Boo and Bubba & That Guy @ Duke - All three have...

Boo and Bubba & That Guy @ Duke – All three are…

With the recent Bye Bye Debbie / Hello Boo transition over at NC State’s Everett Case Center… The Triangle-area now has three Athletics Directors – Boo Corrigan – Bubba Cunningham – Kevin White who are:

Three Middle-aged White Guys (Uh Oh, no diversity points there)
Three Middle-aged White Guys all with Notre Dame backgrounds… AND

NONE of the three were born with the local HATED RIVALRIES twisting their DNA helixes into permanent granny knots.

Is that “a good thing” or “a bad thing” or “just a thing”. I say “a good thing”. If this is not A First for the three schools all at the same time… it is in my recollection.

No former QB from North Wilkesboro… No “Call Me Dickie” who never worked anywhere in his life but UNCCH… No Todd Turner (YIKES!) …

These are three Modern Era Professional Executives hired to implement and administer sound business practices to a multi-multi-million dollar operation.

None of the three are “old coaches” put out to the AD pasture to glad-hand boosters and re-tell exaggerated stories of halcyon days of yore.

Kevin White has been calling the AD shots in West Derm since 2008 making him the senior of the trio. Bubba arrived in Chapel Hill in 2011 to clean up the Gawd-awful mess of “The Greatest Scandal ….. you know”. Boo has yet to celebrate his first month at NC State.

It’s a safe bet that no “hated rival fans” hate Boo yet… emphasis on yet. There are and will be the usual snarky remarks about his name – “Boo” – by the same level of mouth-breathing simpletons who will forever make snarky remarks about “Bubba”. Darn hard to say anything snarky about “Kevin”.

To the point about all three men being Rivalry Carpetbaggers … that none of them were “born into it” does not mean that all three do not fully understand that Hated Rivalries is the life-sustaining oxygen for many of their respective employer’s alumni and fans. Appreciating that birth defect in their fans is essential to their long-term employment.

In private they can joke about The Rivalries and likely the three friends have and will do so… but NEVER for public consumption.

There is no record of Kevin White or Bubba publicly pooh-poohing the overwhelming significance of the rivalries such as

“It’s just another game” … …
“Every game is a Big Game for us” … .
.. or the absurdest of all –
“This game seems to be more important to ‘them and to their fans’ than it is to us and our fans…”.

If he hasn’t already, I assume Boo will quickly get up-to-speed with The 26 Most Unfortunate Things Lee Fowler Ever Posted on Social Media along with The Herb Sendek Collection of Same. There are a few unfortunate TO’B quotes too.

Anything “Uncle Jed” Fowler said during his last year or so should be placed in the DO NOT EVER Say That box.

There is a DON’T DO Box with Todd Turner’s name in it in The Case Center. Along with the “avoid seersucker suits and tassel loafers” admonition.

NOTE: Deep in the bowels of Dean’s Dome is a cigar box labeled Everything Dickie Baddour Knew About The Greatest Athl-Academic Scandal in NCAA History.

It contains a 3×5″ card with the words ….I didn’t know nuthin about nuthin’. Bwahahahaha…

Debbie Yow arrived in Raleigh well-versed in the insanity levels of various factions of WolfPackNation. Debbie (AKA “Frau”) had to endure a few years of I can’t believe they hired a damn WOMAN to be our AD and Gary Williams doesn’t like her so I ain’t gonna like her neither…. … sigh, yawn.

To her everlasting credit… Debbie “Frau” Yow rode off into the sunset to as much universal HUZZAs as is possible in these goofy times. Including a humdinger of a testimonial from The Bob Kennel that places Debbie somewhere between Saint Francis of Assisi and Mother Teresa in The Ethereal Pantheon.

There was the unfortunate Gottfried Oops … but that is not what she will be remembered for.

Madame Yow leaves NC State with stable situations in Football – Basketball – Baseball and even Girls’ Basketball. Plus she elevated “the minor sports” to sustainable levels of pretty darn solid. AND … NC State finally made the Top 25 of the Sears / Learfield / Directors Cup.

In this Modern Era no AD can truly relax. Scandal tornadoes real or imagined can hit anytime.

Speaking of which… I see where Notorious Fats Thomas is headed to the Graybar Hilton for his litany of scallywaggery. Causing me to ponder “Where O’ Where is Myron Piggie? … and that NC State scoundrel … Eric Dewayne Leak.

Scoundrels – Rascals – Scallyways … sigh … are like anal sphincters. Every Big Time College Sports Program has’em.

Bubba jousts with a steady stream of “Now Whats?” befittings a campus where Chaos Is Our Normal. Mack 2.0 was a KABOOM heard all across Power 5 World. The Outcome of that move will be carved in stone on Bubba’s Legacy.

Bubba has turned down two mega-$$$ offers to leave UNCCH. If he is committed to the loooong term he will be faced with “After Roy, Who?” at some point.

As critical as that will be, it pales beside what looms out there for Kevin White at Duke. “Replacing Coach K” will be Kevin White’s #1 WhatchaGonnaDoNow. Of lesser Global Importance… having to replace David Cutcliffe will also be next to impossible but, again, not as Earth-shaking.

As grizzled veterans of The AD Biz, all three men are acutely aware that while fans fantasize about being star athletes most of’em realize that is indeed a fantasy… but

A very high % of alumni / fans, however, are absolutely convinced he/she/it is quite capable of being The AD at their school of choice.

He/she/it could certainly do better than that dim-witted nimrod that has the job now. OUCH! How hard can it be since every one of his/her/it’s Monday Morning 20/20 hindsights of their current AD’s decisions are always correct. PLUS, he/she/it is “WhatsAMatta U’s biggest fan”. … sigh.

Boo, Bubba and Kevin are personal and professional friends of long-standing. All three are intelligent and savvy enough to know that “being friends with Hated Rivals” is frowned on by their respective glue-sniffing factions. Best not to rile up the glue-sniffers any more than their perpetual state of “riled”. Their occasional get-togethers must be clandestine for sure… involving elaborate disguises.

Bubba prefers Groucho glasses. Kevin White opts for a Phyllis Diller wig. Boo has yet to choose.

If you see Groucho, Phyllis and “a guy that looks like a Boo” at a corner table at The Red Robin at Briar Creek… take a cellphone pic and send it to us.

This Internet Legend thinks “it’s a good thing” that three such impressive gentlemen are at the helms of the three local athletic programs.

That is significant coming from a fellow like me who loves Chaos caused by “loose cannons on a rolling deck”…