Succeed and Proceed!

     I haven't posted since the loss to Wisconsin... yeah, that loss. And forgive me if this post contains multiple misspellings and grammatical errors - I'm just typing this off the top of my head and not bothering with editing. We fans, members of the #BBN have enjoyed such a run of success in my adult life. We are a passionate group who eat, drink, and sleep our teams and their various sports. We study film like coaches, scout referees, and debate nuances and minutiae to an extreme. We are also a spoiled, petty, petulant group of fans. We seem to have forgotten. College is for the student and student-athlete; for them to develop mentally, socially, emotionally; for them to chose a field to work in (maybe several times); for them to hone their skills in that field and then to leave. Yes, college is for leaving.

     Much is made of the "one-and-done" and especially of Coach Cal's so-called use of it. Let's look at this with honest eyes. Cal doesn't "use" the rule. Young men, desiring to play professionally, are required by the NBA to be a certain age or be past high school a certain amount of time in order to play in their organization. Coach Calipari recruits the best high school players in the nation to come play for him at Kentucky - if you will notice, they also tend to be some of the best kids personality-wise and work-ethic wise as well. How many trouble-makers have we seen during Cal's tenure; how many that would get Kentucky in trouble academically? Cal recruits the best. The best are looking to play professionally as soon as they can. The rules of the organization they wish to join require them to wait a certain amount of time. "One-and-done" is the pejorative term used to demonize the successful but those who are jealous or less successful.

     I was not a Calipari fan while he was at UMass. I was not his fan at Memphis. Of course, I didn't really know what was going on with him there. UMass was UK's rival during the Pitino years, Cal was their coach, so he was the enemy. The stories that were spun about Cal in the media were predictably negative as they continue to be. Most of the stories have proven themselves to be wildly inaccurate as the years have progressed and we Kentucky fans seen how certain "powers-that-be" have vested interest in seeing Cal fail. As I have watched coach over the years, I have become a fan. So yes, I am biased favorably toward Coach and the way he does things. I believe in "players-first" because I believe that is the truest function of college athletics. College athletics, just like the rest of college, is for helping these young people on their way - not for the satisfaction of faculty, administrators, alumni or fans. The satisfaction of these groups is a happy coincidence for a successful program.

     You fans who are complaining about the "one-and-done" need to do a little self-examination. If you have the opportunity to secure yourself and your family financially for a lifetime, all while getting to do something you love and do well, wouldn't you jump on the opportunity immediately? Stop kidding yourself, and stop being hypocrites.You people attacking Diallo or any of the others who are leaving early need a dose of humility and a helping of honesty. Brats! You have gotten your way so much, and have been happy to get it. You have tasted the sweetness of victory after victory. You have bathed in the aura of fame you didn't earn (and so have I). Appreciate what you have been able to witness and share in as fans. Support these young men - they will make (and have made) it worth it. Have you noticed how these young men make sure the country and the world knows that their time at Kentucky gave them what they needed to succeed? You cannot buy that kind of publicity - what price would you put on that? Stop saying that these young men don't give back - your ignorance shouts more loudly than your anger.

     Succeed and proceed, my young wildcats. Grow and become great. Prove the critics to be fools. Go Cats!

   

The One that (Almost) Got Away UK vs Notre Dame

"So close, but so far away..."

     I don't know about the rest of you, but for the first time this season, I thought (we) Kentucky was going to lose.  We were sloppy with easy passes, tentative at times, and Notre Dame kept matching or bettering our performance.  They looked very much like that team that Coach Brey said they were.  They were gritty, tough-minded, and they executed well... until the final 6 minutes, they didn't crack.

    Then one of them missed a free throw with 5:22 to go.  Notre Dame had not missed a free throw to that point; they missed three of their last 5 down the stretch.  During that same time, the 'Cats did what they have done all year: KAT dominated around the offensive basket, Aaron had a dunk and a bomb from outside, WCS blocked a three attempt, and Andrew ran the show - including hitting those last two free-throws with 6 seconds to go. 
 
   All that was left was for WCS to sprint, half-turned, keeping himself between Grant and the basket, while Andrew and Lyles followed to challenge the last desperate shot from the corner.  The celebration afterword showed how important this game really was as players hugged, slammed into, and yelled at each other.  The undefeated season rolls on, the drive for nine continues. 

"I'm still standing.."

Tugging on Superman's cape... UK vs WVU

"You don't tug on Superman's cape;
 You don't spit into the wind;
 You don't pull the mask off of no Long Ranger;
 And you don't mess around with Jim."

     Before Thursday night's game against WVU there was quite a bit of talking - trash talking by a number of players from West Virginia's team.  Trash talking is a long standing tradition - in fact, I can even find the king of Israel and king of Syria doing it against one another somewhere around 800 BC (I Kings 20:11).  That wasn't the only biblical occurrence, but it was the one with the best applicable line. The king of Israel replied to the Syrian king's boast (trash talk) by saying (roughly translated to English) "Let him who puts on his armor not boast like one who has taken it off."  In other words, don't boast like you have won till you have.
     Now look, when you are asked by reporters about your opponent, there is nothing wrong about expressing confidence in your team, your teammates.  But there is a line you have to draw mentally that keeps you from saying stupid things.  Tell me, if your opponent has not lost a game in over 30-plus straight, is their conference regular season and tournament champion, and is the undisputed top-ranked team in the country - what do you say when asked about playing them next?  I wouldn't be saying "They gonna be 36 and 1 after tomorrow."
     The Harrisons, when asked about the quote, gave a perfect response "What else is he supposed to say; is he supposed to say were going to lose?'  They betrayed no extraordinary emotional response - it was almost as though the words didn't even matter.  WCS was a little more open with what he thought - he admitted to be a little more motivated, a little "turn't up." Though Willie said he wasn't Superman in an interview the other day, there were certainly some fools tugging on his cape. He wasn't the only UK player who showed up highly motivated and highly focused.

    The score didn't even tell the whole story about how badly Kentucky beat them, but a 39-point blowout, and holding your opponent to 39 points isn't bad.

31 & none, not done...

     How do you describe a season like this?  When I was listening to the games in the Bahamas by day while at work, and watching the recordings of the games by night, I could tell this was a special team, but I was not sure about how special - I was unsure about the quality of the opponents they were playing.  I love winning, no doubt about it, but there is something to be said for being measured by the quality your opponent.  There is a certain validation in beating good teams.  Still, there was something - something that was more than could be empirically measured.  The camaraderie, the chemistry of the guys was a rare treat to watch on the court and off.  The KSR crew testified to the the unity, and great character of these guys repeatedly.  There was something special in the air from the beginning.

     Big Blue Madness and thirty-one regular season games later - are there words to adequately describe this team?  In 2012, about mid-season, I told people I knew, strangers online, and everyone around me to go see and appreciate that team.  I was right then, and I began, early on this season, to get that same feeling.  There were the blow-outs, there were the squeakers, but by mid-season, I never worried that we would lose.  Yes, I ripped the referees - college basketball is infested with a plague of bad officiating - but this team had convinced me that they would not lose.  There was no opponent (or groups of opponents) that could break their will or overcome their ability.  The freight train was not to be derailed.

     My wife and I went to our first UK game at Rupp on February 21st.  The experience was beyond description, not in the "we climbed a bunch of stairs, ate gelato, watched UK blow-out Auburn, watched the Delk jersey retirement," sense, but the atmosphere, the crowd, the emotion, the passion - the only thing I can think to compare it to is the descriptions some give of a "religious experience." It was a spectacle that everyone was both watching and participating in.  The crowd was like one giant living organism made of thousands of tiny living beings, it was an ocean where the tides are the emotions that rise and crash of their own will with every play.

     Once this team wins the NCAA tournament, we will revisit the comparisons to 1996.  I love the 2012 team, but this team is more comparable to 1996.  Kentucky basketball is the show.










     Let's celebrate this team, celebrate the 31-0 season, celebrate this great group of young men.  Let's enjoy the show for as long as it rolls.