ATLANTA, Georgia -- A death threat against the wife of Kentucky football coach Bill Curry is only one indication of society's negative attitude toward college sports, other football coaches' wives said.


In interviews published in Wednesday's editions of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, wives of coaches said they are disgusted with reactions toward their husbands, especially on talk shows.


"The callers on radio talk shows bother me," Carolyn Curry said. "They're not accountable to anyone in what they say."


The Monday after Kentucky was beaten 41-14 by Auburn for its fourth straight loss, secretaries in the school's football offices found the death threat against Carolyn Curry when they checked answering-machine messages.


Barbara Dooley, wife of Georgia athletic director Vince Dooley, has a similar dislike of radio shows.


"The radio talk shows are brutal," she said. "I have listened very rarely. That talk show in Atlanta is the meanest, ugliest, most insensitive group I've ever heard."


Curry said she is angry because she will never feel safe again.


"I haven't been able to get it off my mind," she said. "I guess I'm going to be more reclusive. I love to walk three or four miles each day. I don't know if I'm going to be able to do that anymore."


Some wives said they no longer sit in the stands because of negative comments they have heard about their husbands.


"Clemson was a hard place for me," said Sandy Hatfield, wife of Ken Hatfield, a former Clemson coach and now coach at Rice.


"It was difficult for me to hear the bad things they said about Ken. They were unjustified, negative, ugly, personal, vicious remarks. One time, I turned around to a guy and said, 'You happen to be talking about the man I love.'"