Gillispie Gone, Let him leave in peace

Gillispie has been let go.

Fired.

Gone.

Sent back to Texas.

Fans are thankful. Happy for the ugly disparture. But what fans don’t realize is the fact that these public figures are human, have families, and feelings.

What happened on Friday is life: people get fired. And looking straight from the facts, Gillispie wasn’t the right fit. He did not want to be an ambassador for the state. He wanted no part in the “Celebrity-like” status that came with the job. He also missed the tournament and had a dismal second half of the season.

Okay. There is merit in the firing.

But the aftermath is sickening and cynical.

Following a meeting with players, Billy Gillispie headed to the Joe Craft Center to clear his belongings; the University gave him and his staff a 5 pm deadline for removing their belongings. As he walked to the building the man was hounded by reporters.

The newly unemployed coach attempted to walk through the crowd of reporters, cell phone to his ear.

When asked questions, he politely said, “Give me some respect, I am on the phone.”
Unrelenting reporters continued to follow the coach, to the point where Gillispie went into a sprint to his offices, one reporter in toe attempting to block his path.

The reporter in toe asked, “You are not really going to run from me are you Bill?” This is the same reporter that after the Gardner Webb game two years ago asked if the coach thought the team played hard. And when Gillispie replied, “Ya they always play hard”, the reporter responded with a disgust of “Wow!”

Reporters need to be objective and take the emotion out of what they are covering.
I can relate a little to GIllispie and sympathise with his departure.

The people he had to deal with; the people who cover Kentucky athletics, are also fans and have an emotional attachment to the team and prgram. So when things go bad, those reporters are the ones who are on the message boards ranting, raving, and using their credentials to bash a subject they should be covering with some objectivity.

Kentucky media needs to take a step back and reevaluate the people they hire to cover things. Fans are not objective. They are emotional. They have a “Raa, Raa” attitude and are not objective.
The chasing down of Gillispie and almost being confrontational and sense of entitlement to chase a newly unemployed person is wrong.

Being a reporter/fan is obnoxious. To use your microphone and camera to “stick it to a guy” that has no ill-feelings your way is wrong.

Kentucky might stay in this down swing of basketball, until things change. Change needs to begin at every level. Take the emotion out media. Cover things objectively. Don’t act bigger than you are.

Getting fired is tough for anyone regardless of title. Lay off.