Whenever your rival school’s athletic program gets in trouble for something, it’s hard to not gloat. Well here at FWV we’re chock-full of Heels and Wolves and we’ve all basically fine-tuned the art of gloating to a science.
With that disclaimer, I’ll jump into what we’re really here to talk about, the funny intersection of college sports and politics.
Secretary of State Elaine Marshall is running for the U.S. Senate and make no mistake about it, she’s running hard. The first female to hold a statewide office in N.C., she enjoys a political machine from Murphy to Manteo that’s been fine-tuned since stepping foot into office in 1996. She’ll need every inch of that network and every outstanding favor from the past 14 years if she’s going to beat incumbent Richard Burr (see Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Burr?).
That’s why it came as somewhat of a surprise that led to a, “Well that’s smart” when I heard her on sports talk radio station 99.9 “The Fan” decrying the recent UNC-Chapel Hill/sports agent debacle. (I won’t delve into the story but the N&O has a good article on it here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/07/23/593879/davis-ncaa-will-rule-quickly.html).
Similar to how Marshall’s office polices the practices of businesses and lobbyists, she made the smart move to do the same for sports agents on the campuses of our 16 public universities – knowing North Carolinians keep their Tarheels, Pirates, etc., very close to their heart.
When I was a young boy I remember going to the State Fair and hearing over the loudspeakers, “Welcome to the North Carolina State Fair. I’m Commissioner of Agriculture Jim Graham…..” A brilliant politician and master of marketing, the “Sodfather” was one of the state’s longest-serving politicians (1965-2000). I’m sure the hundreds of thousands fair-goers associating the good times of the fair with him might have helped him there.
While elected officials aren’t supposed to use their office for election purposes, the line between politicking and state business can be a murky one. Marshall has shown a masterful move here and appears to be getting ready for a tough fight by pulling out the brass knuckles and chains – tactics she’ll need to win.
As we get closer to Labor Day and the “official” start of campaign season, we’ll see if Elaine has the grit and more importantly, the cash, to make this race winnable. As of right now, it’s at least shaping up to be a good one to watch.
Oh, and hahahaha @ Tar Heel “Nation.”
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