Former UNC football player moving past scandal

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ORLANDO, Fla. -- North Carolina defensive tackle Marvin Austin is exactly where he wants to be this week - back on the football field.

He returned with two goals: To showcase his skills and remove any doubts about his character.

Austin practiced for the first time in months as he prepared for Saturday's East-West Shrine Game after missing his senior season for his role in an agent scandal that engulfed the Tar Heels' football program. He told The Associated Press Thursday that there is no one to blame but himself, that he regrets his mistakes and is focused on "showing everybody who I really am."

He expressed remorse following his final walkthrough before the first major college football all-star game of the 2010 postseason.

"It wasn't so much that the spotlight was on me (this week), it was just getting out here and playing, showing that I was training and was working while I was out," Austin said. "And just to get out here and show that I still got it.

"I've been working. I've been working the whole time (since his dismissal). I wouldn't have been able to get through these practices if I wasn't working."

Austin was suspended by the Tar Heels for their first five games and dismissed from the program on Oct. 11. He and teammates Greg Little and Robert Quinn were ruled to have violated the NCAA's rules governing agent benefits, preferential treatment and ethical conduct.

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Roy Williams: Don't call me anymore

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You'd sort of think, given last year's difficulties, not to mention the always-on nature of the North Carolina basketball fan base, that UNC coach Roy Williams would be used to this sort of thing by now. It's like clockwork (and not just at UNC; plenty of fan bases do this): If the team has a bad game, people call in to the coach's radio show to complain. If it plays well, there are fewer complaints. If you win a national title, every call is "WOOOOO GRAHHHH CHAMPS RAHHHHHH" with the sound of car fires crackling in the background.

These are college basketball fans. Especially in North Carolina.

So, yeah, you'd think Roy would be used to a little radio-show grilling. Whether he is or not, he apparently doesn't like it very much. Responding to callers that flooded the airwaves with negative questions after UNC's ugly loss to Georgia Tech this weekend, Williams told fans to "keep their [darn] phone calls" to themselves:

"I’m really proud of those kids,’’ Williams said during his postgame media session on Tuesday. “Everybody talked about how poorly they played at Georgia Tech. My radio call [show] last night stunk; everybody was talking about how they were Carolina fans for 9 million years and how bad we are; I don’t give a [darn] how long you’re a Carolina fans, those are kids in the locker room, and they played their buns off tonight.

"I can remember working for Coach [Dean] Smith, and we go down to Clemson, and we got beat 93-76, and I thought the world was going to end. ... But I didn’t have anybody calling up the TV show, talking about my team. Don’t call me next week and say how good we are; keep your [darn] phone calls to yourself.”

After a later question, Williams added: “... And I apologize, talking to you [media about this], but my God, these are 18-, 19-, 20-year olds. Did any of you call my call in show? Then I apologize; I should tell them that. I thought I showed great restraint last night.”



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Ackland screening controversial film

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CHAPEL HILL -- The Ackland Art Museum at UNC Chapel Hill has begun screening "A Fire in My Belly," artist David Wojnarowicz's film that was removed from a Smithsonian portrait exhibit in November because a portion of the film, which depicts ants crawling over a crucifix, prompted objections from a religious organization and members of Congress.

The film will be on public view through Feb. 13 in the museum's second-floor study gallery. The Ackland is trying to present the film as a jumping off point for discussing "public response to issues of censorship, artists' rights and the power of images to provoke and inspire," according to a press release. The museum plans a panel discussion Wednesday at a site still to be determined with UNC professors from different disciplines.

Classes from UNC's department of art, communications studies, journalism and law will use the exhibit as a teaching tool.

Wojnarowicz's film was part of an exhibit titled "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture" at the National Portrait Gallery.

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, issued a statement objecting to the work's inclusion in the exhibit.

"We call it hate speech," Donohue wrote on the organization's website. Donohue also pledged to write to members of Congressional appropriations committees voicing his concerns.

After the Smithsonian removed the film, museums and other venues throughout the country -- among them the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego -- began showing the clip. The Ackland's decision to show Wojnarowicz's film "was based on an expression of interest from faculty," said Emily Bowles, Ackland's director of communications. "We wanted to put some thought into it. … I don't know of any other place that's done it the way we have," Bowles said.

The Ackland exhibit will include newspaper articles about the controversy, as well as the statement from the Catholic League. Visitors also may record their views in a comment book.

When contacted Thursday, Jeff Field, director of communications for the Catholic League, said that while the organization still sees the piece as anti-Christian, he appreciated the Ackland's approach to the exhibit.

"It seems fair that they would do that and show the other side," Field said.

A lot of the initial displays of the disputed work happened quickly after the removal, and the university did not want to appear reactionary toward that decision, Bowles said. "We're not taking a position. We're neutral."

Wojnarowicz -- a painter, photographer, filmmaker and writer -- died in 1992. He described his 1986-1987 film "A Fire in My Belly" as a work in progress. He later disassembled the work and never completed it. At the Ackland, viewers will see the version removed from the Smithsonian, which includes music and sound, and a longer silent version that does not include the scene with the ants.

Nasher Museum of Art Director Kimerly Rorschach praised the Ackland's decision. The Nasher will show a concurrent exhibit, "Body of Christ," Thursday through June 16. The exhibit includes sculpture and painting from the museum's permanent collection depicting the crucifixion and spiritual themes.

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Jeff Connors To Direct Strength And Conditioning

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GREENVILLE, N.C. - Jeff Connors has been named assistant athletics director for strength and conditioning at East Carolina University according to an announcement from athletics director Terry Holland Friday.

Connors takes over ECU's top athletic performance position after spending the last 10 seasons on the University of North Carolina staff as strength and conditioning coordinator and assistant athletics director, a title he was elevated to a year after his arrival in 2001.

His new assignment at East Carolina will mark his second stint with the Pirate program after an earlier 10-year strength and conditioning leadership tenure with head football coaches Bill Lewis (1991 season) and Steve Logan (1992-2000). Connors' efforts helped produce five bowl appearances, three post-season victories, 15 National Football League draft selections and representation in two final Top 25 polls (9/1991, 23/1995).

The Pirates also gained a reputation as one of the best fourth-quarter teams nationally under Connors' conditioning guidance. In 1996, the ECU defense did not allow a point in the fourth quarter until the seventh game of the season, and in 1999, the Pirates outscored their opponents 102-56 in the final period. In 2000, East Carolina held a 94-57 advantage in the fourth quarter.

He is also credited for playing an integral role in the design and development of the Pirates' 22,000-square-foot strength and conditioning facility inside the Murphy Center, which opened in 2002 after his departure.

"I'm elated and proud to return to a school and town where our family experienced the best times of our lives," Connors said. "Coach (Ruffin) McNeill and I share a similar passion for the program. My experience at North Carolina forced me to become a better coach and I learned a great deal from Coach (Butch) Davis. I'm excited to meet the team as soon as possible and get started."

Connors, 54, will provide a direct strength training leadership role for Pirate football while providing oversight and coordinating off-season and in-season programs for the remaining 18 East Carolina teams. He replaces Mike Golden, who accepted a head strength and conditioning coach's position at South Florida January 11.

McNeill, who recently guided the Pirates to a Military Bowl appearance during his first season as ECU's head coach, served on the same East Carolina staff as Connors in 1992.

"We're thrilled to have Jeff back in the Pirate family," McNeill said. "He and I have the same team concept philosophy without tolerance for entitlement and egos. I've seen, by first-hand accounts as a teammate and opponent, what he will bring to our program. I can't wait for our players to get around Jeff and seeing them embrace and embody his spirit and passion."

Connors has been honored as a Master Strength & Conditioning Coach by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches association (CSCCa). The Master Strength & Conditioning Coach certification is the highest honor that can be achieved as a strength and conditioning coach, representing professionalism, knowledge, experience, expertise and longevity in the field.

In addition to helping develop some of the top players in UNC's program, including Julius Peppers, Jason Brown, Ronald Curry, David Thornton, Kentwan Balmer and Hakeem Nicks, 73 of 77 all-time football strength and conditioning records were bettered during Connors' stay in Chapel Hill.

Connors also maintained department-wide responsibilities for the Tar Heels, conducting the strength and conditioning program for the four-time Atlantic Coast Conference champion and two-time Final Four participant women's basketball team and had recently taken over duties training the wrestling squad.

Before accepting the East Carolina position prior to the 1991 campaign, Connors was the head strength and conditioning coach at Bucknell from 1987 to 1990.

Connors is a frequently requested speaker asked to present his strength and conditioning program and philosophies to clinics and conferences across the country. He was also a competitive powerlifter who won four state titles in powerlifting and held a ranking as high as fourth nationally. Connors holds Level I certification in Olympic Weight Lifting by the U.S. Weight Lifting Federation and has had numerous articles published in Wrestling USA, NSCA Journal, Training and Conditioning Magazine and Bigger Faster Stronger Journal.

"We welcome Jeff and Michele back to East Carolina," Holland said. "He is a dedicated and first-class individual who will be a great asset to the whole athletic department in everyting we do."

A 1980 graduate of Salem (W.Va.) College, Connors was a four-year starter at cornerback and was team captain as a senior. He led Salem in interceptions as a sophomore and junior.

After college, Connors served as a police officer in Palm Beach County (Fla.) for two years. Prior to becoming a strength coach, he coached high school football and wrestling at The Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, Fla., and coached linebackers at the Tennessee Military Institute in Sweetwater, Tenn.



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