It could be an agenda.  It could be a reporter being thorough and making sure the implications of his question were completely understood.

Your mileage may vary.  I'm not a journalist either, so my opinion doesn't count for any more than yours.

:-)

The problem is that there is a lot of equivocation going on in both interviews.

Maybe I didn't hear correctly, but I thought that Robyn Curry actually said that Tipton had tried to call Vinny's high school coach, who was not cooperative with Tipton and that he (Tipton) basically said that the high school coach was an ass and wouldn't provide any information.  I could have misunderstood of course, but that is what I took away from that particular part of the interview.  

But, whatever, I suppose it doesn't really matter, I like the Tipton is "an ass" translation better anyway!   ; )

But I think your comment about "foolishnes ..." certainly deserves some explaining, and how Tipton's approach is valuable to UK, or to anyone else, for that matter.

As long as people behave with decorum, it is my task to keep the conversation moving and to ask for justification.  We try to inform as well as opine, and I see that as part of my job.

:-)

I don't think there are enough facts to warrant any kind of an investigation other than an interview with Tipton, a review of his notes and recordings to ensure there is no obvious problem.  That seems to have been done.  Much of this looks to me like less a matter of demonstrable agenda-pushing and more a matter of perception on the part of the principles.

It seems clear, though, that Jerry Tipton's people skills aren't the greatest.  He managed to make both parents uncomfortable, and that seems passing strange to me under the circumstances.

Dr. Azubuike was not only in trouble with the feds, but in poor health as well, having had a heart transplant around the same time as his indictment.  I don't think that was ever mentioned, but the combination of the federal fine and medical bills undoubtedly contributed more to Azubuike's decision than anything else.

I see his title as UK beat writer.

While there may be occasion where the two coincide, it is not by definition his role to dig up dirt, particularly when he's covering a story such as a recruit's verbal commitment.

Where would his probing questioning of the parents (which I listened to the description of closely from MM's podcast) have any part in the "story" of Zollo or Avery's commitment? Did they initiate the subject?

If not, then HE is instigating the question, betraying clearly a preconceived agenda to his story.

He can write whatever he wants to write, but I fully encourage the readership to pursue whatever ends they feel appropriate, as democracy plays itself out.

Tipton has a lot of friends and admirers in the national print media -- the Decourceys and Feinsteins -- for his work in unmasking the cheating and shenanigans of the Sutton era.

But at some point, he seemed to become obsessed with this role, to the obvious ire of the UK fanbase, and in my opinion, to the detriment of the overall image and atmosphere of the program.

As many on here have noted, if Gillispie is boinking coeds and drinking himself to sleep, so long as he's not causing the institution disrepute or breaking the law, he's single and free to do this.

Whether Tipton feels it's right is immaterial. Cover the fucking ballgames and quit trying to win a Pulitzer to make yourself feel less hollow.

As the person who began this site, and its predecessor, your comment rather offends me, and anyone who has given you analysis and a forum to voice this thoughtless drivel.

To the BCG remark, I think she said something like, "I'm sure everyone can be an ass sometimes!"  Go Robyn!  She sounds awesome!

The entire point of the discussion centers on the appropriateness of a beat reporter for the local paper approaching recruits who have not signed a National Letter of Intent with questionable motives.  I don't see the relevance in your statement.

But, that's how this medium is sometimes, and this kind of thing happens.  Comes with the territory.

:-)

With the upgrades to the site delayed to tomorrow, my "change induced" stress will be shifted back a day!  ;-)

As a chiropractor, I do get the occaisional patient that comes through my front door with fractures of varying degrees and types.  Tru's research is factual where it regards the stress fracture.  A sudden increase in exercise habits can lead to injuries of this nature.  Is it in any way predictable who will succomb to this or how much exercise is too much?  Not in the least.

The toughest part about dealing with a stress fracture is that it often does not show up on a routine x-ray in the early stages and therefore is often confused with a chronic sprain/strain type injury.  By the time you can see it on film, it is generally quite advanced.  MRI (relatively expensive) or a Bone Scan (relatively cost effective) would be the diagnostic procedures of choice for these.  The reason it will show up on these studies is because they are looking for fluid/soft tissue as opposed to osseous (boney) structures.  These studies are diagnostic for the injury because they pick-up the increased blood flow to the area of injury as the body attempts to heal.

Bottom line... could the increased practices have caused the stress fractures?  Possibly.  In all likelihood they were caused by the sudden increase in practices after the players had been in state of less-than-optimum conditioning.  Therefore, I blame Tubby and his piss-poor conditioning program prior to Gillispie's arrival.  ;-)    

I am willing to bet that Jerry wouldn't last two minutes in the "fire swamp" or the "pit of despair."  And I don't see him rescuing any princesses -- EVER!    HA! HA!

:)

I’ve never understood intentionally trying to start a fight on the internet… but some people seem to make it their primary pass time.

1) UMass. As was pointed out to you, most posters around here understood what Gillispie was trying to do… we just didn’t approve of it. Additionally, there was nothing wrong with backing out of the game either. The contract was for a game or a lump sum of money. So they didn’t violate any contractual terms, they just chose the option that most fans disagree with. For what its worth, I agree that bringing Ford to town would have been the right thing to do.

2) Patterson/Legion. Both recruitments happened very quickly. From everything I’ve read, PPat was probably headed to Kentucky with Tubby at the helm. [Stephen A. Smith voice]However,[/Stephen A. Smith voice] I also believe that after Tubby left he was very close to going somewhere else. For Gillispie to come in on short notice and salvage that recruitment was the most important action of the off-season. Legion… what can you say? Obviously the kid and the coach didn’t see eye to eye. It happens. If you want to throw Legion out there as an example of Gillispies inept recruiting… I have about a dozen transfers/failures at life that we can attribute to Tubby. It happens when you are dealing with teenagers. For every Patrick Patterson there is an Alex Legion; for every JP Blevins there is a Ryan Hogan (and an Adam Chiles and a Michael Bradley and a Myron Anthony…)

3) Who wouldn’t want to go to a D1 college for free? You’re right. In fact, I believe that one of the quotes from the Avery kid’s dad was “How do you turn down a free education?” Like I’ve said, I don’t like it either. But I won’t deny that its necessary. UCLA had a commitment from a kid who just finished his 8th grade year 5 years ago! (Obligatory cautionary notice: The kid went to Duke.) Arizona offered a scholarship to a kid before his 8th grade year last year. You can sit here and lament the fact that Kentucky is recruiting an 8th grader while burying your head in the sand and living in the past. The rest of us will deal with the here and the now. Sadly, that means recruiting 14-15 year olds until the NCAA says otherwise.

4) Watered down pre-season schedule and went 7-9? It shocked and dismayed everyone in the BBN. I’d argue that Gillispie saw how weak the team was that he was left with and attempted to give them a schedule they could work their way through. Nobody could have predicted the injuries that they had to deal with. You can say that 7-9 pre-conference and an 11 seed are signs of a decline… and I would agree with you 110%. But I would say that the evidence of the decline goes back farther than one year. Also… I’ll take a 12-4 SEC record over a 8-8 SEC record any day of the week. The one thing this team did that the last few have not done was to improve over the course of the season.

Just because its done in the name of the Kentucky Wildcats doesn’t mean it gospel. THINK.

I would take that statement and change it just a bit:

Just because its done in the name of Tubby Smith doesn’t mean it is gospel. THINK.

You have said that you are a Tubby fan first and foremost. Believe me… it shows. Your post stinks of someone who has put on blinders to the state of college basketball and the positives and negatives of both the previous coach and the current coach. I think you’ll find that ASoB is populated by a very moderate sampling of the Big Blue Nation. Most people here supported Tubby up to the day he announced his departure (and most want to see him do well at UMinn). Most people here also realized that Tubby was gone… Rick was gone… Billy Donovan turned us down… we have a new coach and it is time to figure out what that means. You lament the hiring of both Brooks and Gillispie. I would ask you one question: Once Tubby left and Billy D turned us down; who would you have hired instead of Gillispie?

... that sure didn’t do much to defend your comment. You’re asking us to think, but about what? I took Gillispie and the AD to task for canceling the UMass game, but that happens all the time and the buyout is there for a reason.

Whether or not Patterson was coming, you have to admit that Gillispie did a bang-up job of making up the ground we lost when Smith moved on. I think he would have come if Smith had stayed, but even Patterson dropped UK down his list after Smith left. Gillispie did a great job of making up lost ground.

Last year was a tough year, but I think it’s wrong to judge a coach based on only one year, a year in which many unforeseen injuries and a tough adjustment period came into play. If he starts out 7-9 again this year, I daresay there will be some serious unhappiness. But shouldn’t we give the guy more than one year?!?

As far as the wheels falling off, I have no idea why you believe that will happen, but until it does, don’t you think you owe him at least a couple of years to try to get it right? If we go changing coaches every year, we are going to look stupid at the very least. Nobody does that, and we shouldn’t be the first.

I agree with all of your points. However, since the coach and the school are prohibited from contacting the player prior to their Junior year, how would you propose that they utilize the Sports Info Department? Would you have the coach suggest the parents call the SID after the offer? or Would you have a rep from the SID on hand when you anticipate that conversation? The current NCAA rules get a little sticky.

... is making more sense all the time.

It seems like Tipton is behaving more in the vein of an investigative reporter than a sportswriter. Surely, UK should already know Tipton’s penchant for this sort of behavior. Gillispie should not have to do anything. UK should be telling him how to handle Tipton, Gillispie has only been here a year, for heaven’s sake.

Well, there you go.