Basketball reflections
With the dawning of another basketball season and of a new coaching era at one major university, fans declare their allegiance and debate—sometimes heatedly—the merits of coaching styles and plays. It seems that everyone becomes an armchair critic. Because of this, it can be difficult to find objective media coverage.
Jerry Tipton built his Lexington Herald-Leader sportswriter career on objectivity as he covered University of Kentucky men’s basketball beginning with the 1981-82 season. After retirement in 2022, he reflects on his experience in Déja Blue: A Sportswriter Reflects on 41 Seasons of Kentucky Basketball.
Tipton gained a reputation with coaches and players as a reporter who would ask the tough questions, not just the “fluff” fan questions. Former players revealed years after their time on the UK courts that media training, which included stern warnings to carefully answer Tipton’s questions, was part of the program. Despite a few instances of getting under the skin of an interviewee, in reflecting upon Tipton’s career, coaches and players alike commend Tipton for reporting fairly and doing his job well.
Herald-Leader sports columnist John Clay notes, “That’s why Jerry is in not one but three Hall of Fames—the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, the U.S. Basketball Writers Hall of Fame and the Marshall University Journalism Hall of Fame. For my money, he was the best basketball beat reporter in the country.”
Likewise, Herald-Leader sports editor Gene Abell describes Tipton as “not trying to win a popularity contest,” because he covered the games as a journalist instead of a fan. And though Tipton plans to continue to watch games in his retirement, he says, “… my rooting interest in sports … has nearly disappeared.”
Devotees of the Big Blue Nation will no doubt relish Tipton’s recollections and anecdotes spanning six coaches and countless unforgettable moments, both good and bad. From his start as a student journalist at Marshall University during the plane crash that took the lives of the majority of the football team, to buzzer-beaters such as the dreaded Laettner shot, to surviving a tournament tornado, Tipton seems to have seen it all, recalling each instance clearly enough to make current readers feel as if they were there, too.
Tipton includes a chapter singling out several heroes and villains he covered over the years. Perhaps with tongue in cheek, he inserts himself in the villains section. Throughout his career, he received critical and even threatening emails from die-hard fans accusing him of having a vendetta against UK. He clarifies, “I just want to write good stories and keep readers informed as well as possible.”
Jerry Tipton was so dedicated to asking one more question and getting one last quote that he once missed his flight out of Maui, Hawaii, as he waited to speak with then-coach Tubby Smith. He awoke after sleeping at his Atlanta gate to find a note from buddy (and then-sports announcer) Ralph Hacker at his feet.
Déja Blue (Acclaim Press, $26.95) can be purchased online at www.acclaimpress.com or at major retailers.
