News and Notes: Earthquake Edition

Content has been light as of late. I was at the beach through the weekend then returned home only to fly out to Seattle and leave all of you to face things like earthquakes and hurricanes. And yes I was also on the west coast during the tornadoes in April. I promise to come back on Friday and never leave again.

Anyway, here is a rundown of items I have seen float by over the past couple of days.

• Former Tar Heel and epicenter of his own massive earthquake which has done plenty of damage, Marvin Austin, is likely out for the season after tearing a pectoral muscle. The injury required surgery and New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin said he did not expect Austin to return this season. I don’t do karma nor do I wish any ill will on Austin regardless of his crimes against the NCAA. It is interesting that if Austin does not play this season he will go a full two years without playing a meaningful football game. It should be noted that Austin is one of many players dealing with torn muscles and ruptured Achilles tendons. The shortened training camp has caused more injuries than we normally see in the NFL which begs the question of the owners and players concerning the labor dispute: “Was it worth it?”
• Another casualty of the NCAA issues, Michael McAdoo, found a home in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens after not being selected in the supplemental draft. I would not expect to see much from McAdoo right now. He still needs to develop and had he been able to play at UNC this season it would have helped him tremendously. At any rate, his lawsuit against the NCAA and UNC is still on for now.
• The NCAA has wrapped up their business with Tennessee basketball and football. Former basketball coach Bruce Pearl was slapped with a three year show-cause meaning he cannot work in college unless someone wants to go to bat for him with the NCAA. No one is going to do that so Pearl will have to find something else to do.  Pearl was penalized for lying to the NCAA about a recruit coming to his house for a cookout. Pearl’s assistant coaches got one year show causes for their trouble. On the football side the NCAA let Lane Kiffin off the hook and decline to punish the program any further.
• Sad news out of Knoxville as it has been revealed that legendary Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summit has been diagnosed with early onset dementia. Summit is only 59 and will attempt to coach this season. For UNC fans thoughts turn to Dean Smith who is also battling dementia. The notable difference is the age. Dean did not really begin to experience “bad days” until the last couple of years. He had a good 10-12 years after he retired before his mind ultimately began to slip. Summit is much younger and no doubt was looking forward to a similar path of retirement where she spent time supporting the program she built from behind the scenes. Depending on the progress of the disease she could very well be robbed of those years. For more on the comparison between Dean and Summit check out the Daily Tar Heel’s Jonathan Jones’ blog.

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