Gillispie Fired at Kentucky: Don't Blame Big Blue's Fans

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Kentucky basketball certainly has its detractors these days. The dismissal of coach Billy Gillispie is bringing many of them out of the proverbial woodwork.

"Spoiled" and "impossible to please" are among the refrain of the same, tired song that was most recently worn out describing UK fans when Tubby Smith left the program two years ago to become the Gopher-in-charge at Minnesota. In spite of what you may have heard, Smith was not run out of town by crazed fans and threats of being fired by the university.

Smith was, and still is, one of the best college basketball coaches in the nation. That distinction is recognized by more Wildcat fans than some of the program's naysayers would have one believe.

He delivered the school's seventh national championship, as well as multiple conference regular season and tournament championships.

With a winning percentage hovering around .800, Tubby had taken his 'Cats into the Elite Eight as recently as 2005, before losing a Final Four appearance against Michigan State in a bitterly fought, overtime contest.

He had even delivered an undefeated run through the SEC regular and post-season. A feat not duplicated by even his wildly successful predecessor, Rick Pitino.

Smith knew he was appreciated by most reasonable Kentucky fans. Indeed, the team's attendance figures never dipped, even in his last two seasons. 

Remember, those were seasons in which he accumulated some 25 losses and got hit with the not-so-nice "10-loss Tubby" moniker on radio call-in shows. Those seasons combined with Kentucky's longest span without a Final Four appearance had the boo birds out.

Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart was forced to publicly declare his support for the coach. Barnhart did acknowledge that Smith was expected to improve upon his team's record and recent recruiting shortfalls and most had no doubt he would do so.

However, as is often the case, the fans complaining about Smith generally grew more attention than his supporters and in the media, if nowhere else, Tubby's seat grew hotter.

Kentucky, like any other athletic program, has among its fan base a number of people who can be classified as unrealistic and yes, fanatical.

With the rich tradition of success, UK arguably has even more of those fans than most. Tubby knew he could stay, perhaps make some staff changes, bring in some stud recruits and certainly right the ship.

He also knew that he'd captained the ship for a decade and with his record, he could just as easily sail another ship with little, if any of the stresses he endured in the bright, hot lights of the Kentucky position.

In the end, Smith chose the latter option and really, who could blame him? He was surely seeing visions of Aretha Franklin belting out "R-E-S-P-E-C-T."

He had certainly proven to everyone that he could win on college basketball's biggest stage. Why not jump off of that stage and leave those pressures for someone else looking for an opportunity to coach one of college basketball's blue bloods?

Unfortunately for Kentucky fans, they were about to be hit with a double whammy. Not only were many upset to lose such a great coach and blamed UK's athletic director for not being able to keep Smith, they found their names being sullied in the media for running him off.

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