Fab thoughts on Jerry Tipton

[billoliver40]

JT is to say the least, a polarizing figure in Kentucky Sports. He has won
quite a bit of acclaim for being a "non-homer" in the sportswriter circles.

But perhaps that's his job. Tipton's mission, as an employee, is to do
what he can to cause reaction from the readers. (or listeners)
I was reminded earlier this year in a post I made that Tipton was on
Nashville sports radio (104.5) saying he was shocked by the UK fans not
giving Billy G a honeymoon period as they had Pitino. He was also surprised that people were concerned over what he called the 'non-issue'
of BG's contract. What I got reminded of was that it was Tipton that had
brought these discussions out with articles he wrote.
Is PPatterson's dad pleased that his son's coach is a taskmaster? Probably
not. Is Mr. Patterson upset that his son has a stress fracture? Well...yeah. These are issues that most people wouldn't even wonder about.
Does Tipton ask strange questions? Sure. After you get past "Patterson
is out for the year because of a stress fracture" there aren't many deep
questions you can ask."Why did you cry?" gee....maybe a broken foot hurts, among other things.
The young man getting kicked off the team? Nasty business. Probably
could have been handled differently looking back on it. Things happen.
Stress happens. Why drag it on?
Is Tipton a good writer/ reporter? I don't know. Hearing him speak, he
seems to be a fairly pleasant, sensible person.
What's the opinion of the board? Is Tipton a decent reporter who
occaisionally goes off track, or is he a hack that hit on a couple of lucky
breaks in stories a few years back and is trying to recapture his reputation?

[UedK]

In the olden days a guy like tipton would have been tied to a railroad cross tie, covered with warm tar and chicken feathers and run out of town.

[twincat]

I agree with your assessment. I responded to a post about him a few days ago and I made some of the points you make...namely, I think he does this to stir readership. That's the name of their game. The LHL is not in business to promote the home team, although you would think there would be some hometown pride show up every now and then. When I wrote my earlier post I didn't remember who wrote the articles that got the Pulitzer prize, but since he was the one...it's not unlikely he is trying to capture the lightning in a bottle the second time. As long as he doesn't write articles that are blatantly inaccurate and libelous and stays with those that are his opinion (even though they may be biased) the powers that be at the LHL aren't going to give him too much grief. JMO

[JohnJ]

With his constant negative slants on everything and attempts to stir the pot, Tipton just comes across as a messed up person with a messed employer. I really do not respect his and their motivations. They are malignant.

[bluegrassking]

If you're not a homer, then be neutral. Who wants a hostile beat writer?

If you want to be hostile be good enough to get beyond the local paper.

[Gunsmoke]

Tipton slants almost everyone of his poison penned essays in the lack of mannerism in stinging and biting anti-UK slanted spins. Why?? Are there not any other types of UK basketball stories of interest to the readers? Is it the old adage that smut sells? Why do slanted negative writings rue the day?? Is that really what people want to see, hear, and read all of the time?? I know too many people, myself included, who stopped watching the news day in and day out a long time ago because everything out of their collective mouths is bad/sad news. Life is hard enough without those messages being permeated ad nauseum throughout the brain. I choose to read at least some musings that have at least some semblence of positivity to them. But alas..to each his/her own. Oh and to answer the question at hand, Tipton flat out sucks in every aspect of the role he plays at the herald-loser. I refuse to call what he does a job for nobody should receive compensation for that yellow garbage. Maybe Dusty and Jerry can discuss this version and then come up with their own version and then splatter it across the herald-loser without recourse. Go Jerry go!!

[SamKat]

Dispassionate- Calmly objective: not influenced by emotion or personal feelings.

Objective- Adj.-Without bias or personal opinion: based on facts and not emotions; Noun- An intended and attainble goal.

Kentucky fans (I can only speak for me) are not dispassionate. It is as if other people look at us and consider that we cannot reach the dispassionate goal of objectivity. I, frankly, have never met or talked with a fan who cares to be that objective. If the goal of the Lexington Herald Leader is to be dispassionate- so be it. They do that very well.

Passionate fans are everywhere. Even in losing areas, fans passionately support the home team. It seems to be the nature of the human beast.

If by objectivity, journalists care to destroy the hope that burns eternal- so be it.

With a web site, such as with the many forums for Kentucky basketball, one would only hope for objectivity, but does not expect dispassionate contributions. There are few insiders to the program, but a few do exist. We do want integrity in those reports.

Coach Billy Gillispie is not dispassionate and he does have an objective each time he coaches his teams. As a fan, That is so much more pleasing than the journalistic side of objectivity.