Still A Rivalry, But Tarnished

We weren't at all surprised to get some blowback when we asked why we have to play UNC, particularly right after UNC crushed Duke. But it's not about losing the game. Duke has lost many football games to UNC and quite a few basketball games including the occasional beatdown.

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Big deal.

The point is that we thought we were losing to a school which also believed in trying to do things the right way, only to find out that in UNC's case, it was just lip service.

Enter Dan Kane, with flawless timing.

Kane, who has done yeoman's work at the News & Observer to expose what happened at UNC, is back with another article published Saturday which goes into more detail about the scandal, how deep it went and who knew.

And Kane now shows what cheating was not limited to two employees in the AFAM department, as UNC has always maintained, but in fact went beyond that.

In light of what Kane has uncovered, has UNC promised to investigate and leave no stones unturned?

Sadly, and yet again, no. Here's what mouthpiece Rick White, speaking for the university, had to say: "While you’ll find references to past events or actions ... Carolina has acknowledged and accepted responsibility for the past and has committed to meaningful, long-term reforms that strike the right balance between academics and athletics."

Simply and demonstrably untrue, as you can see when you read Kane's latest.

Not only did UNC cheat wildly for almost 20 years, not only have they consistently tried to make it somehow go away rather than face up to it, but even now, at this very late date, faced with new allegations and discoveries, they have no comment.

UNC has been dishonest about this from the beginning until now. So it's not really losing. Losing is just part of sports. Duke has always lost to UNC just as UNC has always lost to Duke. It only hurts for  few hours, then it's back to normal and socializing with our many UNC friends.

But what is hard to swallow is competing against people who had no intention of competing fairly and still demonstrate no contrition for what happened. All things considered, it's a blessing that William C.Friday didn't live to see his good work undone.