For the thousandth time Mitch had nothing to do with neglect in the football program. This is the the most misinformed criticism ever perpetrated on UK athletics.
The truth is donors made the southern schools football programs a tradition and successful to the point of the SEC becoming the greatest college football conference in the country. UK fell far behind going back to the early 60s when Charlie Bradshaw was hired in 1962 instead of a young Jerry Claiborne.
Athletic director ineptness and the administrations neglect due to donor non support (except for the Nutter Center) brought us to where Mark Stoops is today.
This is not Mitch Barnhart's fault, If a number of you feel otherwise, you are misinformed or have developed opinions that are generally baseless.
Yes, I think some fans are misinformed, and I think you belong to that group.
Much too long a list of malfeasance for me to go into right now, and a lot of fans are going to hate you for getting me to write a book again, probably not right now though.
Simple question, if mitch couldn't do anything why are we paying him all these bucks when the most incompetent AD around should have recognized well over a decade ago that football IS the money cow. Isn't he the one being paid to advise UK on how to invest their athletics money? Speaking of donars, did you read any of the LONG threads on here where numerous football fans that WANTED to donate to a designated football project swore they would never donate a dime as long as it went to mitch's KFund to spend? Didn't you notice the "recruiting room" which was in use for over a decade, a disgrace, and he didn't spend ONE DIME to improve it, but he did spend $156,000 to hang some pictures on a wall somewhere, couldn't you have put a ceiling in that corner of the WAREHOUSE, carpet on the floor, bought some chairs and got rid of the FOLDING projector screen with that money------if you didn't want to show the "microwave fans" who was in charge. Incredible things went on, recruiting budgets more for four or five basketball players than for TWENTY FIVE football recruits, about the same operating budget for EIGHTY FIVE football players (plus MUCH more coaches, medical, and support equipment) than for 13 basketball players.
As stated, even more incredible things were going on, when you consider the FACT that the football program, at the bottom of the barrel, was bringing in THREE times what the best bb program in the nation was-------which had the BEST of everything, coaches, tradition, attendance, Midnight Madness (which cost about the same as the football recruiting budget), AND fans-------the same fans that would have been supporting football if they had been given anything to support.
What AD truly concerned with his athletic department would work a deal that obligated his department to repay not just the $120,000,000 for CW improvements but an extra $100,000,000 for academia------the same academia that refused to loan the few million WITH INTEREST to install the TWO YEARS overdue video and sound systems-------that mitch couldn't put money aside for in 12 years but was able to immediately replace the loan in a day or so. The same holier than thou group that kicked Tubman out of school when he would still be on the team at UL or any other SEC school we play------mainly because they thought they "might" be sued if he was completely nuts after seeing what it cost him and did it again------what ever happened to doing the right thing? Reminds me of Thug U's buying their way out of all the dirty laundry they should have had coming out in the open. Their AD resigned, after saying athletes are treated like everyone else on campus, LOL, tell Dooley and his eight thugs that.
What about CBC and his contract written on toilet paper, which cost UK another million or two in his buyout.
I will give him credit for ONE thing, incredibly lucky to get Cal (two years late) AND Stoops, IMO, even if Stoops gets fired he will leave talent we could only dream of before, a real coach won't laugh at an offer from UK now. But this is all because of the unbelievable influx of money, primarily from FOOTBALL (other SEC teams that did invest), the $30M from the auxiliary rights or whatever, the earlier TV contract, a $5,000,000 bonus MAINLY for football (TV and Bowls) which evolved into the SEC network, (none of the $5M that I know of went to football) with megamillions from the new deal (again from OTHER SEC teams football), what to do with all that money? Why, borrow the money for CW and give away a hundred mill or so of that------NOT that I am against that deal, I would hate to be like a city college.
Now that UK has FINALLY invested SOME of their money into football, shazam, the fans (that wouldn't donate a cent before) suddenly donated $45,000,000 for the football center-------like the one basketball has had for a decade. See how that works?
BUT the FACT remains mitch cost UK MILLIONS by his penny wise pound foolish football policies, AND he still is, read Ugoff's post after yours, a lot of that 15% lag in ticket sales (when we have arguably the best talent to watch EVER in history) is made up of long time devoted fans like him that still hold a grudge against mitch.
And the latest fiasco, two CITY SCHOOLS within a hundred miles legally paying their players almost twice as much as we do, why even Thug U can match them even though they are in the SEC. LOL. A measly million dollars is going to cost us dearly in our ability to compete in the SEC before it is over with, you would think Stoops would realize if he invested a million a year to buy EVERY athlete equal pay as the city schools he would probably make a lot of money in the long run, even if he had to go to Southern Cal, Notre Dame, or some football factory. Geez, I think that million would be ALMOST as good an investment as Thug U's couple million not to have all their dirty laundry aired in public by settling (buying out) their lawsuit.
By the way, the HUGE increase in football money has happened in the last ten years, while mitch was fiddling.
No, that isn't all, but I am tired of it, aren't you?
PS, how is that for being shallow, how about arguing with some of the FACTS in my post.
