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Fri May 22, 2009 12:17 pm EDT

John Calipari takes on ESPN writer, or vice versa

By Eamonn Brennan

Yesterday, John Calipari disseminated the following message to his 75,000-plus Twitter followers:

Calipari is referring to ESPN's Pat Forde, whose name he probably knows how to spell but decided to get intentionally incorrect as a sign of disrespect. Coaches love to do that. James Joyce could reincarnate, write a brilliant, semi-harsh and completely indecipherable piece about a college basketball team, and that team's coach would find a way to pretend he had no idea who "this so-called writer" was. Oldest trick in the book, and also completely bush-league. You don't get to John Calipari's position by not knowing the names of national sportswriters.

Anyway, knowing the more extreme factions of the UK fan base, one could only assume some serious Big Blue anger was headed Forde's way. (The reaction was more restrained than I would have imagined.) But why? What did Forde do? Apparently, an interview on ESPN's "Outside The Lines" is what had Calipari all riled up -- specifically where Forde discusses Calipari's past recruiting black marks and his bond with shady relationship man William Wesley (which happens at the 2:10 mark):

Not to get all defensive on Forde's behalf, but Calipari is playing things a bit dirty here. It's Forde's job to discuss this stuff. The points he's making -- that UK has changed its stance on Calipari's past in as they've become more desperate to win; that Calipari is at least someone who deserves close monitoring when it comes to flouting NCAA rules -- are valid ones. They're inherent to the discussion of Calipari's hiring. Not mentioning them would be dishonest.

Calipari can react to that as petulantly as he wants. He can whip his Twitter followers into a frenzy, if he feels that way. But if he didn't want to have his name attached to recruiting violations, he shouldn't have been so apparently careless at UMass. If he doesn't want to deal with the questions, he should work even harder to prevent them. There have to be better ways of doing so than lashing out in 140 characters or less.

Related: SEC Basketball, College Basketball Media

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23 Comments

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  1. TheParisGuy
    1. Posted by TheParisGuy Fri May 22, 2009 1:39 pm EDT

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    Hey! We're the New York Yankees of college basketball. We all know the way to win is buy the most expensive coach, who in turn, automatically assures you the Pennant, er, National Championship. Don't mess with the hirings of Mitch Barnhart. Didn't he bring us the first NIT appearance in 17 years? He had to go for the fence in this hiring. I rest assured he so happy he's already scheduled his rooms for the Final Four. Six coming in, one already disgruntaled at the fact they sign someone who is ranked better than him was signed at the same position. I hope egos don't get in the way. Where's Patterson and Meeks going to fit, if he comes back? This is going to interesting.
  2. Anything but Gatorade
    2. Posted by Anything but Gatorade Fri May 22, 2009 1:54 pm EDT

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    I generally agree with you, but I do think that perhaps Calipari is intimating that Forde has a close relationship with U of L and Rick Pitino (e.g., helped him write a freakin' book) and that perhaps Forde's opinions of Kentucky and its new coach have a tinge of bias to them. Or he's referring to the complete lack of coverage the MONOLITH (along with local media) is giving to the Pitino/Sypher situation.
  3. PurdueMatt
    3. Posted by PurdueMatt Fri May 22, 2009 2:26 pm EDT

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    There is nothing shady about Worldwide Wes. He's a great guy!
    *vomits*
  4. David B
    4. Posted by David B Sat May 23, 2009 1:07 am EDT

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    always picking on Cal...where's the evidence of wrongdoing?? there is none...Roy Williams??? yes...Tim Floyd??? YES...perhaps the media should focus on the ones who have been caught making mistakes (Jim Calhoun) as opposed to zeroing in on Cal (who was exonerated of any wrong at UMASS)...pure bias on the part of Forde to try and tarnish a great hire by a school he dislikes (if only to help close friend Rick)...until proof can be proffered, I would suggest Forde shut up
  5. Kevin H
    5. Posted by Kevin H Sat May 23, 2009 9:00 am EDT

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    brenan sounds to me like you are backin forde up and lookin at this with the same slant he has! He came across as attacking coach Cal and his piece on Pitino was a puff piece of an article. Could it be the book he co wrote with pitino has clouded his viewpoint? I think so and in my opinion shows in what he writes and says about coach Cal and pitino. Negayive for coach Cal positive for Pitino.
  6. Kevin H
    6. Posted by Kevin H Sat May 23, 2009 9:04 am EDT

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    Also typo errors happen all the time. Just look at Negative above. I have even seen sports writers have typo errors in articles.
  7. Kevin H
    7. Posted by Kevin H Sat May 23, 2009 9:44 am EDT

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    Another thing you said John Calipari sent his 75000 plus followers the message that you are so upset with. I really think what really upsets you is the fact that he has a medium for releasing his displeasure on the hack jobs you guys do! Also you could tell your 357 plus fans (actually 358) on your twitter account how displeased you are with something. You could even use the f bomb in describing your displeasure which you did. Nobody seems to be upset about that. But wait maybe just maybe nobody knows your twitter account exists. Stick together with your fellow sports writers. Support them in their slanted views. It is a new game now! People will show their support by numbers. Those numbers right now are over 75000 to under 400. Sorry another typo over 80000 to under 400.
  8. A Yahoo! User
    8. Posted by A Yahoo! User Sat May 23, 2009 5:04 pm EDT

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    okay here we go, john and his "us against the world" mentality. Things are going to get ugly quick after a few losses. john, you better you win against Louisville, Tennessee, and all the rest of the sec, they'll be gunnin' for ya. I'm gonna love seeing Kentucky lose this year, it'll be fun.
  9. J H
    9. Posted by J H Sun May 24, 2009 1:16 am EDT

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    Coach C is a shdy dude, he comes to UK, then signs all these top recruits, but I guess he forgot how to add, since he has committed 4 more schlorships than they have to use. So does that mean he will drop 4 players who have been at UK, only to have the new blood there? I thought UK was a classy place, sorry, it just went to hell with that new coach.
  10. UK1FAN
    10. Posted by UK1FAN Sun May 24, 2009 10:52 am EDT

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    I would just like for the media people to mention that ford guys six month suspension from writing articles for the Louisville Courier Journal for unethical behavior in trying to dig up dirt on the UL Cardinals. . To fail to mention this every time he questions someones integrity would be DISHONEST. It amazes me how you media guys ralley to support each other if anyone says anything negative about you but fail to mention your own DOCUMENTED LACK OF INTEGRITY. I am sure you can ask your fried Mr. Ford what he did wrong and please try to mention his past in future articles supporting him if you DARE. Remember people in CHEAP glass houses should not throw stones. NO HATE JUST THE FACTS. GO CATS
  11. clint s
    11. Posted by clint s Tue May 26, 2009 1:10 am EDT

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    its funny to me how you can do your job to the best of your ability and get the number one recruiting class, and everybody talks about how crooked you are, and then in the next breath they are worried about your job security. hey pinoc c, if you're gonna love to watch ky lose this season, enjoy it while you can. i'm gonna enjoy ky drilling your team 90 percent of the times we face them. everyone knew when cal got on a big stage he was gonna get these type of players. why didn't mr ford mention that pitino was tied to recruiting violations as an assistant. oh yeah, pitino helped him get his job at espn. what a tool!
  12. Marcus C
    12. Posted by Marcus C Tue May 26, 2009 2:15 pm EDT

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    allegations, allegations, allegations, and Cal was cleared of any wrongdoing, however it is funny that these things keep getting brought up. It is also funny how the media outlets will not dare air any of Pitino's allegations. If it were anyone else, the "dirty laundry" would have been aired a long time ago. As for the comment about signing more players than you have scholarships; you find me a coach in the NCAA that wouldn't sign the same class under the same circumstances. At least he is being honest with his players letting them know if they we get any PT in the system that he runs. At least he is giving them an opportunity to pursue their careers elsewhere, and have a chance to play in a system that fits them. He could just play 6-7 guys all year long and have the others waste away their eligibility.
  13. Jerry
    13. Posted by Jerry Tue May 26, 2009 8:52 pm EDT

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    Marcus give me a break. These guys are going to have to sit out a year if they go somewhere else.Plus cal can play 6 or 13 guys, 4 of them(3 if Meeks goes pro) will have to go. I dont blame Cal for what he is doing but it shows that in the Ncaa players come last. ALso living in memphis it will get old of Cal's me against the world attitude. Winning will make you over look it but you are a 'miserable' if criticize Cal. Cal was very close to being fired 4 years ago. Most dont realize that memphis did not become an elite program until he brough Dozier,Anderson,Dorsey and CDR(none of whom where 5 star players,could be wrong though). One and done players are great but teams win championships. Kentucky will have a good year,maybe great, but the expectations are too high.
  14. Tyler
    14. Posted by Tyler Wed May 27, 2009 10:41 pm EDT

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    David B, funny you should mention that!
    http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news;_ylt=Ag2JgPMjKhTuuyPh_bDfzbQ5nYcB?slug=ys-memphisncaa052709&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
  15. jdotis00
    15. Posted by jdotis00 Wed May 27, 2009 11:00 pm EDT

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    Smoke in Memphis...
  16. Sparsha
    16. Posted by Sparsha Fri May 29, 2009 3:32 pm EDT

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    how would calipari know about Rose cheating? Calipari doesn't follow Rose into the testing center and watch him whiles he's taking the SAT. Cmon People. Grow up a little. Its a little early to jump on the bandwagon that cal is a cheater. Remember that a player for UK in 98 had faked his college entry scores on his own and no one ever accused tubby of being a cheater.
  17. Jeff P
    17. Posted by Jeff P Fri May 29, 2009 8:28 pm EDT

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    PS - Forde had it in for Pitino when Rick was at UK. Rick was the sleazebag back then who lied to players, ran off Rhodes, etc. etc. etc.. Funny how you become a more moral person when you leave UK. Yeah right! And I'm the Easter Bunny!
  18. Gregory
    18. Posted by Gregory Sat May 30, 2009 1:04 am EDT

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    Calipari is the perfect coach for UK.
    He's as slick as Pitino and as honest as Sutton.
  19. James
    19. Posted by James Sat May 30, 2009 2:02 pm EDT

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    What rules has Calipari "flouted"? Please enlighten! Jerk off...
  20. Memphis2008
    20. Posted by Memphis2008 Sun May 31, 2009 10:29 am EDT

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    Calipari creates a mess wherever he goes. UM plus Calipari equals the perfect storm. UM could care less about ANYTHING academic and is starving for attention because the city is such a cesspool. If you want to see all the problems he has created go to http://onlyinmemphis.wordpress.com/
  21. Boomer
    21. Posted by Boomer Sun May 31, 2009 11:24 am EDT

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    Does anyone know if or who will be taking J. Wall's ACT test?
  22. tony
    22. Posted by tony Sun May 31, 2009 6:31 pm EDT

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    all were sayng(kentucky fans) is that he never brings up rick patino's ncaa violations or tha fack that he is currently involved in something way
  23. catfan502
    23. Posted by catfan502 Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:08 am EDT

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    It is really odd how people forget how "Worldwide Wes" came into the college scene. Does anyone remember the names Billy Thompson and Milt Wagner?? Does anyone remember where these two gentlemen played ball?? That's right the University of Louisville. Worldwide Wes brokered the deal to get Milt into Louisville and played a part in the signing of Billy Thompson. While I realize he became "Worldwide Wes" for helping land Dejuan Wagner at Memphis, and for that matter helped his father get into the coaching ranks and complete his degree, he used to troll around Freedom Hall during the 80's. Does that make Denny Crum a cheater too?????????? Just a thought and I haven't seen this information anywhere on the internet and with all of the Pat Forde's biased opinions maybe he needs to do some research.

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