Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
Listen up, Big Blue Nation. Mitch Barnhart has something to say. The UK AD just posted a lengthy letter to fans of the Wildcats over on the school’s official website to discuss the status of the program.
Here, have an excerpt:
At the University of Kentucky Athletics Department, our players, coaches and staff are already setting goals and preparing for what we believe will be a great 2012-13, and that’s healthy. However, as we enter a couple of short summer months, I want to encourage us all to pause for a moment and reflect on what has been accomplished over the past year.
Of course, the indelible moment from 2011-12 is the national championship John Calipari and our men’s basketball team brought home. From the moment I arrived in Lexington 10 years ago, I have wondered what it would be like to be a part of winning this school’s eighth title. After experiencing this remarkable season and the celebration that followed it in New Orleans and back in the Bluegrass, I can attest that it exceeded my expectations, but not because of how it made me feel, at least not directly. Seeing the hard work and sacrifice of a supremely talented group of young people rewarded with the sport’s ultimate prize is such a powerful lesson for all of us. Then, witnessing the joy it brought to the entire Big Blue Nation made it all that much more special. I hope you will look back on those moments as a reminder of the reasons why we came to love sports in the first place.
The letter is Mitch’s recap of the outstanding year Kentucky had in all sports across the board.
Mitch asks fans to be thankful for what we have, and to look forward to the future of UK.
[powered by WordPress.]
Bill Keightley Report : Never to be forgotten.
49 queries. 0.883 seconds
June 13th, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Oh course everyone is thankful for #8. However, football pays the bills. Even at UK.
June 13th, 2012 at 4:05 pm
Less than half a paragraph about football, and that about one player in one game, about sums up Mitch’s value of football. Apparently tennis is more important to him.
No wonder UK strives for mediocrity in football, and I say this as a football season ticket holder!
June 13th, 2012 at 4:08 pm
Letter to Mitch:
Go hire a real football coach!
Thank You,
M.T. Stands
Class of 2012
June 13th, 2012 at 4:11 pm
Oh Mitch, one other thing.
It would help if you didn’t look so much like Pee Wee Herman.
….. or maybe if Joker didn’t coach like Pee Wee Herman.
OK. so, that’s two things.
June 13th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Mr. Barnhart,
Hire Jim Tressel for our next coach…
Thanks,
BBN
June 13th, 2012 at 4:34 pm
Dear #’s 1-5
Joker is a good coach, lets give him a chance to prove himself. As for Mitch, it is obvious that he is trying to make strides in the football department (talking to you 2) since he has stated SEVERAL times that he wants to have a mass renovation of the football facilities. Come on guys, where is the patience?
Thanks,
Common Sense
June 13th, 2012 at 4:48 pm
#6 when you know you know… Its time to move on Joker could coach for Louisville or maybe even EKU one day just not at Kentucky in the SEC. We need a guy that can change the environment of just beating Vandy and being competitive going to Music City bowls to contending for SEC titles and BCS games. Why should we be patient with Joker? So we lose out on a chance to get a football guy like Tressel? I don’t think so if we can get him we would be stupid. Thats like trading a beat up junker for a brand new car. We took a chance with Joker it didn’t work. We took a chance with Billy G it didn’t work. We took a risk with Cal and has worked out. We should take a chance with Tressel take the bowl bane and whatever else, because with Joker we weren’t going to Bowl games any way… Its common sense Tressel>Joker recruiting and coaching
June 13th, 2012 at 4:50 pm
I don’t know if we would have a chance at Tressel, but anything is better than what we got…
June 13th, 2012 at 4:54 pm
#6 That’s propaganda. I remember the exact same kind of talk coming from the athletic department (before Mitch) about how the Nutter Field House was an absolute necessity if UK football was going to be competitive in the SEC.
June 13th, 2012 at 4:58 pm
“We took a chance with Joker, it didn’t work”
When did it not work? He’s been HC for two seasons with records of 6-7 and 5-7 which is better than our 4 previous coaches except Mumme (and that really didn’t work). I understand he had the worst Offense last season but have you forgot what he lost prior to the season? Randall Cobb. So now Joker has to find a play maker, Josh Clemons showed some flash in the first few games, oh but he blew his ACL early in the season. Well what about that WR we had coming in that I kept hearing about, Daryl Collins, oh he blew his ACL before the season started. We couldn’t find a legitimate QB last season and the O-line didn’t help. So I don’t know what you expected that Offense to do. However we STILL won 5 games including snapping the streak and a strong performance against UGA. Yes we will not win a lot this year because we are YOUNG. But man we will be good in 2 years, but that doesn’t matter cuz Joker will get fired cuz UK fans have no patience. Give the guy a chance.
June 13th, 2012 at 5:00 pm
Dear #6,
You’re an idiot. Joker has had plenty of time to prove himself. He sucked as an offensive coordinator and he sucks as a head coach. It’s time to move on. You’ll be on board when we struggle to win 4 games this year.
June 13th, 2012 at 5:08 pm
I just researched the penalty is he can’t coach for 5 years so he resigned 2010 so it would be 2015 before he could coach. Maybe we do what Akron is doing with him now until that bane is lifted. So we stick with Joker this year and next his contract is over then. Resign him till the day Tressel can take over. Or go after Fulmer?
June 13th, 2012 at 5:09 pm
9
It was built in 93′ and considering we have been to 8 of our 15 bowls since its resurrection, I don’t see how it has hurt. From 1881 – 1992 we went to 7 bowls and from 1993 – present we have gone to 8.
June 13th, 2012 at 5:10 pm
2016 before Tressel can coach
June 13th, 2012 at 5:12 pm
11. We should win 3, but should and do are two totally different things. Maybe we get lucky somewhere down the road…
June 13th, 2012 at 5:15 pm
USA TODAY states that Tressel will be out of coaching until 2017 unless the school can present a case to the NCAA.
June 13th, 2012 at 5:19 pm
#13 More propaganda. Kentucky hasn’t had a winning record in the SEC since the 1977, so I stand by my comment. As for bowls, there are currently 35 (70 teams) and there are 120 D-1 football teams. More teams go to bowls than don’t go to bowls. Get your head out of your…..
June 13th, 2012 at 5:34 pm
Good time to toot your own horn. He earned it, u know except when it comes to the UK Football apocalypse.
June 13th, 2012 at 5:35 pm
Yes more teams go to bowls than don’t, which is why I stand by my comment. Yes it is easier to get into a bowl within the last 20 years but considering our records prior to 93′ we didn’t have a chance to go to a bowl anyways. So in the first 60 or so years of UK football we went to 7 bowls and have gone to 8 since 93. When the rest of the SEC is upgrading their facilities routinely, they create an enormous advantage.
June 13th, 2012 at 5:37 pm
18
Mitch has done better with this UK football program in his 10 years than any other previous AD.
June 13th, 2012 at 6:08 pm
What self-serving BS! First it detracts attention away from the abomination we call UK football which he has allowed to collapse; and it pats himself on the back for Calipari’s success which Barnhart and Todd did everything in their power to prevent. Getting rid of Barnhart would be the greatest thing that could happen to UK sports.
June 13th, 2012 at 6:18 pm
# 20,,,,please,,,give us a break. Patience is gone. Team is headed in the wrong direction. If you love mediocrity,,,stick with joker. Fact is,,,you will have to be able to recruit the four star guys in numbers to compete in the SEC. You want to see how its done,,,go to Tuscaloosa and watch a Bama game. Light years ahead of our program.
June 13th, 2012 at 7:19 pm
21. You are quite right, sir
June 13th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
I think we would all agree that the football program is headed in the wrong direction, but that has less to do with Barnhart and Joker than it does with the systemic problems of a) lack of facilities; and b) competing in the SEC. The reality is UK is what UK is…a football program that will go roughly .500 every year, have the occasional peaks and valleys, and it doesn’t matter if God himself is the head coach. I would encourage folks to give Barnhart credit where it is due-and it is due.
June 13th, 2012 at 9:42 pm
# 24,,,,I am sorry,,,,I disagree. I have seen a poor coach take highly rated players and make a mediocre team out of them. ( Florida) I have seen the opposite also. Get the right coach in Lexington and it will make all the difference in the world. Do you honestly think someone like Urban Meyer or Nick Saban or Jon Gruden would not be very successful in Lexington ????
June 14th, 2012 at 7:58 am
I did not renew my season tickets this year. Just could not justify the high cost of six tickets and a ppass that you get in return for the current quality of product that we’re getting on the field. That’s not a complaint, it’s just a reality. I’m sure I’ll probably make it to a game this year, but the tickets will be bought outside Commonwealth stadium, for less than face, and less the K Fund surcharges. At that deflated price point, I’ll feel better about the price/quality ratio, and the family and I will be able to enjoy a few overpriced hot dogs and cold drinks with all of the elbow room we want in a half filled stadium. We may get our teeth kicked in on the field, but I will at least get to see a high quality, Championship competing team play at Commonwealth Stadium. I’ll just be wishing they were wearing blue and white.
June 14th, 2012 at 8:15 am
Well said # 26. Boycott UK football. We are fans but we are also consumers and the product UK is putting on the field for the money they charge is not worth it.