The Media
Am I mad about what has happened within the football team? You bet I am! Do I think that some of the media members are taking gratuitous pot shots at the team, the program, the head coach, the university itself? You bet I do, and I truly do not like it! Do I believe that the NCAA is using extra special lenses to look at this incident compared to other investigations that have been done in the past? Yes, here too I feel that way. But having said all of this, let me say this very, very clearly, this is not the media or the NCAA’s fault, not one bit. The reason the NCAA is doing this and the reason the media has plenty of material to start their sports reports on tv, fill their radio shows, write articles in newspapers or on the web is because some UNC players did something wrong. End of story, end of the line!
Sure, reading Twitter there are plenty of people from the media, the business that has told us bloggers we are too careless/reckless in what we write, that have both reported very wrong material (using the old “from my sources”) and are making fun of this situation. And I am sorry, there is nothing funny about this. The pot shots are worthless, the jokes make no sense, this is something that is serious and I believe some of the people that are paid to report the news should stop with the comics and maybe, just maybe, find a way to turn this into something that everyone, Carolina fan or not, can learn from. I would love to hear from ex NCAA members, that know what punishments could come out of this, more than people from one side of the fence that make the story so one-sided that I get nothing out of it.
I love the Tar Heels, always have, always will, but I live by the principles over personalities rule, and to me if someone is wrong, be it best friend or worst enemy, they are wrong. So, while I am a UNC diehard supporter, if what is being said is true a lot of the players did something wrong. Does that make them bad people? No, it makes them people that did something wrong. Does this make them selfish? Yes, because they put themselves before the team, and especially in a sport like football, where team work is essential, that just plain hurts. And for someone like myself, who has always been a disciple of the “Carolina Family/Way” this hurts even more. Does it mean they should be made examples of? No, they should be punished, be it from the NCAA or Carolina itself, in a way that the disciplinary action meets the infractions/violations committed. However, just for the record, they should not be let off with a slap on the wrist either.
This situation has taught me something. While I always knew that collegiate sport is money driven, I have now seen that the media (tv/radio/newspaper/internet) is just as much, if not more. I guess being old school and being brought up with my father reading the New York Times I still think that it should be about “All the news fit to print” and not just “All the news fit to make ratings/sell papers”.
