Monday, September 25, 2006

Speaking too Soon

It wasn't until I read the N&O online this morning that I realized that despite BC having the ball and the lead with less than a minute to play last time I checked, NC State came back and won the damn game on a Hail Mary pass by a quarterback in his first start. So instead of being 1-3 like I thought, they're 2-2 with most of the fans convinced that they really won the Akron game as well. So Amato is off the hot seat for the moment. And again, I spoke too soon about Bunting, as News and Observer sports editor Caulton Tudor (the man every NCState fan is convinced is a closet Carolina supporter) said flat out that Coach is failing the Tar Heels and had some barely veiled criticisms of AD Dick Baddour as well.

Just as Herb Sendek was never going to take the State basketball program beyond the NIT and an occasional visit to the NCAA round of 32, Bunting is never going to take the Carolina football program beyond break-even seasons and the occasional visit to a minor bowl. Bill Dooley got the team to a place where they usually had a winning season and usually went to (and lost) the Liberty Bowl or the Gator Bowl. That wasn't good enough for the alums, so Dick Crum came in and put together some dynamite seasons and big bowl wins, but he couldn't recruit well in the state and ended up being bought out and leaving the cupboard bare. We put up with two 1-10 seasons with Mack Brown because it was clear that there was something better in the offing and sure enough there was, until he realized that he was never going to win a national championship in Chapel Hill and left for greener pastures. Since then we've had coaches that are great guys, good leaders of young men and mediocre coaches. Torbush was a defensive guy that had some great defensive teams but couldn't really move the ball well. Bunting is a defensive guy that has had some of the worst defenses in Carolina history. I don't get it. But clearly it's time to move on.

As for Amato, like I told a couple of my State fan co-workers today, he's off the hot seat until our ragged-ass, bottom-of-the-barrel Tar Babies beat 'em, which is the one thing the Bunting has done with some regularity.

But oh yeah, it's basketball season.

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