Tank Spencer is the host of a weekly sports talk show, “The Sports Tank,” on Asheville’s News Radio WWNC (570-AM) that airs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. Spencer also serves as WWNC’s news anchor, reporter and afternoon producer. This column features posts from his blog.

•

The following was posted June 3:

Just when you thought the controversy over the Arthur Ashe Courage Award couldn’t get worse… The announcement that Caitlyn Jenner will receive the award at this year’s ESPYS in July has created a social media firestorm.

People immediately took to Twitter and Facebook to blast ESPN for the choice. Many people are aghast that Jenner was chosen over a wounded war veteran who competes in athletic events, such as the 58-hour Death Race.

You may also remember Noah Galloway from “Dancing With The Stars.” Galloway was falsely reported as the “runner up” to Caitlyn Jenner in the voting for the Courage Award by Boston sports talk host Gerry Callahan.

Was it a joke?

We don’t know.

Does he know something we don’t?

Not sure.

Was he trying to create controversy?

Well, he succeeded.

After the tweet, a meme was created and has been circulated heavily since. The truth of the matter is… you can’t prove that to be true.

There is no evidence that Galloway, or anyone else for that matter, was even considered for the award. ESPN does not release the details of any vote that is taken for the award, if there even is one.

Should Galloway be considered?

Absolutely! But to say he was “runner up” is just not based in fact, as far as we know.

Not to ever take anything away from Noah Galloway, my vote would probably go to Lauren Hill. The basketball player, not the singer… God no, not the singer.

Hill has a truly inspirational story. She had a dream of being a college basketball player and used her last year on this planet to not only do that, but to also raise money for cancer research.

Hill, who died April 10, suffered from Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, a rare brain cancer. It was inoperable and while battling her terminal illness she was a freshman at Mount St. Joseph University, going to class, playing basketball, and raising $1.5 million for charity.

While Noah Galloway’s story is fantastic, he will probably still be actively inspiring folks for years to come.

Hill’s story, however, will never be more appropriately honored than this year.

Caitlyn Jenner is very courageous for the stand she has taken in being her true self in the public square. Any other year I would support this move by ESPN, as I did Michael Sams’ award presentation last year. But there was a better choice.

The following was posted June 5:

UNC prepares For the hammer

    After scouring through the 59-page Notice of Allegations sent to UNC Chapel Hill from the NCAA, it looks as though the hammer will come down on the school. However, those looking for a “death penalty” against the men’s basketball program, in my opinion, will be sorely disappointed.

About 80 percent of the NOA details alleged infractions of student-athletes in the women’s basketball program getting impermissible benefits from African-American Studies program leaders.

About 18 percent of the document revolves around football, women’s soccer and baseball.

Only about two percent or so of the document ever refers to men’s basketball. In fact, the name of Roy Williams is only mentioned once, and that is his interview with investigators showing concern over how many players were majoring in AFAM Studies.

If any coach is to lose a job over this scandal, it may be women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance. Dorrance is the only coach that is, in the report, tied directly to requesting players be enrolled in AFAM courses. 

There is no doubt UNC had a significant, systemic problem with sham classes in the AFAM program. The report details major cheating by former women’s basketball academic adviser Jan Boxill that includes her finishing papers for athletes and recommending grades players should receive on assignments.

The evidence is stacked against former AFAM department head Julius Nyang’oro and department leader Deborah Crowder, who were conducting or orchestrating paper classes to which athletes were steered. 

The question remains how involved was the men’s basketball program and will it be enough to warrant bringing down banners, vacating wins, stripping scholarships and banning future teams from the postseason.

I think the NCAA hands down massive penalties, but the sacred cow of men’s basketball probably won’t take the brunt of that. I doubt any banners will come down, they’ll lose a few scholarships and have to serve a one-year postseason ban. It should absolutely be worse, but the NCAA has given itself a way not to destroy one of the biggest money-making programs in history, and they’ll probably take it.

The following was posted June 15:

LeBron: ‘No-Brainer’ Finals MVP

  After 46 years, it’s time to break the streak. Every year since 1969 the NBA Finals MVP award has gone to a member of the team that won the title. Should the Cleveland Cavaliers lose this finals, LeBron James should be the series MVP.

In five games, LeBron is averaging nearly 37 points per game, just over 12 rebounds per game, and nearly 9 assists per game. That stat line makes for one of the greatest of all-time. In 1969, the first NBA Finals MVP award went to Jerry West of the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite his team losing, West scored 38 ppg, which included a triple-double performance in Game 6.

Fast-forward to nearly half-a-century later and LeBron has a similar point average, two triple-doubles, and averages 7 more rebounds and 2 more assists than West did.

Throughout history, truly Herculean efforts have been rewarded despite a dismal outcome for the team.

It’s happened once in the NBA Finals, World Series and Super Bowl — and five times in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

This is an outlier year for the NBA and it will be an injustice if James is robbed of the recognition he deserves. 

Consider this: James is averaging almost 11 more points per game than Golden State’s highest scorer (Stephen Curry, 26.2 ppg), nearly 5 rebounds per game more than the Warriors’ leader (Draymond Green, 7.8 rpg), and almost 3 more assists per game than GSW’s top passer (Curry, 6 apg).