I live in North Carolina and love this state. I have dozens of friends, all of whom I care a great deal for, who love UNC and all its sports endeavors. None of these friends are cheaters, so the UNCheaters meme is very offensive to them. They think their beloved school is being punished harshly simply by the pace of the investigation. That every time a basketball recruit commits to Duke or UK or Kansas it's like a month in Solitary Confinement. Most of all, they want the NCAA to mete out its punishment and let UNC move on with whatever they have to endure.
But, I am not a UNC fan and I think what UNC did (and didn't do) needs to be punished. Yes, it was an academic scandal. An academic scandal that enabled dozens of athletes who, perhaps, had no business being in college, to remain eligible in spite of their lack of academic effort. I will be surprised, given what I think ought to happen, if UNC gets much more than vacated wins from seasons past and maybe a year banned from postseason play. TV contracts now dictate much of what happens in the sports world. Would ESPN balk at a the NCAA killing UNC basketball for one or two years, thereby depriving viewers at least two chances to see and hear **** Vitale describe how wonderful it is to watch UNC play Duke?
It would be nice if the UNC case could be closed soon, then we could debate whether their punishment for 18 years of academic fraud should be more or less than a WR getting a few T-shirts from his cousin's roommate.
