Lexington Herald Leader Editorial: End Of An Error For University Of Kentucky Sports.
End of an error for UK sports
On the morning of new University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari's first Big Blue Madness (formerly Midnight Madness), we are much relieved that the Management Madness that was the Billy Gillispie error — sorry, era — is at last finished.
Gillispie was simply a terrible hire. He shouldn't have gotten a job formerly held by coaching greats in the first place. Successful but short coaching stints at the University of Texas El Paso and Texas A&M, neither part of the pressure cooker of college basketball's upper echelons. Two DUI's in his background (and now a third). Weird, sometimes brusque behavior — even on national TV. Intense game-day practices. Mystifying coaching decisions. And now, it comes out, at least one instance of humiliating a player. Center Josh Harrellson was banished to a toilet stall for halftime of a game and then forced to ride back to Lexington on the equipment truck.
Then you start tallying up the dollars Gillispie cost UK in terms of his salary, the $2.98 million settlement because of the "memorandum of understanding" fiasco, legal fees for both sides and who knows how much money lost because of the team's lack of post-season success the past two years.
It all adds up to a multi-million-dollar mistake by the top administration.
What more is there to say?
Athletics Association Board member Luther Deaton, Chairman, president and CEO of Central Bank, put it this way: "It's better to settle something and move on than run up attorney fees."
Yes, settle and move on.
Don't make the lawyers any richer.
But also learn from it.
UK seems to have done that. We continue to have concerns over the NCAA investigations at Calipari's two college head coaching stops. But in many ways, Calipari appears to be the un-Gillispie. He has a signed contract, a long career at top-level college programs and in the NBA, a stable family life — and no DUIs. So far, he has also been a public relations dream for the university.
And, boy, after the Billy G nightmare, Lee T. Todd Jr. and Mitch Barnhart need that about as badly as UK fans want to beat Louisville.
On the morning of new University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari's first Big Blue Madness (formerly Midnight Madness), we are much relieved that the Management Madness that was the Billy Gillispie error — sorry, era — is at last finished.
Gillispie was simply a terrible hire. He shouldn't have gotten a job formerly held by coaching greats in the first place. Successful but short coaching stints at the University of Texas El Paso and Texas A&M, neither part of the pressure cooker of college basketball's upper echelons. Two DUI's in his background (and now a third). Weird, sometimes brusque behavior — even on national TV. Intense game-day practices. Mystifying coaching decisions. And now, it comes out, at least one instance of humiliating a player. Center Josh Harrellson was banished to a toilet stall for halftime of a game and then forced to ride back to Lexington on the equipment truck.
Then you start tallying up the dollars Gillispie cost UK in terms of his salary, the $2.98 million settlement because of the "memorandum of understanding" fiasco, legal fees for both sides and who knows how much money lost because of the team's lack of post-season success the past two years.
It all adds up to a multi-million-dollar mistake by the top administration.
What more is there to say?
Athletics Association Board member Luther Deaton, Chairman, president and CEO of Central Bank, put it this way: "It's better to settle something and move on than run up attorney fees."
Yes, settle and move on.
Don't make the lawyers any richer.
But also learn from it.
UK seems to have done that. We continue to have concerns over the NCAA investigations at Calipari's two college head coaching stops. But in many ways, Calipari appears to be the un-Gillispie. He has a signed contract, a long career at top-level college programs and in the NBA, a stable family life — and no DUIs. So far, he has also been a public relations dream for the university.
And, boy, after the Billy G nightmare, Lee T. Todd Jr. and Mitch Barnhart need that about as badly as UK fans want to beat Louisville.
Labels: News reporting
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 3:17 PM
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