I am very late to this party, but I might as well pile on. Last night, SI.com's Jeff Pearlman sent this tweet:
I don't think this is particularly ambiguous -- clearly, Pearlman doesn't like John Calipari, and I think the most passionate Kentucky fan can appreciate that Coach Cal is a bit of an acquired taste. Not everyone (particularly fans of opposing teams or rivals) is going to appreciate the way he does his job, even if almost everyone can appreciate his results.
Pearlman is, or was, a writer for Sports Illustrated at SI.com, although his archive suggests he hasn't written much for them lately. I suppose it was Kentucky's highlight-reel-filled victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks last night that prompted this outburst.
Lest you think this is something new for Pearlman, let me disabuse you of that notion right now. Pearlman has a bit of a history taking shots at Kentucky on his blog. For example, here is a blog post from back in February of 2010:
If one thing seems obvious, it’s that [former Tennessee head football coach Lane] Kiffin is just another in he long line of Calipari-esque slime-balls who’ll do anything to better his own standing. Just look at his approach and antics at Tennessee this past year, when he talked much trash, mocked opponents, then, when a better offer came along, bolted.
Don't sweat giving Pearlman hits. It looks like to me like any hits he gets from us might be one of the few, and his blog is really not commercial at all.
Then, there is this, from another post:
Truth is, a coach serves a school not as a teacher, but as a symbol of its overall priorities. When, two years back, the University of Kentucky brought in John Calipari and his one-year-and-off-to-the-NBA mantra, for example, it said to the nation that its sports mission was not personal development or the merging of academic-athletic goals, but to win, to win big and to win immediately.
You can’t have it both ways. If you want to run a professional program, which UK does, admit it and treat your athletes for what they are: Future pros stopping by for a week.
You get the idea. Not a fan of John Calipari. Not a fan of modern college basketball. Not a fan of the University of Kentucky.
But let's give Pearlman credit -- he is an equal-opportunity coach-and-program basher, taking shots at every big-name college basketball school in America, including Duke, Kansas, Ohio St., and presumably others. And Pearlman didn't spare Rick Pitino, either, writing this rather scathing critique of Pitino's 15 seconds of shame. So lest you think Pearlman is just picking on Cal, don't. He appears to hold similar opinions of every coach and college program that isn't Delaware or a struggling mid major.
So the question is, would Pearlman really deny his child an education just because he might have to associate with a man he does not like (and apparently, doesn't even know)? He straightforwardly informs us that he would.
I wonder how Pearlman's kids, if he had any, would feel about their father turning down a completely free college education on their behalf rather than taking a chance that they might actually learn how to play basketball well enough to make millions in the NBA, and have an opportunity, either immediate or post-professional, to earn a college degree from a respected institution? And I wonder if it even occurred to Pearlman, should he actually care, that most of Calipari's charges at UK have done very well academically for the time they have spent here?
Yeah, Pearlman has a real sensible position ... that is, if you're talking about a Hacidic Jew sending his son to be a member of al-Qa'ida rather than to the University of Kentucky.
Does that seem extreme? Not to me. Some opinions are so bizarre and ill-informed that only the most absurd simile will do.
0 recs | 28 comments
Yea...
That would be like me saying I don’t like the manager of the pizza place on the corner and I tell my kids I would rather them starve than eat there.
phatcatfan - January 18, 2012 via mobile
Considering Cal sends like 50% of his kids
to their absolute dream job after only 1or 2 years of college, I’d send my kid to UK in a second! I’m struggling to find mine after 5 years in college, 2 degrees, and 12 years of on-the-job experience.
This is the reality of basketball in 2012. In the 80’s you could expect all but the truly transcendent of players to stay 4 years. Times have changed. You can’t go back home, no matter how hard you try.
But really, it was never about making the Karl Malones and Michael Jordans of the world into math whizzes or poets or really awesome social workers…It was always about the big NBA paycheck, now it just comes sooner to some players.
cat stevie - January 18, 2012
He also tweeted ignorantly that the "one and done" players skip the 2nd semester
I kindly referred him to the APR. Only Orton didn’t finish classes.
He also told me I didn’t know how to read. He is a bit tender this one.
btcoop71 - January 18, 2012
I guess our winning it all is really going to stick in his craw isn't it?
Why do we continue to draw out the ignorant and obtuse in the world?
Greg Alan Edwards - January 18, 2012
He also has shown in his latest tweets that he has an aversion to the south as a whole
I’m done giving this attention whore attention.
btcoop71 - January 18, 2012
You know, this South-bashing is really starting to give me a case of
the red-backside…..so to speak. Why must we be ignorant, barefoot, shirtless clods who not only have no education, but, wouldn’t know what to do with one if we indeed had it?
It seems like every sportswriter who sees themselves as a holier than thou, classicly educated opinion maker has it in for everyone who lives near or below the Mason-Dixon line.
Greg Alan Edwards - January 18, 2012
You're just a bunch of Yankees to me
J/k, my dad, or as this ignorant, barefooted, nearly 50 year old says, my daddy grew up in south Mississippi and said everything north of Memphis was new jersey…of course we moved to Lexington when I was 7 and they still live there….it is the south.
memphis wildcat - January 19, 2012
well, I can hit the Tenn. state line with a rock from my backyard, so
I just kind of assume most days……lol
Greg Alan Edwards - January 19, 2012
me too
I went and got one of those fancy Midwestern educations over which Pearlman probably drools. There are hillbillies in every state.
doldham - January 19, 2012
I don't identify with the South.
Appalachia and the South are different entities to me. What’s more, I never think of Kentucky as the South. So bashing the South has never bothered me. I do it all the time! I’m just kidding, of course. The only bashing I condone is bashing the DEEP South. But that goes without saying.
One of my golfing buddies here in the DC area is from Indiana, and from time to time he expresses a genuine surprise that I’m from Kentucky. “You really don’t seem like someone from Kentucky,” he’ll say, intending a compliment I’m sure. I tell him that he, on the other hand, seems exactly like someone from Indiana. I’m not sure he ever understands. In the end, we all have someone to bash. But I would avoid the messy generalizations and focus on bashing the individuals who deserve the spotlight, such as Mr. Pearlman here.
Wheatgerm - January 19, 2012
Does he work for the NCAA or just getting ready to?
BCinVA - January 18, 2012 via mobile
How is it
That every Cal basher thinks he is responsible for the current one and done rule? Pearlman is as relevant and current as a rotary dial phone.
blupride - January 18, 2012
Heh.
+1 for the great anachronistic reference. :-)
Glenn Logan - January 18, 2012
I'd rather my child be illiterate than read Jeff Pearlman.
kywineman - January 18, 2012
Now that's a true Kentuckian talking - you betcha
Had to use spell check on kentuckian:)
KansasUKCat - January 19, 2012
If only Hank Williams Jr.
.. had used your simile..
we would still be hearing him before Monday Night Football. Nicely said Glenn.
And the South Bashers who watched Deliverance and “O’ Brother…” and figures they have it all figured out reminds me of the opening of the IBM plant in Lexington oh so many years ago. They brought the core staff down from Poughkeepsie NY, and had to promise that they would be allowed to transfer back to NY in three years, and IBM promised to buy back their houses in Lexington, and pay for the move both ways, etc., etc. Well at the end of the 3 and 5 year terms all these urbane upper state New Yorkers were in love with Lexington, the people (us), and were fans of Kentucky basketball. And they didn’t want to go back North. (Well there may have been one or two exceptions. LOL)
Just be thankful he doesn’t live among us (yes I know I live a long way away, but Lexington is still where I am from. :-) )
blenheim bard - January 18, 2012
There were two exceptions that wanted the culture of going back to the northeast.
A Mr. and Mrs. Pitino I believe.
JackBluto - January 19, 2012
what if google or ibm came courting a to be sophmore?
granted, it may not happen often, but what if a major corporate entity came to campus looking to hire certain individuals for a major program that they were putting forth. now, they were willing to pay handsomely for the right talent and they would provide an opportunity for the student to finish their education. all colleges in this country have students who would jump at this chance. UK did not create the opportunity for the one and done. i do not care for it. however, when in rome, if the shoe fits, coach cal is pushing all of the right buttons afforded him. so why not?
pa. big blue lover - January 19, 2012
Remember, Bill Gates? He was one-n-done.
Never finished college. Dropped out of Harvard early in his sophomore year to start a software company that eventually became successful, I forget the name. ’;-)
TeamWeaver - January 19, 2012
It happens more than you would think.
Beyond the stories of people like Bill Gates and other who start their own companies, quite a few programmers at game companies and tech startups never finished college, some are even recruited straight out of high school.
Lewke - January 19, 2012
It's clear, Pearlman never had a child who was a 5-star athlete.
TeamWeaver - January 19, 2012
Heh.
Indeed. Pearlman was rather miffed by the response he got and wrote a long screed on his blog proclaiming himself unhappy with virtually all college sports programs (except, apparently, Delaware, where he went), that he thinks winning is overrated, and that fame is undesirable.
All those are fine opinions, I guess. None of them explain his outburst. In the end, the guy is just one more in a long line of slightly-known idiots who spat into the wind, and then acted all hurt and surprised when it blew back in his face.
Glenn Logan - January 19, 2012
Pearlman?
Isn’t he the Food and Fashion writer for the Nashville Tennessean?
BlueCollarMan - January 19, 2012
At first I thought...
.
… well, that sucks. If I remember, he was a pretty big guy when he played the lead role in ‘The Beast’. Maybe a little obsessed with poetry, but…
But then I went to his website and saw his picture. Suddenly, I didn’t give a crap.
.
HSLex - January 19, 2012
Pearlman
Sons of Anarchy. LOL
Big Blue Daddy - January 19, 2012
I think it was his desire for attention, page views, Twitter traffic & followers, etc.
that prompted his outburst.
He’s taking the same tack as Colin Cowherd – enrage a large and vocal fanbase, and you will get attention. That attention keeps you relevant and makes you worth more to either 1) the company you work for, or 2) yourself, as a marketable product to those companies.
As you said, Pearlman hasn’t written much for SI lately. So he’s probably looking to get back into the writing game. This is, to be sure, the most cheap and underhanded way to do that. But it’s also the most effective. This Tweet is getting seemingly endless exposure on not just UK blogs, but college basketball blogs, and sports sites in general.
We are giving Pearlman what he wants.
mrmondaynite - January 19, 2012
If Pearlman's kids inherited his intellect...
I doubt they could get into college anyway (unless it was the University of Phoenix Correspondence School of Law and Hair Design).
UKCat - January 19, 2012
I thought they now required transcripts????.....lol
Greg Alan Edwards - January 19, 2012
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