Headline of the day from Jay Schalin at the Locker Room, on the controversy surrounding the Duke and UNC hoops programs:
Dookie Bling-Bling No-No Needs Closer Lookie-Lookie, But Wink-Wink, Nudge-Nudge More Likely
Schalin notes “it will be much more difficult to uncover any corruption at Duke, which is private, than at public UNC, which is subject to freedom of information regulations.” But there’s also the NCAA. On that front, the N&R’s Ed Hardin forecasts doom and gloom:
The story involving (Tami) Hansbrough and former UNC quarterback Matt Kupec already includes divorce and marital misconduct, audits, nepotism, clandestine travel arrangements and all the juicy gossip of a soap opera, much of it playing out while UNC was on its way to the 2009 national title.
..This is nothing short of a crisis. At the very least, it’s a public-relations catastrophe. But already we know this isn’t some nightmare. It’s real. North Carolina’s football program has been dragged down by the NCAA, and it might not be over.
What if this turns out badly for Duke? What if there is no explanation of how a college athlete came up with $30,000 in cash right after a Duke road trip? What if the hiring of Tyler Hansbrough’s mom turns out to be an NCAA violation? What if the academic scandal in Chapel Hill seeps into its basketball past? What if national titles, the sacraments that drive the Duke-Carolina religion, are vacated?
Does it survive? Does Duke-Carolina survive?
No. It doesn’t.
Turns out Tami Hansborough had legal issues on the marital front before coming to UNC.