Yesterday, an item in Jerry Tipton's weekly basketball notebook caught our eye. Tipton shared an email from a reader,
Jack Taylor, who complained that John Calipari promotes the UK basketball program TOO much and asks if UK's coach can just "SHUT UP for one day." Wait, what?
Taylor’s email suggested the unthinkable: there’s a limit on UK fans’ thirst for Kentucky basketball. In so many words, the retiree from central Kentucky said there should be an off-switch in the, ahem, offseason.
Taylor suggested that Calipari is “self-absorbed.” But maybe he’s merely a marketer with an excellent product with which to flex marketing muscles.
Tipton pairs Taylor's views with quotes from William Sutton, a professor of sports marketing at South Florida that used to work at UMass while Calipari was coach. For the most part, Sutton is spot on when he breaks down Cal's marketing prowess; however, this being a Tipton article, there's still a certain amount of derision throughout, including digs at Cal for mentioning how many players he's sent to the NBA, and his "Vision of the Program" series being a "manifesto" (although I went through and couldn't find that word in any of the three parts). You know, Tipton doing Tipton.
Honestly, the more I read it, the more I'm convinced "Jack Taylor" may be Jerry Tipton in disguise.
“This isn’t my father’s Kentucky,” Taylor said. “It’s just a new ballgame. ... I think the millennials, this is their Kentucky. But it’s not mine.”
Check out the post yourself to see if you agree.
[Kentucky.com]
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