Deregulator: Alive since '85!

The Butch Davis Era, Year Two If you read my post from earlier in this season, I was hopeful but not fully confident the football Tar Heels would have a successful year. (I said the games vs. Virginia and NC State were locks, and they lost both. Games vs. UConn and Notre Dame were wins, and I wasn't counting on either.) Any objective observer would think the team made dramatic improvements this year, going from 4-8 in 2007 to 8-5 in 2008 (including the 31-30 loss to West Virginia in the Meineke Car Care Bowl). Going into the season, I thought a 6-6 record and a bowl game were possible, so I should be elated, right? After all, WVU was a preseason Top 10 team. And (like last year), had the Heels not lost a few close ones, they could have had double-digit wins. That said, expectations for this group became too high, especially after they trounced two Big East teams early in the season, entered the second half of the year 5-1 and would have won the ACC Coastal had they beaten Maryland ...

Back again Time to fire up Deregulator again. I'm in a state of suspended animation, as it were. The Rocky Mountain News is for sale , and given a) the state of the newspaper industry and b) the state of the economy, the chances of the paper remaining in business aren't good. Our owners, EW Scripps Co., will let the staff know Jan. 15 if a buyer has been found. And if not, what happens then. To some degree, I'm whistling past the graveyard. I'm not actively seeking other jobs but have let people know that I may be within a few weeks. This blog may be very active soon, as I may have a lot more time on my hands than I'd prefer.