Letters to the Editor: Calipari ‘chasing off the fan base.’ Missing Tubby Smith.

Fans deserve wins

University of Kentucky basketball Coach John Calipari is paid for results. That folks choose to worship him is meaningless. Coaching at UK basketball is a job. It’s an occupation. Results are expected.

At UK, the standard in basketball is higher than other programs. The salary one earns speaks to the standard and expectations. The Kentucky basketball program does not exist and fans do not pay out millions of dollars each year to be a farm system for the NBA.

Cal owes the fan base a product that is championship caliber. He doesn’t have to win the championship every year. Some troglodyte will proclaim “Oh! Oh! You people aren’t satisfied unless Kentucky wins a championship every year.” That is false.

Cal is paid to produce. He’s not. He needs to get this program back on a championship footing. Producing lottery picks for the NBA should be a secondary goal in support of that primary goal.

I am a fan of the University of Kentucky basketball program. I owe no loyalty to John Calipari. I was a fan before John arrived. I’ll be a fan after John retires and Kentucky gets a new coach.

Cal is chasing off the fan base. No one is going to be a fan of the University of Cal and his lottery picks.

David E. Kaelin, Lexington

Cut Stoops

University of Kentucky football Coach Mark Stoops claims he did the responsible thing and fired two coaches. Now, it is time for UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart to fire the overpaid coach actually responsible for the team’s performance.

Douglas Andersen, Lexington

Missing Tubby

So, I wonder if someone can explain why University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari is treated better than former UK coach Tubby Smith. Tubby shouldn’t have recruited his son, but otherwise had at least as good teams, and I can only imagine the power of the program today if Tubby were still the coach.

Adrian Burgher, Deland, Florida

A local choice

The issue of Kentucky’s Confederate memorials has been framed up to now as, should they remain? But the real first question ought to be, do the locals want them? In a recent opinion piece, Herald-Leader opinions columnist Linda Blackford explains that Nicholasville’s Confederate monument should come down, and she implies that the monument should come down regardless of what Nicholasville thinks.

Although she doesn’t make the matter explicit, she takes this position because she demands that all public symbols reflect universal inclusion, pluralism, and anti-racism. But she does not get to speak for everyone on this matter.

People want symbols to represent the particular, to represent themselves. Some people identify with the Confederate soldier. Other people identify with Frederick Douglass, whose name appears on a Lexington public school. The latter should not remain, if the former is expunged.

The statue represents Kentuckians who fought for the right of this commonwealth to decide whether to remain in the union or not, just as their ancestors fought for the exact same right against the British crown. For my part, I hope Nicholasville leaves it up.

Robert Salyer, Lexington

Abolish bar exam

Thank you to Sarah Reddick for her recent op-ed in the Lexington Herald-Leader.

The Kentucky bar exam is nothing but an antiquated hazing ritual perpetuated by the need for “control” by the Kentucky Supreme Court. We have three law schools in the state of Kentucky that require passage of the LSAT prior to entry. Each school follows that with a rigorous freshmen year where professors impersonating John Housman from the “Paper Chase” weed out anyone not academically dedicated. This is followed by two more years of very intensive study of the law and more rigorous examinations.

A year of tutoring under an established law firm would provide more training and development than continued homage to the ritual hazing perpetuated by the bar exam, which only provides evidence that one can test well.

The 15 students who were disqualified due to the “error” should have their scores re-examined. They should be granted 10 additional points toward their overall score and if that passes them, they should be accepted into practice.

Let’s end this hazing ritual.

Steve Crum, Lexington

Viewership drop

A recent Herald-Leader opinion piece by Jim Jackson, “Sports viewership shows how much our priorities have Shifted in pandemic”, explored the deep decline of television sports viewership during the COVID-19 pandemic. He observes that “(p)arched sports fans should have been eager to drink up any new competition … .” Nevertheless, Mr. Jackson cluelessly concludes that it was indeed COVID fatigue that caused the precipitous decline in sports viewership.

Well, please let me propose an alternative reason for folks not watching sports on TV. Many of us avid sports fans became nauseated at the sight of millionaire athletes “taking a knee” at the playing of the national anthem. Certainly these athletes have a perfect right to disrespect our flag, our military heroes, and the country that enables them to become wealthy for playing a game. Conversely, we have a right to turn off the TV and spare ourselves the spectacle of ignorance.

Dave Rosenbaum, Lexington

After-school programs

As the Herald-Leader’s ongoing coverage of COVID-19’s effect on our schools has demonstrated, the pandemic has significantly increased the stresses on parents, students, and educators.

It has also exacerbated unmet demand for after-school programs. New research from the Afterschool Alliance’s America After 3PM report demonstrates that even before the pandemic, parents were having a difficult time finding affordable after-school programs for their children. In Kentucky for every child in an after-school program, the parents of four more said they would enroll their child if they could. Now, because of the pandemic, many after-school providers say the future of their programs is uncertain as they strain to meet the needs of students trying to adapt to virtual learning and families struggling in the economic downturn, while also covering the costs of new safety protocols.

After-school programs are playing a vital role during the pandemic, educating and caring for children of essential workers and working virtually and in-person to help keep kids on track in school and support their social and emotional health. We’ll need such programs even more as the nation’s economy recovers, so students can catch up and thrive and working parents can have confidence that their children are constructively engaged every afternoon.

Tom Haggard, director of Kentucky Out-of-School Alliance, Berea

Work together

In a recent edition of the Wall Street Journal, Gerald F. Seib writes about examples of where, even though the federal government is paralyzed by partisanship, local and state governments and organizations are coming together to get things done. He notes “state governments are working much better than the federal government is. The reason is basically they just have to deal with practical problems”.

The commonwealth has a long list of practical problems that require our state leaders — Senate President Robert Stivers II, Minority Floor Leader Sen. Morgan McGarvey, Speaker of the House David Osborne, and Minority Floor Leader Rep. Joni Jenkins — to come together. Through their leadership and willingness to collaborate, they can make our state a better place for all citizens, not just their political allies.

Because of the harmful impact the pandemic has had on all of us, now, more than ever, their leadership is needed. A bipartisan legislature working with the governor and focused on the important issues facing our state can make Kentucky an even greater place to live and work. As they prepare for the 2021 session, they should carefully consider their words and actions toward members of the other party and consider working toward the best interest of the commonwealth.

Terry Barnes, Lexington

Unwanted benefits

It’s interesting how many thousands of people can’t get their unemployment benefits started. My son died two months ago and I can’t get them to stop sending him money even though he isn’t completing his reports of looking for work. You can’t talk to them about his account due to privacy reasons even if I could get to a real person. The fraud hotline is a recording that says there is heavy volume and to call back later. That’s even at 8 a.m.

Thomas O. Doty, Heidrick

Mask thoughts

For hundreds of years our country drafted hundreds of thousands of young men, sent them around the world, and sacrificed their lives in combat. Legally it can do so again if necessary. I’m old enough to remember the Vietnam War when some called this involuntary servitude, which it was, but it’s also a part of being a citizen of a country. Now it’s too much to ask people to wear masks and make the best of staying home with their families? Good grief, what have we become?

Roy Crawford, Whitesburg

Wear a mask

Soon after the pandemic roared on the scene, a mask mandate followed. Mask haters protested, while mask makers mobilized their sewing machines, producing artistic creations for protection. A friend draped masks on our front door knob. Later, an anonymous neighbor added another three masks at our door.

I wondered how others were coping with confinement and social distancing, so I surveyed our neighborhood. Judy answered, “We keep on doing what we need to do, try to social distance, and wear masks.” Damon replied, “We go to work like usual. No one in our family has been sick because we wear masks out in public.” Pam said, “I’m afraid to go anywhere, just to the grocery. I avoid crowds, and miss shopping and eating out with friends.”

I asked myself, “Who wears masks for protection as a daily routine?” Surgeons, soldiers, and astronauts all on masks. Football players and baseball catchers dress up in masks and strong padding. Jesus believed in protection (Matthew 23:37).

Protect others and care for yourself by wearing a mask, like the people on our street.

Jan Hill, Lexington

COVID no hoax

The COVID-19 pandemic is real. People dying is real. Wearing masks, social distancing, and small groups as deterrents to the spread of this virus are real. How can anyone with a brain continue to deny these facts. How can religious leaders who continue to hold large gatherings look in the mirror knowing that they are spreading the virus by doing so. How can Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and others go after our governor when all he is doing is trying to save lives and keep the people of Kentucky safe. Thankfully we have a governor who has the courage to make the difficult decisions, even when he is being assaulted for doing what our federal government should have done 11 months ago. When we come to the other side of this pandemic, which will eventually happen, with the prevailing stupidity in our country, we will still be in trouble. There will be other tests to our morality and common sense and I fear that we will fail like we have with this test.

Sara Houston Wellnitz, Lexington