No matter the cost, it’s time for Coach Cal to go | Opinion

Time to say goodbye to Coach Cal

As a Ky native, following Kentucky Basketball for 65 years, I’ve never seen a coach fail our team and fans the way Calipari has. Fire him. Give him his $10 million a year and get a new coach.

Mark S. Jackson

Chagrin Falls, Ohio

What measure success?

By what measure is Cal succeeding? Not by wins, league standings, post-season performance, or anything that matters to fans.

I don’t know a single supporter who cares a whit about our NBA picks, but I know a lot who care about our record and the banners in Rupp that have defined the program for decades. One-and-done no longer works and it is proven to us in the most painful ways possible each year.

We have become a showcase for mid-major teams to get program-defining wins.

I have bled blue for as long as I can remember. Like most in the commonwealth, it’s a family tradition, not a choice. I survived the Gillespie years with my faith intact but have found that I can no longer hold onto that optimism for the team under Cal. I would love for Barnhart to demonstrate that he cares about the fanbase and to scrape the $8.6M barnacle that is killing all of our spirits. There are plenty of talented coaches out there who could take the nearly limitless potential of these kids and turn them into champions. Cal is not that person. It is time for him to go so we can restore faith in this once-dignified program.

Evan Harrison, Lexington

Time for a divorce

Kentucky owes a tremendous amount to Coach Cal. But it’s time. The routine failures in March are not washed away with the unbelievable success of our players in the NBA. Cal’s flaw is his failure to adapt, both from a roster composition and strategically in games. While it may be unfair to compare Cal to two of the greatest, it’s hard to not see the stark comparisons between Cal and both Saban and Belichick.

Saban’s teams were known for defense and running the ball. But, with college football transitioning to spread offenses, Saban brought in offensive assistant coaches (Kiffin and Sarkisian) to transform his offense. He quickly transitioned to what would be successful in college football and continually won at the highest level.

In the 2019 Super Bowl, the Patriots had played man defense the entire year. But Belichick noted that the Rams struggled against zone defenses. In a few weeks, he got his entire team to switch their defensive philosophy and they held the Ram’s high scoring offense to three points, winning a Super Bowl.

Compare this to Cal. He does not have a Kiffin or a Sarkisian pushing him to adapt or grow. Our Kentucky teams routinely struggle against zone defenses. His failure to adjust his philosophy or be able to adapt strategically have led to our untenable current situation.

We’re in a tough spot with Cal’s contract. But one thing is clear. It’s time for Kentucky and Cal to move on from each other. Kentucky deserves more.

Nathan Simon, Lexington

On the other hand

Kentucky fans, we are a farm team for the NBA. This is not a new development. It’s also a GOOD thing. We are changing the lives of kids and their families. That SHOULD be the focus.

John Calipari ranks second in wins as a Kentucky head coach (all time), only behind Adolph Rupp. Y’all talking every year about firing Cal, not only one of the best coaches ever in the program but one of the best coaches of ALL TIME. It’s right there in the numbers.

Many of you want a new coach in Rupp Arena, I want to RENAME Rupp Arena to John Calipari Arena.

Our fanbase is littered with the most selfish, short sighted, impatient, fair-weather fans that collegiate or professional sports has ever seen. People that start heading for the doors with 5min left on the game clock. People that only chant “Go Big Blue” when we’re making a rally, not to actually help us start one.Want to replace Cal?

Step 1: Think about replacements. Step 2: Ask yourself, who do they coach now? Step 3: Go be a fan of that team instead, because you don’t get what we’re doing here.

Eric Maynes, Southport, NC

Candidate comments

There was a time when if a Presidential candidate said “Hitler did some good things” he would be automatically disqualified in the eyes of most people. Yet for former President Donald Trump that does not seem to be the case. Do his followers agree with him that “Hitler did some good things?” Do they not believe that he said it? Or do they simply not care? Or are they just so deep in the cult of Trump that all appeals to truth and decency are useless?

Jim Porter, Danville

Rabid pack

I asked the wildlife employee putting in ponds on top of my hilly farm what scared him most since he worked alone. He didn’t hesitate - dogs once domesticated but turned wild, not afraid of humans, attacking by pack.

What better description of MAGA Republicans incited by former president Donald Trump — praising/saluting Jan. 6 convicted insurrectionists as “hostages;” calling immigrants “animals,” denigrating his ancestors and ours — who are his cheering rally attenders often with their children watching the biggest bully?

MAGA Congressional Republicans do as Trump dictates: refusing to pass the border bill they demanded, delaying funding of our country, allowing Ukraine to fall and more Gazans to die by not passing the foreign aid bill…

Look at Republican-controlled states passing bills to control bodies of women, destroy public schools, banning the history of white male rule in this country.

“Delay Don” has turned the rule of law into a pretzel so that we, the public, can’t witness trials with 88 felony charges against him. If Dictator Don wins, poof! trials are gone…

Attack by pack indeed… think your vote in November isn’t important?

Ramona Rush, Lexington

Republican dilemma

Republicans have been struggling with the dilemma of abortion even before former President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. After overturning Roe, Republicans began transitioning into a Christian Nationalist Party obsessed with restricting the time permitted for an abortion; the gamut spanning a complete ban (Idaho) to 15 weeks. However, if restricting abortion wasn’t enough, they also now want to restrict contraception.

Republican law makers are surprised by the abortion backlash from women including in Red States. Women want the freedom to make their own reproductive choices free without interference from male legislators who view women as baby machines. To mitigate the backlash they simply remove a woman’s right to vote. The Republican North Carolina gubernatorial candidate wants to end a woman’s right to vote, thereby solving voter backlash by women.

If the abortion backlash wasn’t enough, enter the Alabama Supreme Court, declaring embryos are children. More interference with reproductive choice, only now expanded to include couples. Good job - increase the backlash by adding men. Will the Trump Supreme Court further increase the backlash by upholding the Texas Court’s invalidating the FDA’s 23-year-old approval of mifepristone?

Someday, hopefully soon, Republicans will be embarrassed by all this behavior!

James F. Wisniewski, Lexington

Stuttering help

I would like to respond to the great Op-Ed piece “You Know Me From UK Basketball, Not As Someone Who Stutters” by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. I applaud the former basketball star for his activism in bringing attention to stuttering and the fight for legislative funding for speech therapy.

We live in a different United States these days with more immigrants and more foreign languages spoken. Some estimates are that 400 different languages are currently spoken in the U.S., which means that many children who stutter are forced to stutter in two languages. It is most difficult for children to have to stutter in two languages. I hope that any funding for speech therapy to help children who stutter, whether in Kentucky or elsewhere in the U.S., will have special considerations for the bilingual children who struggle with stuttering. The Stuttering Foundation website (www.StutteringHelp.org) has a helpful downloadable brochure titled “Stuttering and the Bilingual Child.” The Stuttering Foundation also has a Spanish-language version of their website at www.tartamudez.org with all the same free resources.

I hope Michael Kidd-Gilchrist continues his amazing crusade to help people who stutter. God bless Him!

Juan Gardea, South Bend, IN

Agriculture bill

Senate Bill 3 was introduced extremely late in the 2024 Legislative Session. It was introduced by Senator Jason Howell, R-Murray, and had no co-sponsors. It was recently passed (20-16) in the Senate and will now go to the House for a review and vote. The bill was originally written to move the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources away from the Tourism Cabinet and place them under the Agriculture Commission. Having an extremely low bill number, it was clearly a bill of importance to Senate leadership. It was not introduced until Feb. 28, 2024, leaving very little time for anyone to provide input. Since that time, the bill has been amended to also move the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission under the Department of Agriculture as well and was retitled to an agriculture bill.

In order for a hierarchy to work, all parties must have the same philosophy and mission. You can’t have a leader that doesn’t believe in their mission, and you can’t expect followers to perform when they don’t trust in their leadership. SB3 creates that exact scenario.

Dan Douglas, Frankfort

Fringe theories

Having published Robert Adams’ letter (“American Last”) on March 7th, no one accuse the Herald-Leader of silencing the farthest fringes of the far right, even in its absurd, unsubstantiated, and conspiratorial tones. Among other things, Adams fears the “invasion from degenerates pouring in” and asserted that after Ukraine loses the war, Zelensky “will head to Switzerland with his cut of the loot.”

If it were not for the cowardice of Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., (because of his fear of a disgraced ex-president) the bipartisan bill would pass overwhelmingly with Democratic and Republican support and be signed by the president. Anyone who thinks Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would sneak off to Switzerland “with his cut of the loot” understands the true Ukrainian spirit even less than he understands the true American one.

Milton Reigelman, Danville

Housing discrimination

Douglass Boulevard Christian Church* opposes Kentucky House Bill 18, allowing landlords to discriminate based on a renter’s source of income. This is clearly discriminatory against low-income populations and individuals with disabilities who may rely on government subsidies for housing. This interference in local governments’ prohibiting discrimination puts our most vulnerable fellow citizens in greater jeopardy of becoming homeless.

As a congregation striving to follow the example of Jesus Christ, we fervently protest the passage of House Bill 18, as it risks the lives and wellbeing of those who are most in need of decent housing. We ask others to join in our protest by voting out of office those who have turned their backs on the very individuals that Jesus asked us to serve.

We also call on Kentuckians to observe Good Friday, March 29, as a day of prayer, fasting and repentance, especially for our legislature.

Derek Penwell, Senior Pastor

Ruth Ann Matthews, Board Chair

David S. Sprawls, Elders’ Chair

*DBCC is an open and affirming Christian community in Louisville that stands for justice, equity and inclusion by ministering to needs and inviting people into community, so that all persons may experience with us spiritual growth in Christ.

Compiled by Liz Carey