The Goat Pen

The speculation is that it's Pepper's transcript, but nothing has been confirmed. For all we know, some guy just uploaded something and slapped the name up there to make him look bad. I am sure there are some State grads in the computer department at Carolina. Due to FERPA, it cannot be confirmed. Plus, I have problems thinking that Pep had a 1.84. That guy is a dumbass.

Also, I took AFAM 040 (now AFAM 101), The Black Experience, my junior year. I had half of the football team, Tyler Hansbrough, Bobby Frasor and Mike Copeland in the class. I worked hard to get that B+...

I also took Drama 015 and French 041. Pep took French 040, which was theater in translation, and 041 was novels in translation. But everything else, including the professor, was the same. It was very rigorous...

Depending on how the course is structured (and the skill of the prof) any class can be hard...due to content or interest.

When Mark Emmert made his grandiose statement last month, when he stood up
and showed everyone at Penn State and intercollegiate athletics who was
boss, you just knew this day was coming.

As fate would have it, it's worse than anything Mr. Big Stick could have imagined.

"This," one BCS athletic director told me Monday, "is Pandora's Box."

And an ironic kick in the rear for the man who talked tough while his kingdom was crumbling around him. Guess what, Mr. Emmert?

You're gonna need a bigger stick.

When he announced crippling sanctions against Penn State,
when he stuck the governing body's nose in a legal action, Emmert made
it clear that he alone had been given power to ignore due process and
NCAA bylaws to protect "the foundation of amateur sports."

Meanwhile, in Chapel Hill, N.C., the entire university is complicit in a systemic
charade of bogus, no-show classes for athletes; a scheme that?you're
gonna love this part?the NCAA missed while investigating North Carolina
over the past two years.

Fortunately, the man with the Big Stick has the Raleigh News & Observer doing the heavy lifting,
exposing the real threat to the foundation of intercollegiate athletic
sports. Or as my athletic director friend said, "Pandora's Box."

From 2007-2011, an internal review at UNC revealed 54 no-show classes in the Department of African and Afro American Studies where
student-athletes were given grades for fake classes. The university
says two department heads were responsible for the academic fraud, but
the News & Observer says evidence suggests athletes were steered to
classes by academic counselors assigned to the athletic department.

Think about that: the athletic department and a department of academics
conspiring to keep students eligible so they can play games. This isn't
high school, everyone. This is one of the most respected academic
institutions in the world cheating to keep athletes eligible.

So while Mr. Big Stick thumped his chest about Penn State?before and after
delivering the sanctions we haven't heard squat from him about what
will become the worst infractions case in the history of college sports.
And that was before the latest mind-numbing details released Monday by
the News & Observer: the gross case of academic fraud could go back a
decade?and include North Carolina's legendary men's basketball
program.

Apparently, this isn't important enough for Emmert to
drop Death Penalty suggestions on national television morning shows, or
speak to the horror of it all on PBS or ESPN, or to anyone else shoving a
microphone in front of the face of the NCAA.

This, Mr. Emmert, is the foundation of amateur sports. This, Mr. Emmert, is the one thing
that can bring down the facade that is billions in television dollars on
the backs of student-athletes. This, Mr. Emmert, is the very thing that
can and will underscore the one dirty secret the NCAA has tried for
decades to hide: college sports is a glorified minor leagues for
professional sports.

This, Mr. Big Stick, is your Pandora's Box.

Say what you want about the NFL being a thug league, at least it doesn't
purport itself as one thing while acting like another. It hires felons
and drunks and wife beaters, and does it in the name of
professionalism.

The NCAA uses felons and drunks and girlfriend
beaters, and simply moves them around from school to school and upper
division to lower division all in the name of "giving kids a second
chance."

But there's no avoiding academic fraud; no escape from
what it exposes and how it jeopardizes the lifeblood of a multi-billion
dollar, tax-exempt industry. There's no denying the reality that if this
unthinkable case of academic fraud is happening at North Carolina,
where else is it hiding?

It's easy to get emotional about a pedophile, and make snap decisions in the name of children. It resonates
with everyone and produces instant credibility?no matter how skewed the
process.

What happens when Emmert has to make a real decision?
What happens when the very existence of college sports comes into play
and the general public isn't as engaged as Joe Sixpack was with Penn
State?

This is your Pandora's Box, Mark Emmert.

You're gonna need a bigger stick.

The NCAA is going to really go after Calipari hard after all this cheating that's been going on at unc......


...and this from KSR

I remind everyone that on Friday we will be in downtown West Liberty, the site of the deadly tornado. We will be pointing people to places to donate for relief efforts and showcasing the heart of a town that has been through a lot. Make sure and listen for what I think will be one of the most important KSR shows ever.

I may just drop by to see what this Matt Jones character is all about... should be interesting.

I was hoping most of the classes listed on Peppers transcript were relegated to just athletes to get them by because, let's face it, the school makes alot of money from athletics; however, the fact they let DS and other students take these garbage classes as well, whilst on the taxpayer dime, is more infuriating, to me, than the athlete getting a pass.

No wonder no one is qualified to get a job.

"Think about that: the athletic department and a department of academics
conspiring to keep students eligible so they can play games."

I'm sure nothing like that has ever happened at UK. Of course, when your college career has effectively ended by the end of the fall term (early December), who needs to worry about grades. Or attending classes...

"There's no denying the reality that if this
unthinkable case of academic fraud is happening at North Carolina,
where else is it hiding? "

I would say SEC football, but I don't think they've ever really hidden it. Seriously, though, the fact is that probably upward of 90% of football and basketball players would never get into most D1 schools based on their academics. So the system is a fraud from the beginning, starting with the admissions process. But is it really a fraud if everyone knows about it up front? It's not a shock (or even a surprise) to anyone who follows college football and hoops that most of the players would never be able to get into that school based on their academics. So where's the fraud?

I think we cal all agree that UNC and hedge deserve the death penalty.

Concur on both counts.

Thirded

hedge wrote:"Think about that: the athletic department and a department of academics
conspiring to keep students eligible so they can play games."

I'm sure nothing like that has ever happened at UK. Of course, when your college career has effectively ended by the end of the fall term (early December), who needs to worry about grades. Or attending classes...

it did happen at UK, and we went on probation for 4 years. Its a joke that UNC isn't rolling heads over this.

Another issue is why did they leak the Julius Pepper transcript. Sounds like someone at UNC wants everyone to know that Peppers was never academically eligible to play both football AND basketball?

now I'm reading it was a "test" transcript used to show potential class selections?

good good that is the height of incompetence

There's nothing on IC about any of this. It must be a rumor...

Must admire Hedge and the heel boys trying to put their own spin on this cheating scandal..

Ron Palillo, Of "Welcome Back, Kotter," Dies At 63

http://www.lex18.com/news/ron-palillo-o ... ies-at-63/

Greg Doyel weighs in on it
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootbal ... -reckoning

Somebody please photoshop an NCState sweater on that cat...

Good Lord. Doyel? That idiot was fired by the Charlotte Observer due to incompetence.

Every school has dumbass athletes. That's a part of life.