Calipari!

I suspect that a referendum on the hiring of John Calipari, including funding, would win by a substantial margin statewide. UK occupies a remarkably important space in Kentucky’s social and political life (much more so than, in my experience, the University of Oregon or the University of Washington), and basketball is an important, although not exclusive, part of that contribution. That said, there are some agitators:

Then, in 2007, Kentucky was seeking to fill it’s men’s basketball head coaching position. Which only happens to be one of the most high-profile jobs in all of American sports.

In filling this vital public relations-oriented job, UK’s background check failed to identify that it was offering the position to a prickly introvert (Billy Gillispie) prone to extreme mood swings.

Given the past performance, Dr. Todd, you’ll forgive me for being skeptical that the background check UK will run on John Calipari will actually ask the questions that need to be raised.

Much proto-vetting then ensues.