When looking for a scapegoat, Kentucky fans have a predictable nominee
With Kentucky off to its worst start to a season since 1926-27, John Calipari has repeatedly asked fans to take out their frustration on him rather than the players.
That should not be a problem, said Dan Wann, a psychology professor at Murray State who specializes in how fans think.
Such a dramatic departure from the Kentucky basketball norm makes for a difficult adjustment for fans, he said. Coping with something that hasn’t happened in almost a century makes finding a knowing sage impossible.
“It’s not like they can call up grandpa and say, ‘Hey, what did you do?’” Wann said. “No one knows.”
When asked how UK fans should cope, Wann said, “Most of them are coping by lashing out at the coach. Suddenly, Calipari, who has won an awful lot of basketball games wherever he’s coached, has forgotten how to coach.”
Interestingly, fan frustration is more rarely directed at players, who miss shots, turn the ball over and fail to contest a shot. For those and other transgressions, the coach typically receives the blame.
“In the fans’ minds, players are the team,” Wann said. “Which is really interesting because Cal is there a lot longer than the players.”
Another factor is how the typical fan identifies with the players.
“They want to be players,” Wann said. “They don’t want to be coaches. They can already outcoach Cal. Ask them.”
A kids’ game?
When asked if Florida player Keyontae Johnson’s scary collapse on the court in early December put a poignant perspective on sports, Vanderbilt Coach Jerry Stackhouse said it showed that basketball is “a kids’ game.”
But Dan Wann said that sports can mean more than play for fans.
“Couldn’t you say, it’s just art?” the Murray State psychology professor said. “It’s just drama? It’s just Christianity?
“But the reality is we know sports brings things to the table (and) to the fans.”
Sports can satisfy the psychological needs of fans, he said.
“We know sports fandom helps individuals feel a sense of belonging,” Wann said. “It helps them feel a sense of distinctiveness. It provides meaning to their lives. It gives them structure and reduces uncertainty. These are all things that we strive for as humans.”
Friend or foe
That Keyontae Johnson is part of Florida basketball and not Kentucky’s program makes a difference in how a UK fan might process the scary collapse.
Dan Wann recalled a study he participated in after NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt died in a crash during the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
Fans of Earnhardt were much more likely to term his death a tragedy.
As for fans of other drivers, “they would say things like, well, he knew the risks,” Wann said. “So, they weren’t saying they were glad that he crashed. But at the same time, they were less than sorrowful about the outcome.”
What if?
A what-if shadow hangs over the 2020-21 college basketball season. What if a player contracts the coronavirus and dies?
There’s a history of sports continuing in the aftermath of tragedy or even during calamity.
“Are you going to play football right after Katrina?” Dan Wann said of the hurricane that devastated Louisiana in late August of 2005.
“Are you going to play baseball at Fenway Park after the (Boston) Marathon bombing? Are you going to play sports after 9/11? Are you going to play sports after World War II?”
Of course, the answer was yes to each of those questions. During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt encouraged baseball executives to continue playing games.
“History is rife with examples,” Wann said. “They want some normalcy. They want society to carry on.”
McCarty update
Former UK player Walter McCarty filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December, the Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press reported. He lives in the Boston area and filed in Massachusetts.
McCarty claimed $2.5 million in assets and almost $2 million in liabilities, the newspaper reported last week. He collects a monthly NBA pension of $1,800.
Two banks in his hometown of Evansville — Old National Bank and First Federal Savings — have sued McCarty for allegedly defaulting on loans totaling more than $125,000, the newspaper reported.
The filing for bankruptcy was “a reorganization, no big deal,” McCarty told the Courier & Press. He said he is scheduled to meet with creditors on Wednesday.
McCarty, 46, finished his coaching career at Evansville with a record of 20-25. His team began last season by winning nine of its first 13 games. Those victories included a stunning upset of Kentucky.
After the school fired McCarty in the wake of a sexual assault suit filed by a student, the team lost its remaining 19 games.
According to the Courier & Press, McCarty hopes to begin a new job early in 2021.
UK and SEC
With Kentucky losing six of its first seven games, a question arose. With its marquee program unranked, would SEC basketball’s national profile shrink?
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi said that a struggling Kentucky makes it more difficult for SEC programs to enhance their NCAA Tournament résumé.
“Everyone in the league is down one or two quad one opportunities that are normally a given,” Lunardi wrote in a text message.
Former Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese, now a basketball consultant for the SEC, suggested the normal rules for assessing teams might not apply in a season disrupted by a pandemic.
“I think because this is a COVID year, people are more interested in getting through this,” he wrote in a text message. “Duke is struggling as well, and it certainly doesn’t make the ACC a bad conference. Same applies to the SEC.
“We all need a return to normalcy.”
Condolences
To Vanderbilt Coach Jerry Stackhouse. His father, George Wallace Stackhouse, died on Dec. 13 at age 90.
Stackhouse, whose team is scheduled to play at Kentucky on Tuesday, spoke of his late father after Vandy defeated Radford on Dec. 19.
“All of who I am is a lot of who he is,” he said. “He’s a hard worker. He’s a guy that loved his family, loved his church, loved God, and I’m going to miss the hell out of him.
“What I got from my dad is always: ‘A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.’”
SEC favorite?
A preseason media vote made Tennessee the favorite to win the SEC regular-season championship. Further reasons to believe this is correct came last week. At No. 7, the Vols were the highest-rated SEC team in The Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Then UT opened SEC play Wednesday by beating the only other league team in the top 25 — No. 12 Missouri — 73-53 in Columbia.
Before that game, Tennessee Coach Rick Barnes did not embrace the role of favorite. Such designations are part of the typical build up to a sports season, he said before adding that the Vols have the mix of veteran players and heralded freshmen that lead to a role as favorite.
“You have to go out and prove it,” he said.
Belated happy birthday
To Cliff Hawkins. He turned 39 on Christmas Eve. … To Northern Kentucky Coach Darrin Horn. He turned 48 on Christmas Eve. … To ESPN analyst Jay Bilas. He turned 57 on Christmas Eve. … To Rodney Dent. He turned 50 on Christmas. … To former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson. He turned 79 on Dec. 27. … To Kansas Coach Bill Self. He turned 58 on Dec. 27. … To former UK assistant coach Jim Hatfield. He turned 77 on Dec. 28. … To Travis Ford. He turned 51 on Dec. 29. … To Eloy Vargas. He turned 32 on Dec. 30.
Happy birthday
To former UK assistant coach Bernadette Locke-Mattox. The first female assistant coach for a Division I team men’s team turned 62 on New Year’s Eve. … To Aminu Timberlake. He turned 48 on New Year’s Day. … To Irving Thomas. He turned 55 on Saturday. … To Randolph Morris. He turned 35 on Saturday. … To former UK president Charles Wethington. He turned 85 on Saturday. … To Steve Bruce. He turns 54 on Sunday (today). … To Isaac Humphries. He turns 23 on Tuesday. … To Tyler Ulis. He turns 25 on Tuesday.
