it had to be - whether its over Oscar or not, he is butthurt with the Crafts over money in some form
Matt Doherty
- Thread starter KentuckyCat420
- Start date
Kelly Craft looked like a nutjob running for governor.
I never heard Cal say anything political as the coach at UK.
If you are talking about the kneeling thing that was player led as it was with other schools.
Sounds to me like the Crafts were forcing their ideology down Cal's throat not the other way around.
I could be wrong, but I don’t remember Cal being blatantly political unless we’re talking the kneeling thing, which by my recollection was player led.
I was born in 80, so I don’t remember much before Sutton, but to my recollection the only times I remember UK coaches getting involved in politics was Pitino introducing Bill Clinton for stump speech in 1996 (not seen as a big deal then because KY was a blue state until 2000 and Clinton carried the state that year. If that happened in 2024, 70 percent of the state would be displeased) and BCG went to some kind of dinner for Dick Cheney in 2008. I don’t remember Tubby ever getting political.
I agree that public figures would be wise to stay out of politics, especially if they have a minority leaning in their state (a Democrat in Kentucky or a Republican in California).
I don't like the idea of players or coaches getting into politics at all but it appears there was no basis for Cal saying no. Bottom line, there's more than a little smoke from the notion that he pissed off some big money donors and it coming back to haunt him and the university. I truly believe he thought he was bigger than the boosters, which is partly true, because he was still able to recruit well, which he has always done. But NIL changes all of that and now he needs that money more than ever. His recruiting is not bigger than NIL monies to the players and this may well have been the last big time recruiting class without fixing the NIL issues here. From what I've read, he put himself in the position of being in charge of NIL approval and made a bad decision concerning the Crafts as well as others, from what I hear. So basically, the rules changed and he had put himself and UK in a bad position at the worst time, with NIL rule changes.
Add to that, even he stated that he was going to go after more portal players, as he finally saw the need as the game had already begun to change and portal players became a big factor in adding the missing pieces and maturity to a championship level roster. But again, the business end of things here came unwound and he couldn't or wouldn't fix the damage he had done to relationships with big boosters. Mitch allowed it to happen the way it did, so he deserves blame as well but it also gave him leverage over Cal. I don't think this sat well with him.
I'd say the meeting between he and Cal was mostly about NIL and Mitch probably told Cal that he couldn't bail him out with the boosters, that he made the mess and it was on him to fix it. In some fashion, this is how we got out of buying out his contract. That was not coincidental and I don't believe Cal is stupid enough to risk $33 million to talk to another school. There was more going on that we don't know. Had to be!
Ultimately, Cal walked away from the buyout money and took a pay cut but his NIL worries were over at Ark.
We may never know all the details of how this played out the way it did but it was huge and UK getting out without the buyout was not luck nor stupidity. That's for sure. Somehow, some way, Mitch found $33 million plus in leverage. And we parted ways.
Add to that, even he stated that he was going to go after more portal players, as he finally saw the need as the game had already begun to change and portal players became a big factor in adding the missing pieces and maturity to a championship level roster. But again, the business end of things here came unwound and he couldn't or wouldn't fix the damage he had done to relationships with big boosters. Mitch allowed it to happen the way it did, so he deserves blame as well but it also gave him leverage over Cal. I don't think this sat well with him.
I'd say the meeting between he and Cal was mostly about NIL and Mitch probably told Cal that he couldn't bail him out with the boosters, that he made the mess and it was on him to fix it. In some fashion, this is how we got out of buying out his contract. That was not coincidental and I don't believe Cal is stupid enough to risk $33 million to talk to another school. There was more going on that we don't know. Had to be!
Ultimately, Cal walked away from the buyout money and took a pay cut but his NIL worries were over at Ark.
We may never know all the details of how this played out the way it did but it was huge and UK getting out without the buyout was not luck nor stupidity. That's for sure. Somehow, some way, Mitch found $33 million plus in leverage. And we parted ways.
Thanks for sharing. I didn’t remember that, but also wasn’t living close to Lex at the time.
I saw Beshear in the headline and didn’t even think about daddy Beshear. Lol.
Wasn't the player old enough to vote? Should have been his decision. But Calipari publicly took a political (social?) stance with all the players when they took a knee. I know of a lot of people who swore off U.K. while Cal was there after that.
This is a good point.
I would like players to not represent political candidates while representing the state university AND I would like players to not take a knee while representing the state university.
Not a fan of either of those things while representing a state university that should have a wide array of political differences in thought.
Wouldn't that expose Doherty to some kind of litigation if not true? Defamation or something? IDK...not an attorney. Is he that dumb? How could he know any more than us?
Edit: btw f'k politics. If Oscar was asked to do this, then good on him for refusing.
Edit: btw f'k politics. If Oscar was asked to do this, then good on him for refusing.
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I would prefer coaches and players not to endorse candidates because someone is always going to be mad but also because I think celebrity endorsements are the absolute last reason I would ever vote for anyone. The only exception if it's a celebrity I really don't like it might push me one way if I was on the fence.
The thing is Cal destroyed his relationship with ALL the boosters, not just the Crafts. His job performance brought him down and the contempt he had for them. Politics had nothing to do with that. If Cal was going to Final Fours and winning SEC titles the support would have been there regardless of politics.
The thing is Cal destroyed his relationship with ALL the boosters, not just the Crafts. His job performance brought him down and the contempt he had for them. Politics had nothing to do with that. If Cal was going to Final Fours and winning SEC titles the support would have been there regardless of politics.
