Wildcats, Wild Rants

We got this letter from a reader today about the wildcatchat.com boards. We generally don't go there much, but
the posts he culled are funny and  well,
let's just say that if you had a poor opinion of Kentucky fans this won't
improve it. We don't know what he posted, and given our experiences from time
to time, maybe he said something really offensive and deserved to have it
yanked. But he e-mailed them this: "I think the Coach K thread should be removed as it contains profanities in
it.If you have such a non flaming site then why is that post there?"

He said he got no reply, and his basic point, that what he posted is no worse
than what was already posted - maybe it was but we don't see how. Just to be
clear, it's their site and we fully support their right to run it however they
see fit and we should say again that our e-mailer may well have been out of
line. But what we find remarkable is the venom of the posts.

We know we're not perfect, nor is our board, but we can almost guarantee you that you won't see references to coaches wives. The sole exception might be
Linnea Smith, but she is a public figure in her own right with a well publicized agenda, and so she would be fair game. We're impressed that Kentucky fans follow Mrs. K so passionately but it's also a bit odd to us.

We'd also like to know if our Jewish readers found item #4 to be offensive. Please drop us a line with your opinion, pro or
con and if we get any good responses we'll run them.

There's also a rant or two on the thread about Duke and tobacco, which is funny coming from a state which has a long-standing tradition of making bourbon and
gambling on horse races, and if you want to discuss lung diseases, there's
always coal mines and black lung, which has been shamefully neglected, but try
and get that on a Kentucky site, or any discussion of selling alcohol to
addicts. Just so everyone is clear on this, the precedent set by the tobacco
settlement has trial lawyers lining up. Next in line? Gambling (already under
way) and booze, of course, so take a number Kentucky!  And incidentally, Duke University is one of the
leading cancer research centers in the world.  And to be fair, we're sure
the University of Kentucky is doing research on Black Lung.

There's another rant about our making fun of the problems UK basketball players had with cars (kar kapers) earlier in the year.
Just to refresh you, at the bottom of this are some of the stuff we said then,
rotating primarily around two ideas of justice, one for Kentucky athletes - admitted
to by the D.A. - and one which the actual victim of one of the cases was
forced to accept.

We're also curious as to whether Rival Net, where this site
will relocate in a couple of days, will tolerate this type of behavior. 
Again, we'd like to point to this as a specific example of why we require a
measure of civility on our board. This doesn't represent everyone from Kentucky
(we have made a lot of good friends from Kentucky), but on the other hand, it
sure doesn't help the image of the program, either. Please read this and keep in
mind this is precisely the sort of thing Duke fans should try hard not to send
out into the world.  As Andrew Gooden's mom reminded us recently, sites
like these are read by people you'd never expect.  If UK fans are
content to represent themselves this way, by all means, Bless them and send them
on their merry way.

Incidentally, James tells us that he tried to register there with a user name which mentioned DBR and was rejected out of hand.

*****

I am writing you in regards to a site called wildcatchat which is a Large threaded Kentucky message
board. Kentucky fans go on various internet
boards and constantly plug the site. I am not sure who runs it although I think it may be a joint effort among several individuals.

I visited that site today and discovered a very disgusting thread about Mike Krzyzewski.
.I tried to write
a post in coach's defense only to have it removed by the moderator.Well, they were having trouble with some flamers at the time and I thought that maybe
my post was caught in the crossfire, so I wrote another post in which I addressed the Forde and Kirkpatrick
articles.. It was removed. I was threatened,
bullied, told to get lost. etc. etc. All for defending my coach.. The Kentucky fans used a moral high ground approach lumping me in with
the other flamers which was ridiculous.. Well, here is my problem:

They refused to remove a thread about Mike Krzyzewski which involved not only profanities against him, but even what appeared to be an anti-semitic jab at
John Feinstein where they mocked his name, and took several jabs at DBR (yeah,
but consider the source - DBR), and even inquired about coach Ks wife and her language.

Here are some direct samples:

1. "Coach K is an asshole. "

2. "However, just because they're arrogant, a$$holes without an ounce of
class doesn't mean that we need to stoop to their level. "

3."Has anyone else noticed the total silence of Sports Illustrated and
particularly Mr. Finebaum (or Finkbean, or whatever) on thise situation?

4."The lower life form comment was directed at some of the folks on the DBR
and a number of Duke fans that I have the unfortunate pleasure of knowing
personally."

5."Catfather, I thought your post was very informative. To be perfectly
honest, I didn't know that Coach K was such as asshole."

6."Can someone refresh my memory? I seem to recall that coach K's wife had a
bad mouth also, does anyone else recall an instance where she has used the F
word to the media or the team? "

All those quotes appeared in various posts in a thread that had over 40
messages I believe.

I understand it's their site, but I just wanted to let you know how funny and downright hypocritical It was of them to remove responses, claim moral
authority over the board, refused any rebuttals of their profanities, attack the character of Duke fans, and the Duke head coach, all the while acting
like they were above the mud slinging and "dirty stuff" when the truth was they weren't only down in the pig pen, hell,
They were out-doing the pigs
themselves.

 

 

*****

And our previous comments on UK Kar Kapers...

MARGARET KANNENSOHN AND
OTHER ATHLETES: HOW DID THEY FARE?

We were curious about how other
athletes may have fared in Margaret Kannensohn's
Lexington court. Here's what we found:

• Moe Williams, football
  player, accused of rape: issued a summons after police
  found no probable cause
• Reggie Smith, football
  player, who assaulted Anthony Epps. Fourth-degree assault charge
  deferred (Epps had no desire to pursue
  this).
• Ryan Hogan, DWI - $447 in fines and court costs
• Turner and Anthony you
  likely know about.

We were intrigued to find that
Ms. Kannensohn has taken an active interest in strip clubs and
adult establishments
and truancy. We're waiting to see what she might
do if an athlete were to be found in a massage
parlor or an adult bookstore. She would certainly
be forced to choose her poison

THE LATEST

Much
more in Kentucky Hoops

The situation in Lexington grows curiouser and
curiouser.  Now Myron Anthony has stepped up
and taken responsibility for the accident. 
He has taken a police-administered lie detector
test which supposedly (yes we are skeptical)
proves he is telling the truth.  So here's
where things are now:

• A Kentucky basketball player caused an accident and took off.
• The Lexington prosecutor admitted
  delaying justice so that the team
  wouldn't be distracted on the way to the
  Final Four.
• No one has yet addressed the issue of the
  $igned memorabilia in the back seat.

Margaret Kannensohn said "Mr. Anthony
provided weeks of agony, of misery, of media
frenzy, of damaging the credibility of the
(legal) system. I hope he has learned his lesson
today." 

Perhaps. But his damage was that of a violator
fleeing justice.  It's not nearly as
critical as the damage Kannensohn herself has
inflicted by keeping two standards, one for UK
hoop gods and one for the ordinary Kentuckians.
Kannensohn said she "would not
tolerate" a coverup. Her  actions stand
on their own merit and will be judged thusly.

Given the actions of the Prosecutors office,
many people may have questions about the Police
Department's lie detector test.  Certainly
we'd understand if John Heckler did. "I'd
like to think this is the truth, finally. But
they've lied once before," he said about the
whole situation," so are they now again? I
don't know."

Kentucky Hoops says "only two people
know" what really happened.  That's not
our count. Wayne Turner's girlfriend, who
provided him with his post-guilty plea alibi,
surely knows the truth: either he was in the car
or he wasn't.

Meanwhile, John Heckler has still been treated
as a second-class citizen.  Wayne Turner?
Under the assumption that he had done these
dastardly deeds, he was fined 97.00.   Myron
Anthony, Kannensohn's whipping boy? 250.00 and 50
hours community service.   John Heckler?
8,000 dollars in damage, which is to say a totaled pickup truck, and a 400.00 increase in
his insurance for something over which he had
absolutely no control, involvement, or
responsibility.

Something happened here, but you can't call it
justice.

In a secondary case, reserve guard Ryan Hogan
was convicted of drunken driving. He was pulled
on March 24th and tested blood-alcohol level of
0.11 percent.  His fine was 447
dollars. 

Tubby Smith had no comment.

FROM LEXINGTON, WITH
LOVE: THE LATEST VERSION OF THE TRUTH

Now the word/spin from Lexington is  that
Wayne Turner was
not driving the car.  Apparently,
according to our board posts, a little used
reserve on the team was driving the car.  So
let's review what we know:

• John Heckler's truck was smashed by the
  83 Corolla.
• The 83 Corolla was abandoned by whoever
  was driving it (possibly Turner's
  teammate).
• Police found $igned memorabilia in the
  car and it led them to Turner.
• Turner reported the car as stolen.
• Turner retracted the notion that it was
  stolen and admitted in court that he was
  driving.
• Turner plea-bargained for 97.00 dollars.
• Heckler's insurance company wants to sue
  the driver
• Myron Anthony has now -after all this
  time - supposedly been ID'd as the
  driver.

Fine. Let's assume it's all true. Let's assume
the Turner pleaded guilty even though he was not
and in fact had an alibi.   Let's
assume that Myron Anthony has now stepped forward
to take the blame and be sued (and he will be by
the insurance company).

There are still four questions which haven't
been sufficiently answered:

1. Wayne Turner says he had an alibi (he was
   with his girlfriend). Why didn't he use
   it?
2. How can a prosecutor  cover up for
   an athlete's transgressions? Is this not
   the office of The People? Are some people
   more equal than others?
3. Why was nothing done by the athletic
   department whatsoever - until after the
   tournament?
4. To whom did the memorabilia belong, what
   was it doing in an athlete's car, and how
   much was it worth?

It's bizarre, and it's asking a lot of people
to believe that one guy would plead guilty to a
crime he didn't commit (and one which also opens
his future earnings to a lawsuit) and that
another would wait until he did in fact plead
guilty to come foward with (drum roll) The Truth.

If  Turner had an alibi, and his lawyer
advised him to plead guilty, he should sue his
lawyer.  The last time we were asked to
swallow this much was when those billing records
showed up in the White House living quarters, the
single most secure spot in America, with no
explanation for how they got there. Maybe they
were in the back of the Toyota also.  Now
maybe the newspaper could tell us just how much
memorabilia was found in the car...

One last thing - do we remember incorrectly,
or is Wayne Turner from the Boston area? Are we
overly cynical in wondering how/why his godfather
lives in Frankfort, Ky? People move around a lot,
and that's very likely the explanation, but given
the other inconsistencies in this case, we really
wish some serious investigative journalism was
being practiced.

LOVE FEST OVER, BACK TO
NORMAL

After the Duke-Kentucky game, a lot of the
bitter feelings between Duke and Kentucky fans
softened.  Much respect was passed around,
and good feelings reigned between the Big Blues.

With the revelations about Wayne
Turner's crime and non-punishment, it's a lot
harder to respect Kentucky.

To recap: Wayne Turner hit someone and took
off.   The charges were leaving the
scene of an accident and driving without proof of
insurance.  This happened in September.

Law enforcement ignored this until the
Lexington newspaper asked questions, at which
point the case was revived. Fayette County
Attorney Margaret Kannensohn was quoted as saying
" ... I knew where the guy was, and he
wasn't an ax murderer or anything.So what's the
big deal?"  They admitted that
"they delayed pursuing the hit-and-run case
so Turner - a talented point guard for the UK
Wildcats -could compete without distraction in
March's Final Four playoffs of the National
Collegiate Athletic Association."

The University never acknowledged that
anything had happened.

So let's be clear on what happened here: the
University, as represented by Tubby Smith and the
athletic department, the District Attorney's
office, and Wayne Turner conspired to keep this
out of the news and to enhanced Kentucky's
chances to win the National Championship. 
We didn't say it was a criminal conspiracy. But
it was a conspiracy to smooth over a criminal
behavior.

The attitude from the D.A's office - an
elective office, by the way - was craven.  
Tubby, who we have until now respected, has been gutless.  C.M. Newton, heretofore Mr. Clean,
has been silent.  We don't expect the
citizenry to jump up and cry foul.

Well, maybe John
B. Heckler III, is entitled. He's the guy
whose life was put at risk, and the man who is
less equal under the law than a Kentucky
ballplayer.  He has the right to say this:
"For all Wayne Turner knew, he killed
somebody that night and kept driving, The big
deal is, if it had been you or me who did that,
the police would have been on our doorstep the
next day, and not months later, when it was more
convenient for us."

And we have the right to say this. The
constitution of the United States says nothing
about ballplayers being treated as lords and
ladies.  That the County Attorney
deliberately delayed action until after the
tournament is cowardice, pure and simple.  
That Tubby Smith and C.M. Newton were accomplices
in this travesty is disgraceful.

We're not saying hang the kid.  We're not
saying it cost Duke that game or anything like
that. But we are saying that Kentucky, clearly
and without question, is cutting corners
again.  We realize the love Kentuckians have
for the Wildcats.   If this is the way
things are going to be managed, UK fans had
better be ready for heartbreak again.

You're better than this. It doesn't have to be
this way.

There was one other woman who was hit by somebody
, who started to sue to recover her losses, but finally gave it up
after getting death threats and the like. We couldn't find our comments on her
situation. She was a travel agent in Lexington as we remember and was harassed
into rolling over.