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How Does Everyone Else "Do It"?

How Does Everyone Else “Do It”

...... Oct 3, ’12: One of my pet peeves is knee-jerks’ reaction that each problem in Life is unique requiring its own unique solution. Horse Pucky! There is nothing in Life that is unique when it involves human nature and group behavior. “We need to hold a bunch of meetings on this and devise our own unique solution to this

problem....” is nitwit-speak for “We don’t have a freakin’ clue. If we stall long enough it will just go away.”.......

UNC’s yuckier-by-the-day mess has squatted over our campus for 2.5 years. If / when it ever moseys on to where ever yucky messes go, the clean-up is going to take a lot of wheelbarrows, a lot of shovels and more time to clean-up than it took to screw-up.   - The Good News is: Someone has already invented both the wheelbarrow AND the shovel.

From Day One screeching hairshirts in the basement of TarHeelNation bleated “Everybody Does It” which might have had a scintilla of credibility if those same nitwits had not bleated for decades “but we don’t do it at Carolina”.   That is the nit-wit version of being hoisted upon one’s own arrogant petard. Nit-wits of all persuasions have well-used petards.

If Holden takes his design for a reform horse to a faculty committee we will get some aberration between a camel and a giraffe. Given the centuries old tradition of academic committees. We don’t need a came-raffe. We need a horse, which are quite plentiful.

Shutting down UNC FB & BskB IS an option
Hamstringing the two programs to where they are compettive laughingstocks IS an option.
Restructuring the two programs to eliminate flim-flam academics IS an option.
"Something Else" IS probably an option too.

Lets concentrate today on #3.

Every football and basketball player recruited to Carolina had offers to attend other colleges where he would have matriculated in some fashion. Lets not get bogged down by what Choo Choo majored in or whether Christian Laettner, as a Tar Heel, might have taken Swahili because “it sounded like fun”.

Every single one of those other 53 “exceptions under Butch” (and all the other exceptions UNC has admitted over the decades) would have been admitted somewhere and been (or pretend to been) “students” wherever they enrolled.

Butch & Blake went head-to-head with regional SEC schools – SoCar, Tenn, et al – for many of their “gets”. And, yes, they competed against a certain regional rival-in-red for many of them.   Those individuals would have arrived on whatever campus as equally “prepared” (??) for college-level academics as when they arrived in Chapel Hill. How would they have remained “eligible” in those environments?

Bogus classes in silly diversity reparation curriculae is probably not the best route to go.

These young men arrive as naïve teen-agers away from home for the first time. Four years or so later they are young adults supposedly ready to barter their academic qualifications for a first step on some career ladder. If that career is pro sports, OK; but job openings in that field are only slightly better than “being an astronaut” or “movie star” or “the next J.K. Rowling”.   It’s probably best to have a back-up choice in a field with more likelihood for success.

ZINGER ALERT! The smart-alecky question: “What the heck do you do with an AfAm degree” has been asked more times than “Who’s Tami dating these days?”

I have yet to see an answer to the question.   Figure the answer is not an endorsement for justifying that curriculum tract.

Holden, go back 10-15 years to see what has been emerging from the UNC student-athlete pipeline.   Where are those end-products 3-5-10 years after adiosing dear ol’ Franklin Street? Remember – we are only talking about Football and Men’s Basketball. Mucking up the statistics with lacrosse, field hockey and fencing was Dickie the Putz' old trick.

BRILLIANT IDEA: The NCAA should require every BCS school to keep up-dated “where are they now” records for every recruited FB/BkB player for 15 years from the day they set foot on campus. Not just “Here Are Our NFL / NBA Alumni” but "Here Are 95% Of Our Student-Athletes”.   The validity of the records to be signed off on by a representative of each school’s bitterest rival. ..... see, I told you - BRILLIANT IDEA!

With Basketball, there is a global market for former college players.   Basketball is played all over the world so a UNC 7th-8th man can get on in Estonia, New Guinea or Upper Volta with one phone call from Ol’ Roy.   That’s fine. They are gainfully employed and seeing the world. With any luck they can bounce around for fifteen years before hanging up their sneakers.

Not so with Football. Opportunities are limited to the NFL. (OK, or go to Canada) NASA doesn’t hire very many “astronauts”.

So.... where are they going after their UNC eligibility is exhausted. What did UNC prepare them to do when they get “there”? Inquiring minds want to know. Fraternities track their alumni. Surely its not hard to track 15-20 young men who leave UNC FB / Bskb each year.

NC State has long had a Recreation / Park Administration curriculum aka “Leisure Services”.   That is totally legitimate.   It has been popular with athletes over the years. There are countless career opportunities in public / private recreation facilities and services. Careers that are much more attractive than liberal arts degree-holders working as tele-marketers for mortgage companies or other similar “is this what I went to college for four years to do” jobs.

What do VaTech student-athletes do when they are no longer students or athletes? Clemson?   Alabama? UVa? Texas? LSU? Notre Dame? Vanderbilt? Northwestern? Every BCS-school recruits the Top 200 high school players. Those kids are on-campus for 2-3-4 years before they are drafted by the NFL or.... drop out-of-sight.   Do they just go back home no more literate than when they left, and hang-out until they die?

I’m betting they are not all being shuffled thru non-existent courses in goofy curriculae with the nutritional value of a rice cake. SOME COLLEGE SOMEWHERE has figured out a worthwhile academic tract for these “marginal students”.

Public education has failed these kids at every level via "social promotions". UNC is their last chance at even a modicum of "education" and we are neither giving them a fish nor teaching them how to fish. UNC is failing them just like every other stage did.... with another form of social promotion. Frank Porter Graham weeps!

Holden, gas up your Miata. Go visit “comparables”. Do it yourself. For GAWD SAKES don’t assign this to The Putz.   NO .... NO!

Every BCS school has some version of Athletic Academic Support.   Probably not waaaay over-staffed silliness that Putz set-up in The Loudermilk Recruiting & Eligibility Palace.   That’s absurd like so much of Putz’ Legacy. Flush everything Putz ever did. Have Bubba start over from scratch.

We are only taking about 85 or so FB / Bskb student-athletes on campus at any one time.   Forget the fencers and field hockey kids. Geezzz.

If NCState’s Rec Admin is serving their kids well – COPY IT. If VaTech or Clemson or GaTech has some “Property Management” tract that serves their kids in a legitimate fashion – COPY IT.   Does Vanderbilt have Read&Write 101? They all have something. COPY THEM!

This scandal has cost UNC bazillions in legal fees and ancillary damages. You could hire a handful of faculty and set up a legitimate academic tract “like other schools do” for a pittance of what this Putzian train wreck has cost.

Heck, I’ll come over and run the damn thing for you for a very “reasonable fee”. Bubba and I could jerk this knot straight in no time. You have my #.

Our Good Sports radio guest this week.....
The Legendary Hokie Jim - VaTech Provocateur Extraordinare

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That Rascal AgentPierce is getting frisky again - CLICK

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Posted: October 03, 2012 at 8:09 PM by SaidWHATMedia | with 24 comments

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	fayettewuf
	"It is a misconception that many/most schools want "reforms" to the current systems. Fan interest and TV ratings say college FB / Bskb is very popular "as is". When you say 'schools want', I am not sure to which part of the schools you're referring. My guess is that many chancellors and presidents would be for reform. I can think of one off the top of my head that would for it. Fans are bi-polar. They generally want other schools reformed. But then, many fans are not alums who do like the idea of their degree being devalued in pursuit of a banner. ____________ BL: Indeed. It's a quandary for sure. WHO gets to vote on such a matter ?? .
	10/5/2012 4:16:27 PM

	thailand
	And Lolita's......
	10/4/2012 4:51:06 PM

	thailand
	Sounds like fun....Make sure you both move to the center.....A fond memory as a kid was tossing a football with Roman Gabriel at Martin Jr. High--caught one right in the kisser (he threw hard).....'Gabe' played all three sports his fresman year (like Danny Talbott). Come over for that coffee at a Bangkok Starbucks and I'll take you to the 'dark side.' _________ BL: Does Bangkok have Waffle Houses? .... an Amedeo's? .
	10/4/2012 4:36:43 PM

	thailand
	"Screeching hairshirts in the basement of TarHeelNation bleated “Everybody Does It”........ Arrogant petards......" Just back from New Guinea and the Solomon Islands playing marines mostly and trying to find the Nelson R.'s missing son...... I sludged through Guadalcanal averting malaria and landmines and became transfixed by the sheer bravery of those guys (The Thin Red Line)......The mosquitoes were as thick as the relentless crazies in red and baby blue that light up the N&O articles of late..... Maybe Holden and Roy should consider R&R along the Gulf of Thailand where I live, like the Russian heavies that flee to Thailand and take up residence down Soi 18 in Pattaya...... As they say--until the smoke clears....... Maybe find solace with a temple monk (no hairshirts or penance required) and seek absolution in deep meditation--Karma still achievable-- although my wife calls me selfish sometimes when I watch TV without Thai subscripts and points out my return as a ***** roach.....Do you think Holden has asked Roy about the Kansas tutor and how that came to be?.....I walk daily down the hot steamy pavement of Pattayathai Road, sizzling woks spitting out the boiling spray of chilies, tireless cooks scrapping steel utensils across iron skillets, the throngs, the mass of pedestrians numbering in the hundreds in front of me, and I often wonder what are their hopes and aspirations? Where is their separation from Division 1 to the next level and for how long? From families from Isan in the Northeast with eleven brothers and sisters, subsistence farming a way of life.....Thai women sometimes take their undergraduate degrees and translate them into the busy nightlife, making their way to Walking Street, or Soi 6 to work the many bars and hope to hit the lottery, their NBA contract, by nabbing a rich American (we can be so easy) :-) "Bogus classes in silly diversity reparation curriculae is probably not the best route to go." Factored down, it all comes down to the "it" factor--always did--that is a tough nut......"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" a likely solution...... ___________ BL: Do you ever see Christopher Walken playing Russian Roulette in a Thai "opium den" while "b girls" beckon Caucasian businessmen? Bob Kennel has invited me to NCState Sports Hall of Fame induction tomorrow night. Only deep-pocketed State Clavins will be attending. .
	10/4/2012 4:05:14 PM

	Bruce Bumbarger
	Bob: The NCAA/NBA needs to eliminate one-and-done. If you are good enough to go pro out of high school, go for it. I’m in favor of allowing these high school kids to get a pre-assessment of their pro prospects before forfeiting college eligibility. If an athlete chooses to accept an athletic scholarship though, it should be a 3-year commitment - you are ineligible for the draft for 3 years. I’m sure this won’t happen thanks to collective bargaining. A college scholarship is valuable and should be treated as such; it is more than adequate compensation for an athlete’s collegiate services and should end the discussion of paying college kids to play ball. A 3-year commitment would help insure scholarships go to kids who will seek an education and weed out the kids who are abusing the system. It may put pressure on college faculty/advisors to provide meaningful classes, because few people willing to commit to 3 years of study will want to waste it taking meaningless classes that will not eventually lead to a degree. It might help to eliminate the need to fiddle with entrance standards, because the kids willing to accept a 3-year scholarship commitment may be better prepared to enter college than those who failed to take advantage of the educational opportunities high school provides. If you want to clean up college athletics, the NFL, NBA is part of the problem and needs to be part of the solution. Without their cooperation, you are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. BruceinHickory _________________ BL: It is a misconception that many/most schools want "reforms" to the current systems. Fan interest and TV ratings say college FB / Bskb is very popular "as is". Anything that restricts an individual's "rights" will never pass in today's litigious society. .... Its all a lot of fan noise, I fear. UNC CAN however "reform" how IT treats its stud-athletes any time it chooses to do so. .
	10/4/2012 3:44:58 PM

	MattN
	I'll take it a step further. The view from the outside is, someone at sometime decided that if you have enough money, enough smarts, enough family history, and/or enough (insert criteria here) to just get into UNC, by God, you deserve a degree from UNC. Not saying that's actually true, but that is the perception. The fact that I know of absolutely NO ONE that has flunked out of UNC kinda backs that perception up. Perhaps everyone really IS that smart over there? But somewhere along the way that sense of entitlement was transfered to all athletes, many of which absolutely could not get in on their own if they didn't have 4.4 speed or shoot 44% from the arc. So, I'll submit the approach UNC has towards the entire student body needs adjustment. You AREN'T entitled to a degree just because you set foot on campus. I'm sure there are plenty of regular students that have farted and rapped their way to a degree too, simply because Granddad was "Mr. Somebody" back in 1938. That has to stop. ____________ BL: I'd say there is considerable "heard on PackPride" in your assumptions. I'm no defender of the squirrels than dominate UNC academia but words like "never" "always" and "absolutely" make me skittish when institutional stereotyping is under attack. .
	10/4/2012 12:49:45 PM

	fayettewuf
	It would take a putz to order the petards from Acme:-) ___________ BL: I think ACME is coyote-speak for Baddour. .
	10/4/2012 11:31:13 AM

	Render
	“What the heck do you do with an AfAm degree” has been asked more times than “Who’s Tami dating these days?” Oh, if only the AFAM department had been big in the 70s. You could have knocked out two birds with one quarterback. ___________ BL: Tami jokes are pretty easy these days. .
	10/4/2012 11:27:17 AM

	MattN
	It doesn't matter what the curriculum is, you can't give them As for farting and rapping in class. The entire mentality of how athletes are handled needs to change. You are not entitled to a degree simply because you have 4.4 speed. ______________ BL: Most of us are on-board with that reasoning... less a few 1,000 Clavins of course. .
	10/4/2012 11:10:01 AM

	NoVA Wolf
	A "unitard" is the infamous tight-fitting uniform. A "petard" is an Renaissance-era explosive device used to breach fortifications. Given that little bombs keep blowing up on UNC, the latter is perhaps more appropriate. ___________ BL: To be hoisted upon one's own must be painful, I think. To be "hoisted by" means blown up by. So "blown up by your own bomb". It happened to Wil E Coyote a lot. . .
	10/4/2012 10:48:27 AM

	OldAlphaWolf
	I have always wondered what one would do with a Gender Studies or an AF/AM Studies undergraduate degree. But I digress...Here's the deal. I would bet that both the Ram's Club and the UNC Alumni Association has info on all your former athletes. I know the NC State Alumni Association and the Wolfpack Club have such info, for both congenial and selfish reasons. Some of these guys make big money and both the AA and the WPC are in the accept donations business.. Further, the WPC and the Athletic Department have a program to assist former athletes in completing their degree. Several have taken advantage of it. When and what station will you have Hokie Jim. I'd like to hear him. ___________ BL: WCHL 97.9 FM. Limited range for West part of Triangle. Can go to my site and stream it. The successful "formers" are easy to data-base. The not-so-successful not-so easy... and they are the ones that matter. The bitter ones who consider themselves used, abused and discarded. .
	10/4/2012 10:36:34 AM

	FormerLetterman
	For years I've wondered why I rarely run in to ex FB players....from any school.....in the course of business. I'm local which should make it easier with UNC, Duke,Wake, State, 32 years is a long time, I don't work in a cube farm environment and am fortunate to interact with many different professions from the smallest sub contractor trimming hedges to the biggest Wall Street trading houses and law firms on a nearl daily basis. I am a big believer in travel and face to face business, and find that makes the world "smaller and smaller" I'd hate to think that our unique skill had such limited application beyond the gridiron. I may be a sap, but I do believe in the hard wok discipline, adversity, winning losing, whether learned lessons, or hard wired, should extrapolate to a level of success similar to the 1 out of 10,000 that get to the D1 level. I guess those lessons only carry on if hard wired AND honed FYI Riley Skinner went to work with a competitor, hope he does well. Have a hunch he recognizes how to command a huddle.. ____________ BL: UNCers Scott Stankavage,Ron Wooten, Gayle & David Bomar are sorta kinda in your biz.... Duke's Anthony Dilweg, Clemson's Steve Kinney and all successful in it, as are you. :-) .
	10/4/2012 9:48:46 AM

	Walt-in-Durham
	Admiral King, indeed that was an errant LT who cooked up a light course to hand out some high grades. But, it was a wise Captain who discovered it and called a halt. I'll take the Navy way. See a problem, stop it from getting worse and then fix it permanently. Walt-in-Durham ____________ BL: Indeed, not every leaking ship sinks. .
	10/4/2012 9:02:11 AM

	FoxInAtlanta
	My county (DeKalb) has a history of hiring a lot former college and even a few former pro athletes as deputies and police officers. Most of these guys are really good officers and they are contributing to society. It is not rocket science, but a valuable public service. Maybe all schools should offer criminal justice courses so these guys can know a little before they get these jobs. They love the work because it is physical at times, it is "macho" and it involves teamwork. What ever happened to players majoring in PE? Perfect curriculum. They don't make it in the pros, they can become coaches in the schools. I still remember taking "Environmental Geology" in the Sping of my senior year (1974). When the roll was called, over half were FB players. It was a no show course except for the first day, two tests and the final. Easiest A I ever had at Carolina. Those course have existed for years whether AFAM or PE or whatever. It is just that we got busted first. I suspect some schools around the country are scrambling now to invent some new courses. _______________ BL: Criminal Justice and coaching/teaching are fine careers. GREAT IDEA! .
	10/4/2012 8:51:45 AM

	rowdybluetarheeler
	Say BL, Your idea about tracking the post college lives of our athletes is interesting. Let us include the elite female athletes too. There is plenty of competion amongst schools for their talents. __________ BL: Really ???
	10/4/2012 7:13:17 AM

	Admiral King
	BL, My beloved seamen have been fighting an upstream battle on campus since the late 60's. It is despicable that a few miscreants are allowed to dishonor the proud accomplishments of several decades of military men graduating from the bowels of the flagship. That such poor officership was displayed by one rogue USN Lieutenant NROTC instructor willing to look the other way instead of doing the right thing is sickening. If I were HT, I would make Roy walk the plank tomorrow. Anchors Aweigh, Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King __________ BL: A bit odd that this latest story broke just after Military Appreciation Day in Kenan. OUCH! I guess Roy's KU Academic Guy is in the same Witness Protection Plan as Jennifer and Deborah. That condo in Majorca is getting crowded. .
	10/3/2012 11:00:19 PM

	nctravellinman
	BL, don't forget one career path for former collegiate FB players is being a tire-toter for a Nascar team on pit stops. That's got to absorb, what, at least about 80 or so per year. _______________ BL; UNC had a former DL who also was with the NE Pats - Tim Goad get on a NASCAR pit crew for a few years. But opportunities are limited. .
	10/3/2012 10:45:09 PM

	NCSU68Grad
	BL, I'm not sure how well your suggestion will go over. There is, unfortunately, VERY little info on past athletes. Sure, you can find the SS's, but only if they are doing good things. State has had a few that were not the poster boys nor will be inducted into the HOF. Some of them served time and had substance abuse issues. It WOULD be nice to have a data base...as I wonder, just out of pure curiosity, where they are.... HT has a difficult task....and his successor will also have a difficult job. If the faculty (Senate, Kangaroo Court, or whatever) seizes a plan that hit the pendulum with a sledge hammer, then I do, in all sincerity, feel that UNC will be in for a rough ride...and this ride will last for YEARS (maybe not as long as it took to get the Children of Israel back), but a LONG time. Finally, I learned a new word. Actually I had heard it before, but didn't know the meaning. I thought that a petard was like the ill-fated uniforms that we tried, except they were made for their pets.....so it is a SMALL bomb... __________ BL: If Chris Corchiani wore a "petard" would it further his rep as a Brickyard Legend? The Where Are They Now Plan is waaaay too BRILLIANT to ever be instituted. .
	10/3/2012 10:35:51 PM

	Jim in HP
	what does a good, serviceable petard go for these days? (in school colors, of course). Is a petard a "single use tool"? __________ BL: Absolutely, they come in school colors. Some are like those Hallmark cards with the little chip that plays your school's fight song. "Used petards" are common in the 3rd world countries with Futbol crazies. Most BCS schools recommend disposable petards. .
	10/3/2012 10:33:45 PM

	CharlotteWuffie
	A very thoughtful approach that would appear to be pretty simple and sane BobLee. Good work! Alas when the Great Committee convenes, simple and sane doesn't meet the bob and weave requirement, so it won't fly. ____________ BL: A bit like a pregnant pole vaulter maybe ?? .
	10/3/2012 10:23:10 PM

	fayettewuf
	I agree. Options one and two not only are unnecessary, they are not going to happen. There is way too much money involved. But UNC has to be perceived as having done something keep what happened from ever happening again. I really don't how UNC could really create a program that unprepared athletes would be attracted to without observers observing that AFAM is being replaced by a course of study that substantially easier than the rest. The quick is to tighten up admissions and make the support staff aware they will be monitored by academics guys. Roy and Larry are not going like the fact that some of their guys really might face being declared academically ineligible. I still think the Martin report will determine how drastic the measures must be and whether the NCAA will be shamed into some sanctions that might effectively set athletics back a decade or two. __________ BL: I think we all know THe Doomsday Option is indeed lying in the shadows and may pounce at any time. .
	10/3/2012 10:12:50 PM

	JohnPowell
	You are shooting blanks with your last few posts. Slightly less adamant versions of "everyone does it" are no less lame than the full throated versions. We actually can live without semiliterate gladiators in all sports. ____________ BL: We can also live without fast-food restaurants, little red sports cars and reality TV-shows.... but I don't see any of them going away in my lifetime. .... but hold fast to your dreams. Your frustration to the point of anger is noted. Are you a UNCer or ABCer? .
	10/3/2012 9:04:39 PM

	EdInShelby
	Do you think UNC Student Stores will be selling "petards"? ________ Probably but you can always try Amazon or Overstock.com .
	10/3/2012 8:15:30 PM

	GeorgeJ
	What came after "Who's Tami dating these days?" I fell over backwards with my laptop and the darn thing went out on me. You really should put a warning with those. ____________ BL: A VERY CLEAR ZINGER ALERT was clearly posted. That meets all HAZMAT regulations. .
	10/3/2012 8:08:33 PM