Kentucky makes stands against published rumors

Kentucky makes stands against published rumors

Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010 - 3:11 p.m. ET

It is not common in the sporting world for athletic teams or their representatives to formally threaten legal action against media personnel or their outlets.

It also is not common, though, for newspapers to publish articles in which "rumors/sources" is a term used to support an allegation as consequential as the one in Wednesday's Chicago Sun-Times story.

John Calipari has been the target of many rumors during his short tenure at Kentucky.
John Calipari has been the target of many rumors during his short tenure at Kentucky.
There have been a lot of famous names involved in Kentucky basketball through the history of the game, and Stephen L. Barker isn't one of them. The Wildcats trusted him, though, to take an extremely important shot late Wednesday evening.

Barker, a Lexington-based attorney, sent a letter to Michael O'Brien of the Sun-Times demanding the newspaper "withdraw the publication from any source"—an article that connected UK with the payment of $200,000 for a recruit's commitment.

Kentucky and coach John Calipari figured they had enough of this sort of treatment from particular members of the sporting media and decided fighting back was a prudent course.

When the Sun-Times article appeared via a link Thursday afternoon on Twitter, it was the first media report identifying Kentucky as the likely destination for elite basketball prospect Anthony Davis. So naturally it attracted a significant amount of attention.

The allegation regarding the cost of the prospect's commitment appeared roughly halfway into the article. The article was immediately denounced by several well-known college basketball journalists because of the use of "rumors/sources" as the basis for the allegation. It also was noted that if there were substantiation for the charge, it certainly would not merit being buried in the middle of an article about a prospect's college choice.

As the controversy brewed through the afternoon, the allegation of the dollar figure—$200,000—disappeared from the web item. At some point—whether it was before or after Kentucky's attorneys sent their demand letter isn't clear—the entire article disappeared from the Sun-Times web site. The photo of the prospect affixed to the prior story now adorns a piece about his sudden emergence as a star player.

The Sun-Times position regarding all this isn't clear. Although UK also demanded an "immediate statement that you know of no credible evidence indicating that there is any truth to the 'rumors,' " the paper apparently has not obliged. Two employees had not responded to e-mails from Sporting News.

Over a period of 16 months that surely seems longer, Calipari and his program absorbed a number of hits from the media. In many cases, there was no obvious recourse. That Kentucky chose to respond in this circumstance was a clear declaration journalists will need stronger weapons than "rumors" if they're going to engage the Wildcats.

Mike DeCourcy is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at decourcy@sportingnews.com.

It's about time, stick it to em' Cal!!!!

As much as I'd like to see the fight, UK will not sue. Continued negative publicity, true or not, constantly swirling around Calipari will only further damage UK and Cal's reputation and just fuel the fire for more baseless accusations while also completely taking away from what Cal is trying to accomplish. Focusing on this right now isn't near as big a deal as it would be if we were in the middle of a lawsuit during basketball season.