The Dynasty Defenders Strike Back

by:Matt Jones06/08/06

Well the big news in the UK basketball world recently has been the decision by the Kentucky Kernel (the student newspaper at UK that is best known for being not known at all) to deny the group organized by the anti-Tubby Dynasty Defenders’ web site from placing an advertisement in its newspaper denouncing Tubby and asking that he be fired. The newspaper said that this was a “business decision” but did not elaborate on how or why it made this determination.

This story raises a lot of interesting questions in my eyes, ranging from whether the decision to restrict an ad based on its message was a sound one for the newspaper to the decision by a group of fans to take out an advertisement that will have the ultimate effect of making the fanbase as a whole look bad. What most upsets me about this movement is that it makes the national media (who love to make rabid fans of a team look silly) focus on the fact that “Tubby is under fire” from the Kentucky fan base….and they use this story to promote that agenda. When in all actuality, this “movement” is really a coordinated effort by a group (likely less than 50) that puts all its energy into trying to bring a coach down that they dont like, for whatever reason.

I posted on here a while back that I legitimately believed that there was a chance that Tubby would be gone very soon, based on his own decision. If that happens, it is events like this that will be a spur to that decision. What these folks dont see is that the WORST thing that can be done to Kentucky’s national image is to be seen forcing out a successful and well-liked coach for reasons that are deemed to be unrelated to basketball performance. I think most objective viewers of Kentucky basketball believe Tubby to be a great coach and if he is forced out, the reputation of the school and our fan base suffers. If folks really wanted to “defend the dynasty,” they would realize this fact and take a step back and consider the consequences of their actions.

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