Monday's column about the boo-birds at Commonwealth Stadium, generated its fair share of e-mail. Some examples:
Stephen from Knoxville wrote:
I read your booing of Hartline article. As excited as i was about Cobb's QB play against Norfolk St. I was equally disturbed and disappointed in my fellow Wildcat fans obnoxious behavior. Thanks for puttting it so right on the money. I feel better already.
Steven from Paducah wrote:
Right on!
Next year the same fans will be questioning the coach when he is not playing one of the highly rated QB recruits instead of Cobb.
Robin from Danville wrote:
Excellant, Excellant, Excellant!
Soccer Mom in Danville who agrees with your commentary 100%
Brian from Oklahoma wrote:
Good on ya for calling these folks out. Since I’m in the Air Force and am stationed in Oklahoma I usually have to listen to the games on my XM radio or the internet. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing when Hartline was “greeted” to the start of the second half with that abuse. How quickly these folks forget. Again, thanks for holding these folks feet to the fire. Hopefully, this won’t happen again. GO CATS! The Big Blue Nation is alive and well in Sooner Country.
Kevin, whose subject line read "Boo on your booing column," put a different spin on the situation:
Despite what you might think based on the subject line, I agree with you
on the fact that UK fans should not boo UK players. My problem lies
with the way the booing has been portrayed by the media and also Coach
Brooks. Saturday night's game featured roughly 69,000 UK fans. Out of
those 69,000, how many do you believe booed? I was at the game, I would
guess less than 10%. Now that is still 10% too many, but as a UK fan at
the game, I am tired of being thrown in with the handful of boobirds.
Your column, other columns in the local media, and even the comments by
Coach Brooks seem to imply the entire stadium stood up and booed.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
on the fact that UK fans should not boo UK players. My problem lies
with the way the booing has been portrayed by the media and also Coach
Brooks. Saturday night's game featured roughly 69,000 UK fans. Out of
those 69,000, how many do you believe booed? I was at the game, I would
guess less than 10%. Now that is still 10% too many, but as a UK fan at
the game, I am tired of being thrown in with the handful of boobirds.
Your column, other columns in the local media, and even the comments by
Coach Brooks seem to imply the entire stadium stood up and booed.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Booing should not happen, but neither should 65,000+ be thrown under the
bus because of a few idiots.
Tonya from Louisa wrote:
AMEN Mr. Clay,
Your article in today's paper is right on. I am a season ticket holder and my husband and I drive all the way from Louisa KY to Commonwealth and enjoy every minute of it. I didn't get to make it to this game because my son had a football game at 6:00 also, but I would have been terribly disappointed if I had been there. Fans are just that, FANS, they are not coaches (as much as most of them like to think they are) and to boo our team when UK football is finally on the map and the games and the tailgating is fun again, I am just in shock. Rich Brooks and his staff have taken UK Football to an entirely new level and I am very proud to be a UK Football fan and you will never hear a boo from this fan. Thank you for putting the spoiled ones in their place!
Your article in today's paper is right on. I am a season ticket holder and my husband and I drive all the way from Louisa KY to Commonwealth and enjoy every minute of it. I didn't get to make it to this game because my son had a football game at 6:00 also, but I would have been terribly disappointed if I had been there. Fans are just that, FANS, they are not coaches (as much as most of them like to think they are) and to boo our team when UK football is finally on the map and the games and the tailgating is fun again, I am just in shock. Rich Brooks and his staff have taken UK Football to an entirely new level and I am very proud to be a UK Football fan and you will never hear a boo from this fan. Thank you for putting the spoiled ones in their place!
F.D. from Somerset wrote:
We were sitting in Sec. 121. I heard the noise and at first thought it was something else. Nobody in the section around me was booing and it sounded like it was towards mostly the other end. (students maybe? – drunks in the high price seats?). It is deplorable. I would never boo a player, you should know they are trying as hard as they can and sometimes too hard. But I have to take up for the fans around me and honestly say I heard no boos from our end even though there were probably some. Go Hartline, Cobb, and real Cats fans!!! Keep us winning,guys!
Dan, who actually thinks I'm not hard enough on UK, writes:
About your Monday article. This season is the 43 straight year that my wife and I have purchased football season tickets. We did not boo?Sat. but we may boo down the line. Major college football and athletics is a business for all involved, the university, athletic dept. coaches , players, everybody and it is all about? Money and careers. So what happens, happens, everybody involved needs to accept it and move on, it is what it is. The most amusing statement in your article is "No one is saying coaches are immune from criticism that's what we columnists are for".? I have traveled all over this country over the years and have read to many columnists to count. Somehow you and Mark Story don't fit my concept of a hard charging, independent, objective sport's columnists. Looking back on Tubby's program here, that? While he enjoyed great success, there were warning signs that ultimately became bigger probelms with the program going to hell in a handbasket and now having to be rebuilt! Not only were there problems that dealt with basketball issues, but there were real problems relating to operating in a professional management manner. Then no one has seen a need to step forth with a public analysis of what happened and why. Neither of you stepped up to cover this story as it should have been. The only columnists that stepped up and suggested it was time for Tubby to move on was Rick Bozich.
Dale wrote:
Like your regular column, even though I am not a sports nut.
Your piece today on booing fans was right on but I do have one question.
Your piece today on booing fans was right on but I do have one question.
You write, "No one is saying coaches are immune from criticism – that's what we columnists are for."
Can you see how this could be read? That is, 'we sports people are the ones who have the duty, right, job, privilege, etc. to be critical of coaches – you fans do not!'
I just can't subscribe to that thinking. Surely you don't mean you are the only rightful coahces-criticism-in-resident-guru in the Commonwealth?
Please tell us it ain't so!
Please tell us you conceived that sentence while sitting on the pot.
Please tell us you are not falling into being a media snob-head, relegating the masses as mindless idiots.
Otherwise…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!
(Note to Dale: The ". . . what we columnists are for," was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek.")
Rob wrote:
Thanks for reminding the fans how classless the booing was Saturday night. I would like to point out (as I'm sure you are aware) that it was a small percentage of fans displaying such poor judgement. Enough to make a true fan sick to his/her stomach and taint a win. Hartline is a young qb and his receivers are not exactly helping him with all the drops. He has managed to impress with his decision making of throwing the ball away when no opportunities present themselves and avoid taking a sack (one of Woodson's few weaknesses). I was very impressed with Cobb's post game interview comments regarding the fans booing Hartline as well. He showed maturity, and loyalty in a moment he could have simply reveled in his solid performance.
I have my concerns about the frequent qb changes against Norfolk, but the season is young and Brooks and co. have proven they know what they are doing. It would seem that they didn't help Hartline's confidence, but we don't know what they communicated to him. One bit of irony I will share with you… the numerous fans wearing the "Come early, wear blue, stay late" shirts leaving during or at the end of the 3rd quarter.
This Saturday we should have a better idea of how much work the team has to do, but so far they are winning and improving incrementally so we should be happy.
I have my concerns about the frequent qb changes against Norfolk, but the season is young and Brooks and co. have proven they know what they are doing. It would seem that they didn't help Hartline's confidence, but we don't know what they communicated to him. One bit of irony I will share with you… the numerous fans wearing the "Come early, wear blue, stay late" shirts leaving during or at the end of the 3rd quarter.
This Saturday we should have a better idea of how much work the team has to do, but so far they are winning and improving incrementally so we should be happy.
Glenn wrote:
Great article on the boo-birds today. Great. It needed to be said, and nobody could have said it better.
Sometimes, our fans just baffle me. Far too often, really.
Ken wrote:
I agree. When I saw Hartline going in, I knew what was coming. The first words my buddy and I said were "don't boo," as soon as it started. Alas, they booed. Having the "right" to do something doesn't mean it's a good idea or you should necessarily. I was glad Hartline went in, my concern was his confidence.
Anyway, good column. Fans have a problem with a coaching decision, they should call his show tonight.
Anyway, good column. Fans have a problem with a coaching decision, they should call his show tonight.
Patty Sue from Scottsville wrote:
Was not there Saturday, but when I read about the booing I, too, was sick to my stomach! You hit it dead on and I for one am glad you did!
Thank you!
Thank you!
M.D. wrote:
As I end a long day, I could not "check out" without offering my humble praise for your latest column. I too cannot fathom where in the world people's minds are when they boo a young man such as Hartline. Nor can I understand why any self respecting fan would question the coach's decision to continue to work to develop both of his young quarterbacks. Excessive tailgating is not an excuse. I have followed KY football since the mid 60's and I have lived with the near misses, the almosts, the tragedies and the rare triumphs. Coach Brooks has earned my respect and any young man who has worn the blue, worked hard and carried himself with the dignity that Mike Hartline apparently has rates all of the respect and praise that we can muster.
My gosh, I think that Coach Brooks said it best when he stated that he was sicken by the display. Your comments were "dead on". I have to say that I attended last year's LSU vs. Auburn game. During the game, I heard incredibly vile words yelled at the LSU coach. Of course, all he did was go out and win a college championship. I guess that we can take some solace in the knowledge that the bayou has as many idiots as the bluegrass.
Thank you and keep up the excellent work.
My gosh, I think that Coach Brooks said it best when he stated that he was sicken by the display. Your comments were "dead on". I have to say that I attended last year's LSU vs. Auburn game. During the game, I heard incredibly vile words yelled at the LSU coach. Of course, all he did was go out and win a college championship. I guess that we can take some solace in the knowledge that the bayou has as many idiots as the bluegrass.
Thank you and keep up the excellent work.
And, for an opposing view, Tom wrote:
I love your columns. I think you are as good a sports writer as there is.
I disagree with you and Coach Brooks over one thing. Booing.
Booing is an old pastime. It acknowledges that the fans, footing the bill for everything on the field, have rights, too.
I never boo. I consider it tasteless and inappropriate. But I am not as hardcore as some other fans.
Sometimes I think the booing is towards the highly paid and grandiose athletic hierarchy (read Mitch Barnhart, or even Lee Todd).
Sometimes it is towards a coach who lets his ideology get in the way of a great player (Bill Curry-Tim Couch).
I believe that any player, of any age, who gets on the field where money is being paid for tickets runs the risk of being booed. If he can't take it, then he needs to play soccer or softball. You see, it's a business proposition. I pay money for a ticket, I expect to get entertainment. It is not my role as spectator to coddle this player's ego. That's why he has a family, coaches, and friends. My role is to give an immediate and loud reaction to his performance on the field.
If you take away booing then you have to take away cheering, too.
I am tired of hearing that UK fans are "classless" for booing their own players. They have faithfully paid their money for years and years. They don't like watching "experiments". Life is hard, and people have little patience with losers.
As fans, we sometimes feel like we are the suckers. Coach Brooks makes money coaching. You make money writing about it. I spend money going to the games. I should be able to boo if I want to, regardless of who thinks it is classy or not.
I was there when Sheray Thomas was booed, and although I didn't boo, I felt like it.
Otherwise, your columns are great.
I disagree with you and Coach Brooks over one thing. Booing.
Booing is an old pastime. It acknowledges that the fans, footing the bill for everything on the field, have rights, too.
I never boo. I consider it tasteless and inappropriate. But I am not as hardcore as some other fans.
Sometimes I think the booing is towards the highly paid and grandiose athletic hierarchy (read Mitch Barnhart, or even Lee Todd).
Sometimes it is towards a coach who lets his ideology get in the way of a great player (Bill Curry-Tim Couch).
I believe that any player, of any age, who gets on the field where money is being paid for tickets runs the risk of being booed. If he can't take it, then he needs to play soccer or softball. You see, it's a business proposition. I pay money for a ticket, I expect to get entertainment. It is not my role as spectator to coddle this player's ego. That's why he has a family, coaches, and friends. My role is to give an immediate and loud reaction to his performance on the field.
If you take away booing then you have to take away cheering, too.
I am tired of hearing that UK fans are "classless" for booing their own players. They have faithfully paid their money for years and years. They don't like watching "experiments". Life is hard, and people have little patience with losers.
As fans, we sometimes feel like we are the suckers. Coach Brooks makes money coaching. You make money writing about it. I spend money going to the games. I should be able to boo if I want to, regardless of who thinks it is classy or not.
I was there when Sheray Thomas was booed, and although I didn't boo, I felt like it.
Otherwise, your columns are great.
John, as someone in attendance I wouldnt even put those who ‘booed’ at 10% of the stadium…maybe 1%, or 700 out of 70,000. It would generously be described as a “smattering”.
A mountain has been made out of a molehill. For all the self righteousness that has come out, I’d just like to observe that those 1% who booed would not have been heard if not for the other 99% who sat on their hands as Hartline was announced as the QB to start the 2nd half…hmmm
So where was this with all the booing of basketball that went on last year? Or is that a “big boy” program that can take it. And why just UK fans, I mean, EVERY team in the country hears boos at some point. Maybe this could be made into a gigantic commentary on how the entire country is going to hell in a hand-basket, because this type of thing never happened in the “good old days”. Or, you might as well write an article about people who yell at their dogs. lol Oh the humanity!
My guess is if you and the old timer laugh it off and treat it as the meaningless spontaneous eruption of emotion that it is maybe it’ll lose it’s power to shrivel Hartline into a fetal ball of tears.
Sometimes you hear boos, sometimes you hear cheers. It’s called life. There is no hiding from it.
Ralph, I’ve heard that comment more than once; that in the “good old days” no one even booed the other team, there was even polite tepid applause. Clearly society is in decay.
I love the hypocrisy of the media to beg for opinions and spirited debate on blogs and talk radio for weeks and months on end, and then take the moral high road when they feel we, the fans, have stepped out of line. They get paid for hyperbole and then tell us that we lack perspective.
I hope getting booed pisses Hartline off and he comes out firing and has a great game. Then the fans will cheer him again, and the media can tell us what hypocrites WE are!
I AGREE COMPLETELY WE AS FANS HAVE NO RIGHT TO BOO PLAYERS IF WE AS FANS THINK WE CAN DO BETTER THAN GET ON THE FIELD AND PROVE IT OR SHUT-UP GO BIG BLUE FOREVER……
Good call Chris. Hartline was named the SEC offensive player of the week. I guess the boos didn’t crush him too much. Could it be that getting booed maybe helped him? Nah, let’s not explore that idea.