all the bad media. Media hasn't even picked this up yet, except Raleigh's News& Observer and that paper is the only local covering to story.  ESPN only mentions UNC on Sunday mornings when few are watching. John Saunders praised UNC for extending Williams' contract, almost to rub in the face of the NCAA. So wait for it: bad press is coming.

Everyone knows the illusion of student-athletes needs a serious overhaul. Not only to protect these kids, but the reputations of institutes like UNC in the future moving forward. I grew up in Chapel Hill, worked at UNC, and spent many weekends hanging out on Franklin Street. I admired Dean Smith, his contributions, and had an opportunity to meet him once.So I do not take pleasure in watching this happen. Admitting and accepting is a much higher road that TarHeels everywhere should consider, rather than this festering denial that embodies Tarheel Nation.

The NOA was freed, but...

At UNC, Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham calls it halftime. 

To Roy Williams, it is a day where your future at UNC is secure with the contract extension. 

For Kenneth Wainstein, the money is in the bank for a report that was barely considered by the NCAA. 

For the die-hard Tarheel Nation, denial still conquers rational thought as evidence of fraud & misconduct has been laid in front of them....since October. 

For Jay Smith & Mary Willingham, their courage and desire to witness change for a better tomorrow will only be referred to as "them: the whistleblowers" by those who only care about wins on the field instead of victories in classrooms and victories against stereotypes, exploitation & corruption. 

To Dan Kane, hats off to him. He is the focal point for hatred thrust upon him by doing what he loves. His journalistic prowess is admirable. 

For ESPN, they have plenty to cover with the NBA Finals and Belmont Stakes. No need to live up to their moniker as "Sports Leader". Most of us know about ESPN's billion dollar deal to cover ACC regular season and tournament games. UNC's scandal never received the minimal coverage as Florida State, UGA, Auburn, Penn State, USC, etc. This is as much a sports based scandal as it is academic. But still, no coverage. Bet that call came from ESPN President, John Skipper, who is a graduate of UNC. 

For those banners that hang from the Smith Center rafters: let it be known that while Tarheel Nation points to them with pride, the rest of us laugh in disgust, for that fine institute in Chapel Hill boldly exclaims, "Cheaters do prosper".  

For the NCAA, we now see that "white washing" is common practice. AFAM Department Head Julius Nyang'oro & Secretary Debby Crowder provided Wainstein with the blueprint of the bogus class scheme and the NCAA looked past 1993-2000. If anyone else should be charged with lack of institutional control, it should be the NCAA. 

To former student-athletes, reform is needed and they can only help this flawed system that our children will inherit unless we change it now. 

Let's not forget UNC graduate James Woodall, the Orange County District Attorney who cleared Julius Nyang'oro on a fraud charge for his cooperation with Wainstein: cleared on one charge as he admits to hundreds of others? 

For the scapegoats, their loyalty to the people who they are protecting is almost heroic and idiotic at the same time.

For many, this is about sports and water cooler talk.
For some, the almighty dollar.
For others, it's about morals and decency.
But for those who believe in reform, the time to act is now.
To the majority, it's not about decency, it's about bragging rights.

It's the Carolina Way. Woodall clears Nyang'oro, NCAA clears Roy, ESPN covers LeBron & Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner, Tarheeldenial Nation ignores facts and UNC continues their denial/fight. 

Tobacco Road is forever tainted.

Now it's time for the second half.