I’ve received a couple of responses to this morning’s column about the Derrick Rose/John Calipari situation saying that I still managed to put a negative spin on the UK coach by writing, “There may come a day when John Calipari’s detractors will finally catch the coach red-handed at something other than guilt by association.”
(That was an attempt at sarcasm, by the way.)
And, “And yes, I’m cynical enough to think there may well be an instance when the national media can crow its I-told-you-so’s about Calipari.”
(I do possess a cynical streak.)
Anyway, here’s why I wrote those two lines:
I don’t know that John Calipari is a dirty coach.
I don’t know that John Calipari is an impeccably clean coach.
I do know that I have been around college sports long enough to know that often the ones you think are clean could well be dirty, and the ones you are sure are dirty are not that, at all. I am jaded(?) enough not to assume anything about a coach or a program. If you think you absolutely know one way or another, you’re fooling yourself. It’s the same with athletes. I know the ones I think are good guys. But I am sometimes surprised to find out later that person was not the person I thought he or she was. Our access is limited more all the time. It’s a mistake to think that we know what any of these people are really like.
I guess what I’m saying is that I’m old enough not to deal in asbolutes much anymore. I do think in this case, given the facts presented in the letter, this is largely a case related to Chicago, and the corruption that goes on in Chicago high school basketball. Remember, Derrick Rose isn’t the only player involved. As the Chicago Sun-Times reported, as many as four student-athletes at his school allegedly had their grades fixed. The player who the NCAA thinks allegedly took Rose’s test for him, is in jail.
And I do think there are those in the so-called national media — a term I hate by the way — who have written things without ever bothering to read the actual “notice of allegations” served by the NCAA to Memphis.
Also, I caught a bit of Larry Glover’s call-in show on WVLK, and heard a caller pose an interesting trivia question:
What do Jim Calhoun, Lute Olsen, Norm Stewart and Gene Keady have in common?
They all had NCAA Tournament appearances vacated.
You can add Larry Brown, Steve Lavin, Joey Meyer, Wimp Sanderson, Steve Fisher, Jim O’Brien and Bill Frieder, among others, to that list, as well.
In fact, in 1996, the year that UMass’ NCAA Final Four appearance was vacated, so was the appearance that year of five other schools in the tournament — California, Connecticut, Michigan, Purdue and Texas Tech.
John Clay is a sports columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader. A native of Central Kentucky and graduate of UK, he covered UK football for 13 seasons before being promoted to columnist in 2000. He lives in Lexington with his wife and two sons. You can e-mail him at jclay@herald-leader.com.
Hi John,
I enjoy reading your column, but how about keeping your opinions to the editorial pages and just report the facts that are true.
I see no reason to speculate about our new coach. Where is you opinion on what’s going on with Pitino? I certainly have an opinion with his involvement, and I’m guessing it will be right. However, I wait and see. Why isn’t the media all over him?
Bravo, John. It’s about time that someone applied logic and study to this whole situation. It’s amazing how quickly knee-jerk reactions turn a complex world to black and white. There’s no doubt that this has been bad PR for the university, but that’s perhaps because there are a lot more people out there only hearing of the allegations 2nd, 3rd, 4th hand instead of taking the time and having the intellectual capacity to sort through the mess.
Of course, only time will tell, but I think your article on this issue could become very important to people’s understanding.
In regard to the question of Rose’s SAT score, should the NCAA investigate itself, since its clearinghouse gave him the okay? Perhaps this is more of a reflection of how to better NCAA practices than it is upon Calipari or his former employer.
John, I just wanted to say thanks for giving a neutral treatment to this issue. I can\’t tell you how frustrated I\’ve been by all the talk about this issue and how it is evidence that Calipari is a dirty coach. Obviously, if evidence comes to light that he was complicit in this, it will be a huge deal. But for now, all the preliminary info seems to indicate, as you said, that this has more to do with corruption at the high school level than anything that Calipari, or Memphis, did wrong. We should all withhold judgment until it is shown that either Coach or UM had anything to do with this.
John:
Well written and well thought out column today.
Mark Liptak
you have taken a huge step forward today for journalism; after some “journalists” these past few days have taken many steps back for the same cause. Thanks for proving it is about the news STORY, (whether it be good, bad, ugly or pretty) not the ego and/or assumptions of the person writing it.
John,
I have been critical of you in the past, but your column today is a reminder that you are a quality journalist and an asset to the LHL. Before your column, I felt the only straightforward and honest coverage of the situation was coming from national writers like Mike DeCoury and Dan Wetzel. Thanks for proving there is at least one writer at the LHL would can look at this objectively.
The only error in your column is in your reference to the national media’s behavior. You should have included the local media as well, specifically your colleagues at the LHL.
On an unrelated note, you have mentioned here and before you hate terms like “national” or “traditional” media. If you don’t mind me asking, why? And what term woulld you prefer?
Kevin Faris
Well said. The NCAA seems to have no evidence that Calipari has committed violations, but we can’t prove that he has not. In the absence of even a shred of proof that he has, he deserves better than innuendo. Still, none of us should be shocked if we learn in the future that Calipari has violated NCAA rules, or that Mike Krzyzewski has.
Well written article. Maybe you can get Mark “the sky is falling” Story to step away from the ledge.
I think Coach Cal is innocent and that perhaps Rose is innocent. What I really think the NCAA needs to do to get to the bottom of this is investigate “the door”. Several weeks ago the door was demanding constant attention, but lately it has not been seen on local or national television. Is there a reason the door has been low key?
Jon,
Great followup. Totally agree with you on the “no black and white” rule. The situation just is what it is, and I think it will blow over and be a non-story in a year (except for the haters - and if it wasn’t this it would be something else).
Has this off-season been a ride or what??
Thats not all there is to it.
The Memphis COmmercial Appeal noted that Cal and AD RC Johnson kept these allegations hidden in January, because Calipari was still recruiting…his team was playing well in January at that point etc etc.
To be fair…Cal did tell UK about the violations, but the Memphis admin DID NOT tell new hire Joh Pastner when he became the basketball coach.
He found out when the rest of us did.
Great job John….. Not to keep sounding like an echo but i totally agree with everyone here in saying i thought you wrote a nice piece. And for those whose minds cant process a good line or two of sarcasm,….please go pick up a Mark Twain novel and keep your sports opinions to yourself.
Hey Glen,…. If Cal and or the University of Memphis(basketball program) isnt facing any probation time or sanctions why would they put that info out there? It may get a banner taken down but if it doesnt affect the current team or recruiting class why speak on it? There in NO MAJOR ACTION ,….JUST MAJOR ALLIGATIONS….understand what you are reading. As far as Pastner,… It doesnt affect his recruiting or his future with Memphis. And lastly Glen,…even if Pastner did know,…i guess he (31yr Pastner) turns down Memphis for his 1st coaching oppertunity because of what? Alligations? Alligations that wouldnt touch him in any way? LMAO…. Its a business….Pastner knows better than that and he’ll be a great coach ….
I thought the article was fine, and it lacked any cheap shots that a different LHL writer(s) would have had. You have the best straight news and reasonable opinion writer since the job search began.
Talmadge Everman apparently doesn’t know the difference between a “reporter” and a “columnist.”