Why was Claiborne upset prior to announcement?
Grab bag overflowing with interesting notes
It's time to delve into my grab bag packed with some notes of interest:
?One of the most disturbing problems Jerry Claiborne had in announcing his retirement was that
		
	Aft, M	Todd Hallum Cats' Pause Columnist
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some of his players heard of the decision even before the team meeting was called at 3 o'clock that Tuesday afternoon.
Lexington TV stations WLEX and WKYT broke into their local programming earlier that afternoon to announce the news. WKYT sources said they had learned of the decision that morning, but were told by UK officials not to air the news until after Claiborne had met with his players. WTVQ sports director Kenny Rice said his station had no such advance notice of the impending story.
Meanwhile. WLEX went ahead and aired the bulletin at 2:15 p.m. When WKYT learned that Alan Cutler (WLEX's weekday sports anchor) had announced the decision, then WKYT naturally followed, announcing the same news five minutes later. Then WTVQ followed suit-;
(Editor's Note: This apparently is a prime example where WKYT's close association with UK athletics got in the way of journalistic endeavor, resulting in that station being "scooped" by its bitter rival).
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? Speaking of local TV, WKYT received a lot of static when the result of the UK-Mississippi State game was announced before the 10:30 p.m. delayed broadcast. Numerous phone calls flooded the station after news anchor Sam Dick and weekend sports staffer Bob Goldman opened the broadcast with an announcement that Rick Pitino had captured his first SEC victory.
In defense of the anchors, they had nothing to do with the decision. Normally, the station warns prospective viewers of the upcoming delayed telecast not to watch the screen when the score is about to be given.
However, news director John Bobel had decided to change the policy, instructing the news personnel to give the outcome, but not the score of the game. Bobel's move backfired as irate viewers quickly let it be known that they purposely had not listened to the game and resented being informed of the results. In order words, knowing the outcome tainted the telecast for them.
Bobel apparently had a meeting the following day with Ralph Gabbard, the station's general manager, and was told to cease and desist from giving results of the game without prior warning in advance of the delayed telecasts.
As one interested viewer noted, "It's like going into a murder mystery knowing the butler did it."
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? Word around the University of Kentucky campus is that there are 10 or 12 big-time football prospects in the state this year, but the familiar theme arises that the longer Kentucky takes to hire a new coach, the more the school's recruiting efforts will suffer.
There is little doubt that C. M. Newton will do an excellent job in getting the right person and even he has mentioned that he would sacrifice a recruiting class to do so, but the longer the decision-making process lingers the harder it will be to recruit, especially if UK wants to pluck a few players from the junior college ranks.
With any coaching change, there is a problem of
players leaving a program, but so far no Kentucky player has defected, although there have been rumblings a player or two may leave.
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? WILDCAT QUICKIES: Former UK basketball guard Paul Andrews is an assistant at Sayre School in Lexington...Wildcat senior defensive back Albert Burks made headlines when he was quoted in the Dec. 4 issue of Sports Illustrated. Burks was talking about cheating in college athletics and was upset in his belief that UK has an unfair recruiting advantage against other SEC schools. "We play the legal way," Burks said, "and most teams in the SEC don't. Probably 75 percent of the teams pay their athletes. We have an honest program and honest coaches and thev work their tails off." The quote occurred in the UK locker room following the Wildcat loss to Tennessee. Burks did not say upon what evidence he based his premise...Did you know that SEC basketball official Don Ferguson played a role in a Hollywood movie along with Burt Reynolds? A former Florida
State quarterback, Reynolds played the title role in the prison football flick. The Longest Yard...WKYTs Dave Baker filled in for color analyst Ralph Hacker for UK's two home gamesOhio University and Tennessee Techand the Kansas game at Lawrence last week. Hacker worked the delayed telecasts of the two games in Rupp on Monday and Wednesday and then the Division III college football championship game on Saturday for ESPN while the Wildcats were playing the Jayhawks in Lawrence...Mississippi State still has yet to win a game against UK in Rupp Arena. The Wildcats have won 23 home games in a row against the Bulldogs. Eighteen of those games were regular-season affairs played in Rupp Arena. The last time MSU beat UK in Lexington was a 77-72 verdict during the 1966-67 season, when the Wildcats finished, 13-13. The Bulldogs are 3-35 against UK in Lexington, their other two road victories coming in 1924 (17-16) and 1962 (49-44). The 'Dogs have fared better at Starkville, where they trail the 'Cats, 23-8. The record at other sites is 9-1 in favor of UK, which holds at 67-12 margin in the series that began in 1921.
University of Kentucky athletics director C.M. Newton shouldn't wait too much longer or the 'Cats' chances to land the top in-state prospects and some possible junior college standouts will fade...and fast.