Coach Cal may be staying on, but fans still have a lot to say | Opinion

More on Calipari

Before you get on the “fire Cal” bandwagon, look up the ages of the starting lineups of some of the other teams in the Sweet 16. Many are full of juniors and seniors, especially their “stars.” So, do you want Cal to start recruiting players that are going to be sure and stay for 3 or 4 years, or do you want him to continue to get recruiting classes ranked among the best in the nation even if they do not stay until they are juniors or seniors? As for me, I love watching the high school superstars grow and develop into players who can continue their careers at the next level if they chose to do so. After all, what other school had seven players in the NBA All-Star game? How many other colleges have as many former players in the NBA as the University of Kentucky?

Would I love to see UK win many more NCAA championships? Of course I would, but bottom line, it should be all about the kids!

Sue Cooper, Danville

Enjoy the game

I think, as adults, we should understand that we cannot condemn a coach or players for a performance because we don’t like the outcome. There are many factors that go into a sports competition. Coaching ability and player performance are just a few of them. While there are many who seem to know exactly how to win, all of their armchair quarterback suggestions may not have resulted in a victory. Until the day-after analysts are applying for the head coaching job, perhaps they shouldn’t be so quick to call for Calipari’s head.

Just because you can burn someone at the stake doesn’t mean you should. You can get upset, but degrading someone publicly won’t change the outcome. It doesn’t really show what kind of a person they are as much as it shows what kind of a person you are. Be honest, would you have the guts to say what you write in to the paper to an 18-year-old child’s face or, for that matter, their coach’s face?

It’s a game. Those are kids out there. We should enjoy the game and the players, and support those who are willing to put their abilities and their names on the line.

Pat Hagan, Georgetown

10-year limit

Cal, when you took the head coaching position of men’s basketball at the University of Kentucky in 2009, Joe B. Hall told you it was a job you should only hold for 10 years due to the pressures that accompany it. If you had heeded his advice, you would have left UK as a hero with legendary accomplishments.

Instead, Mitch Barnhart inexplicably gave you a “lifetime” contract in 2019. That comfort seems to have has resulted in you being unable to successfully coach when it matters most — the SEC tournament, and more importantly, the NCAA tournament.

I don’t think you have ever fully grasped that Kentucky fans don’t really care about the number of guys you have put into the NBA, the number of awards you have won, or the podcasts/shows you have been on. We simply focus on Final Four appearances and National Championships. You have not achieved either in a decade.

You have been a tremendous ambassador for UK, done exemplary philanthropic work, recruited young men that have made Kentucky fans proud, and handled all of the responsibilities with class and without getting in the cross-hairs of the NCAA. Out of respect for BBN, it is time to admit you no longer have what it takes so a new coach can be brought in to lead the Wildcats to Final Four #18, National Championship #9… and beyond.

Ted Kluemper, Lexington

I was there for Jimmy Dan Connors, Dan Issel, Rick Robey, Kenny Walker, Jamal Mashburn and Jeff Sheppard. I was there for Joe B., Eddie Sutton, and Rick Pitino. I was there for Calipari… until three years into the ‘one-and-done.’ Then I bailed out on Kentucky basketball. Kentucky basketball is not John Calipari’s basketball. Never was. Never will be. Let’s move on.

Bob Sutton, Springfield

Less anger

Basketball in Kentucky can bring out the best and worst in people. We’re seeing some of the worst now.

This has been a season of highs and lows for University of Kentucky basketball. Certainly one of the highs was when Big Z had his debut. I remember well his behind the back pass.

Where’s the support now when it’s most needed? Is basketball exempt from any type of mercy? Do we believe in mercy only when we need it?

I understand the need for accountability, but is our standard so high, higher than we expect in our own lives?

Anger is running rampant these days. Change begins with us.

Belinda French, Columbia, TN

Shared governance

The awarding of honorary doctorates from the University of Kentucky is a great example of shared governance at the University of Kentucky. The University Joint Committee on Honorary Degrees is composed of faculty, administrators and a board member who accept nominations and make recommendations to the faculty council for Honorary Doctorates. The faculty, through their elected representatives on the Senate Council makes the decision and select the individuals to be honored. Of course, the Board of Trustees must approve the award.

A significant part of the honor is that the decision is made by the faculty, who are the source of the academic reputation of the university. It would be a different type of honor if the decision were made by the President or the Board of Trustees. The Governing Regulations, the Administrative Regulations and the Senate Rules have been crafted and refined over decades giving careful attention to who should advise and who should decide. And the Board always approves or disapproves.

Ernest Bailey, Lexington

Government funding

An open letter to U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky. - I want to convey to you how disappointed I am that you voted for passage of yet another disgraceful spending bill, the $1.2 trillion “minibus.” I’d love to hear your rationale for supporting a bill that ensures a $2.5 trillion deficit this federal fiscal year while doing NOTHING to curtail the border invasion. This may well affect my vote in November. I think you should be primaried!

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is a major disappointment - a 1.1 version of the former Speaker, U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Cal. I’ve had it with Republican beta males. With the exception of U.S. Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.; Bob Good, R-Va.; Chip Roy, R-Texas; Matt Rosendale, R-Mont.; Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and a few others, all the Conservative testosterone seems to reside in the ovaries of leaders like U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.; Lauren Boebert, R-Col.; Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla.; and Nancy Mace, R-S.C.

It’s high time for a change! I’ll be watching!

Steve Nussbaum, Nicholasville

‘Good Book’ sales

I’ve read two biographies of former President Donald Trump that were written prior to his first run for the presidency. One included a reference to his never having read a book in his life. It is now a double irony that he is promoting the sale of a special edition of the Bible, “his favorite book.”

It’s probably safe to assume that the proceeds from the sale will go to pay for attorneys in the case of the porn star with whom he connected while his wife was pregnant with their only child.

Tom Padgett, Lexington

McConnell mess

Congratulations U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.! You are the longest serving member of the Senate - 49 years and counting. At the same time, Mitch is the longest SELF-serving senator. He has been Majority Leader and Minority Leader. Mitch knows the meaning of minority and majority, but has no idea what it means to be an American Leader by putting country over party.

Mitch has been privately praying that Democrats put former President Donald Trump out of our misery. But Mitch knew Trump was the perfect vehicle to achieve his goals. Trump didn’t end Roe v. Wade, Mitch did. Trump was simply nominating U.S. Supreme Court Justices Mitch fed him while expected them to be loyal to him when he finally got caught for the crimes he was committing. Trump is an out-of-control bull in a china shop. Mitch is a snake in the weeds, throwing sand into the gears of progress, and putting cash into the hands of his supporters while ignoring the most fundamental needs of the public good.

Now, Mitch hints at his departure at the end of his term. Not unlike a child that makes a mess then leaves it to others to clean up.

Tim Unger, Lexington

Compromised court

An insurrection is an insurrection and for the U.S. Supreme Court to say that what happened on Jan. 6 was not is ludicrous. True, former President Donald Trump may not have physically been there, but everything he had said led to what happened.

The Supreme Court has become nothing more than a deck of cards that whoever is in power can play with and stack the deck in their favor. There has to be a better way to decide who deserves to sit on the highest court in our nation. The court is supposed to be free from political alignments, but obviously that is not the case.

Regardless of their ruling, it is unfathomable that Trump is allowed to run and that supposedly intelligent people continue to support him. Anyone else would be behind bars. He has continually scoffed at all this country holds dear - our democracy, our military heroes and our system of justice. He’s no better than Hitler and has apparently brainwashed the masses to follow him down a path of destruction we may never recover from.

Let his followers show up at his home. Do you really think he’d let them in? The jokes on them!

Sara Wellnitz, Lexington

Compiled by Liz Carey