Synopses & Reviews
In 2010 allegations of an utterly corrupt academic system for student-athletes emerged from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus, home of the legendary Tar Heels. As the alma mater of Michael Jordan, Larry Brown, Marion Jones, Lawrence Taylor, Rashad McCants, and many others; winner of forty national championships in six different sports; and a partner in one of the best rivalries in sports, UNCand#8211;Chapel Hill is a world-famous colossus of college athletics. In the wake of the Wainstein report, however, the fallout from this scandaland#8212;and the continuing spotlight on the failings of college athleticsand#8212;has made the school ground zero in the debate about how the $16 billion college sports industry operates.
and#160;Written by UNC professor of history Jay Smith and UNC athletics department whistleblower Mary Willingham, Cheated exposes the fraudulent inner workings of this famous university. For decades these internal systems have allowed woefully underprepared basketball and football players to take fake courses and earn devalued degrees from one of the nationand#8217;s top universities while faculty and administrators looked the other way. In unbiased and carefully sourced detail, Cheated recounts the academic fraud in UNCand#8217;s athletics department, even as university leaders focused on minimizing the damage in order to keep the billion-dollar college sports revenue machine functioning. Smith and Willingham make an impassioned argument that the and#8220;student-athletesand#8221; in these programs are being cheated out of what, after all, is promised them in the first place: a college education.and#160;
Review
andldquo;The underlying fraud in big-time college athletics is academics. With the most comprehensive accounting, Smith and Willlingham paint an absolutely devastating picture of how so-called student-athletes are shamelessly exploited. . . . Cheated is nothing less than an American tragedy.andrdquo;andmdash;Frank Deford, author of The Entitled and senior contributing writer for Sports Illustrated
Review
andldquo;This book informed me that, as a black athlete and a student, more awareness and information about the universities you attend must be thoroughly analyzed before making a decision about your future. The details of fraudulent education and unprepared black athletes in this book should shame our society. I am a living testimony that this book is the Pandoraandrsquo;s box of university secrets and black athlete exploitation. It is a must-read.andrdquo;andmdash;Rashad McCants, former NBA player and UNC NCAA Champion
Review
andldquo;Smith and Willinghamandrsquo;s exposandeacute; of the corruption at the University of North Carolina reads like a suspense thriller but unfortunately is nonfiction. The authors offer concrete recommendations for college sports reform that should serve as a blueprint for all American universities.andrdquo;andmdash;Gerald Gurney, president of the Drake Group and assistant professor of adult and higher education at the University of Oklahoma
Review
“Woody Hayes was bigger than life and remains so to many Ohio State fans. Bob Hunter, a perceptive and objective observer of the Buckeyes for more than three decades, also reveals the iconic coach, still revered a quarter century after his death, as so much more.”—Rusty Miller, Ohio sports editor, Associated Press
Review
“A big part of college football is the lore, and few schools are richer in it than Ohio State. In Saint Woody, veteran Columbus sports columnist Bob Hunter details the sung and unsung men, games, and controversies that make Buckeyes football a magnificent obsession for millions. If you ever wondered if Woody really went for two against Michigan ‘because they wouldn't let me go for three’ or how snowy was the Snow Bowl, this is the book for you.”—Bill Livingston, sports columnist, Cleveland Plain Dealer
Review
“Even the most expert of Buckeye fans will learn more about Ohio State football, Woody Hayes, and others connected to the great tradition than they knew before opening Bob’s book!”—Paul Keels, play-by-play announcer, Ohio State–IMG Radio Network
Review
andquot;[Cheated] offers a stinging critique of UNC-Chapel Hillandrsquo;s handling of the academic and athletic wrongdoing that kept student athletes eligible to compete and persisted for nearly two decades.andquot;andmdash;Jane Stancill, News and Observer
Review
andquot;Those who care about the soulandmdash;and economicsandmdash;of the $16 billion-a-year college sports industry should clear their reading calendar for Cheated.andquot;andmdash;Paul Barrett, Bloomberg Business
Review
andquot;Cheated sounds an important call for reform.andquot;andmdash;Gregg Easterbrook, Wall Street Journal
Review
andquot;All readers interested in education, public affairs, and college athletics will find this book essential.andquot;andmdash;John Maxymuk, Library Journal
Synopsis
The Ohio State Buckeyes have been a powerhouse in college football for decades, with numerous national championships and NFL draftees to their credit. With such a successful history, its no wonder that the passion for Ohio State football has reached a level of devotion that has religious overtones. Saint Woody: The History and Fanaticism of Ohio State Football is a Bill Brysonstyle look at Ohio State football and the spiritual fanaticism that surrounds it. Bob Hunter tracks the development of this powerhouse program from its earliest days to its heights under Woody Hayes, the de facto king of Ohio State football. Hayes led the team to three national championships and a record of 205-61-10 over a twenty-eight-year period and was at the heart of the Ten-Year War,” a particularly intense period in the infamous Ohio StateMichigan rivalry. Hunter also looks at the present-day state of Buckeye football and the teams scarlet-and-gray-clad followers, as well as its legion of detractors, who voted Ohio State as the most hated” college team in a nationwide survey. America lovesand hatesa winner. Irreverent, honest, insightful, and always entertaining, Saint Woody will appeal to anyone whose spirit has ever lifted when hearing that famous cry Go Bucks!”
About the Author
Jay M. Smith is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has servedand#12288;in a variety of administrative capacities involving the management of undergraduate education.
Mary Willingham worked in the Center for Student Success and Academic Counseling at UNCand#8211;Chapel Hill until 2014. Both she (in 2013) and Smith (in 2014) received the Robert Maynard Hutchins Award from the Drake Group for integrity in the face of college sport corruption, making UNC the only institution with two Hutchins award winners. Willingham is the founder of Paper Class, Inc. (paperclassinc.com), an organization dedicated to fighting on behalf of student-athletes for a fair and proper education.
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