I think you safely scratch Kentucky from Harrison Barnes' list...OUCH!

[The Truth]

The Truth,

Please read this. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/ Then tell me if whatever Gillispie did was ethical, not legal, ethical

That link doesn't work for me. Is this the one you were talking about? http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?id=3710807

Do I think it's a real problem and an ethical gray area? Yes, I do and I have problems with it. Is it going to change anytime soon? Probably not. Singling out one coach or one program does nothing to address the issue at hand. What is needed is an overhaul of the system itself either towards commerce or towards academics. I do find it funny that some of the coaches quoted in that article are guilty as hell though.

Whatever you do don't mention Carmello Anthony and Jim Boehiem in the same sentence to Gary Williams.

Coach Cal has just left his second school in a mess with the NCAA. I will admit that he has not been charged with any wrong doing the NCAA but do you really believe in both cases, Coach Cal didn't know what was going on. Or is he really just that dumb or naive or both.

Well, if Roy Williams, Bill Self, John Wooden, Coach K and a host of others can claim ignorance as a defense and the media (and the NCAA) are fine with it..is it that much of a stretch?

Some things you can pin on Calipari. Should he have kept a better eye on his players? Yes but it's extremly hard (and in the case of Marcus Camby it was pre-existing relationships from Hartford that doomed him and Umass) to do that in this day and age. Highly ranked players, the true elite that have so much pro potential riding on the, it's hard to seperate the friends and family and who is out to exploit.

Should Calipari be held responsible for his players actions off the court? Yes and no. Even the best of kids can find themselves in trouble on a college campus. The pitfalls for those who come from so-called "questionable backgrounds" are even greater. When you take a chance on those types of kids you run the risk of it blowing up in your face.

Should Calipari be held responsible for the NCAA Clearinghouse issues? No, unless it's proven that he hand in it (which I highly doubt). This stuff has been going on forever and probably happens more than we'd like to admit. It's a stretch for the Clearinghouse to clear a player and then decide, upon further review, he wasn't cleared at all and blame the institution and the coaching staff for it when they acted on good faith.

Bobby Cremmins flunked out of his high school and had to go to a Prep School. At that time you needed an 800 on your boards to attend an ACC school (his choice being South Carolina) and he was such a poor student he didn't think he had a chance of it. He paid a guy 50 bucks to take the test for him. At the last minute he decided against it and took it himself and was able to get a qualifying score.

Nobody was going to confuse Cremmins for Earl the Pearl but the fact that he was willing to cheat way back then (and be open about it years later) to get into college illustrates a long standing pattern in regards to high school athletes cheating on admissions exams.

So forgive the rest of the college basketball world for not giving UK the benefit of the doubt when both the schools and coaches history has been shady at best.

All I ask is fairness and an honest and open discussion.

Here is what yet another idiotic CatsPause poster had to say about the Barnes situation.

Sorry to bring it up but it just shows how dumb some of these people really are.

The bolded portion of the post really makes me chuckle.


"Harrison Barnes is a little girl if he feels this way.
1) Scholarships are offered on a one year basis, at EVERY school
2) Cal didnt give anyone of them a scholarship, and made decisions on who gets them next year, his FIRST year
3) Kentucky is the ALL TIME WINNING program in NCAA history, but our last coach was worthless, and brought in lesser talent than UNC, Duke, so on
4) Coach Cal's job is to get us to the top, and keep us there, and he said at the press conference, he brings in the BEST of the BEST. PERIOD
5) I for one am glad we finally have a coach with some balls, who wants us to be the best.

Harrison Barnes obviously is not a smart person, and is listening to recruiting negativity from other coaches that are hating on Cal.
If you want to be a school girl Harrison, go to Duke, and when we mop your a$$, and hang banners over your college years, we'll all try to remember your feelings were hurt. Forget this sissy. Coach Cal is setting us up for greatness. Forget Harrison, from weak a$$ IOWA. We will bring in:
Brandon Knight
Adreian Payne
Dominique Ferguson
Jelan Kendrick
Roscoe Smith

ALL are top 20 recruits. You see, we are 10 years past the time for whining. No more time for the reserves, Its time to bring in elite special forces to clean house, and take over again. And thats what Cal is doing, if you dont like any part of it, get out."

I went and read that thread (I think) and some of the comments were bad but you also missed out on the comments calling that guy out for being classless (which he was). It would be like indicting all Minnesota fans for some of the comments in this article

http://fromthebarn.org/2009/04/27/travis-busch-falls-off-into-the-sunset/

 

[sec105]

Truth....

I think you may not be aware of why KY is mentioned so much on this board. When Tubby Smith was hired at Minnesota we had a steady stream of Smith bashers posting day after day after day how awful Smith was and how he was going to destroy Minnesota Basketball forever. (Most had no clue Minnesota basketball was at an all time low point).

It became obnoxious. So, in general, KY does not have a very good reputation here. It was kind of sad, but many of us took perverse pleasure in seeing KY flounder under BG simply because of all the bravado and arrogance put forth on this message board by some, certainly not all, KY fans after Tubby took the Minnesota job.

I am not a fan of Coach Cal; I personally think he walks a very fine line. That doesn't make him a bad person but it does make him hard to love.
.

 

[Gopher4Life]

Lady,

>>I have no idea what kind of shot we have with him, but he would be a great fit in our program.<<

Remind him that we're the school with the raised floor and that should seal the deal.

 

[Section201]

Boo Hoo

Lady,

>>I have no idea what kind of shot we have with him, but he would be a great fit in our program.<<

Remind him that we're the school with the raised floor and that should seal the deal.

 

[underground629]

Lady,

>>I have no idea what kind of shot we have with him, but he would be a great fit in our program.<<

Remind him that we're the school with the raised floor and that should seal the deal.

Let it go buddy. Nobody said that the floor makes or breaks recruiting, but the last thing it does is hurt it. I would hope that by now you realize how stupid some of your comments about the floor are and that you're just being stubborn.

 

[Friend Of Tubby]

When it comes to statistics I'll refer you to Bejamin Disreali (or Twain depending on your source) as the ultimate authority on how they should be viewed.

Turning this into a Tubby debate (which FoT LOVES!) is counter productive.

No debate. Tubby is a damn good coach. No doubt whatsoever.

 

[Friend Of Tubby]

Truth....

I think you may not be aware of why KY is mentioned so much on this board. When Tubby Smith was hired at Minnesota we had a steady stream of Smith bashers posting day after day after day how awful Smith was and how he was going to destroy Minnesota Basketball forever. (Most had no clue Minnesota basketball was at an all time low point).

It became obnoxious. So, in general, KY does not have a very good reputation here. It was kind of sad, but many of us took perverse pleasure in seeing KY flounder under BG simply because of all the bravado and arrogance put forth on this message board by some, certainly not all, KY fans after Tubby took the Minnesota job.

I am not a fan of Coach Cal; I personally think he walks a very fine line. That doesn't make him a bad person but it does make him hard to love.
.

I like Calipari. Kentucky has ALWAYS walked a fine line and stepped over it several times.

 

[GopherinPhilly]

I don't go to bed with whores and I don't wake up with crabs...Calipari is a whore and anybody that hires him or plays for him will get what they deserve.

And yes, character is easily defined by association.

 

[Roy Christensen]

Before commiting Daniel Orton narrowed his list of college choices to those that were willing to pay his father for "seminars".

 

[sal]

G4, so the floor will be the windmill you joust in every thread.

 

[The Truth]

I don't go to bed with whores and I don't wake up with crabs...Calipari is a whore and anybody that hires him or plays for him will get what they deserve.

And yes, character is easily defined by association.

This is utterly pathetic. If you weren't sitting behind a computer screen would you have the audacity to say that to someone's face? Is Tubby's character in question because he calls Kelvin Sampson a friend? Is Bobby Knight's integrity in question because he counts Jerry Tarkanian as one of his closest friends?

If you're such a brave man I can give you Tywanna Patterson's email (assuming of course you'd attach your real name to it and not behind some anonymous internet handle) and you can tell her how she and her family, who are among some of the nicest and down to earth people you will ever meet, that they will "get what they deserve" because Patrick wanted to come back to school and play for Calipari. Or maybe you'd like to tell that to John Wall's mother while she battles a life threatening illness? Or maybe you can call up John Calipari's wife and three children and tell them their father is a "whore" and they'll get what they deserve.

 

[GopherFan75]

This is utterly pathetic. If you weren't sitting behind a computer screen would you have the audacity to say that to someone's face? Is Tubby's character in question because he calls Kelvin Sampson a friend? Is Bobby Knight's integrity in question because he counts Jerry Tarkanian as one of his closest friends?

If you're such a brave man I can give you Tywanna Patterson's email (assuming of course you'd attach your real name to it and not behind some anonymous internet handle) and you can tell her how she and her family, who are among some of the nicest and down to earth people you will ever meet, that they will "get what they deserve" because Patrick wanted to come back to school and play for Calipari. Or maybe you'd like to tell that to John Wall's mother while she battles a life threatening illness? Or maybe you can call up John Calipari's wife and three children and tell them their father is a "whore" and they'll get what they deserve.

Funny you say this as you sit behind a computer screen and attack GIP like this. You are really showing everyone how tough you are and really improving the image of Kentucky's fan base. You are no different from everyone else so shut your mouth.
________
Genetically modified food

 

[The Truth]

Funny you say this as you sit behind a computer screen and attack GIP like this. You are really showing everyone how tough you are and really improving the image of Kentucky's fan base. You are no different from everyone else so shut your mouth.

His comments were pathetic. All I did was challenge the poster to have the courage to say these things in public to the people he disparages rancourously behind the anonymity of the internet. Forgive me if calling someone a "whore" and insinuatiing bad things would happen to otherwise good people (and they would "deserve it" by doing so) based upon something that, in the grand scheme of things, is as trivial as basketball.

His comments were no different than those that attack Coach Smith (or any other coach or player) with zealous, hate filled rhetoric based upon simply not winning enough ballgames to suit their personal preferences. The poster did so without the fear of consequence. And I would have no qualms about telling the poster in question to his face that his comments show a distinct lack of class on his part.

 

[Section201]

admins ?

good grief. this thread can be burned entirely as far as I am concerned.

 

[GopherinPhilly]

This is utterly pathetic. If you weren't sitting behind a computer screen would you have the audacity to say that to someone's face? Is Tubby's character in question because he calls Kelvin Sampson a friend? Is Bobby Knight's integrity in question because he counts Jerry Tarkanian as one of his closest friends?

If you're such a brave man I can give you Tywanna Patterson's email (assuming of course you'd attach your real name to it and not behind some anonymous internet handle) and you can tell her how she and her family, who are among some of the nicest and down to earth people you will ever meet, that they will "get what they deserve" because Patrick wanted to come back to school and play for Calipari. Or maybe you'd like to tell that to John Wall's mother while she battles a life threatening illness? Or maybe you can call up John Calipari's wife and three children and tell them their father is a "whore" and they'll get what they deserve.

Yes...and calling out scum for being scum does not require audacity.

I am of the opinion that John Calipari is a scumbag and a whore and everywhere he goes he leaves a trail of misery...and KY will be no different. Having said that, I think he is perfect for KY and look forward to you all getting it in the end.

And yes, in a professional setting, I think Tubby and Knight's reputations would be hurt if they joined a staff and worked for Sampson or Tark.

I am still dissapointed in what happened here at the U with Clem and would put him the ranks as Tark and Sampson and Calipari and if KY had hired Clem I would have said the same thing...sleep with whores, get the craps.

 

[jmag21]

This is utterly pathetic. If you weren't sitting behind a computer screen would you have the audacity to say that to someone's face? Is Tubby's character in question because he calls Kelvin Sampson a friend? Is Bobby Knight's integrity in question because he counts Jerry Tarkanian as one of his closest friends?

If you're such a brave man I can give you Tywanna Patterson's email (assuming of course you'd attach your real name to it and not behind some anonymous internet handle) and you can tell her how she and her family, who are among some of the nicest and down to earth people you will ever meet, that they will "get what they deserve" because Patrick wanted to come back to school and play for Calipari. Or maybe you'd like to tell that to John Wall's mother while she battles a life threatening illness? Or maybe you can call up John Calipari's wife and three children and tell them their father is a "whore" and they'll get what they deserve.

First, I also think Calipari runs dirty programs. I think the programs he's run in the past show distinct evidence of being gangster programs. I think he uses any method he can to bend the rules, and the trail of broken programs he's left behind are evidence of his unethical approach.

Second, just because I don't want to email any of those people is not evidence of cowardice, but simple tact and common sense. For example, there are many political figures that I deem unfit to continue in office, and that I think are ruining this country. I don't accost their family members, their staff, or themselves to berate them not out of cowardice, but because that would be a pointless thing to do.

Third, who cares about the family situations of Wall or Patterson? Do you honestly think that Patterson or Wall are incapable of belonging to dirty programs because of their families? Guess what. I know for sure that many of the people who played for Clem were nice people. In fact, I know from personal experience that Clem was one of the nicest people I've ever had the privilege of meeting. Is it now cowardice to say that Clem cheated, because I wouldn't make a long-distance call to Kentucky to tell his kids so? I know you love Cal. That's fine. Feel free to rub in his victories (and trust me, in the short term, you'll have plenty of victories). I'm just saying one simple thing. In ten years, you'll regret having Cal as the coach, because there will be a dark cloud over Kentucky. I could be proven wrong, but that's my opinion. If that makes me a coward, fine. If you want a different view, as has been previously stated, there are plenty of people on catspause that would agree that Cal is the second coming of Pitino.

 

[KyGopherfan]

good grief. this thread can be burned entirely as far as I am concerned.

I think banishing "TheTruth" will go a long way of getting rid of these pissing matches in the threads on this board. He's a Tubby antagonist and dislikes the Gophers and disrespects our program on UK boards, so I'm not even sure why he's tolerated here.

 

[The Truth]

I think banishing "TheTruth" will go a long way of getting rid of these pissing matches in the threads on this board. He's a Tubby antagonist and dislikes the Gophers and disrespects our program on UK boards, so I'm not even sure why he's tolerated here.

I'm not the problem and the rest of what you say is untrue. If you have some evidence that I'm an "antagonist" or that I dislike the Gophers or that I disrespect your program on UK boards I suggest you offer it.

It's sad that some posters in this thread stoop to the same level of attacks that they condemn among other fanbases. It shows more about your character and your class than it does any of those you attack IMHO.

 

[97alumni]

I'm not the problem and the rest of what you say is untrue. If you have some evidence that I'm an "antagonist" or that I dislike the Gophers or that I disrespect your program on UK boards I suggest you offer it.

It's sad that some posters in this thread stoop to the same level of attacks that they condemn among other fanbases. It shows more about your character and your class than it does any of those you attack IMHO.

Can I ask you a serious question no snarkiness aside - why do you post here? You have to realize that this board along with a Louisville board, Indiana board, Florida board, etc are not going to be posting things that are positive to Kentucky when they come up in the basic discussion about college basketball. Do you go to all those other boards and do the same thing that you do here? We talk about Wisconsin, etc the same way and to be honest I don't remember any of their fans doing what you do to the level in which you do it.

I just don't understand why you are here - we obviously aren't all that busy with traffic, we don't like Kentucky and it seems all you do is getting in pissing matches with long time posters here. Every thread I read that has anything to do with Kentucky - you hijack and basically ruin the board and the discussion.

I guess I don't get why this would be fun or entertaining for you except if you were trying to just be a jerk and if that the case - well nuff said

 

[The Truth]

Can I ask you a serious question no snarkiness aside - why do you post here? You have to realize that this board along with a Louisville board, Indiana board, Florida board, etc are not going to be posting things that are positive to Kentucky when they come up in the basic discussion about college basketball. Do you go to all those other boards and do the same thing that you do here? We talk about Wisconsin, etc the same way and to be honest I don't remember any of their fans doing what you do to the level in which you do it.

I just don't understand why you are here - we obviously aren't all that busy with traffic, we don't like Kentucky and it seems all you do is getting in pissing matches with long time posters here. Every thread I read that has anything to do with Kentucky - you hijack and basically ruin the board and the discussion.

I guess I don't get why this would be fun or entertaining for you except if you were trying to just be a jerk and if that the case - well nuff said

If what I say offends people then I suggest if you don't want to discuss it then don't post a thread about it. I'm just going to stay away from all Kentucky related threads for awhile. It's gotten to the point where it's ruined my enjoyment of the board. And since I'm not the one starting these discussions I really have no control over them anyway.

 

[thebarnsback]

You have complete control. You can control what you post. So you're saying it's our felt for you posting? Very interesting.

 

[Maroon Shower]

Did TT really ask for proof that he's an antagonist?

 

[GopherGod]

Did TT really ask for proof that he's an antagonist?

He did, I guess we can just chalk it up to the poor educational system of Kentucky. This is precisely the reason that a kid like Harrison Barnes who wants a good academic institution would not attend Kentucky.

 

[gopheraschells]

i cannot believe a kentucky fan has posted over 300 times on this site...I wonder how many posts he has on kentucky's site? go get some fresh air truth.

 

[97alumni]

If what I say offends people then I suggest if you don't want to discuss it then don't post a thread about it. I'm just going to stay away from all Kentucky related threads for awhile. It's gotten to the point where it's ruined my enjoyment of the board. And since I'm not the one starting these discussions I really have no control over them anyway.

You didn't answer my question at all - why do you post here? You know that any discussion about Kentucky is not going to be good but yet you keep coming here and trying to "defend" all things Kentucky. I just don't get it. Do you go to other boards and do the same thing?

That would be like me going to a Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois board and whining at all the posters because they were picking on Tubby, our players, the team, our school. This is college basketball - it happens.

 

[What Up Guy]

I gotta give it up for the kid...he's a very smart, thoughtful dude! Even if he doesn't go to Minnesota, he's the kinda young kid you can't help but to root for and hope he does well.

I agree, I am definitely a fan.

 

[Maximus]

I'm just going to stay away from all Kentucky related threads for awhile. It's gotten to the point where it's ruined my enjoyment of the board.

Oh no....a Kentucky fan is not enjoying his experience on a Minnesota message board. Oh the horror.

 

[howeda7]

If I don't have to read anymore about the biggest sleazeball in college basketball or his defenders for a few months, that would be great.