How long will UK athletics keep rewarding failure?

On Nov. 6 the Herald-Leader ran an article about the University of Kentucky's money woes: Budget cuts for different departments, layoffs, increased tuition for students and more.

In the same edition was an article about firing UK's football coach three years into a five-year contract with a $2.5 million buyout clause. Not all, but most coaches searching for a head coaching position would agree to a three-year or shorter contract. In that case, if you hire him, you can assess his performance at the end of the contract and make the decision to raise his pay, extend his contract or fire him, but there are no rewards for failing.

In the past five years the athletics director has fired a football and basketball head coach before the end of their contracts and awarded them approximately $6 million for failing. What kind of logic is that?

Since the AD appears to have extra millions of dollars to throw away due to poor negotiating skills, why not throw the dollars to other UK departments? How long will the UK president and board of trustees put up with this five-year contract nonsense and mismanagement, before they say enough is enough?

In the business world, whoever rewarded employees with millions of dollars for failing would be getting their walking papers, not just the employees who under-performed.

Also, I doubt any coach could have done much better considering the problems this football team has faced.

Clark Massey

Somerset

MSU should fire Woods

Coach Sean Woods of Morehead State University should be fired for the way he treated Devon Atkinson and the other basketball players. I am African-American and no person should be treated like trash in practice or a game. Woods humiliated his players on national television; what has he done in practice?

This is not about race, but what is right. Woods is a bad example for Morehead State and the state of Kentucky. No parent should send their son to play basketball at Morehead until Woods is fired.

James Jones

Lilburn, Ga.

Gay stereotypes offend

I was listening to WLXG-AM 1300 on Nov. 18 at 10:23 a.m. and the hosts of the show began discussing the Jeff Gordon fight that took place on pit row the previous week. They immediately switched to acting out any gay stereotype that has been perpetuated since the beginning of time, saying it was a "slap fight" and using the "lisp" effeminate tone often associated with gay males.

The station should be offended they have these people as hosts, just as I was offended to hear it. Not only is Gordon not gay but if he was, who cares?

It is almost 2013 and to turn on the radio to listen to sports and be subjected to such stereotypical closed-mindedness is appalling. I listen to sports talk radio for sports, not for any type of prejudged, archaic ramblings masquerading as what I am assuming was an attempt at humor.

I call for a public apology to the gay community and for the announcers to be suspended immediately. Although if they were suspended I wouldn't be able to tune in next week and hear their impression of women cooking in a kitchen.

Sean Moore

Frankfort

A happy ending

I agree with Luke Meighan's letter regarding comics worth keeping.

I usually read all of the Lexington Herald-Leader first, and leave the comics for last, because it leaves me something to smile about.

Betty L. Grimes

Lexington

Isaak puts on a show

What a surprise. On Nov. 17, my wife and I attended the Chris Isaak concert at the Singletary Center. It had to be in my top three all-time concerts, and I have been to many.

Isaak, after several of his earlier romantic songs, rocked the house with songs from his new CD, Beyond The Sun. The CD was recorded at the original Sam Phillips' Sun Studio in Memphis, covering some of the early Sun artists. Among the songs recorded were several Rockabilly classics.

The crowd energy level was magic and off the scale; maybe only Bruce Springsteen could do better. I can't remember anyone connecting with the crowd like Isaak and his band members did that Saturday night. His voice and range were phenomenal.

David Cox

Richmond

Heartbreaking disparity

My heart goes out to the Hostess workers trying to make a fair living while their executives make large salaries. Notice I did not say earn, I said make.

Question: Could anyone tell me if these executives are registered Republicans?

Bill Manuel

Lexington

Maybe Pett approves

Re: Joel Pett's Nov. 11 cartoon showing Kentucky as a candlestick holdover in the iPhone culture

Let's see, what message is Pett trying to send?

Maybe he's saying that most Kentuckians appreciate some of the older values such as don't spend more than you earn or don't borrow from your grandkids to live high on the hog now.

Maybe he's saying that schools need to make sure kids learn time-honored fundamentals such as math so that future actuarials can keep the teachers retirement system afloat.

Perhaps he's telling Kentuckians to put down the keyboard; get off the couch, get out and walk, garden, play football or do other quaint, old-fashioned activities.

Could be he's asking you to go visit Grandpa and Grandma since that ol' candlestick won't receive text messages.

Maybe he's hinting that the old-fashioned networking that occurred at church, local basketball games and block parties helped us know our neighbors and lessened the animosity in political discourse.

And, lastly, I think he's reminding us that the glitter comes at a cost. Technology is great; I love it, but let's not forget that the function is to communicate and communication is so much more than a $200-per-month platform for Facebook.

Jim Richardson

Nicholasville

Diversionary cliff

Am I the only one who thinks that all this talk of the looming fiscal cliff is little more than a marketing ploy to deflect attention from those who, through their own inaction, created the problem in the first place?

Scott Land

Perryville