I saw an ad in the local fish wrapper that a local production of Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors” is being staged at Redneck U a.k.a. Coastal Carolina University, and with the sleazy way the ignorant mouth-breathing peckerwoods in Coastal’s administration, and on its Board of Trustees and Education Foundation operate, I was struck by just how true it is that life really does imitate art! Sadly, in this case, it’s really, really bad art.
Reckless spending, paying a so-called consultant $1 million dollars to print stuff off of the Internet, leasing one of the crappyest golf courses on the East Coast with an annual lease equaling about $20,000 per student per year, dirty dealings on student housing, highly suspect financial shenanigans by administrators and board members and the disgusting attempts to derail the Coastal arena and Redneck U is unquestionably the higher education haven for self-serving low-lifes.
Did I mention the FBI is investigating this rat pack for shady contracting? Maybe the Feds will give us a discount since they're already working on other cases in Horry County.
While Senator Lindsey Graham, U.S. Representatives John Spratt and Jim Clyburn, Horry County Council and the City of Conway have, and are, all enthusiastically supporting and doing everything they possibly can to make the Coastal Carolina arena a reality, the pea-brained, backwoods bumpkins in Coastal’s administration, and on the Board of Trustees and the Education Foundation have done every contemptible thing they could possibly conjure up to sabotage the arena opportunity.
Redneck U is probably the only institution of higher learning where the students have higher IQs than the leadership. Since its founding its administration and the leadership of the Board of Trustees and Education Foundation have continually been controlled by a slimy pack of small-minded, self-serving nincompoops who’ve lacked the talent to even run a Cub Scout meeting, and the current crop of rubes is without a doubt the worst yet.
Redneck U’s administration is led by two certified losers, their President, David “3rd Place” DeCenzo and the Executive Vice President, “Backdoor” Eddie Dyer.
To call DeCenzo a de facto president is being extremely generous since the University's first and second choices to replace former president and unrepentant wastrel, Ron Ingle, both told Coastal’s Board of Trustees to take their job and shove it.
Then when the Board of Trustees finally gave up and said something along the lines of, “Listen, it's obvious that real educators are wise to us, and won't give us the time of day, so let's just give the damn job to Dave,” Dyer went boo-hooing to a couple of his hayseed cronies on the Board and coerced them into running a backdoor power play to steal the job for himself. Dyer and his slimy henchmen’s end run failed miserably, and DeCenzo got the job. The end result being that these two clowns hate each other, and are constantly doing everything and anything they can to slit each other's throat.
As disgusting as these kinds of nefarious dirty dealings are, they are, in fact, the norm among the so-called civic and governmental entities here on the Redneck Riviera, but the Coastal rabble take the cake in the Redneck Rivera’s “Screw your buddy” agendas, because their trashy double-dealings negatively impact what little positive image the university may enjoy, and, more importantly, they undermine the quality of education and the college experience for the students.
The Coastal Cul-de-sac
Someone once said that boards and committees are cul-de-sacs where good ideas go to die, and the Redneck Riviera is without a doubt the unchallenged graveyard of good ideas, and the fertility clinic of moronic ideas – like pissing away $225,000 on “cute” billboards on I-95, and the pathetic “MyBeach” advertising bomb – and Redneck U is the home church of idiots with no integrity and patently bad ideas.
A couple of years ago a nice young fellow by the name of David Despain approached some local businessmen about building an arena to host sports and entertainment events here.
The locals saw this idea as an opportunity to help Coastal Carolina University move from a pretender to an actual university with the potential of becoming part of the Southern Conference. The group embraced Despain's idea and began working hard to make the arena a reality.
Almost immediately, the local double-knit, backstabbing sharks, including Burroughs & Chapin and the Un News began circling the arena group.
Ron Ingle, B&C’s pocket monkey immediately summoned Despain to his office for a meeting. When Despain arrived he was surprised find Ingle had some of his handlers from B&C waiting for him. At that meeting Ingle and his B&C handlers told Despain that his group, if they wanted to be successful in their effort to build an arena at Coastal, would have to…
1. Build a flyover from the arena to B&C’s property across Highway 501.
2. Give B&C the arena parking concession.
3. Give B&C’s Myrtle Beach Trips the arena booking concession, and
4. Book all out-of-town teams, visitors, etc. in B&C related properties.
To his credit, Despain told Ingle and his B&C cronies to stick their extortion where the sun don't shine.
From that point on, Ingle, his flunkies on the Coastal Boards, B&C, the Un News and the rest of usual seedy suspects began their despicable campaign to abort the arena plan.
In a futile effort to soothe Ingle’s bruised ego the arena group, despite their better judgment, agreed to retain the areas most prolific campaign also ran, Mary Eddy, as their PR person, which, as is usual with “Typhoid” Mary, proved to be a big mistake and a waste of the groups funds, as is evidenced by the fact that on Eddy’s watch the Un News did a sleazy smear campaign on Despain resulting in local politicians being misled and Despain having his leadership role diminished. Welcome to the Redneck Riviera Mr. Despain.
Then, as the arena group was working hard to recruit investors and obtain sponsors, the ass-heads at Redneck U, in their usual infinite wisdom and weird love of sniffing footballer jocks, decided to build a field house, which directly completed with and negatively impacted the arena group’s funding efforts and timetable.
While the Redneck U mouth-breathers were doing their dirty deeds Horry County Council and the City of Conway were working hard to make the arena a reality.
Along with “Big Time” Ronnie, the first pompous ass to show his colors on the arena was some ambulance chaser named Charlie Hodge, who was the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Just like every two-bit shyster this jerk strutted around like a bantam rooster crowing about how “smart” he was to anyone dumb enough to listen. “Every homeowner’s association has a Charlie Hodge,” one Board member said. “You know the type, a self important jerk with all of the answers who loves to run his mouth. The problem with old Charlie is, he doesn’t know the questions, much less when to shut-up.”
“I really don’t know why Charlie has this vendetta against John Gandy (one of the arena group’s principals) and the arena,” commented another insider, “but he sure made a lot of folks very uncomfortable with his conduct. Thank goodness he’s no longer Chairman.”
During Hodge’s tenure, Ingle reneged on his agreement for Coastal to pay for the rerouting of University Drive, then lied about it, which resulted in a million dollar surprise for the trusting, make that foolish, arena group. The delay caused by Ingle’s treachery provided Hodge and his gang with much sought after “red meat,” as well as additional time to escalate their attacks.
Unfortunately for the arena group, Hodge’s replacement, Billy Alford, wasn’t much better, and the arena group shouldn’t have expected him to be. After all, Alford is the guy responsible for sticking the community and Coastal with Gary Loftus.
One local mover and shaker said in describing Alford, “Billy’s is probably the best con man in town. He lathers on the compliments while playing up his ‘I’m just a country boy’ act, and everybody falls for it hook, line and sinker. You can bet that when the shit hits the fan Billy will always come out as clean as Colonel Sanders, while everyone else will need to be hosed down.”
Another life long Conway resident said, “If the arena backers think Billy Alford is their friend, then I’ve got a great deal on a bridge in Brooklyn for them.”
The latest cracker obstructionists to show their ignorance by piling on and trying to thwart the arena project are the new prez of Redneck U’s Education Foundation, David Singleton, who’s claim to fame is that he married some ex-Governor’s daughter, and a resident dimwit named Stanley Godshall, the Foundation’s ethically challenged Executive Director.
While the afore mentioned mob of miscreants have been taking every cheap shot they could, especially “Backdoor” Eddie Dyer, in their relentless campaign to sink the arena, the arena backers kept on working to make the arena a reality, when most folks would have long ago told Coastal to stick the arena up their collective asses.
One would have thought that when one of America’s top basketball coaches, Cliff Ellis, signed on as Coastal’s new basketball coach, the evildoers would have backed off from their vile agenda and supported the Coach’s agenda, but not that petty pack of rats.
Even when the arena group went to Washington and garnered the support of Lindsey Graham and John Spratt, the backstabbers continued to slash away.
Despite Redneck U having a signed agreement clearly stating that the arena group was only responsible for providing a shell for the arena’s practice facility, and that Coastal bears sole responsibility for its completion, the dirty saboteurs lied and told the local fish wrapper that the arena group was reneging on their agreement, and the chumps on the Un News editorial board fell for their bullshit and published an erroneous and snide editorial attacking the arena group.
One of the most recent example of exactly how devoid of even a modicum of ethics, morals, integrity and honor this gang of cut-throats is occurred when both sides agreed “not to talk to the media,” and that very same day “Backdoor” Eddie and “Shady” Sam Godshall were both continuing their efforts to undermine the arena group by feeding the Un News another pack of lies, which, as usual they blindly printed like the gullible small-timers they are.
I think that it would be a good idea if, like real schools, the peckerwood administration could read, but apparently they can't. They missed the practice facility details, or just lied about it. Now they say that the arena group doesn't have a title sponsor, when YRT2, a Charlotte based technology company, signed on last year to great fanfare. I guess these hayseed were out behind the barn visiting their sheep.
A prime example of the mentally challenged goobers they have serving on the boards is Franklin Blanton who after learning that the arena group had their financing in place, and were ready to move forward told the Un News, "I'm very concerned about the delay." What about the FBI investigation you moron?
Throw these retards out!
So what now?
Here’s what I’m hoping will happen….
◊ That Gandy and his partners will pull the arena rabbit out of their collective hat, and with their financing in-place it appears they have, if they can get past the saboteurs that is.
◊ That the ass-heads at Coastal and the Un News will be forced to eat tons of foul-tasting and humiliating crow.
◊ That the kids and coaches at Coastal will get the first-class arena they and the Myrtle Beach area needs and deserves.
◊ That the backstabbing saboteurs will get their asses kicked out the door, never to set foot on the campus again, much less to ever be allowed inside the arena itself, and that none of them will ever be asked to serve on another board or committee for the rest of their miserable lives.
◊ That Coastal will get into the Southern Conference and win many championships under Coach Ellis.
◊ That the arena will generate millions of dollars in tourism revenues for the Myrtle Beach area.
◊ That Horry County and Conway will reap tremendous benefits for their vision and support of the arena.
◊ That locals and visitors alike will enjoy world-class sports, entertainment and other fun events in the arena for many years to come.
◊ That Mr. Despain will receive the recognition and respect he so richly deserves.
◊ And finally, that the arena investors make millions and receive proper recognition for their vision, courage and perseverance.
So, this time, that’s how I hope it goes on the Redneck Riviera!
“The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it.” Thucydides
