You can't tell me race didn't play a factor when I would overhear people say things like, "I can't wait until next year when we finally get rid of this boy, and hire a good young white coach like Billy D."

 

Or how about things like, "Those negros are fine as players and assistants, but they ain't got the smarts to be in charge of a program like Kentucky"

 

Nope, nothing at all racist about that....:ohbrother: :banghead:

 

And I'm not denying pockets of racism that exist & that with a small portion of the fan base didn't like Tubby because he was black. I'm saying the fact that he didn't win to the degree that fans expect played a far, far, far greater role.

And let me be clear, I'm not saying all UK fans are racist, and I acknowledge that Kentucky isn't the only school with a bunch of racist fans. The fact remains that it bother a huge part of the fan base that their head coach was a black man.

And I'm not denying pockets of racism that exist & that with a small portion of the fan base didn't like Tubby because he was black. I'm saying the fact that he didn't win to the degree that fans expect played a far, far, far greater role.

 

And as LRCW correctly pointed out, it began right away, well before the degree of winning started to decline...

People were saying Tubby won with Rick's team right after the championship. They had no excuse to sour on Tubby, other than he was black.

 

And again, I disagree with that argument, but it's not an argument that is entirely invalid.

 

Do you think if Tubby had gone to 3 Final Fours in 6 years that people would have been calling for him to leave? I don't.

And let me be clear, I'm not saying all UK fans are racist, and I acknowledge that Kentucky isn't the only school with a bunch of racist fans. The fact remains that it bother a huge part of the fan base that their head coach was a black man.

 

The bolded is where we disagree. It no doubt bothered people. I just think it's a significantly smaller portion.

People were saying Tubby won with Rick's team right after the championship. They had no excuse to sour on Tubby, other than he was black.

 

Sure there was a lot of that. But don't dismiss the godlike worship and strong adoration people had for Rick. People love to find chinks in anyone's armor. From this example to people saying Cal can't coach he just rolls out a basketball and recruits, Phil Jackson only winning 1 coach of the year award, Gene Chizik owing all of his success to Tommy Tubberville and Cam Newton, etc.

And as LRCW correctly pointed out, it began right away, well before the degree of winning started to decline...

 

It did begin right away, but why does that make people racist? UNC fans did the same thing with Matt Doherty.

 

The argument that a new coach wins with the old coach's players did not originate with UK fans & Tubby Smith. Sometimes I agree with the argument & sometimes I don't.

It did begin right away, but why does that make people racist? UNC fans did the same thing with Matt Doherty.

 

The argument that a new coach wins with the old coach's players did not originate with UK fans & Tubby Smith. Sometimes I agree with the argument & sometimes I don't.

 

Matt Doherty never even made a Sweet Sixteen with Carolina, let alone won a title his first season....How are the two remotely comparable?

All being part of the University of Kentucky basketball team. Like I asked before, how many would have let either date their daughter?

 

To the first sentence...it doesn't change the argument that some of the most popular players in UK history are black.

 

To your second sentence...I have no idea, but I'm going to be wary of any young man who wants to date my daughter.

Matt Doherty never even made a Sweet Sixteen with Carolina, let alone won a title his first season....How are the two remotely comparable?

No, but his predecessor is a decent example. Bill Guthredge led UNC to two Final Fours in three seasons but people wanted him out the door in no time. Talk about inheriting a loaded team.

Matt Doherty never even made a Sweet Sixteen with Carolina, let alone won a title his first season....How are the two remotely comparable?

 

Carolina fans were singing his praises that first season, up until they exited early in the tournament that year. I heard several make the same comments about him that were made about Tubby. Then when the wheels fell off in years 2 & 3, they were all saying it.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't recall Coach Hall getting hate mail or death threats.

 

He got plenty of hate mail. Joe went to 3 FF in 13 years, and people were calling for his head.

 

I don't think he got any death threats.

 

I will will agree with you that the is an element of people who didn't like him because he was black, but that is far from the majority. Everyone I know who wanted him gone were dissatisfied with performance and the direction of the program.

And if I were a D1 coach, coming out of high school, I'd have thought McCreary's Aaron Watts was a better collegiate prospect than Jarrod Polson purely from the standpoint of evaluating their basketball talent.

 

I don't think that Polson's a very good example. He's a kid who was willing to walk on with no guarantee of ever being anything more than the kid who was an ornament on the bench and boosted the team GPA.

 

 

I believe Watts went to college for baseball. Not sure where he is or what he is doing now.

 

People like seeing Polson in the game. They mention his heart and his ability to stabilize the team even though he is a liability on defense. Mentioning him makes more sense than any of the other homegrown bench players IMO. He gets the most time out of all of them.

If skipping classes is trouble in college, I'm a hell raiser.

 

Understand why he was disciplined, even if that's what it was, because you don't want to set that precedence with your athletes, even though it's something that tons of normal students do all the time. Definitely isn't what comes to mind when I hear "indefinite suspension" like his was termed though.

 

It was only for a game or two. I think he was testing the new coach and learned that the new coach wasn't playing around.

He got plenty of hate mail. Joe went to 3 FF in 13 years, and people were calling for his head.

 

I don't think he got any death threats.

 

I will will agree with you that the is an element of people who didn't like him because he was black, but that is far from the majority. Everyone I know who wanted him gone were dissatisfied with performance and the direction of the program.

 

That element provides evidence that he wasn't fully appreciated because he was black. There are plenty of UK fans who could not stand Tubby and even UK for hiring Tubby. I agree with LRCW that he'd have been given more of a pass had he been white.