One of the aspects of being successful is criticism of your methods. And every rung up the ladder you climb brings more, and oftentimes, harsher criticism.
Take John Calipari for example. Since he's been the head coach at Kentucky, I get people constantly coming up to be talking about how dirty he is. They seem to get joy out of proclaiming that UK will end up on NCAA probation in the next few years. Their argument is that since it happened to Calipari's previous schools--Massachusetts and Memphis--then it will happen at Kentucky too.
By now, I've grown a little tired of bringing up the points that in both of those instances, Calipari was cleared of any wrongdoing. Not once did the NCAA find that Calipari did anything illegal or unethical, but as we have all learned in our lives, the truth doesn't always make for the best story or opinion column.
Case in point is this article from Slate.com's Charles P. Pierce, in which he calls Calipari "the sleaziest coach in a sleazy game."
Pierce makes some pretty serious claims, including that John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins "have already partly checked out. Their concern for their draft status might be enough to motivate them to play hard in the tournament. But if they do, it won't be because of the motivational genius of John Calipari. He's already distant white noise in their lives."
That's a pretty bold statement considering I very strongly doubt Pierce has spent very much time with either Wall or Cousins or members of their families. Just because you believe--or want to believe--something to be true, doesn't mean it is.
I was also a little taken back by this passage: "I watched them beat the tar out of Tennessee in the SEC tournament, a ridiculous 74-45 blowout during which freshman center DeMarcus Cousins took the opportunity to give head coach John Calipari one of the greatest "Honky, please" looks since the demise of Richard Pryor, and a backup named Daniel Orton was told to absent himself briefly from the proceedings and walked up the tunnel, leaving Kentucky undermanned and the broadcast crew completely baffled."
I was not seated courtside at Bridgestone Arena during the SEC Tournament to be able to witness or affirm what Pierce alleges, but I also haven't heard anyone else speak to such incidents either. I mean, seriously Charlie, those are some pretty strong statements you made. Honky, please? Who even says that anymore? And the fact that Pierce would try to attribute something so foul to a 18-year old kid is beyond petty. It's pathetic!
So, I encourage you to check out the full article yourself. And you decide. Is the criticism justified or is it just some dude spewing Hater-ade?? Either way, knowing Calipari the way I do, it won't slow down Kentucky's march back to the Final Four. If anything, it will just make that march even more determined!
