Black Uniforms? Not My Choice But...

So, we watched a DVRed "new" episode of Law and Order: Special Victim Unit last night just prior to settling in for the NC State-Duke basketball game. (The 14-year old girl, who was being repeatedly sexually abused by her father while her mother didn't stop it, planned the entire killing of her parents but was in the way of a bullet and ended up in the hospital where it was discovered she had herpes given to her by dear old Dad but her boyfriend loved her anyway as she was arrested for conspiring to kill her parents.)

Anyway, L&O:SVU ended right at 9:00 p.m. and I quickly switched to the basketball game only to see my beloved Wolfpack wearing black uniforms. At first I was appalled as I was last fall when the football team wore black uniforms trimmed in red, white and pink and as I was several years ago when the basketball team came out in all black attire. I made a snide comment; my wife Nancy said State should never wear a color other than red and white (official, if there is such a thing, school colors). She's big on talking about fashion during basketball games or any sporting event, for that matter. She thinks Phil Mickelson looks dumpy the way he dresses, but as long as he wins, who cares what he's wearing? Nancy does. (I'm not disparaging you, Nancy. I'm just saying...)

Then I realized I was wearing a charcoal gray sweatshirt with NC State and the Block "S" across the front. One of my favorite NC State items to wear. I think it makes a fashion statement. Looks good, feels good. As the game got underway, Nancy kept talking about how awful the black uniforms looked and I kept telling Nancy that fashion did not matter as long as the Wolfpack won. In other words, I realized what I was wearing. But, as far as the basketball team wearing black, it should be a no-no.

According to today's reporting in The News & Observer, last night was the first time since Feb. 6, 2000 that State wore black uniforms. The Wolfpack lost to Maryland, 78-73, that night and then lost seven straight games. Last night was Feb. 16 (close enough) and Duke won 78-73. This is where a Yogi Berra quote should be inserted. I hope a seven game losing streak is not ahead of us because if it is, if you include last night, the 7th loss would be in the first round of the ACC Tournament and that would be a terrible way to end this season which has been pretty good so far.

I was disappointed in losing after leading by 20 points at Duke. The effort was excellent for the first 29 minutes as we made Duke play like NC State wanted Duke to play, but the foul problems were disheartening to the players who backed off and became shooters not scorers. We let Duke back into the game. You could see misery and lack of understanding on the faces of our players. Dismayed is a good way to describe coach Mark Gottfried expression. Oh well, good effort for much of the game. To my fellow Wolfpackers: I see light at the end of this tunnel. Keep the faith; the Pack will be back. But, please discourage black uniforms. Let's stick with Red and White.
----------
It continues to be about the money and not the fans
From where I sit, the Atlantic Coast Conference and ESPN have again taken a small hand tool to the Wolfpack. This time, it's the football program. NC State is scheduled to play Tennessee in one of two Chick-fil-A Kickoff games in the Georgia Dome Labor Day Weekend. State's game is Friday, Aug. 31 and will be shown on ESPNU. The next day, Clemson and Auburn play and that game will probably be shown on ESPN, the Mother Ship.

State Athletics Director Debbie Yow and football coach Tom O'Brien put a positive spin on the game and the day it's to be played. "NC State fans love Atlanta...We think there will be a lot of State red there to cheer on our team," said Yow. And TOB said: "We know that our loyal fans will make sure that there is more red than there is orange in the dome that night." Exact time for kickoff is not known, but, as Tom suggested, it's a good guess the Wolfpack will be playing Friday night, not the best time for fans or the program.

Since most State fans live close to Raleigh, going to Atlanta will mean either a Thursday arrival or a long drive on Friday, and it's is Labor Day Weekend when attendance at home games has not been its best. Saturday would have been better. I sent a text to a friend who tries to put a good spin on everything ACC, and he responded: "Great trip. Play the game on Friday and then head to the beach for Labor Day weekend. Perfect scheduling instead of ruining a good Labor Day weekend."

Maybe he doesn't realize where Atlanta is in relation to most beach spots for Wolfpackers. So I replied we would have more fans if played on Saturday. Then he got serious: "It's a great time to play for recruits since they will all be playing that night. So much for the ACC

Even though most high schools in this area and possibly across the country play football games on Thursday before Labor Day instead of Friday, he's got a point about Friday night high school football. The Chick-fil-A Kickoff wanted two games and invited the teams. ESPN controls the play days and the kickoff times. It is all for the money. It'll be good exposure for the Wolfpack, but why not consider the fans?
----------
UP-DATE: February 18, 2012
Shortly after posting this Friday, two emails arrived at my in box and each shed a little more light on these subjects.

The first came from Athletics Director Debbie Yow who had read this post while at the NC State baseball opener at Doak Field against Marshall. Concerning the black uniforms, she wrote: "(The) players wanted a special uniform (for the Duke game). (They, the black uniforms are) not likely to become a fixture." And, as far as the game in Atlanta, she clarified by writing, "The contract with Tennessee I inherited gave the Peach Bowl (Chick-fil-A Kickoff) the choice for date 'between Thursday-Saturday' of Labor Day weekend. They chose Friday." I appreciate Debbie offering the explanation.

The second email came from a member of the ACC staff who wrote: "FYI, we didn't have anything to do with scheduling this game. But, let me see. You get a chance to spend a long weekend in a great city, watch the Pack play Tennessee (definitely not south Alabama), have a chance at a great start to the season, and you still don't like it? There was a time when Wolfpackers would jump for joy at any trip to Atlanta." He's right but we prefer that trip to include either a Saturday game or the Chick-fil-A Bowl game after Christmas! Maybe we will have a good crowd for the Aug. 31, Friday night game against Tennessee in Atlanta. I hope so.

I also received an email from someone enlightened me that most high school games around Labor day ARE played on Friday. Guess those kids will not be watching NC State that night.

NCAA-UNC Probe: The Players ARE The Thing

Ignorance of the law excuses no man: Not that all men know the law, but because 'tis an excuse every man will plead, and no man can tell how to refute him.— John Selden, English antiquarian & jurist (1584 - 1654) (from www.thequotationspage.com)
----------
With all due respect to A.C. Snow, one of my long-time advisors on language, grammar and writing, if some (not sure how many at this point) college football players at North Carolina have accepted favors from sports agents, the guilt lies with those college football players, and not with either the enormous system of amateur games we know as intercollegiate athletics or the agents.

A.C., who was an advisor to the NC State University student newspaper, The Technician, way back when I was in college and beginning a writing passion, pens a weekly Sunday column for The News & Observer. His topics vary and are sometime folksy, writing about his love of his home area of Dobson NC or of trips to the Emerald Coast of North Carolina or about his beloved Tar Heels football and basketball teams about who he will be quick to write private notes of disappointment and disgust. His Sunday space is one of the early morning enjoyments of my Sunday reading of the newspaper, though sometimes I save it for last, hoping it to be an enduring piece, one that stays with me for at the very least until Monday morning when I might write him an email.

It seems that since I started writing Actions and Reactions nearly every day since the middle of December, I’ve heard less from A.C., though he tells me every now and then that my blog is one of the few he reads. He seems to enjoy my efforts, though he has reacted occasionally with his own style of constructive criticism, telling me straight up not to attack, especially those of known integrity, especially those at his long-time employ. I always take him under advisement but do not always follow his suggestions to the letter of the law, his decree which is more of a suggestion.

Today, I started to write him an email about yesterday’s column, but it turned into too much of a soap box to send solely to him. Today, I take to task his most recent proposition that the problems with athletes who break rules set forth by the NCAA (and laws of the state for that matter) are the cause of big-time athletics. While he surely did not write the headline—The players are not the thing—on the upper left of page 10D, that’s about as close and true a reflection of what A.C. wrote this week as could fit on those two lines of those two columns of space.

He wrote Sunday under the thesis that some believe the world as we know it in Chapel Hill is coming to an end because Marvin Austin, Greg Little and possibly others may have strayed from the rules of the college athletes game by associating with and possible taking a favor or two from a sports agent. I think the only people who believe the Chicken Little Theory (to which A.C. refers) is at hand in that sanctuary are only those of light blue blood. And, they are trying to get over it by blaming the agent and not the athletes who might not have known how to say no. The rest of us look at this situation as a comedy act, finally getting a laugh at the perfect world we are told that exists between Carrboro and Durham. Obviously, Chapel Hill, its participants and its followers have their faults.

But A.C. takes a wrong turn in laying the blame on the system and not the participants. He says the athletes are merely pawns (his words) at the colleges which he and many others think are farm clubs for professional sports (his words again). When you get down to it, most universities—especially UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University and others of the same level—are farm clubs for professional leagues of business: law firms, hospitals, engineering and textile companies, mega-agricultural producers, and, of all things, newspapers.

As time has passed from when I was in school with fewer than 10,000 students at State to over 30,000 today and as budgets increase exponentially and as salaries grow to allow administrators earn incomes comparable to a private business with budgets and numbers of employees as large and larger, we have seen unbelievable growth of educational institutions while at the same time a prostitution of the same. Universities—NC State and UNC included—sell their academic souls everyday to private business so there are additional resources of money and gifts-in-kind in exchange for “free” research and underpaid hired help available to help private business get an edge, to grow, to flourish.

While A.C., and our good friend Bill Friday, the former UNC System President whose wisdom and judgment is always sought when it comes to college athletics, try to voice opposition to the growth of college athletics, it is that over abundance and tremendous successes of college athletics programs that have had an huge effect on the increased overall interest in universities as a whole, leading many who would not contribute one thin dime to the academic side of tracks to give handsomely and wholesomely to the bricks and mortar and books and professors that improve what really makes a university great without the positive and negative recognition through the sports pages.

I’m sick and tired of the high and mighty journalists and educators trying to knock down what has taken years to build up, especially when it actually helps the institutions. I have yet to see 60,000 fans purchase tickets at $25+ a pop to watch a surgeon perform open heart surgery; I have yet to see ESPN pay mega bucks to televise one meeting of a university Board of Trustees or better yet a meeting of the NC State and UNC Board of Trustees meeting together as if they were doing battle. Journalists are quick to complain about the relationship between college athletics and private industries such as Nike which puts lots of money and gifts-in-kind into college athletics departments. But that’s no different than the mega dollars flowing from private business to academic departments of colleges in exchange for special research so that private business can do better, make more money, all at a research and development rate lower than what it would require in house. Did I say prostitution of academics?

Yes, there’s a lot of money that flows in and out of college athletics programs, into the hands of the coaches and administrators (hey, A.C., please write something about the ludicrous contract Debbie Yow just received to be the Athletics Director at NC State or is it all relative to what a CEO at a comparable size business would garner), and not into the pockets of athletes. But that’s the way it is and should be. The money is not about the athletes, mere pawns in the overall scheme of things.

The athletes do not have to attend these colleges unless they want to get a free ride to an education that otherwise would cost them mega bucks, many of whom could not afford to pay themselves. The high school athletes are given the opportunity to use the colleges as proving ground for their professional career, but they are also being given the chance to get a college degree, if they so choose to take that path. Most actually do; few end up as a professional in the sport of choice.

A.C. writes, and I quote from his last paragraph of Sunday’s column, “It is rank hypocrisy to ask college athletes to live up to the letter of ethical standards when evidence that coaches and school administrations are doing the same is woefully obscure.” Who says? A.C., you’ve thrown a wide blanket over college sports and basically said everyone involved who is not an athlete is guilty of bypassing the rules. That’s a strong and wrong accusation.

Also one who criticizes television’s control of college sports, A.C. complains about games played every day and at times that seem ridiculous. He dislikes, as do we all, the commercials, especially when we are at the games. He doesn’t enjoy the special relationship college athletics has with television networks. That’s the stance of most newspaper writers and reporters because those who take exception to the huge ratings of televised sports events usually have no ratings whatsoever. In comparison, ESPN, which basically funds a lot of college sports today, has ratings just a wee bit larger than The News & Observer and all the other newspapers in the United States put together.

If Marvin Austin, Greg Little and friends are guilty of breaking the NCAA law, there will be due justice applied which may bring harm to the success of North Carolina football this season. That would be Austin’s or Little’s fault, not that of anyone else, even the agent who may have broken North Carolina law by enticing Austin, Little et al. This story is about the players and their association with and possible favors from an agent, which is against NCAA rules and regulations for the athletes. Yes, A.C., we’ll keep it in perspective, but do not try to turn the focus away from the perpetrators by writing another rant about the hugeness of college sports. Its growth is no more out of line as is that of colleges in general. I stand by my premise that neither NC State not UNC would be at the high level of success and public standing they are today without the benefit of the large and successful athletics programs at each.

And, please, do not tell me the athletes just do not know the NCAA law, an extensive and complicated list of guidelines to follow throughout a college athletics career. John Selden said it very well many years ago: “Ignorance of the law excuses no man.” College athletes know there are rules by which they are to abide, though they may not know the exact letter of such regulations. However, considering they are college students, they should be smart enough to ask if what they are about to do is right or wrong. If wrong, let them be judged by their actions and not by their surroundings, no matter how much dislike there may be for big time, big budgeted college athletics and over-zealous agents just trying to get ahead.

In the case of the NCAA investigation into actions of several players on the North Carolina Tar Heels football team, the sky is not falling, but the players ARE the thing.

Rah-Rah For Federal Judge Stephan Underhill

Excuse my huge ear to ear grin and my exuberance today, but I’m sending kudos and possibly several bouquets of flowers to United States District Court Judge Stephan Underhill who yesterday ruled what I and many others have been saying for years: Cheerleading is NOT a sport, at least it’s not an official sport as far as colleges using it to meet Title IX gender-equity requirements, those of the 1972 federal law that commands equal opportunities for men and women in athletics.

The ruling came out of a court case he heard in Connecticut involving Quinnipiac University—the same school that offers political polling results used by media and candidates—which had shelved its women’s volleyball team for budgetary reasons (isn’t that always the case) and replaced it with a cheerleading squad involved in competition, not a team just standing on sidelines of football and basketball games and other athletics events and say “Rah! Rah!” The story at Quinnipiac is bigger than just the Cheer Squad. It seems the University has been cooking the books with the Title IX requirements. More on that later, but a now a local-interest interlude:

In the Atlantic Coast Conference, three schools list Competitive Cheerleading on their websites: Virginia Tech is one of the three. The other two are: Maryland and NC State. Now we may know one of the reasons by Debbie Yow to want to move from being Athletics Director at Maryland to being Athletics Director at NC State: Competitive Cheerleading. And, this might have been the reason Chancellor Randy Woodson wanted Yow to come to Raleigh. While Purdue doesn’t have a competitive cheer squad, maybe he wanted to make sure the new AD wanted to keep it at State. It all makes sense now.

At Quinnipiac, it was announced in 2009 that the women’s volleyball team would be dropped for budgetary reasons and be replaced with the competitive cheer team. You should check out the Cheer Squad section of the Quinnipiac Bobcats website: 30 players (all women) and three fulltime coaches (all women). Over at the Volleyball page: nine players (all women); one paid coach (a woman) and one volunteer coach (a man). Amazing stuff, or maybe not.

It appears the school wants to make the move—eliminating nine and adding 30 (or more—to keep it in compliance with Title IX. But the Judge will have nothing to do with that. In his ruling, he wrote: “Competitive cheer may, sometime in the future, qualify as a sport under Title IX. Today, however, the activity is still too underdeveloped and disorganized to be treated as offering genuine varsity athletic participation opportunities for students.” He instructed the school to report back within 60 days with a plan to keep the volleyball team—members of which who had sued the school over the announced dropping of the sport—and comply with Title IX rules.

Quinnipiac officials responded by saying that instead of continuing the volleyball program, it would start a women’s rugby team. That’s probably because it needs bodies—female bodies—and if 30 women cheerleaders are eliminated as varsity competitors, the numbers from a rugby team would offset the differential. The Judge had good reason to rule in favor of the volleyball players and against the school. Title IX says, according to an Associated Press account of this case, “An activity can be considered a sport under Title IX if it meets specific criteria. It must have coaches, practices, competitions during a defined season and a governing organization. The activity also must have competition as its primary goal - not merely the support of other athletic teams.”

The trial, more importantly, also revealed how Quinnipiac has been cooking the books in the gender equity area. The Judge found something that’s common at all colleges and universities in reporting Title IX facts and figures: participation instead of athletes. For instance, at Quinnipiac, there’s a men’s cross country team and there are cross country, indoor track and outdoor track for women. When one female athlete participates in all three team sports, she’s counted as three different participants. At NC State, it’s likely that Russell Wilson, football quarterback and multi-purpose baseball player, is counted twice. And, any person on any team is counted. So, even at NC State, a women’s cross country runner is counted there as well as on the indoor and outdoor track teams, but then so are the duplicate men.

But, wait, there’s more to the evil doings at Quinnipiac that trusted name in political polling. The book-cooking gets a little deeper. For instance, the Judge discovered the baseball and men’s lacrosse teams were dropping names from the rosters for reporting purposes in the fall and then adding team members to the roster in the spring for the season. This reduces male participants. At the same time, names were added to the softball team for reporting purposes and them eliminating them for the season. Now that’s integrity.

While the headline in this matter is that a Federal Judge says cheerleading is NOT a sport, and while I sing praises for this opinion, one that I’ve had all along no matter how many national cheerleading titles NC State has won—and by the way, NC State does not report cheerleading for Title IX purposes and, anyway, there are equal number of men and women on the squad and because NC State feels cheerleading does not fall into the Title IX guidelines for being considered a sport—the real winner in this could be women’s athletics and female athletes. If Judge Underhill’s ruling stands, all colleges and universities and probably high schools will have to review how the numbers are counted, resulting in an increase for the women.

And, as far as the headline, I’ll say it again: It thrills me to no end for a federal judge to say that cheerleading is not a sport, no matter how hard they work to be in shape and do all those fancy twists, turns and flips. If it is, then remove them from the sidelines at football and basketball games and create a schedule of competition with other cheerleading squads from other universities. Train and hire rules officials and judges who do not host summer camps to prevent bias in point-giving. In other words, if cheerleading is to be a sport along the lines of football, basketball, tennis, golf, etc., then treat it the same. In all the years I been watching college sports, I have never seen a men’s or women’s tennis team along the sidelines at NC State’s Carter-Finley Stadium leading the fans in rah-rahing. Why is the competitive cheerleading squad doing that?

A problem I see to making cheerleading a full-fledged sport: Who will stand along those sidelines cheering on the cheerleaders? And, if a squad is chosen for that, then one day, it too will want varsity status. It just doesn’t end, does it? Anyway, Rah-Rah for Judge Underhill!

Butch Steps To The Plate Quickly!

The email notification of another anonymous reader wanting to post a response to a previous column came early Monday. “maybe we should RE-VISIT this today... given CRYoWHINEa's unfortunate incident being reported today. whatchya say "author"??? give it a rip.... LOL.”

That was in reference to two items: Monday’s revelation of an alleged wrong-doing by a North Carolina football player over the weekend and trouble by several NC State football players in April. The latter I talked about in a column entitled, “Strong Swift Action By O’Brien a Must” which you can re-read for yourself by clicking the link. That was posted Tuesday, April 27.

At the time, Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien said, though a statement: “I have been made aware of the situation and appropriate action will be taken.” Forgive me for not scouring follow-up action, but I’m really not sure if there has been, and if so, what was the “appropriate action?” If there has been, please, someone bring me up to date. I have more important things to worry about than what Tom O’Brien does with players who bring bad publicity to NC State. Just win, bay, just win!

But, give credit to North Carolina football coach Butch Davis for at least on the surface taking quick action against Quan Sturdivant, the Tar Heels’ all-Atlantic Coast Conference linebacker who was cited last Saturday for possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana. It was in Stanly County, in Albemarle, and, according to police chief Gerald Michael (at least according to a story in The News & Observer), it was found in a car Sturdivant was driving. The N&O story didn’t say if it was Sturdivant’s car or someone else’s car.

Davis says he will discipline Sturdivant from a football team perspective but he didn’t give details. “This is not the type of behavior we expect from out student athletes,” said Davis through a statement issued Monday. “In addition to the outcome of the legal process, he also will face disciplinary action from within the football program beginning immediately.”

Sturdivant, a senior on this year’s NC football team, a team leader and a nationally noted linebacker, has an initial court date of August 2 in Stanly County. But he has probably already had a “court” session with Davis who is more than likely a less lenient judge than I would be with any college athlete who does anything to give any institution of higher learning a bad reputation. And, please do not tell me marijuana needs to be legalized. That’s a big maybe, but it’s not now, and Sturdivant knew it.

And, the NC State player back in April knew the illegality of what they have been accused of doing. Coaches in general should have a rule that if any player does anything to bring down the reputation of the school, the player is gone, star or not. Yes, there are times when some players may find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, but if that’s the case, the players made a bad choice of friends from the very start.

My guess is that Sturdivant will not start UNC’s opening game with LSU but it’s doubtful he will miss the entire game. My guess is that whether he misses some, all or none of the game, it will be mentioned on the television broadcast at least once, and that’s not good for Butch and his national recruiting efforts. My guess is also that Sturdivant, who should keep that August 2 court date and get this over faster than it happened, will plead guilty and receive a reprimand from the judge and be told to do a little community service. Perfect.

This case, though, and the case at NC State, in light of the financial windfall contract Debbie Yow has received as the Athletics Director, brings up an interesting question: WWDD? What would Debbie do if a star Wolfpack football player was cited for the same as Sturdivant and if by holding him out of action could prevent the team from not placing as high as fifth or sixth which gives her a $15,000 bonus?

And that’s why her contract, and any contract with winning incentives, is stupid, put together and agreed upon by Chancellor Randy Woodson, University legal counsel and the Board of Trustees, all smart people who overstepped good reasoning. In my opinion Sturdivant should be let go with a slap on the wrist if you compare what he did (illegal or not) to that AD contract, the major crime of the two.

Anyway, thanks Butch for quickly stepping to the plate? Unlike others have or will as far as I know.

Yow's Incentive Earnings Mind-Boggling

Whatever happened to the idea of being hired to do a specific job at a decent wage and then being rewarded at year end by your boss when your performance (or that of your department) exceeds, not just meets, expectations. In college athletics, unfortunately, there are incentives built into contracts for coaches and administrators. These motivations should be the desire of the coach or the administrator. Imagine hiring a coach to lead the football team and then giving him additional cash when his team has a winning season or wins a conference title or goes to a bowl, the primary reasons he's been added to the staff to begin with. It's the norm not the exception.

It's the standard these days to set an extravagant base salary and then toss out additional bucks when the team does things it should do anyway. Back to football. "Hey coach! We want you to head up the football program and we'll pay you hundreds of thousands just to be here. And, by the way, if you have a winning record, we'll give you more, and if you win a championship, you'll get more. And, if your players go to class, keep their academics up to the level that they remain in college, we'll give you more. And, if your players graduate, we'll give you the key to the ranch."

It all needs to be pulled back, if you ask me. Pay the coaches and the administrators a fair wage, and if their teams do not live up to expectations such as winning games, winning titles and graduating players as outlined when hired, terminate the contract and find someone else who is willing to the job at a better level for less. Which brings us to Debbie Yow and the absolutely crazy five-year contract approved by the NC State University Board of Trustees just prior to her hiring last Friday.

Probably the toughest part about being Yow's job as Athletics Director may be keeping a matrix of just how much money she can earn if Wolfpack teams are successful which they should be without incentives for her or the coaches. With multiple incentives for multiple bonuses, the contract is interesting reading, to say the least. Thanks to PackPride for obtaining it and thanks to wralsportsfan.com for running the information provided by PackPride. Below are the details. There's space at the end for your comments, anonymous or otherwise. Mine are already there:
----------
BASE SALARY
$350,000 based on a 12-month employment period. The salary is in place for five years.

SUPPLEMENTAL COMPENSATION
• N.C. State shall approve payments to Dr. Yow in the form of supplemental compensation in the amount of $100,000 for each year of the contract, contingent on funding from NC State's Marketing Rights Agreement.
• The supplemental compensation will be paid in two equal installments on December 31 and June 30 of each contract year.

TEAM PERFORMANCE INCENTIVES/COMPENSATION
Director's Cup
Dr. Yow is eligible for one of the following bonuses per contract year:
• $20,000 in contract years one through three in which NC State's performance ended during such contract year ranks in the top 50 and $15,000 in contract years four and five in which NC state's performance ended during such contract year ranks in the top 50 or $25,000 for a top 25 in the Final Director's Cup Standings
• These bonuses are not cumulative. Any amount earned will be paid no later than September 30 immediately following the end of the then applicable contract year.

Football
Dr. Yow is eligible for one of the following bonuses per contract year (ties decided by ACC tiebreakers):
• $50,000 in any contract year in which the Football team wins the ACC championship
• $25,000 in any contract year in which the Football team finishes the ACC regular season in second, third, or fourth place
• $15,000 in any contract year in which the Football team finishes the ACC regular season in fifth or sixth place
• $100,000 in any contract year in which the Football team wins the NCAA national championship
• These bonuses are not cumulative. Any amount earned will be paid within 90 days following the date of the bowl game.

Men's Basketball
Dr. Yow is eligible for one of the following bonuses per contract year:
• $25,000 in any contract year in which the Men's Basketball team wins the ACC regular season championship
• $10,000 in any contract year in which the Men's Basketball team wins the ACC Tournament championship
• $20,000 in contract years one through three in which the Men's Basketball team participates in the NCAA postseason tournament and $15,000 in contract years four through five for the same
• $25,000 in any contract year in which the Men's Basketball team participates in the Final Four of the NCAA postseason tournament
• $50,000 in any contract year in which the Men's Basketball team is named NCAA national champions
• These bonuses are not cumulative. Any amount earned will be paid within 90 days following the last game played by the team in the NCAA postseason basketball tournament.

Women's Basketball
Dr. Yow is eligible for one of the following bonuses per contract year:
• $25,000 in any contract year in which the Women's Basketball team wins the ACC regular season championship
• $10,000 in any contract year in which the Women's Basketball team wins the ACC Tournament championship
• $20,000 in contract years one through three in which the Women's Basketball team participates in the NCAA postseason tournament and $15,000 in contract years four through five for the same
• $25,000 in any contract year in which the Women's Basketball team participates in the Final Four of the NCAA postseason tournament
• $50,000 in any contract year in which the Women's Basketball team is named NCAA national champions
• These bonuses are not cumulative. Any amount earned will be paid within 90 days following the last game played by the team in the NCAA postseason basketball tournament.

Other Varsity Sports Teams
Dr. Yow is eligible for one of the following bonuses per contract year:
• $5,000 in any contract year for each varsity sports team that wins an ACC regular season championship
• $2,500 in any contract year for each varsity sports team that participates in postseason NCAA competition
• $10,000 in any contract year for each varsity sports team that wins a NCAA championship
• These bonuses are not cumulative per team. Any amount earned will be paid within 90 days following the last game/match/meet played by the team in the NCAA postseason competition.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE INCENTIVES/COMPENSATION
Graduation Rates
• In contract years one through two in which the scholarship student athletes' graduation rate meets or exceeds that of the undergraduate student population, a bonus of $25,000 will be awarded.
• In contract years three through five in which the scholarship student athletes' graduation rate meets or exceeds that of the undergraduate student population and the scholarship student athletes graduation rate qualifies for the top 50% of the ACC public university rates, a bonus of $25,000 will be awarded.
• Any amount earned will be paid within 90 days following the May Commencement.

ACADEMIC PROGRESS RATE
• Eligible for $1,000 for each varsity sports team which is in the upper 50% of the ACC Academic Progress Rate ("APR") public university rankings provided that no varsity sports team is below a rolling 4 year average APR of 925, the sanction level as established by the NCAA.
• The maximum bonus potential to earn in any contract year for APR would be $23,000 currently based on twenty-three varsity sports teams. Any amount earned will be paid within 90 days following the submission to the NCAA of the university's annual APR report.

MISCELLANEOUS
• N.C. State will reimburse Dr. Yow for documented personal moving expenses reasonably incurred by her to relocate initially to the Raleigh area within 12 months of the effective date of this agreement and two house hunting trips, in accordance with standard procedures. As part of the transition, reimbursement for up to 6 months of temporary housing expenses in North Carolina, up to $2,000 per month, shall be provided upon provision of appropriate rental receipts.
• N.C. State shall make arrangements for and provide one courtesy or leased vehicle for Dr. Yow to use. NC State shall be responsible for maintaining collision and comprehensive liability insurance on the vehicle. Alternatively, NC State may provide an annual automobile allowance in the amount of $7,500. Dr. Yow shall be responsible for providing maintenance on any vehicle.
• N.C. State shall make arrangements for one local country club, and State Club and/or University Club membership for the purpose of conducting university business.
• With the prior written approval of the Chancellor, and in compliance with State and Federal law, NCAA regulations, etc... the Student Aid Association a/k/a "Wolfpack Club," any other entity, organization, or individual may provide or fund supplemental benefits to Dr. Yow. These benefits are not guaranteed and the Chancellor's approval may be withdrawn.
• Dr. Yow can earn other compensation from sources outside of NC State while employed by NC State with prior approval by the Chancellor. Activities shall include, but not be limited to, engaging in any radio, television, motion picture, Internet, state, writing or any similar activity, personal appearances, commercial endorsements, and sports camps.
----------
Now, my take on this
Whew! Can someone tell me what the entire potential adds up to be or, when you think about it, does it really matter, especially if the teams and athletes do so well that her earnings are maximized? Here are my additional comments:
• Are there penalties built in when the football and men's and women's basketball programs have losing records or do not make post-season play?
• Are there penalties for every player who drops from or is dropped from any team for any reason including academics and brushes with the law or for simply not being good enough which falls back on the coach who recruited the player to begin with?
• And, what's so special about women's basketball? Why not baseball or soccer or some other sport that has a chance to operate in the black and not the red. We know that women's basketball, with all its glitz and glamour, is very expensive to operate, maybe the most expensive in the ACC when looking at revenue and expenses together.

Each one of the contract incentives should be Yow's desire for NC State athletics and nothing for which extra money should be paid. I know you have to pay a lot to get the best, and I want NC State athletics teams to be the best, to win games and championships, but this is ridiculous, if you ask me. But then that's the norm for college athletics. Maybe Yow should be gracious and eliminate some of these incentives from her contract just to show her desire to be successful at a job she has been hired to do.

Winning Will Make Debbie Yow Popular

“I, fortunately, do not have a great need to be popular. I’d rather win than be popular.” —Debbie Yow.
----------
It was with disbelief AND skepticism (if you can have both at the same time since the meaning of each is each other) that the appointment of Debbie Yow as the next Athletics Director at NC State University greeted me. Maybe it was because during the last couple of months as I considered possibilities for that Wolfpack leadership position, she never crossed my mind prior to the moment I received a text message late Thursday night as I enjoyed dinner and a beer or two while watching the College World Series at Shuckers Bar & Grill on the 79th Street Causeway in North Bay Village FL.

When the Blackberry, sitting on the bar next to the plate of lightly-fried calamari and the cold glass of Yuengling, started to vibrate, I put down my fork and reached for my hand-held access to the world. What I found was an instant message with two words: Debbie Yow. I knew immediately the meaning of the IM and, instead of responding, I started to surf the web for confirmation. It didn’t take long to realize the messenger knew what was to be announced the next afternoon.

A few exchanges of typed words and phrases of disbelief went quickly until the person on the other end said I was playing the part of the river that runs through Egypt. I was told I was in denial. Maybe so, but again, this was not a name or a person I or anyone else other than maybe a handful of people with the ear of Chancellor Randy Woodson and the official Search Committee along with the hired consultant used to seek and find the person to lead the Wolfpack Athletics Program to the Promised Land had considered as a possible replacement for Lee Fowler.

As noted in this space last Friday, I wondered if this—Debbie Yow—was the best selection. I admittedly was disappointed not to see Bobby Purcell get the chance to prove he’s the right person for the job. Even into Friday morning and before the official announcement was made Friday afternoon, I continued to read across the Internet to see how this was playing in Raleigh, in Maryland, and in other places just short of Peoria. Most reaction was, “What were they thinking?” That was the theme among many in attendance at the memorial service for the late Fred Barakat, the former Atlantic Coast Conference Associate Commissioner who passed away recently. You can imagine the number of college athletics savvy people at that gathering.

My long-time friend, John Feinstein, a writer for The Washington Post and an author of so many books that I’ve lost track of the number and titles, wasn’t kind at all to Debbie Yow when he heard of the choice by NC State. Friday, in his blog, Feinstein On The Brink, he combined the selection of John Wall by the Washington Wizards and the departure of Yow from Maryland as a reason for Washington area athletics fans to celebrate. Of the Maryland Athletics Director, he said: “Yow won’t be missed by many in College Park. She’ll have a certain honeymoon period at State because her sister Kay, who died in 2009 of cancer, was a beloved coach there for 34 years. My guess is that honeymoon won’t last terribly long.” FYI: John is a personal friend of Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams.

There was a lot more reading throughout the day and beyond the announcement, some positive towards the naming Yow and some not so flattering. Maybe the most humorous was on the WRALSportsFan.Com site where Jeff Gravely interviewed 99.9TheFan host Adam Gold who said this was a great hire. Two things: Gravely and Gold work for the same company and reduced journalism to its lowest levels with that story (if you don’t understand, well it would be like Chip Alexander of The News & Observer interviewing Ron Green Jr of the Charlotte Observer, both members of the shared sports staff of the two papers, about the renovation of Pinehurst #2 golf course) and Gold is a graduate of Maryland (or at least an attendee) and may have his own motives for Yow to move away from College Park.

While questions about the hiring and the process will persist, I was impressed with two short phrases Yow strung together when she was introduced to the public last Friday at Carter-Finley Stadium. “I, fortunately, do not have a great need to be popular,” she said. “I’d rather win than be popular.” That reminded me and others of the way Willis Casey, as far as I’m concerned the standard when it comes to being a college Athletics Director especially at NC State, was in doing his job. He ruled that department with an iron fist, kept pushing the program forward, demanded a lot of his coaches and created an overall winning atmosphere. He hired Debbie Yow’s sister, Kay, to head the women’s basketball program in its infancy.

As said earlier, questions will persist about the hiring, and, like it or not, both Yow and Chancellor Woodson will be under the microscope of Wolfpack fans. For instance, Woodson, from all we know, only met Yow for the first time earlier in the week last week and, with the recommendation of the Search Committee and the consultant, decided to offer her the job that day without the due diligence of talking with other athletics officials from across the nation. He also talked excitedly about Yow’s academic record at Maryland though Maryland ranks under NC State in the two major sports of football and basketball when it comes to the most recent Academic Progress Rate. This is something I mentioned in Friday’s posting.

Obviously, Debbie Yow is smart. In moving to NC State she will be working for a Chancellor who sought her employment, who wants her and who offers what it takes to be successful. Chancellor Woodson had to have said all the right things to get her to leave behind what she had at Maryland. And, if she had stayed at Maryland, she would have to convince a new President to like and keep her as the one who hired her is retiring.

At Maryland, part of Yow’s success was balancing a budget sorely in need of such and improving facilities, also needed for the Terrapins. She has expertise and success in two areas that do not need addressing at NC State. A solid, non-deficit budget and excellent facilities (as good as or better than any in the Atlantic Coast Conference), she said, “are two important elements to have in place.” So she comes into a program where her concentration can be on winning. In doing so, her efforts start with evaluating coaches and determining if the right people are in the right place. She said it is “critically important to match resources with expectations, to determine the needs” and to make sure everything is in place to give the coaches the opportunity to be successful.

This—asking the coaches what it will take to be successful and then providing it to them—is very much how Willis Casey governed: just enough rope to hang themselves unless they can avoid the noose. He would constantly ask the coaches, especially football and basketball, if their budgets were large enough, if the staff was right, if there was anything else they needed. The prospect for success was squarely placed on the coaches. Debbie Yow does not have to be another Willis Casey (not liked by all but respected by most), but right out of the gate she seems to be headed that way in her own style and fashion. And that’s a good thing. Maybe she’s not who I wanted as NC State Athletics Director, but then in the overall scheme of things it really doesn’t matter what I want.

But, I believe I speak for most Wolfpack fans when I say I want Wolfpack athletics—especially the football and men's basketball teams—to thrive, to win games and championships without sacrificing academics and good character. And, with a thriving program—especially the football and men's basketball teams—of winning games and bringing home championships, Debbie Yow, in winning over naysayers, will not only have her cake but she'll get to feast on a wave of her own popularity, needing it or not.

Is Debbie Yow The Best NC State Can Get?

It’s interesting to watch the media and how it handles a story. A look yesterday and this morning at the WRAL.com site has Debbie Yow as the next athletics director at NC State, and a glance at The News & Observer website pages say the search for the position has focused on Yow without saying it’s a done deal. Both are using reports from media outside the Raleigh area and primarily in Washington and Maryland. But, WRAL.com is more specific with “Sources say the announcement is expected to come at a news conference Friday afternoon.” I dare to say those are NC State sources except that Wolfpack Sports Marketing is owned by Capitol Broadcasting which owns WRAL.

So, if what WRAL says is true, it appears Debbie Yow, current Athletics Director at Maryland and sister of late NC State women’s basketball coach Kay Yow, will be named Director of Athletics at NC State University, replacing Lee Fowler who was chased away by friends and foes who agreed he was running a mediocre program at best. The blame for mediocrity was laid squarely at his feet.

The hire of Yow will/would be interesting to say the least. Except to return to her native North Carolina, one must wonder why she would leave Maryland for NC State and how well received she will be on and around the Raleigh campus as well as at Wolfpack sports venues. And, we all must wonder if NC State is getting the best it can get with Yow. With all due respect to Debbie, her sisters Kay and Susan, and her parents, all of whom I’ve known—not very close though—since Kay was hired at State in the 1970s, Debbie is qualified but maybe not the best sitting Athletics Director or other athletics related executive NC State can get.

On the surface, it appears Maryland has done rather well since Yow was hired there in 1994, winning 17 national titles in five different sports, but, while one was in men’s basketball (it takes a six-game winning streak to do that and that championship was in 2002 so what have you done for me recently which is more than has been done at State), and one was in women’s basketball (okay, you fill in the blank), there were also eight in women’s lacrosse (who cares and how many schools play women’s lacrosse) and five in field hockey (see writing in parenthesis about women’s lacrosse).

A win is a win is a win, but, if performance of teams is the search focus and while better and positive reputation in the minor sports at NC State is desired, consistent success in the two majors—men’s basketball and football—should be the primary view on the resume. Without actually looking at the record, I’d guess Maryland has performed better in those two sports since 1994, but the success has been fair at best. In the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately category, Yow has had a public personality clash with basketball coach Gary Williams and suffered through losing seasons four of the last six football campaigns. At the same time, Lee Fowler at NC State hasn’t had public disputes with either of his major sports head coaches, but the results have been similar to that at Maryland. All things being equal, give me public-perceived peace and harmony.

On the other hand, it appears Maryland has run a clean program during Yow’s tenure, but so has NC State. And, looking at the most recent multi-year Academic Progress Report by the NCAA, in football, Maryland was at 929 and NC State at 937. In men’s basketball, Maryland was at 913 and NC State at 990. Advantage NC State.

If Yow is the new NC State Athletics Director, she’ll have to immediately address the bread and butter revenue sport of Wolfpack football. Head coach Tom O’Brien is in his fourth season and has a three year mark of 16-21 overall and 9-15 in the ACC, not acceptable by any standards especially by those set by the Wolfpackers who continue to open the wallets when asked to do so. The flow of money will not last forever even if Yow would be willing to keep Wolfpack Club Executive Director Bobby Purcell in that position, and if he wants to stay after being jilted twice when it comes to the Athletics Directorship.

With O’Brien, Yow will/would find a coach who doesn’t consider being up against a wall, despite miserable records of wins against loses. “I don’t think there’s ever a make-or-break season,” O’Brien said recently according to Caulton Tudor of The News & Observer, who continued to quote O’Brien, “But the situation has changed. The chancellor I came here with and the athletic director I came here with are no longer here. Things have changed a lot. How that’s going to affect our situation won’t be solved until the chancellor and new AD decide what direction — or if there’s a new direction — they want to go in. Certainly you get evaluated differently because it’s not the people who brought you in, who did the research to bring you in.”

While those statements, if indeed O’Brien said those words that way, are harmless if said by a casual observer supporting the football coach, but, as stated by the head football coach, the words strung in that order could be the start of a public disagreement and dispute, especially if his stance is one of his being hired to do a job in a certain way and that’s what he’ll do come hell or high water. Of course, O’Brien is also assuming Fowler did research before deciding to hire the coach away from Boston College where we are told they were glad to see him go.

O’Brien shouldn’t wait until Chancellor Randy Woodson and Yow, if she’s the choice, get together to discuss direction. Mediocrity should not be the standard with the current football team, even with full seats at Carter-Finley Stadium. For various reasons outside his coaching ability, I was not a Dick Sheridan fan, but with the results of the last three years, I yearn for the days when the Wolfpack was 7-4 or 8-3 annually. O’Brien, if he produces and if he follows the company line established by his new bosses, will have the job for life until there’s grumbling to get to the next level, actually winning conference titles and playing in a BCS bowl game. Wins go much further in college athletics than excuses, especially with the fans.

Whether he believes it or not, O’Brien’s back is up against the proverbial wall, if not with administrators then with fans who buy the tickets, fill the seats, contribute to the Wolfpack Club and offer optimism that’s unparalleled across college campuses in the United States. On that front, maybe NC State fans in general are okay with a mediocre program, but that’s doubtful. If Yow is indeed selected to lead the NC State athletics department, there’s no assurance mediocrity will change across the board. In general, it appears Maryland’s athletics program is no better than NC State’s. It’ll be interesting to see how this develops and, though no NC State fan really cares, how the mainstream area media handles it as well.