When a hot story comes along – and no Kentucky story is hotter than the first UK basketball coaching change in a decade – the Herald-Leader becomes as much a
forum for debate as a source of news.
Cheryl Truman – Herald-Leader books editor, feature writer
and former local issues columnist – took a Louisville Slugger to the hornet’s
nest Saturday in a commentary column. She wrote that rabid UK fans should be ashamed. “We drove away UK basketball coach Tubby Smith, a decent guy and generally successful coach,
because he didn’t give us what we’re sure is our Kentucky birthright: Absolute dominance of American men’s college basketball. If we
brought as much passion to improving education as we brought to Tubby-bashing,
we’d be Silicon Valley.”
In response, Truman received about 400 e-mails and 50
voicemails from readers. About 40 percent supported her view, while the other
60 percent disagreed – many in quite disagreeable language. The column also accounted for about 300
comments on kentucky.com’s UK sports discussion board – nearly all of them critical. Interestingly, of the 50 voicemails she
received, about 70 percent agreed with her.
The Opinion Page staff has received many letters to the
editor about her column, both pro and con, and will print a selection later
this week.
Sports columnists John Clay and Mark Story – no strangers to criticism from readers – also got several hundred emails and voicemails, most
disagreeing with their columns.
Mark said Monday afternoon that he had received 184 emails about
Smith since Thursday. “Much of that has
been from people castigating me because they believe me in particular and the
Herald-Leader in general have not been hard enough on Tubby’s alleged failings,”
Mark said. “Another sizable amount of e-mail has been speculating about who
should replace Tubby. And about 45 of the e-mails came in response to my Sunday
column in which I opined that to succeed as a men’s basketball coach at Kentucky,
one pretty much has to be a jerk. Most of the replies to that column suggested
I was a jerk for writing such a thing. Not coincidentally, the last time I had
this heavy an e-mail volume was in the days after the hiring of Rich Brooks,
which included the controversy over how Mitch Barnhart handled that coaching
search.”
John said: “The tone towards me has been negative,
especially the column taking up for Tubby when he left. And most of those are
from regular e-mailers who have been campaigning for Tubby’s ouster.”
Opinion columns are meant to spark discussion and
debate – and, in cases like these they obviously succeed. Of course, some readers just don’t understand
how a newspaper could publish opinions with which they disagree. They cancel their subscription, call for a
boycott or make personal attacks. It’s
as if they want a newspaper so boring that everyone will agree with every
opinion published.
Over all, though, I think readers appreciate the
opportunities we give them in print and online to voice their opinions and
agree or disagree with what our writers – and their fellow readers – have to say. It’s one of the things that makes
life interesting, and it makes the Herald-Leader and kentucky.com important
parts of Kentucky life.
Tom Eblen
Managing Editor
I am a native Kentuckian who has lived out of state for many years, but who has just returned and established residence in Lexington. I was living in North Carolina when Tubby Smith first became coach, and from what my Kentucky friends told me, Tubby was basically welcomed with open arms. He got off to a great start, but was unable to maintain that early momentum.
Kentucky fans want a coach who can maintain the momentum. I see nothing wrong with that. Personally, I think it’s great that Kentucky fans are so passionate in their support of their basketball team, and are equally passionate in their hopes and expectations for their team. The ardor of Kentucky fans should be a point of inspiration for fans everywhere.
I lived in the Washington, D.C. area for some years, and the fanaticism of the local fans for the Washington Redskins was inspiring and energizing for me. I lived a year in Athens, Georgia, the home of the Georgia Bulldogs, and the religious fervor of all Georgians for their great football team was stupendous. It did them proud.
Now I have returned to my home state of Kentucky, and I am proud and deeply fulfilled to be back in the thick of the usual super-fanatic enthusiasm for Kentucky basketball. In my opinion, this powerful, all-encompassing support is one of the finest things that Kentucky has to offer.