Photo by Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal/ USA TODAY NETWORK
Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart certainly is entitled to his opinions and has never been overly open or accessible to the media.
That’s fine. He has no obligation to talk to the media if he does not want to do so.
However, don’t blame the media when there is a controversy in UK athletics like he did Saturday. It was basketball coach John Calipari, not the media, who started the UK basketball/football conflict Thursday with his comment about UK being a “basketball school.”
It was Calipari who invited media members to talk to him and ask questions Thursday in the Bahamas. The Athletic’s Kyle Tucker and Kentucky Sports Radio’s Jack Pilgrim simply reported what Calipari said.
Yet Barnhart Saturday blamed the “word we’re living in” for the controversy that has made national headlines.
“You look to create stories and it becomes the fact,” Barnhart said.
He said media members had nothing else to write about or do at this time of year than create controversy. Guess he forgot that UK football practice has started or the basketball team is playing in the Bahamas — not to mention having two golfers that just competed in the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Maybe he also doesn’t know recruiting never stops for UK football or basketball.
Former Herald-Leader sports writer Josh Moore covered UK football before leaving the media world in June. He made his feelings about Barnhart’s media comments clear on Twitter.
“Constantly being subject to crap like this, whether directly or through friends in the business, is among the several reasons I got out. It’s just exhausting. Only going to become louder because people have been emboldened and encouraged by ‘role models’ to act accordingly,” Moore tweeted.
I also liked this tweet from KSR’s Nick Roush, who was at the press conference:
“According to Mitch Barnhart, we just make up stuff because we have nothing to do. I’d rather help my pregnant wife paint our house. Instead, I’m typing words about the fire in the athletic department Mitch can’t seem to put out.”
During Saturday’s press conference, Barnhart said “adults are supposed to teach the children” and blamed the media for reporting what Calipari said is not the way to take ownership of issues in UK’s athletics department.
“We are not a basketball school. We are not a football school… We are a school with an outstanding athletic department. We are an ‘all everything’ school,” Barnhart said.
Amen to that when you look at the overall success of the athletics department and not once have I heard Barnhart complain about too much media coverage when the success of any or all of those many teams has been in the news.
7 Responses
What a cop-out by Barnhart blaming the press for the dunderheaded comments by his basketball coach for life.
Not sure if anyone remembers but during Jokers last year as football coach Mitch was also using the word microwave society in defending Joker . Luckily it wasn’t long after those comments that a virtual boycott of the program forced a change . Anyway Barnhart should actually apologize to the media for his comments just like Cal has for his .
I had forgot that Rodney
IMO, it is all on Mitch’s leadership! Sure, as Cal has owned, he screwed up publically comparing BB vs FB. Still it is ultimately the friction between Mitch and Cal. Mitch it using the success of UK FB to hide behind, but bottom line he thinks Cal is down and is taking advantage of that. Provided Cal’s issues at UK don’t extend up beyond Mitch, he shall retire from UK, he will repair and damage with FB program, and end his career at a very high level! Most probably leaving behind a new practice facility.
I am not a big media fan, never have been. I make one exception, Mr. Larry Vaught, couldn’t live without VV’s! My UK news source night and day! As for the media, I think basketball gets far to much coverage at the expense of UK football, all year long too. My opinion only and I’m sticking to it. AD Barnhart is right IMO to imply that the media members are like a bunch of flesh eating fish once something as stupid as Cal’s comment breaks and becomes news. However, that is their job, I get that. Quite frankly, I am glad the media covered this story, and in it’s detail too.
I’m also not so sure Cal’s relationship with AD Barnhart was enhanced at all by his Bahama remarks at a press conference to push the construction, asap, of a"state of the art" basketball practice facility that would cost millions considering the state of the U. S. economy at this time.
If you listened closely to Mr. Barnhart’s remarks concerning this stupidity, he said their were conversations among the parties involved within the athletic department that he would not disclose details. Perhaps Cal got an ear full? I don’t know. Coach Stoops didn’t start or ask for this, but had to respond to it. You could tell from Mr. Barnhart’s body language he was not amused by it all, and he appeared to me "ticked off." Calipari owns this fiasco. UK football didn’t deserve this.
Thanks for the kind words Pup
Go bowling. It’s more fun. It’s been a long time since the basketball coach sniffed anykind of participation trophy. Coaches should stick together and show up at games for support and you can keep your shirt on.
Don’t need to get to wild, just be there. The next coach will be
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