Shameful

UNC fired Coach Butch Davis yesterday.  News conference is set for 11am today.

UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp says that there isn't new dirt on the Coach, but wants us to believe and accept that Carolina's reputation is eroding by his continued tenure.  I'm not buying into that math.

If there is/are new reason(s) for his firing, the school's supporters have a right to know about them.  If not, then Thorp has done the University, the football program, and all of college athletics a disservice in firing a man of otherwise unquestioned integrity.  And one who also recently had his (Thorp's) public vote of confidence.

Ultimately, Holden Thorp couldn't police a bunch of youngsters any better than Butch Davis or the next guy that gets the job.  But hey, thanks for sucker-punching our team's prospects for this year, Thorp, and for making the next coaching candidate think twice about coming to Carolina.

Unless the Chancellor tells of something more egregious than "lost confidence in our ability to come through this without harming the way people think of this institution", I'll be more inclined to think the firing a political one to curry favor with the snidely and dispicable NCAA.

In the meantime, I still support Coach Davis, and am ashamed at the move by Thorp.  I suspect there was pressure from the NCAA for a live sacrifice.  And I believe that possibility a lot more than I believe in his stated perception of some ubiquitously harmed thought.

In other words? Bullshit, Thorp.

12NOON UPDATE:  After hearing Thorp talk out of the side of his mouth during that press conference, I say Double Bullshit.

Either there are infractions directly committed by Coach Davis that warrant his dismissal (and Thorp isn't making public), or... There is pressure coming from the newly sworn Board of Trustees, or... There is pressure from the NCAA.

My impression of Thorp is that he should have grown a backbone, or he's the one who should be out of a job.  He has the nerve to say that these actions actually help the University move beyond the scandal?  No sir. If anything, those actions exacerbate and prolong the feelings of inept leadership in Chapel Hill.  They circumvent any concept of due process.  They harm the reputation of the University.  They effectively neuter the confidence of this year's team, not to mention the fragile psyches of recruits.  And they make finding a new coach that much harder.  Way to go, asshat.

Black day.