Carolina embarrassed itself off the field on Saturday.
The day was near perfect in Kenan Stadium. The Tar Heels played the then-No. 1 team in America toe to toe and missed shocking the world on a failed two-point conversion. Nevertheless, they got headlines of all kinds after the 21-20 loss to Clemson.
The game drew national attention on ESPN and other media from newspapers to websites to the blogosphere. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney effused over his second trip to Chapel Hill in 10 seasons, calling the campus and stadium beautiful after telling Mack Brown at midfield that “you outplayed us and out-coached us.”
But UNC made national headlines of another sort, too, and the person ultimately responsible for it should have been severely reprimanded if not fired. Carolina has worked hard over the years, from Dean Smith applauding the visiting team to having helpful ushers welcoming fans wearing opposition colors.
So how did the tasteless trolling get onto the video boards during the game, for which Bubba Cunningham has already apologized to the Clemson president and athletic director. Bubba has to be livid about it, and well he should be that someone on his staff was allowed to act like a run-away Twitter troll.
The capacity crowd at Kenan saw periodic shots on the video boards that mocked Clemson fans, who had bought tickets to the game. One close-up carried the caption, “She thinks Clemson is in Georgia.” Another said, “He doesn’t know who Clemson’s last coach was.” A third said, “He thinks the Fridge is a kitchen appliance,” punning a former Clemson All-American and later all-pro player. And another, which many took offense to, said, “He’s also a Patriots fan.”
UNC’s official video operation isn’t a bunch of students putting goof ball stuff up on the screens. It is a big-time digital and media business that, for the most part, does a great job. So it is far from a fraternity prank to type those labels over fan-cam shots of orange-clad spectators and zoom in for close-ups with insulting captions. You’d expect that from N.C. State or the Cameron Crazies.
It’s a wonder how the tight ship Cunningham runs could have and would have done that. It is everything Carolina stands against, always has been and will be. It IS an embarrassment that the second-day headlines took anything away from a great showing by the team and fans.
