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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – When he took the knee, John Calipari must have known what was going to happen.
He has lived in Kentucky, one of the reddest states in America, since 2009. In the November presidential election, Donald Trump garnered 62% of the vote in the state and won 118 of 120 counties – the only exceptions were the two largest, Jefferson and Fayette. , home to the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky, respectively. Jefferson may be the only county in the state that isn’t a predominantly British fan base, and even here the following Big Blue is considerable.
In other words, it stands to reason that the fans who passionately follow the Calipari team are extremely conservative Republicans. And conservative Republicans are overwhelmingly not in favor of athletes kneeling in protest during the national anthem – especially college athletes. And yet, Cal was joining his Kentucky players on one knee before the Wildcats played in Florida on Saturday, three days after the deadly insurgency in Washington, DC.
Kim Klement / USA TODAY Sports
“It’s just a peaceful way to protest and raise awareness … of things that have happened recently,” Kentucky center Olivier Sarr said this week.
Calipari said the players wanted him to join them, so he did. “I knelt with them because I support the guys,” he said, later saying it “probably wasn’t a great time” for the team to take a knee.
It was absolutely the time to make the statement. Risks and all. Perhaps it was the eternally combative Cal who had chosen a new fight – with his own constituency.
At that point, a coach whose approval rating had already plummeted after a 1-6 start to the season – the worst for Kentucky in more than a century – took even more on his shoulders. In the authoritarian world of college sports, some coaches have reportedly vetoed the idea. Others have reportedly tried to dissuade their players from making a statement at a busy time. Still others would have approved it but did not participate.
Cal joined them, putting him on a very short list of college coaches who took a knee during the national anthem before a game. Major sports programs are so terrified of hymn controversies that many of them don’t even have their players on the pitch or on the pitch when the “star-spangled banner” is played – a classic College Sports Inc. dodge. (Kentucky, in fact, has had their basketball team in the locker this season when the anthem is played in home games, according to The Courier-Journal in Louisville.)
Calipari went there, and his players liked it. “I think what was really powerful was that the coach was doing it with us,” Sarr said.
It took guts. Cal had to put into action his constant “players first” mantra involving something other than trying to recruit the next wave of talent.
Then came the hysteria. Kentucky blew the Gators away in their best performance of the season, and it barely registered thanks to the flashback. There was some support, of course, and not all the dissent was overdone. But part of the sentiment was equal and opposite to the usual fanatic love for Kentucky basketball.
John Root is the Sheriff of Laurel County, where Trump received more than 77% of the vote in November. He posted a video on Facebook with jailer Jamie Moseley in which they threw British basketball jerseys into a burning cylinder. “That’s what I think of the program, Coach, until you can get these guys under control and lead by example,” Root said on the video.
Mike Mitchell is the executive judge for Knox County, where Trump obtained 83% of the vote. He presented a resolution calling on the state to essentially defound the university. The introduction of the resolution read: “Call to action to denounce the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team and coaching staff for refusing to appear during the national anthem. of the United States of America. This action disrespects the veterans who served our country.
While the Commonwealth was furious, Kentucky played their next game on Tuesday night. The Wildcats were routed at home by Alabama, 85-65, falling to 4-7. It was Calipari’s worst loss at Rupp Arena, and the worst on the schedule since 1988. And now Cal is being criticized from all sides for everything – not winning, offending the Patriots, and, well, not winning.
Brad McClenny / The Gainesville Sun / USA Today Network
One thing to keep in mind with Calipari: The Registered Independent can be a political chameleon, depending on what suits their needs. There were photo ops with Bill Clinton and John Kerry, but also former ultra-conservative Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin. Long ago, he rubbed shoulders with donor Trump and Big Blue recall Joe Craft, namesake of the program’s opulent practice facility.
Regardless, he has always been a stubborn advocate for his players, especially black players. (Sometimes a facilitator.) Whether he is motivated by what he thinks is right or as a permanent recruiting position is subject to speculation. But as the anthem controversy continued to simmer Thursday, Cal’s all-caps tweet was consistent with who he was: “I AM WITH, FOR AND THROUGH MY PLAYERS. ALWAYS HAVE AND ALWAYS WILL BE! “
Some longtime Kentucky watchers believe fans’ reactions to the controversy and the loss are distinct – that many of them would still be furious with Calipari even if his team were 11-0. Others believe the knee spilled gasoline on a lit bonfire while losing. As one fan put it on a Kentucky fan forum Thursday, “It’s like when you’re in a bad relationship with someone and every little thing they do bothers you. That’s the Cal / fans relationship right now. “
Is the end of the relationship near? Maybe, but it would be financially prohibitive for the school to end the arrangement. In another classic from College Sports Inc., Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart gave then-60-year-old Calipari a so-called “lifetime contract” in 2019 – a 10-year contract with a salary. from $ 7.6 million to $ 8.6 million, with options to do even more. Cal had beaten his eyes at UCLA and Kentucky responded dramatically.
And this despite the fact that yields declined during Calipari’s British tenure. When he brought his unique recruiting philosophy to Kentucky and sold it as the way of the future, the rabid fan base envisioned Sabanic domination of the sport. This does not happen.
There was a national title, in 2012. The last Final Four dates back to 2015. Since then, the seasons have all tended to follow the same annoying pace: the Cats started terribly, then got back into shape late.
Kentucky fans, more than anyone, want to win every game. Giving them a seasonal bow that includes doses of misery early on is a tough sell. Each November and December, fans swear they’ve had enough of Cal’s formula – then are appeased by a substantial improvement later. But the gain hasn’t included playing the last weekend of the season for a long time, given the standards Calipari helped set in the first half of his tenure at Lexington.
There are slow starts, then there is the current debacle. The decisions of Calipari staff were roasted. His offense was called obsolete. But the crux of the matter hasn’t changed in years: Cal embraces a constantly packed roster of youngsters at a time when titles are won by more experienced teams. (As a longtime observer of the show said on Thursday, “Fans love the one-and-done as long as it goes to the Final Four. It’s been a while.”
“Getting old, staying old” is the current mantra in sport. But not in Lexington.
Being the Kentucky basketball coach is a great job, but a tough job. Since Adolph Rupp’s 42-year tenure ended in 1972, there have been six coaches with an average length of eight seasons. Calipari, in grade 12, survived the average.
Maybe the anthem controversy is the fight he needs to keep going. Choosing this battle in the middle of a losing season is a risky strategy, but also a demonstration of valid support for its players. Even though many fans of the show’s red state hated it.
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