August 29, 201313 yr I live in far western Kentucky. Far away from the epicenter of Big Blue basketball. I grew up in a great neighborhood playing basketball at friend's house whose father I got to know pretty well. This guy was a great dad who supported his kids in all their endeavors and had time to come out and play some ball with us kids...just an all around great guy. Well, this man has been ill for awhile and it got to the point this last week that the family was called in for his last few moments. While the family was gathered around his hospital bed, the phone rang. one of the family members answered it, and the caller wanted to know if he had gotten the right room...to which the family member answered that he had. The caller wanted to speak to the man who was dying so then the family member wanted to know who waqs calling...you've probably figured it out by now...the caller said, "This is John Calipari." My friend had made it known that he would really like to speak to Coach Cal before he died, and Coach Cal so graciously made that happen. My respect for John Calipari just went through the roof. Just days after that phone call, my friend passed away.
August 29, 201313 yr Love what Calipari has done for UK, he's a great ambassador for the University, and he may be a great man as evidence in this story. But from some of the things I've heard about him from people close to the program say its like night and day what he's like when the cameras are on him and off. Don't blame him because the job will make you crazy, but it's interesting to hear what he's really like day in and day out.
August 29, 201313 yr Love what Calipari has done for UK, he's a great ambassador for the University, and he may be a great man as evidence in this story. But from some of the things I've heard about him from people close to the program say its like night and day what he's like when the cameras are on him and off. Don't blame him because the job will make you crazy, but it's interesting to hear what he's really like day in and day out. Not sure I get what you're saying. The cameras weren't on him when he called this gentleman. He supposed to be a jerk off camera or something?
August 29, 201313 yr Not sure I get what you're saying. The cameras weren't on him when he called this gentleman. He supposed to be a jerk off camera or something? Like I said he may be a great man, and this story would go in line with that. But from what I've heard he's very egotistical and comes off as a jerk when the cameras are off. He knows exactly who he is, and doesn't mind letting the people around him know that as well.
August 29, 201313 yr Like I said he may be a great man, and this story would go in line with that. But from what I've heard he's very egotistical and comes off as a jerk when the cameras are off. He knows exactly who he is, and doesn't mind letting the people around him know that as well. Could be true. He knows how to play the game and it's easy to see he is at the highest point of his life right now. As long as he keeps winning and bringing in top 3 classes every year then he's going to be allowed to act like Denzel Washington in Training Day.
August 29, 201313 yr Could be true. He knows how to play the game and it's easy to see he is at the highest point of his life right now. As long as he keeps winning and bringing in top 3 classes every year then he's going to be allowed to act like Denzel Washington in Training Day. Winning cures a lot of ailments. Even BCG would have been tolerated if he was winning.
August 29, 201313 yr Winning cures a lot of ailments. Even BCG would have been tolerated if he was winning. Exactly. The stuff about him not being a great ambassador for the program, while true, was not the reason he was canned. BCG lost, plain & simple. His off-the-court behavior simply gave Barnhart ammunition.
August 29, 201313 yr Exactly. The stuff about him not being a great ambassador for the program, while true, was not the reason he was canned. BCG lost, plain & simple. His off-the-court behavior simply gave Barnhart ammunition. Same was true with Eddie Sutton. Eddie won some, but as the NCAA investigated, he led the team to implosion and a losing record. Of all his sins, that was the unforgivable one.
August 29, 201313 yr Like I said he may be a great man, and this story would go in line with that. But from what I've heard he's very egotistical and comes off as a jerk when the cameras are off. He knows exactly who he is, and doesn't mind letting the people around him know that as well. Not saying its good or bad, but I feel like this description would fit almost all high-major Division I basketball and football coaches.
August 29, 201313 yr Love what Calipari has done for UK, he's a great ambassador for the University, and he may be a great man as evidence in this story. But from some of the things I've heard about him from people close to the program say its like night and day what he's like when the cameras are on him and off. Don't blame him because the job will make you crazy, but it's interesting to hear what he's really like day in and day out. It is night and day. He's even cooler and more down to earth when the cameras are off.
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