Monday, October 8, 2007

Shame on Butch Davis

Shame on coach Butch Davis and North Carolina.

Just when football season was about to transition seamlessly into basketball with Late Night with Roy approaching Friday, Davis’ team gave fans a reason to care about football.

During his news conference Monday, a writer from South Carolina asked whether last week’s 33-27 win over Miami would prevent the Gamecocks from overlooking North Carolina.

Davis replied that he didn’t have time to think about that. He has enough responsibilities trying to get his team ready for Saturday’s game with South Carolina and Steve Spurrier’s crew at Kenan Stadium.

But clearly the Miami win, which broke a four-game losing streak, gives the Tar Heels hope. After the game, safety Deunta Williams even talked about reaching the team’s goal of playing in a bowl game.

North Carolina (2-4) needs to win four of its six remaining games to do that, but it’s not out of the question with struggling N.C. State (1-5) and Duke (1-5) left on the schedule.

Davis wants North Carolina to be like Florida and Ohio State, where the football and basketball teams both contend for national titles. The Tar Heels are a long way from that level in football.

But having people excited about a football game against a top-10 opponent on the same weekend as Late Night is a step in the right direction. That’s what the win over Miami accomplished.

– Ken Tysiac

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was impressed with the Heels on Saturday and feel they have I bright future ahead of them. I know, they need to put together some more wins to be taken seriously, but there's no reason why UNC can't be the premiere program in the state in a few years.

Anonymous said...

Do you really know anything about college football? Your comments are pathetic. You are one of the reasons(and there are many) why your sports page is one of the worst in the nation.

Anonymous said...

What sports page? The Charlotte news and disturber only carries articles on Nascar, the Big 10 and Big East. They also love to report on Hockey and all women sports. The sports section of the paper is a serios joke on true Southern sports fans. I had to check the web to get the ECU score on Sunday ...Evidently a in state University score is not needed by the Distuber sportd staff.

Anonymous said...

hi, i work for the Observer...I write one source articles and one source columns...i toe the company line...

Anonymous said...

Seriously, you have nothing better to do than trash the observer? Anyway, back to what this blog is supposed to be about- CONGRATS to Davis! He is bringing excitement and energy back to a school where football was considered a joke. It won't happen over night, but the Tarheels are on a road to success. Instead of being bitter about our local paper, shouldn't we be more concerned with our NC football programs becoming contenders instead of laughing stocks? Again- hats off to the Carolina football team! Hopefully there will be more state football programs that travel down the winning path!

Anonymous said...

Hey Trash Talkers--

You can carp all you want, but there was once a time when college football in the Carolinas was the number one sport going. Now lately the college gridiron scene has undergone some tough times, but Pigskin Pomp is back on the upswing from Pembroke to Pisgah.

And don't forget, Charlotteans, whenever North Carolina and South Carolina meet up, whether in Columbia, Charlotte or Chapel Hill, it's our one weekend when the Boo-Birds of Raleigh will be at bay, piping down their usual criticisms about Charlotte being "too close to South Carolina." This is the one weekend of the year when they want Charlotte on their side.

So let's celebrate another great "Carolina-Carolina" game since that's what the Tar Heels and the Gamecocks are called on each side of the Carolina line.

Yes, it should be a donnybrook, folks: Carolina is fired up after it's win over Miami while Carolina is tooting its horns over its new national rankings. Carolina is hoping to see further gains in its running game, and Carolina is no doubt looking for more of the same.

There will be legions of Carolina fans in Chapel Hill Saturday, wearing their baby blue and white colors as they cheer on the home team, but you can count on a goodly number of Carolina fans showing up too, proudly sporting their beloved garnet and black.

Even with its big ACC win last week, you have to figure Carolina to be the underdog, but don't think for one minute that Carolina will be looking past this game to its next big SEC battles.

The new Carolina coach, with his emphasis on back-to-basics fundamentals, is finally learning his way around the greenery adorning Kenan Stadium, but that flamboyant Carolina coach, the same guy who used to bring the Duke Blue Devils into Chapel Hill for football rivalry games every now and then, why he's sure to be looking for more ways to make waves in the Southern Part of Heaven.

Still, you will have to forgive Carolina Gamecocks fans for doing a double-take at this storied appelation from the land of the Carolina Tar Heels. After all, they probably figure that if Chapel Hill is the Southern Part of Heaven, then it must be the Northern Half of the Southern Part of it because in Columbia, they're bound to be in the Southern Half of the all the rest of the Southern Part of Heavan.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree, this article is beyond pathetic. I'm a Carolina fan and the only reason I'm even hear is because the article was linked. If not for the occasional link, I would never come to this paper for Carolina sports. If I had my way, I would pick the whole city up and drop it in the first field in S.C that I could find. And as far as Carolina and S.Carolina playing football in Charlotte, I could think of nothing that would make me puke faster. If we are going to play in S.C. we might as well leave the state.

Anonymous said...

This was a good article because it pointed up just how close the Tar Heels were coming to seeing their season go floating away down the river.

And as for Charlotte being no place special, this Charlottean had a fabulous time visiting with fans from Carolina and Miami on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill before last week's game. You could play music from Cuba or other Latin American countries in your band and folks from Miami would appreciate it.

But bluegrass and beach music are great too, so it was fun backing the Heels in the heart of Carolina.
Folks who live in North Carolina counties bordering on South Carolina--from Brunswick on the coast all the way to Transylvania and Jackson in the mountains--and those who live in the northern-tier counties bordering on Virginia--from Currituck above Kitty Hawk clear to Ashe above Grandfather Mountain--are just as much a part of the fabric of North Carolina as everybody else in all the places in between.

So try as they will to boo some people out of the state of North Carolina based on which section of the Tar Heel State they live in, the boo-birds will just have to migrate to someplace else for the rest of autumn.

So "here's to the land of the longleaf pine where the sun doth shine, where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great." Here's to living north, south, east or west in the Old North State, including good ol' Mecklenburg County, N.C.

Anonymous said...

Football in this state is still a joke, it has been for the last few years. If it wasnt for Appalachian State, football would be paid no attention. They have made football actually exciting the last few years.

Anonymous said...

We all know this game is overhyped. How about Wake Forest-Florida State? This is the game to get excited about. Wake is only 80 miles from Charlotte, but receives little coverage in sports.

Anonymous said...

Ok all you so called Carolina fans ( that would be North Carolina ) get ready for the real Carolina to come to town. Yeah we will give you that basketball sport, but don't think for one minute because you be a down Miami team that you have a chance at beating the Ole Ball Coach. At the ened of the day Saturday we won't be posing for any pictures, because your don't get excited over beating a intermual team. Here comes the #7 team in the nation and we won't be giving you a 27 point headstart just to see you give it away. We will beat you down. Go Cocks!!! Bring it home again!!

Anonymous said...

The Heels have a lot to look forward to, Butch has y'all headed in the right direction. I just wish the Cocks would have come out going for the jugular in the 2nd half. Good effort by the No. Car boys though. Way too close for comfort.