After his infamous chase of then Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie when he was trying to learn if the UK coach had been fired or resigned, Alan Cutler can still remember the reaction when he got back to the WLEX-TV newsroom.
“I can picture it like it was today. The newsroom was not half full but when I walked in people stood up and clapped because of the chase,” Cutler said.
Gillispie had tried to avoid all Kentucky media members, not just Cutler, but the WLEX sports anchor would not give up trying to get the story. However, many UK fans were angry with Cutler for what he did.
“Within two hours we had so many hate mails it was unbelievable,” Cutler said. “I was called every name you could think of.”
Cutler’s boss told him the station had never received emails about one story like that before and he had to respond.
Cutler still remembers what his boss said.
“You don’t have a choice. You are in trouble and that’s not from me. When you respond I need to see the email before you send it out.”
Cutler — never one to hide his emotions — admits he was “furious” and was about ready to tell his boss to “blow off” but he had a wife and family to put through college that needed his financial support.
“If I had been 25 i would told him I was not doing anything. Instead, I constructed the email and to this day I am mad at myself for agreeing to write the email saying I was sorry.
“You get paid in TV to be strong about other people. TV stations want you to be strong but they cave (to criticism). Not just Channel 18 but all across the country. It’s as hypocritical as hypocritical can be. That’s not a shot at Channel 18. That’s just normal in the business.”
Cutler ended up responding to over 1,000 emails — and they kept coming for days.
“I really don’t think people were that mad at me. They hated Gillispie and most were happy to see him go,” Cutler said. “I was just surprised other people quit on the story. I thought three or four other (TV) cameras would stay with me and they didn’t. The truth is the whole thing was his (Gillipsie’s) fault. I can’t imagine anybody being as bad with the media as he was.”
Cutler was definitely right about that. You can see what he might have been right about a lot more in his new book, “Cut To The Chase,” that is now available on Amazon.
