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Rimshots: 08/16

Rimshots: 08/16

Embarrassing for UNC? Sure.... But

....... With the Olympics over for another four years, what should America fixate on? Apparently it came down to two choices:   (1) Joe Biden would slip a whoopee cushion under Queen Elizabeth.... or (2) We would learn that Julius Peppers was not as academically gifted as he was athletically.

The Peppers option won out except on ESPN Beijing and ESPN Guam.   According to the press release from Lynch Mobs R Us.... and their journo-hero Dan "The Googler" Kane.

Bill Lumaye introduced me on WPTF yesterday – “BobLee is a UNC Insider. He knows all about this Peppers kerfluffle”.

I ‘m not sure I know ALL, but I certainly knew that Julius Peppers walked an academic tightrope during his entire time as a "student" at UNC.   Everyone I know around UNC knew “Pep” was not too peppy when it came to book-larnin’.

He could do a standing backflip in full pads and had a vertical jump that Spud Webb might envy. But diagramming sentences, translating Portugese sonnets, and knowing who Washington DC was named for..... not so good at that.   Pep was as thick between his ears as he was across his massive chest. But is that a crime?

I know what you are thinking. Was Julius “amphibious”?

I’m not going to “go there”.   I’m going to piss off the Lynch Mobbers enough in another few paragraphs.

NOTE: UNC officials should declare a moratorium on “Julius” for awhile. Orange Julius.... Julius Caesar..... Julius LaRosa..... UNC, as an institution, doesn’t seem to fare well these days with guys named “Julius”.   Just my suggestion. UNC hasn’t taken many of my suggestions the past few months.   See where that has gotten’em!

During the seven semesters that Julius Peppers was enrolled as a student at UNC, he was carefully manuvered thru the eligibility minefield by “handlers”. The handlers’ job was to get Julius into and thru courses that would not impede his ability to play Big Time College Football & Basketball.   KEEP JULIUS ELIGIBLE was the sole objective. As strange as that might sound..... it is not a crime.

I have no idea how Julius did academically prior to arriving at UNC. He did arrive with a high school diploma. There is an SAT test score that was deemed high enough to get him by Admissions.   Was Juilius’ SAT score Washburn-esque - 475? I don’t know. Let’s ask Dan Kane.

Assuming that “the transcript seen round the world (except Bejing and Guam)” is indeed Pep’s.... he seems to have taken every single “boat course” in the UNC marina.

We now know for a fact that UNC does NOT offer Underwater Basketweaving. If so, Julius woulda surely taken it.   But is THAT a crime?

Of the few courses on Pep’s transcript that do not have the letters AFAM in the title. He seemed to struggle.   A coincidence?   His infamous D in a Drama class became the stuff of legend along picturesque Franklin Street.   He got the D after he was allowed to retake the exam. But is THAT a crime?

Dan Kane nor the Lynch Mob googlers who do all of Dan’s research for him have NOT indicated that Pep plagiarized anything or that a tutor did his work. If so, they sure didn’t do a very good job. Way too many D's.

Q: BobLee, where was award-winning AD Richard "Dickie" Baddour while all this was going on?
A: .... at the lunch counter of Sutton's Drug Store making motorboat sounds in his Old Well water.

Julius Peppers did not have the academic wherewithal to satisfactorily perform mainstream college-level classwork. Duh!

If Dumb was Illegal.... Joe Biden would be in Sing Sing on bread & water.
If Dumb was Illegal.... Dumplin’ Perdue would not be allowed to use sharp-pointed scissors.

MAYBE: Pep simply was a savant when it came to AFAM courses?
MAYBE: Sasquatch rides a unicorn to work as one of Santa’s elves?
MAYBE: TA McLendon did cross the goalline?
MAYBE: TA majored in Nuclear Engineering at State?
I can’t say definitively on any of the above. ...... maybe it was Aerospace Engineering?

Based on his academic achievements at UNC, if Pep had blown out his knee in his final game in Kenan Stadium negating an NFL career.... would he be back in Wilson sweeping floors at Lee Gliarmis’ Hot Dog Stand? Possibly. He has had a very lucrative NFL career. That D in Drama has not impeded his success.

Julius Peppers and other UNC athletes were obviously guided along an “eligibility tract” during their student experience.

Very embarrassing and quite hypocritical for “The University of The People”? Well, Yeah.
Will a busload of NCAA goons be arriving back on campus. Doubtful.
Is this somehow Johnny Swofford's fault? Isn't everything?
Has the NASDAQ value of every UNC diploma fallen thru the floor? Oh, for heaven's sakes.
Would Kindly Ol’ Bill Friday weep if allowed to read this sad saga? Probably.

Does this officially debunk the vaunted Carolina Way? Yes, but The Tooth Fairy Lives on.

BobLee, Whats the latest on "the other Julius"? Julius #1? He's still in that Argentine prison on drug smuggling charges.... oops, that's the OTHER UNC professor. Latest GPS report has Julius #1 backpacking across The Kalahari with Obama's half-brother.

Is AFAM a bogus course of study? Many think so.
Effete academicians forever burdened with terminal liberal-guilt don’t think so. They control UNC’s curriculum.   Will AFAM be revised based on all this Julius-ization? Effete guilt-ridden academicians are a stubborn bunch. I bet not.

Embarrassing UNC ??? You'd think so, But: This is the institution that pays Gene Nichol $250,000 to teach one class and run John Edwards' Poverty Center. Wanna embarrass my Alma Mater.... better bring your A game.

Advice to the Rabid Lynch Mob:

Roll your eyes all you wish about Julius The Faux-Student
..... and don't forget "Michael Jordan’s degree in Geography".

Lead a freakin' Klan March on the AFAM Center.

Post 1,782 anonymous comments on every Dan Kane article.

Blame “The Carolina Way” for every disappointment you’ve ever suffered or will suffer in Life.
We all need something silly to blame for our oops. We can't all use George Bush.

But to “bring down UNC” ya gotta do better than.....

Julius Peppers’ academic career at UNC was a joke.

We’ve all known THAT for ten years. Tell us something we don’t know. Google Dan Google.

“Something” may very well be out there. I wouldn’t doubt it.

>>><<<

“Little Eyes Upon You....”

...... There is a great poem about the responsibilities of being a role model that reminds athletes “.....there are little eyes upon you and they’re watching day and night.” That applies to Internet Legends too.

Last Saturday I was attending a UNC FB practice on Navy Field. It was a by invitation situation. I knew a number of the other invitees. Several enjoyable hours spent reminiscing with various groups of guys, former lettermen, etc.

You know the drill.... chit chatting among various small groups. So Deems May enters a conversation I was having with a former UNC co-capt from the 60s and a world-renown orthopedic surgeon.

Deems and I used to tailgate with the same group – Friends of Norwood. Deems and I have differing opinions re: certain aspects of The Great Unpleasantness. We both have public forums for expressing our opinions. We greeted one another, shook hands, and that was that.    Well, not quite. ..... “(beady) little eyes were upon us”.

Monday AM I get three emails with copies of a Internet comment re: Deems and BobLee’s 20-second encounter. The comment was “a bit” exaggerated.   If Deems ran me up the flagpole by my heels, I sure don’t recall it.... or being crammed in a dumpster.   I blinked, shared a laugh with the senders and reminded myself that “celebrity” has its drawbacks.

Hard as it may be to believe.... there is a mini-gang o’ goobers in Chapel Hill who don’t like me at all. They gather around a shrine to Butcher and urinate on copies of my columns. YIKES!

Who Knew..... I was personally responsible for Butcher getting canned?
Aw shucks, I couldna done it without Art Chansky's help.

Rumor has it there is a chapter of that same club that meets regularly in Amedeo’s back room on Western Blvd. .... sigh. Both groups will have a field day with today’s.

At least Harry Reid isn’t spreading rumors about me..... yet!

>><<

Speaking of Stoopid.....
AgentPierce’s latest is on Joe Biden
CLICK

>><<

Posted: August 15, 2012 at 10:03 AM by SaidWHATMedia | with 34 comments

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Comments

	fayettewuf
	Turned down Bama? Wondered what C.M. Newton was doing posting on here. Coach Newton was credited with doing a lot toward integrating the SEC. CNR's post made me wonder. So I am stumped. _______ BL: That was not a bad guess actually. The readership of this site would shock most folks. A few of the "somebodies" comment on occasion, but most just read and maybe contact me on the side. .
	8/20/2012 4:31:39 PM

	MattN
	Bob, Bob, Bob. I see you've played to the typical UNC-Aces-up-the-sleave: Washburn and Shakleford. Aren't those cards getting a bit worn out after, oh, nearly 30 years of use? Chris Washburn didn't really take the SAT. I mean, he took it, but.... There was no minimum score at the time, and he was in like Flynn at State already, so it was just a mere formality that he "took the SAT". He spent 30 minutes filling in random bubbles on the answer sheet and then left. Could he have scored 700, 800, or 900 if he had to? We'll never know. But surely he could have been on par with the brain-trust of McAdoo and Austin, two Roads Skolars that couldn't find 2 coherant sentences with both hands, flashlights and an Indian Guide. Yes/no? And until I hear an actual audio tape of Shakleford saying "amphibious", I'll call it an urban legend made up by upset UNC fans that they didn't land Charles in Chapel Hill.... Our dumb jocks from the past flunked out. They couldn't do the work, so they went bye-bye. Isn't that how it's supposed to work?? UNC's dumb jocks get put into summer AFAM classes that pay out 5-6 credit hours for zero work for an A and that magically gets their GPA back above water. I'm kinda mad we didn't duplicate "The Carolina Way" sooner. What's worse Bob? Failing to graduate your dumb athletes or fraudulently graduating your dumb athletes? ________ BL: Always a treat hearing from the PP peanut gallery. My State adult friends say Jimmy V made up the Amphibious story and attributed it to Shack. Actually the "amphibious" line predated V and Shack by many years. Not unlike Dean's billion Chinese line. .... Al McGuire and Peahead Walker are the only original quipsters in all of sports. Everyone else steals their material. As to the very tired and worn-out assumption I am a UNC apologist... ask Dickie Baddour or Butch Davis what they think about that. Thats likely not the first or last mistake you'll make today, MattN. .
	8/20/2012 3:27:55 PM

	fayettewuf
	I have always liked the quote by Swift. The problem is that every dunce is sure he or she is the genius and all in confederation against are the dunces. CNR did not happen to coach at Bama did he? I think the book he recommends sounds like a great one for student/athletes to read to see the ideal for proper priorities as to sports and academics, provided that they 1) read at that level 2) have any higher aspiration than playing pro ball. _______ BL; Actually CNR turned down an offer from Alabama. .
	8/20/2012 10:24:03 AM

	duckfetch
	I am in no danger of terminal cynicism.But I am not yet to believe that UNC is finally really serious. Their every report has been partial and incomplete, as Thorp admitted in today's N&O. I am not doubting Thorp's good intent. I am doubting UNC's capacity for a bit of humility, which would have served them well for some two years now--maybe some of the "layers" Thorp mentioned would have been found. _______ BL: Maybe. :-)
	8/17/2012 11:43:25 AM

	duckfetch
	BobLee, I agree that the new investigation is good. But, will UNC limit the scope enough to make it another half measure? If they only look pre-2007, does that indicate they deem the faculty review of 2007-2011 complete? Yet, the N&) has already shows that was incomplete, as it never touched courses listed as independent studies. Why do we keep reading that everyone in those 54 courses turned in work? If there any real confirmation? Will the faculty members whose signature were forged ever raise hell? I am sure we will hear more from Carl Carey. He has an interesting lawsuit again R. Quinn . Will we ever hear more about Wayne Walden? Will Deborah Crowder ever talk? And, since she retired in 2009, who help Julius do the bogus class in 2011 summer? ________ BL: I think Martin's Team will have carte blanc to turn over every rock and pebble. They are experienced forensic administrative auditors. Don't be forced into terminal cynicism by the media-fueled mob. Not sure if Crowder or Wiley can ever be forced to testify. Legal issue. Carey is a self-serving *****. .
	8/17/2012 10:00:07 AM

	The Grim Reaper
	BL, Here we are smack dab in the summer of 2012 and it IS hotter than Hades, or so said NOAA for the month of July. The temperature is rising, no more so than in Chapel Hill. Al Gore assures me that this Global Warming thing will pay great dividends one day if I just invest more into Solyndra or the UNC Defense Fund. But BL, hell hath no fury like a wolf scorned. It is all Kabuki theatre. The Rivalry. Embrace it. It has made you a self-purported Internet legend, or so says WPTF; despite the fact that eight million Chinese Democratic Party campaign contributors could care less. Bad Karma? Perhaps. The seeds of discontent that I planted so efficiently decades ago have blossomed into an elegant bounty of liberal white guilt. For the great unpleasantness, just like the upcoming election, centers on the effectiveness of the race card and New Deal social engineering that has brought us to the brink of total divisiveness. It is time to reap the harvest of what I have sown. But salting the scorched earth of Chapel Hill will not truly restore the equilibrium between the sheep and the wolves. A level playing field needs to be established on the field of competive athletic battle. One that is color blind, yet sees the academic reality of college sports. Until then, all the money spent will continue to enslave you for eternity or until technology evolves to make ESPN obsolete. Sleep with one eye open, because after I visit Chapel Hill, I shall focus my attention on Capitol Hill and the looming budget impasse. Cheers, Grim __________ BL: Alas, Grim, I have been an Internet Legend on WPTF long before young Marv tweeted or Pep finished his PhD thesis in Quantum Physics. Perhaps it is time for me to expand the bounds of my legendary status. .
	8/16/2012 11:45:58 PM

	BullCityWuffie
	BL, you think this new Martin-led "review" panel will spare Thorp from getting ousted? Early this morning I'd told a friend odds were slim he'd make it through the semester, but the panel seems like a wise move as far as keeping his job goes. ________ BL: The panel is a VERY wise move. I endorse it 100%. Yes, I knew about it before it was announced - Internet Legend status has its perks! Will it save Holden? Can't answer that one. Lets see what the investigation finds. It will NOT placate the rabid mob one iota however. Only the fall of "the rafters" will dull their bloodlust. More on this later. .
	8/16/2012 6:27:16 PM

	CNR
	“When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.” Jonathon Swift, S.T.D., Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting. Keep on the straight and narrow which is the Rod of Truth. Right is right and wrong is wrong. Unfortunately, colleges became plantations. Coaches were the overseers while the black players became slaves. Don’t tell me that is not so. Of course it is. If not so, we would not be having this conversation. God’s children were enslaved and used FOR ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE for the slave owner. Being used for that reason is what it is in both situations. When I did everything in my power to integrate the SEC, along with death threats handled by the FBI, was the name given me by many coaches in the conference, Nixcvr lover. I wore it with pride, praying that God would be listening. The majority of those men became those overseers, caring not a whit at all if their charges received a modicum of education from their university. Often, I advise young men with talent (we have many of them in Texas) to read Robert Smith’s autobiography. Robert is a youngster from Cincinnati who was being recruited by most Top 25 football programs in the country. He was a can’t miss, and he didn’t. Robert enrolled at his home state university, Ohio State University, a school to which many of my Cincinnati young men matriculated with academic success. He chose OSU because only the OSU coaches agreed to let him major in a pre-med program. When he arrived on campus, at the conclusion of his freshman year, he was called in by the coaches. He would have to drop the difficult academic program in order not to miss required football stuff. Robert told the staff that he was taking the year off as he was going to concentrate on his studies. He did not have time for the team meetings, position meetings, weight room hours, summer attendance, all required, plus spend the hours in studying that was required. He did just that. The loonies among that crazy fan base let him know that they hated him. If a National Merit Scholar from a fine home and excellent academic background from K through 12 can’t do both, why should anyone expect poor youngsters from questionable home environments and faulty academic situations to succeed at each. Seseme Street type education is not the early education answer. The last look at SS by me, this sage advice was given, “Do your homework.” “Yah, let all do what Leroy do.” “Wudheaxe?” “She axeuz do what Leroy do.” O boy. So much to fix. So little time to fix it. Don't count on the NCAA brass to help since they are a huge part of the problem. Love of money and all. They pretend to fix it with their phony graduation rate scam. What a system. As you have said, BL, bread and circuses, bread and circuses while civilization burns. ________ BL: Ahhh what do you know you crazy old coot? Just because you worked in the belly of the beast for 50+ years !!! :-) Have ya noticed that "cries for reform" are NOT coming from Tuscaloosa, Baton Rouge, Eugene, Austin, Norman, Auburn, Kentucky, et al. Those folks are very happy campers with the status quo.... until their house o' cards tumbles down. .
	8/16/2012 4:30:24 PM

	Jimbo
	I guess all the pot shots @NCSU fans in this piece means they've gotten under your skin too. "The Carolina Way" has fallen from UNC mantra to punchline. Crow must burn like hell when you have to eat it... _______ BL: Hi "Jimbo". I believe you are a first-timer here. re: "potshots"- the ratio of UNC potshots to NCS potshots is about 10-1 in this piece. The handful of NCS potshots were intentionally inserted to irritate the "Jimbos" out there. Glad to know I haven't lost my touch at that. re: Carolina Way - I have ridiculed the CW silliness for many years. Equally as silly are those of your ilk who have let that silliness fester in your psyche for so long. Your reaction to it fed it all these years. Who knew? I bet you are a regular on PP and/or SFN. Please tell all the BobLee fans there that I said HI!. :-) .
	8/16/2012 1:13:56 PM

	The Cowdog
	Stupidity from the likes of politicos such as Biden, and trumpeters from the right hand side of things, long ago allowed me to find this place at the corner of Anarchy Way and Jaded Street. A cozy little joint called " The Apolitical Lounge" Great place to get away from crazy reds and pompous shades of blue. But before I mosey back on down to the bastion of no opinion, may I offer one? Julius Peppers and the more recent collection of the vilified, did not "walk an academic tightrope." I, and a myriad of others walked an academic tightrope. Thousands of athletes are on that high wire without parachutes, parasols, and safety nets every single semester. So... is it a crime? Depends on who is asked. Well, that's it...gotta wander over to the dim lights before the Real Bob Kennel in me makes a big show of things. And if the music gets too loud, I can always give the Coach a shout. Peace Out, BL ________ BL: Figured you would comment CD. :-) ... Having an assigned "handler" is not a crime. Getting credit for faux classes or intimidating profs to change grades is another story altogether. All we know about Julius #2 for now is he had no business on campus Mon-Fri without delivering a pizza or wearing a tool belt. THAT is for sure a travesty and embarrassing shame for the system that allowed it. As to being "apolitical". I appreciate that resigned attitude, but I prefer the lesser of two evils strategy. One of them WILL have influence over the society I and my family live in. .
	8/16/2012 11:30:38 AM

	OldAlphaWolf
	Do I sense that you are beginning to share my "coolness" toward Dan Kane (that I expressed to you before)?..On the subject at hand, I will admit to reading all the articles to the end, my reaction to my BDEW on the Julius (the football player) article was..Dayum, he didn't grauate..where's the story? I guess the higher grades in AFAM may be the story, but...whatever. On another note, us Boblee fans need to know when you are on radio as we love to listen. It you noted it, I didn't see it. Do you have a regular schedule or is it ad hoc? Don't see anything on your site. _______ BL: That was an ad hoc request by LuMaye on the Peppers thing. BIG NEWS on Radio forthcoming !!! Kane is just doing his job. "We" hate the media when it goes after "our side" but love it when it goes after "them". Dealing with "bad press" is part of being a high profile entity. The Internet has ratcheted that "bad press" thing to new depths. .
	8/16/2012 11:17:50 AM

	anotherpackfan
	Poor Holden Thorp. I don't know the man. Never been in the same room. But I expected all along that he would eventually be the biggest loser out of all this. And as rumors become facts become rumors, it looks more and more likely. I know he is a friend (acquaintance?) of yours and I doubt he deserves it but such is life. Somebody has to pay the piper and ol' dickey has fled the scene and can't be the fall guy. Hopefully Thorp can fall back into academic research. That really stinks too, since I suspect the lessons he has learned in the last few years would make him a much better administrator going forward. ________ BL: You are more correct than you might imagine. This has been a "perfect" s***-storm that exposed every admin liability he has. (Every CEO has some admin liabilities). His blind trust of Baddour in the early days of all this was his fatal undoing. Its not as if he wasn't warned about that. Being "The Boss" is lots more than the nice perks. .
	8/16/2012 9:14:45 AM

	Dr Wire
	As a conservative, I have to be very careful with the following comments about the bigger picture. If I were a Liberal talking head, I would probably be recognized for being enlightened. So here goes my attempt at the quiet truth. AFAM was established to attract more Minority students who are LWB ("living while black"), to cheat off the often used anti-profiling term "DWB" or driving while black. Fed money motivated well-intentioned educators & administrators to increase diversity in the student population using AFAM as degree option when a student was just not interested in Accounting, Pharmacy, Chemistry, Mathematics, Journalism and/or other demanding curricula but maybe WS State, ECSU, Fay State, et.al was below them. Two universities, Kansas and TCWNSNBM, set this up as a Dept while all the rest added similar courses neatly defined as options in Sociology or some other Humanities degree. So now 20+ years later, we are shocked to learn LWB athletes, especially elite LWB athletes have over-populated that program as a safe haven from the storm and the program has matured into a progressive's dream of trophies for everyone similar to a youth soccer program independent of whether you attended class, received "extra" help, plagiarized work or took a class in Swahili. With apologies to Gomer, "surprise, surprise, surprise". The bigger question is will HT re-organize AFAM to Non-Degree status in response to the fraud. He missed his chance to use the budget as an excuse a la Chancellor Randy's recent re-alignment of colleges to cut waste. If he lets AFAM stay as is, he is putting a band aid on a snake bite. ______ BL: Yep. There are so many "AhHa" Moments in all of this. That it is centered in the AFAM dept changes the whole dialogue A LOT.... No secret that the UNC Faculty is scared spitless to offend the AfAm community in any way, the Chancellor included. It is going to get more "colorful" in the days to come. .
	8/16/2012 8:18:56 AM

	curt1026
	Bob Lee, looking for courses and instructors is a time honored tradition. It certainly happened in our days at UNC. If you couldn't get the course, you got a tutor. ________ BL: Thats true. The essence of whats going on now is a time-honored tradition that, alas, has grown to where the camel's back has broken. Bill Lovingood (PE 41), unlike Nyang'oro, DID show up for class and expected his students to do so too. .
	8/16/2012 8:11:53 AM

	YogiNC
	If UNC abolishes its entire Ath Dept on Friday and Joe Biden is starting to make sense. I'll take that BL keyboard discount now please. Way too many zingers in the replies today Bobby, you have to pace yourself. Oh wait, material is not for want in your corner of the "net". I get it. You had to know tho that the moment Pep's grades became public that the uproar out of west Rawlee would surely be heard on the hill. it has been quite the focus of discussion in just every circle I've encountered since it became public. Personally, I'd hate for my grades to be put "out there". There are those who would surely say "That boy ain't got a lick of sense and this proves it". I say it may lead to supposition but it is not proof positive that Pep is dumber than a box of jocks, er I mean rocks. Have fun! ________ BL: Pep is indeed "The Amphibian of The New Millenium". Recall I noted several weeks ago that as soon as Dan Kane stormed the gates of the Loudermilk Center - HANG ON SLOOPY! Well, Sloopy is ahanging! .
	8/16/2012 7:41:58 AM

	LarryC
	You and I had lunch a year or so ago. I kidded you about all the State fans that read and comment on your columns. I remember you laughing and saying that relationship will always be very fragile. I see what you mean. ________ BL: I recall our lunch. The repeat posters here are a pretty hardy bunch. Most have the wisdom of years in their favor. That helps when emotions get ginned up. The short bus riders in EVERY fan base chase butterflies and bubbles. I can trash Butch Davis and they will love me. Make fun of some stoopid Carolina loon and they adore me.... turn the focus slightly and they bare their fangs and snap at me. That Chapel Hill bunch I mentioned have hated me 24/7 for ten+ years. They get points for consistency. It will forever be so. It's the arena I've chosen to compete in. :-) .
	8/15/2012 9:55:47 PM

	TedAtlanta
	Longtime reader, first time writer. Its funny how people read your columns so selectively. You bashed the hell out of UNC and the State fans think you are defending UNC. They skip over what doesn't fit their agenda. _____ BL: Happens all the time but its not all State fans at all. The very best of'em visit here. Some very fine folks.... Check out the psychos on the N&O comment boards. "We" are knee-deep in a mess for which there is no precedent... and then add in the craziness of the Internet. .
	8/15/2012 9:11:56 PM

	Wildatheart
	You seem to have an "edge" on this one that I have not seen before. There should have been red flags when the graduation rates stayed so high after Mack Brown began recruiting so many "committee cases" (as it was renamed) starting back in 1988. That and the fact you hardly hear of a football player or basketball player missing time because of academics. I think that is what sets this apart from other schools. ______ BL: It is easy to look back in hindsight and say "I knew it". Watch for UNC admins to bend over backwards to NOT criticize AFAM and certainly not penalize the Dept. That will be "fun" to watch. If this involved any other Dept it would be very very different. .
	8/15/2012 8:49:14 PM

	Hokie Jim
	I will miss those lectures from Heels pontificating about the intellectual superiority of Carolina athletes compared to us backwoods red necks. The 'Carolina Way' and all. ________ BL: Guess what HJ. This won't stop them. That crowd has defied reality for 50 years and will endure. Delusional fans are like roaches.... they survive. .
	8/15/2012 8:42:21 PM

	Old MacDonald
	Maybe, just maybe all of the "amphibious" -type comments from UNC enthusiasts over the past 20 years have led to State fans (and even some neutral observers) to be a little jaded to the "everyone does it" argument conveniently discovered and eagerly adopted by Heel fans over the past few months. I don't know why UNC folks don't just embrace the whole thing and brag about the exemplary eligibility program y'all put together. Until the cover got blown, it was clearly the best out there. _______ BL: Fair enough. I never bought the CW silliness and I never bought the "I hate all Carolina people because ____". The respective bad boyz lists over 40 years are never more than 2-3 separated by total. ... I certainly don't count any FB or BkB wins / losses as personal victories or defeats. And, frankly, I avoid those on either side who insist on doing so. Ergo, I avoid A LOT of people. If UNC abolishes its entire Ath Dept on Friday, I will still have plenty of column fodder. .
	8/15/2012 7:46:05 PM

	fayettewuf
	It is really not what I want it to be. I enjoy the rivalry. NC State has had some teams that I would not want see play a College Bowl or even Family Feud against anyone in D-1(except maybe Louisville:-). I knew for those guys to stay eligible there had to be some creative scheduling. But as far as I know there was never in place a systematic with an academic department complicit way to keep them eligible at NC State. There certainly is evidence of this at UNC. Honestly, I am embarrassed for the conference. I enjoy the rivalry with UNC. But then I have a relaxed attitude about college sports. There is no element of believing what I wish to be true. _______ BL: Being "embarrassed" for the conference or "for the state of NC" is a concept I simply will never understand. Likewise I will never understand how the Carolina Way idiots managed to get under "you people's" skin to such a degree. I get insulted 10 times a day for my politics.... called EVERY name in the book - and I never blink. How would some nitwit braying like a jackass about being "better than you" because the team he supports beat the team you support possibly "bother you"? I feel sorry for anyone so fragile to be effected by that. Has there been an eligibility scam at UNC? Certainly. Was it pervasive thru the institution? No. Should it have been detected and cleaned up years ago? Absolutely. Have authorities handled this whole matter very poorly the past three years? Absolutely. "Authorities" tend to handle most matters poorly these days in every aspect of American life. Every facet of it offers endless absurdum from every perspective. I chronicle absurdity so I never run out of column fodder. .
	8/15/2012 5:42:29 PM

	NCSU68Grad
	BL, Nice rimshots. Me wonderes if the Middle States Commission on Higher Education should be brought into this fray. After all, they are looking in PSU's PHEW. But, since they have only revoked two institution's accredidation in countless years of collecting money for audits and reading paperwork. That MIGHT get some headlines. My DW predicted that the BW affair would fade into the woodwork as new coaches and new AD's came on board.....UNLESS.... And the UNLESS is....the UNC Faculty finally got huffy about such and decided to do a re-enactment of the Valvano witch hunt. Supposedly the faculty has started a collection and has hired St. Monteith to show them NOW to chase out the charlatans and flim-flammers who allowed Jimmy V to achieve the awards and the $$'s that he supposedly brought in. SO, if the faculty has enlisted the aid of St. Monteith and the old timers who helped with the coup, then the jig MAY be UP? NOW, O Learned one and also one with the inner sanctum connections.....I have a SERIOUS question. If Uncle Julius (Number 1) set up (allegedly) the AM & AFAM scam circa 1992, then WHO was the AD? Would it be Cousin Johnny S currently of Greensboro and the palacail ACC digs? Based on what I remember reading in your various posts, comments and utterances, Dickie B was the hand chosen successor by the Pope Dean, I. So, if the flim-flam was started, and it is proven (or even hinted at), THEN Cousin Johnny would certainly have had knowledge of same. Can you enlighten the masses mulling on this muddy mess? ________ BL: I've never canonized Johnny or Dean. You might have me confused with someone else. I love conspiracy theories and you know 50% of them are TRUE. Of those 50% however they don't all involve everyone within the organization under conspiracy. I read all the hyperbolic Wuff crap indicting EVERY UNC ALUMNI / FAN and I think "are these insane people allowed to breed, much less vote or drive or buy a gun? There are no heroes in any of this. There rarely are any more. Drop the Death Penalty on UNC. Implode the entire campus. Salt the city of Chapel Hill.... then watch a lot of ABCers shrivel up and die from lack of a focus for a lifetime of Hate. I don't include you in that bunch Viper. :-) Compared to how this crap is ratcheting up, Joe Biden is starting to make sense. .
	8/15/2012 5:42:01 PM

	Marshall
	BL…..I coached and ran an AAU organization in the 90’s for 10 years. Julius (btw is from Bailey not Wilson) played on one of our teams. Like so many gifted athletes he was not book smart, but a smart young man. I guess his environment contributed to his lack of book smarts. In all those years I helped many a kid take SAT training classes in Raleigh and helped with their recruiting. The whole system is broke and don’t think for a minute the kids at Duke don’t get help also. I had a kid that ended up at UMass with Calipari (very slick recruiter) and this kid had a learning disability. I knew the system was totally broke with Bobby Cremins called about the same kid and I said to him he could not go through the academics at GT and he said it would not be a problem. All the schools are in this so deep to keep kids eligible. My kid at UMass had a tutor the entire time he was there. He transferred after Calipari left and never graduated from college. Keep up the good fight. _________ BL: I didn't know of any hot dog stands in Bailey. .... Whatever the outcome w/ UNC; I don't see any clarion call for reform. UNC fans would never have called for reform three years ago. .
	8/15/2012 5:19:31 PM

	fayettewuf
	There is big difference between there existing some courses at a university that are not too demanding that a fairly thick scholar/athlete would have trouble passing and there existing a department with professors or professor/agents who repeatedly supervise independent studies for fairly thick scholar/athletes in which they earn much better grades than they do in any other courses. The AFAM did not just offer one or two courses that were guaranteed to raise athletes' gpa over the eligibility bar, they made up courses, offered one person courses apparently on demand. If the demand came from the athletic department, it is big league cheating. When schools recruit marginal students, any advisor with a triple digit IQ is going schedule Rocks for Jocks occasionally, find the prof with the most liberal grading policy etc. But as far back as 2001, UNC athlete advisers did not have to look nearly as hard as advisers at most schools to find quality points. They used this situation to keep one of the best linebackers and pretty fair power forward eligible to play. You can downplay this and claim everybody was doing it all you like, but I never heard of any school doing it close to that extent. ________ BL: IF all you say is all you want it to be.... and it well may be. .
	8/15/2012 5:07:04 PM

	Queen City
	You can't blame Peppers for taking advantage of the system. I think he would make a better VP than Biden!! _________ BL: A retarded dust bunny would be better than Biden. Your comment is correct. Is the student responsible for an instructor's malfeasance? .
	8/15/2012 4:54:45 PM

	Monroe
	Greg Doyle makes the rest of the empty suits whose momma lets them play with a word processor (Momma, she say, “No, darlin’, you can’t use the computer yet; them thangs have nekkid women in ‘em...”) gleeful by the comparison to a lesser light...a dopey, inane ego-driven liar and self serving pimp for phony journalism... You gotta remember, he got canned at the Charlotte Disturber before they started canning everybody to keep those McClatchy bonus checks where they are supposed to be! _______ BL: No one likes Doyle until he trashes one's rival THEN he becomes credible. .
	8/15/2012 4:50:57 PM

	Bo
	BL: As I've said all along, the "funneling of athletes into easy or non-existent courses" is never going to end until colleges & universities quit recruiting high school players that don't fit the academic profile of the rest of the student body. Once the institution admits athletes that that don't deserve to be there academically, they must create a sub culture that allows them to keep their "eligibility". I'll bet the NCAA doesn't really investigate UNC's situation too deeply because they know the same situations exist on all BCS hopeful's campuses, and it wouldn't be "politically correct" to acknowledge the broader issue. _______ BL: Ever notice that no SEC school fans ever seem concerned about that stuff. Or Oregon, Okla St, etc.... Level the playing field by allowing every BCS school to have a "Life Skills" curriculum that is available only to FB / BkB athletes. .
	8/15/2012 4:43:27 PM

	DrJ
	What bothers me most about all of this is that no one in authority at UNC seems willing to stand up and say "we're going to get to the bottom of this whole thing and fix it." Unless and until that happens, I don't see things getting much better. __________ BL: I know of at least one "person in authority" who is saying exactly that. But it is NOT a wholesale attitude. .
	8/15/2012 4:29:37 PM

	rowdybluetarheeler
	Oh mighty OZ, One more tiny wish- Can you pleeze make lil barry soetoro disapppear too? _______ BL: I'm working on that. .
	8/15/2012 4:21:28 PM

	BobnKC
	I don't think it matters whose transcript was exposed so much as what the transcript reveals - a possibility that the AFAM flim-flam was in full operation before Butchie and his play-for-pay arrangements at UNC, and an indication that Royz Boyz may also be involved. Also, according to yesterday's Gregg Doyle article (you'll love this one with your Mizzo ties), there is a similar AFAM department at Kansas which was there when Roy was, too. Doyle claims that KU and UNC-CH are the only two universities with full AFAM departments, although many offer AFAM degrees through other departments. While not being near the level of a smoking gun, this all does add to the huge, growing pile of questions and circumstantial evidence that could be dealt with appropriately, proved or disproved, readily through an unbiased (independent) and thorough investigation at UNC, of which the NCAA and BOG are apparently incapable or unwilling or both. ____ BL: Gregg Doyle !!! We have shipwrecked on the Island of Misfit Toys when we use Gregg Doyle as a source. .... stopped clocks are right more often than he is! ..... If UNC's Effete Academicians have to drop the hammer on AFAM it will be epic... If ORW gets sucked in then Life as we all know it is simply kaput. .
	8/15/2012 2:24:52 PM

	Joe in Edenton
	Do you think Roy is getting nervous yet? _____ BL: ORW is busy hunting down all those fellow coaches that dissed him in that poll. He'll get around to this in a month or so. .
	8/15/2012 1:19:22 PM

	Scrappy
	".... backpacking across the Kalahari with Obama's half-brother." Dude, that was lethal. One keyboard shot to hell. _____ BL: Go to Best Buy and tell'em you're a BL Buddy. They give a BL discount on keyboard replacements. .
	8/15/2012 12:48:35 PM

	Mickey
	BL, what would you do without "Dickie" as a foil? ______ BL: There is ALWAYS "a Dickie" at the core of every bureaucratic train wreck. It's a Law of Nature. .
	8/15/2012 12:06:23 PM

	Travis
	BobLee, I appreciate your columns. At minimum, if I do not agree I am at least entertained. Kudos. Here, I think maybe you have missed the point, just a little. Its not that Julius should be a brain surgeon, its not that NCSU does not have their share of guys who otherwise would not sniff a college campus were it not for athletic ability, its that, seemingly, Peppers was awarded grades through classes with little, if any work. They happen to be exactly what he needed to stay eligible. There is some question from the faculty listed on those classes if they even existed! We have all partaken in the easy class. We all know athletes everywhere are steered towards favorable curriculum. The athletes, however, have to be made to at least TRY. There appears to be a system in place at UNC that did not require that. Keep up the good work on the columns and I look forward to your response. _______ BL: The other "Julius" is a low-down dirty bird. Stuff him (and a few others) in a wood chipper. But it may be harder to indict his "students" than you think. If 10,000 angry Internet posts will do it though, they're all toast. .
	8/15/2012 10:57:05 AM