First off, being new to this site, I would like to congratulate the posters here for being genuine, thoughtful and realistic about a passion we all share.
These last few weeks have been very trying for everyone who loves the Big Blue. The rumors swirling around this program have been a burden to what should be an entertaining time of year.
Make no mistake, good people, we have brought this on ourselves. It all started with the Erruption Zone screaming for Coach Gillispie to play Alex Legion last season, continued through the boos for Michael Porter during various games in Rupp and culminated in the horrible final month of this regular season.
We have become a fanbase literally about to collapse under our own weight, too bloated and full of a sense of entitlement to realize or care that we are destroying the thing we are most passionate about.
Some people who should know better have made comments that deserve attention.
Does Kenny Walker (who was at one time my favorite former Cat) not understand that, if boosters and other had their way in 1975, he never would have had the chance to play for Joe Hall? Hell, Dan Issel and others in his class wanted Coach Hall fired as an assistant because his conditioning program was too tough.
Dick Gabriel, a respected voice in Lexington, keeps harping on the Jeanine Edwards interviews as if Coach Gillispie dropped trow and mooned ESPN's cameras. It stupifies the mind to imagine that this has been blown so totally out of proportion. Most coaches, including Roy Williams, Jim Calhoun, Coach K, Rick Pitino, Bill Self and John Calipari, have had interviews that were less than stellar and have made comments that seemed brusque. Were they endlessly dissected and cited as grounds for dismissal?
Dave "Buzz" Baker is another that keeps harping on this interview flap. If Coach Gillispie's comments to Miss Edwards play a part in the decision about his future then Baker should be canned for his treatment of Oscar Combs on the call-in show prior to every game this season.
As the game in Memorial showed, true Kentucky fans can and will support their team and program though thick and thin. And the thick times will return soon as long as we don't shoot ourselves in the foot by firing a good coach because of arrogance and the aforementioned sense of entitlement. If Coach Gillispie goes, our prospects for a return to the top of college basketball go with him, at least for the foreseeable future.
