Good news, bad news, the sad fact is that it’s news

UNC Football

This weekend was a bit like a roller coaster ride for those Heels that are following “Agent Gate”. First it seemed that Marvin Austin was being cleared by the NCAA, but then Ivan Maisel, an ESPN analyst, said he had meant to say the total opposite, declaring that it would not be good news for the senior defensive tackle. In between this on twitter a couple of UNC fans went after @joeovies about how he (and the rest of the media) had handled this story. Here is my take on all of this: good or bad news the problem is that it is news, and being news is not the media’s fault. The media (or bloggers) will report what it will report and put the spin they want on it, the agents did their part and I am still wondering why none of them have been exposed, but in the end the problem is that if what has been reported is true, the student-athletes should not have done what they did.

Anyone that knows me knows I bleed Carolina Blue and have done so for decades, not just years, but I take principles over personalities on these things. What is wrong for one is wrong for all, does not matter if it is a player/coach on my most hated rival or one on UNC. Be it Maisel or Ovies or anyone else they would not be talking about this, whichever side they take, if it had not happened. End of story! And the fact that this “happens everywhere” or “we are not the only one” does not matter to me, I do not cheer for anyone else, I am a fan of North Carolina, and that is who I worry about, no other program/team. The people of the main stream media have their faults, but in the end they do their job, just like anyone else. We must realize for all that we love our school sometimes the people in it make mistakes. In the end these young men are humans.

Add to that the fact that Yahoo Sports believes the NCAA is checking into the relationship between assistant coach John Blake and play agent Gary Wichard and now the smoke is thicker and you know that the fire is only moments away. Of course, as been the case throughout this whole incident, Yahoo once again uses sources close to the situation and that aggravated me to no end. The NCAA should get these reports and tell them to either gag it or show their hand (aka sources). But once again, had this never happened there would be no need for sources or for newspapers/web sites/media to check into all of this.

As a diehard fan I wish this would go away, but as one that lives by principles over personalities I have to say I want to know what happened, want it to stop and most of all I want it to never happen again. If that means players will have to sit out 1 game, the whole season or somewhere in between, so be it. I say this because I am not a fan of the football team, the basketball teams, the soccer teams, the lacrosse teams, any other teams, I am a fan of the University of North Carolina and as such I want what is best for it. This story is not going to go away, it is going to be one of those black clouds that years after it has past it will still linger in our memories and in the memories of our rivals.

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