Let Me Try Some Of That Calipari > Billy Reed Article In Basketball Times This Month

by FortyYearCatFan on May 2, 2009 9:00 AM EDT Comment 25 comments

He relates a story about the late Cawood Ledford and Rick Pitino enjoying dinner at an Italian restaurant in the early 1990's. It seems Cawood had never eaten calimari before and declined at first. The table conversation turned to UMass coach John Calipari.

Finally, giving it a second thought, Cawood decided to try the Italian delicacy. He said, "OK, let me try some of that calipari."

Reed opines that the rest of BBN is about to join him in Trying Some Of That Calipari.

Flat out, Reed says Calipari Was The Best Hire Kentucky Could Make. He Is Everything His Predecessor Wasn't - And More.

Reed gives credit to Mike Pratt for his role in hiring the right guy this time. Barnhart recognized the folly of his effort (going it alone) in 2007 and made Pratt his point man on scouting the real interest of several UK possible hires.

Reed didn't like Gillispie at all. He called the 2009 squad "the worst coached team in UK history." He further says, "Calipari will have some very small shoes to fill." He goes on and on with even stronger comments but you get the point.

Several UK boosters told Barnhart that Billy Donovan was ready to leave Florida for UK. So Pratt inquired of him first and quickly discovered that Donovan would NOT be leaving Florida for anywhere.

Next up was Tom Izzo. There may or may not have been interest but Pratt found out that it wasn't going to happen (Izzo To UK) so UK looked at others. John Calipari's name came up quickly. SEC commissioner Mike Slive (who came from C-USA) gave his Thumbs Up on Calipari.

Pratt immediately learned that Calipari had a genuine interest in coming to UK. A series of meetings (I learned separately these occurred here in Chicago) between Calipari and UK officials closed the deal. Calipari simply had to decide if he could leave behind his genuine affection for the city of Memphis and his players.

Reed concludes by writing It's The Best Hire Kentucky Could Have Made - Better Even Than Donovan Or Izzo.

Great article at www.basketballtimes.com if you subscribe.

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Best hire period.

If you gave me the choice of ANY coach in the country, I would still prefer Coach Cal. Its a match made in heaven.

by DeadHeadCat on May 2, 2009 10:08 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Great read Forty,

Posts from the fans of Ky Wildcats are more than words written to fill up some space and they are not written in hopes of someone complimenting their talents. They start as ideas that turn into words to share with others. Then these words are received by others who understand the meaning of the original idea. Thanks for sharing your ideas. But you know, the greatest thing about being a Wildcat fan for as long as I have existed is this. When a fan spells out something that happened a few years back, this is what begins to happen………….

I can actually picture in my mind, Cawood and Pitino sitting, having dinner. Then after some really hard negotiations from Pitino with Cawood to try the calamari, when Cawood first said OK, Pitino started to grin and then, Cawood finished by saying cailiPari. Well then the two, and quite likely all those around them, broke out in laughter……
Thanks Forty for the picture………………

Blue, there is no other color to Bleed !!!

by a2d2 on May 2, 2009 10:34 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It's a funny story that I had heard before.

I believe Cawood actually included that is one of the books he wrote.

As for Billy Reed:

hy·poc·ri·sy
Pronunciation: \hi-ˈpä-krə-sē also hī-\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural hy·poc·ri·sies

1: a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not ; especially : the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion
2: an act or instance of hypocrisy

While I appreciate that members of the media like the hire of Coach Calipari, Billy Reed’s endorsement doesn’t light my fire. He wants to have it both ways – blasting Kentucky fans for not being satisfied with the end of the Tubby tenure, lamenting the big business that is college basketball and then praising Coach Calipari’s hiring as if it isn’t a direct result of the things he’s been railing about for several years.

As a professional journalist, the very first thing you have to understand is that you are there to report on what takes place, not to fawn over those making the news and attempt to inject yourself into the story. You are a witness to history who should not try to make yourself a part of it. Billy Reed has never understood that – not in his days as a reporter, editor or commentator. He is a notorious name-dropper who has always yearned to be one of the “cool kids”, forever on the outside looking in.

I appreciate the report as I decided last year to never again read a Billy Reed article. Forty, I am in no way criticizing you reading it and posting the summary. I just don’t like what Billy Reed represents. Sorry if I highjacked your post with my anti-Billy Reed screed.

The quickest way to a man's heart is Chuck Norris' fist.

by jbt36 on May 2, 2009 11:41 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I Like Billy Reed Myself

He reports the facts.

Not many writers do.

by FortyYearCatFan on May 2, 2009 12:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't want to start an argument...

but facts?!?!…seriously?

The hit piece he did on Coach Gillispie last year where he cited every rumor he could think of and demanded Barnhart publically address each and every one of them. What facts were involved in that article? The only fact in evidence in that article was the fact that Billy Reed was a hack who had his nose out of joint because the new Kentucky coach wasn’t at his beck and call.

You and I obviously have very different tastes in writers. I like writers who do not make themselves the story.

The quickest way to a man's heart is Chuck Norris' fist.

by jbt36 on May 2, 2009 1:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Absolutely

Reed is FAR AND AWAY the best KY journalist AFTER Larry Vaught.

by FortyYearCatFan on May 2, 2009 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah,

when I think of Billy Reed, facts are the first thing I think of. Please.

I’m definitely in agreement with you on this and share your opinion of Billy Reed. You know, when I read the title of Forty’s fanpost, the first thing that popped into my head was the article on Gillispie that you referenced in your post. Although I can appreciate this fanpost as well as Forty’s opinion of Reed’s writing, I certainly didn’t bother to check out the Billy Reed article mentioned here.

That Gillispie piece really left a bad taste in my mouth and I lost any respect I may have had for Reed as a writer. I suppose I may read something of his in the future to change my opinion a bit, but as of right now, and not that he cares, of course, but Reed certainly doesn’t have a faithful reader in this girl.

by BigSkyCat on May 2, 2009 2:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

To Each His Or Her Own

Reed has written about (and followed) Kentucky basketball for 50 years.

Outstanding writer. Better than anyone at Lex H-L or Lou C-J by far.

The Gillispie article was accurate. No one knew it then (except Billy Reed).

by FortyYearCatFan on May 2, 2009 2:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nothing in the Gillispie article was accurate.

In his only redeeming article of last year, Jerry Tipton investigated the rumors that Reed printed. Guess what? He found that not a single one of them had any merit. And rather than sit behind a keyboard and take potshots at the coach, for once Tipton decided to do his job and actually talk to some people who had relevant information. He interviewed the owners and workers of the establishments that Coach Gillispie frequented and all of them said they had never served him anything stronger than soda water in their places.

As a matter of fact, when he wasn’t travelling, most nights Coach Gillispie spent the evening with Bill Keightley or his assistants. And according to some other, respectable, members of the Kentucky media (Dick Gabriel in particular), Gillispie never turned down an autograph or picture request and always took time to talk basketball with adoring fans.

I don’t know if you missed all of the other media folks saying Billy Reed was full of crap, but they didn’t get by me. You don’t have to like Billy Gillispie to understand that Billy Reed had an agenda when wrote that article. And it shocked me a little that a man with Reed’s well-known history with a bottle would be hypocritical enough to question someone else who might like to take a drink.

The only other thing he could have done in his so-called article that would have offended me more was if he had included a few moralistic quotes from Reed’s close personal friend and Kentucky’s version of Bill Clinton, John Y. Brown, Jr.

The quickest way to a man's heart is Chuck Norris' fist.

by jbt36 on May 2, 2009 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Billy Reed is not without talent as a writer.

It’s a shame that he lets his vices and his own sense of self-importance stand in the way of that talent. Investigators at Whitechapel said Jack The Ripper could have been a hell of a surgeon if it wasn’t for his predilection for, uuummm, murder.

Reed is a malcontent in virtual exile because of it. I have wasted enough of my time discussing him. But I do think I will have a drink for him tonight.

The quickest way to a man's heart is Chuck Norris' fist.

by jbt36 on May 2, 2009 3:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Jerry Tipton

You lost me right there.

Simply THE worst of the KY media.

by FortyYearCatFan on May 2, 2009 4:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's nice, Forty.

You have inferred that half the high-end bar and restaurant owners in Lexington are liars to defend a washed-up internet “journalist”. Reed has more talent than Tipton, but they are cut from the same cloth.

The quickest way to a man's heart is Chuck Norris' fist.

by jbt36 on May 2, 2009 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's somewhat ironic that all it took was...

a moron like Tipton to disproved everything that Reed had spouted. And Tipton didn’t even require and “Easy” button. What does that say about Reed?

The quickest way to a man's heart is Chuck Norris' fist.

by jbt36 on May 2, 2009 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No one but Reed knew it, eh?

The Gillispie article was accurate. No one knew it then (except Billy Reed)

So when it was spouted by internet trolls it was character assassination, but when a free-lance blogger spouts it, he is prophetic? A true statement made with out facts to back it up still doesn’t make it good journalism. But Forty has lots of practice at making statements that may in fact be true but having no way to back it up, so Forty and Reed are kindred souls in a way.

And for what it’s worth, we still don’t know that half the stuff Reed said in that article was true. There hasn’t been any corroboration of anything that he stated, other than that he was an ass to lots of people.

by Ontherocks on May 2, 2009 5:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Reed Understood That Gillispie Was A Train Wreck

Long before most everyone else did.

Kudos to him for that.

by FortyYearCatFan on May 3, 2009 9:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Found The Article

U can read it on www.billyreedsays.com by scrolling down a bit.

by FortyYearCatFan on May 2, 2009 1:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Not Surprised At All

That FortyYearCatFan is an unabashed admirer of Billy Reed comes as no surprise and provides further substantiation of my perception and visualization.

by Wild Weasel on May 2, 2009 5:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Billy Reed Was Highly Critical Of Tubby Smith In 2006 And 2007

Yet I respect him for that because he based his reports on FACTS.

Billy Reed utterly despised Billy Gillispie. He recognized the situation before most others did.

by FortyYearCatFan on May 3, 2009 9:46 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Billy Reed

smokes weed. He’ll plant the seed then blame the deed on some fool named Da-veed.

JK I don’t know ol boy personally, but he sounds like a dope. just goes to show the power of the (type)written word.

I want to die while asleep like my grandfather,
not screaming in terror like the passengers in his car.

by bluecrip on May 3, 2009 1:25 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Sports Writers

I’m not and have never been a huge fan of sports writers. Most are pompous and opinionated. The ones who hit it big tend to want us all to believe that if they write it,it’s gospel. I think most sports fans can form their own opinion. They don’t need a sports writer to form it for them.

by maysvilleblue on May 3, 2009 9:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs