Vandy guard Jenkins proves unable to shoot over the defensive presence that is John Wall.
In the closing seconds of the game, Jenkins attempts a 3 point shot. John Wall gets a piece of it and the shot is off the mark. More last second heroics by Wall who had made the winning shots for Kentucky only seconds earlier.
This Kentucky Team refuses to lose. The swagger is definitely back at Kentucky.
GO BIG BLUE!!!
Kentucky is getting all the great press lately.
Unanimous #1 College Basketball Team in the Nation.
Cousins, Patterson and Wall ~ One of them is either Player or Frosh of the Week almost every week of this season.
Wall and Patterson are front runners for National Player of the Year.
Wall is frontrunner for SEC Player of the Year.
Cal puts together “Hoops for Haiti” on a moments notice. He and the Cats raise over 1,000,000 USD in less than a week.
Now, the President of the United States of America wants to thank them for their efforts. Put aside politics for a moment and hear those words. THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IS GOING TO THANK THE CATS! This is an honor of the highest order. It matters not whether you voted for the man or not. He’s the President. He is the human embodiment of the Nation. He wants to either meet with the Cats or in some manner convey his and the nations appreciation for their efforts.
Aside from the honor associated with receiving this magnanimous gesture, it’s publicity of the highest order. This is a publicity bonanza.
Coach Cal is a master. I’m not saying that he did this for the press that it’s garnered. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that the University of Kentucky is getting a public lift that is amazing in scale. It’s unbelievable what Coach Cal has done.
I have to admire the man.
He’s amazing.
UK has not seen this kind of public adulation since…well, not in my memory.
Congratulations Coach Cal and to the Cats are in order. This is incredible. I love it.
It’s awesome to be a Cat fan right now and to be associated with this incredible team and its Coach.
GO BIG BLUE!
With the Gators and Wildcats being down for the last several years, the SEC has struggled to gain its footing nationally. Tennessee and Bruce Pearl make a nice story, sure, but they are nothing compared to the vaunted Wildcats.
This is the cold, hard truth that the rest of the SEC doesn’t want to acknowledge.
When it comes to basketball, UK is the SEC. The SEC needs a dominant Kentucky in order to be relevant. Much like the ACC needs FSU in order to remain relevant in the BCS of Football. It’s the natural order.
Get used to it.
Kentucky is back. Coach Cal will keep UK at the top. More than likely, Cal will stay 8 to 10 years which means that Mitch Barnhart should should be keeping an eye out for a successor. It’s too early to bring in an assistant. Two or three years down the line, Cal should start looking for someone to whom he can hand the reins. Recruit this young and talented coach to the bench at UK and start his training to take over. Unlike Tubby Smith, Cal selects young and enthusiastic talent for his bench. No re-treads on the bench under Coach Cal. Keep that bench full of young hungry assistant and associate coaches. Hopefully, Cal finds a few ex-players from UK teams to carry the torch after he leaves.
2018 or so, Cal can hand the reins over to a pre-selected individual. No coaching searches. No guessing. Simply a seamless turn over. This is how it should be done.
UK reloads and keeps rocking the SEC and the NCAA.
Box Score vs Arkansas
Cats blow out the Hogs to earn debut at #1 in 2010.
No. 2 Kentucky dominates Arkansas 101-70
LEXINGTON, Ky.(AP) Darius Miller had a career-high 18 points and DeMarcus Cousins got his 10th double-double as No. 2 Kentucky coasted by Arkansas 101-70 Saturday.
The Wildcats kept alive the nation’s only unblemished record and a near certain return to the top of the college basketball rankings.
Kentucky (19-0, 4-0 SEC) hasn’t topped The Associated Press poll since 2003, but that streak is almost certain to end Monday courtesy of its dominating victory over UK alumnus John Pelph
rey’s Razorbacks and top-ranked Texas’ loss to Kansas State earlier in the week.
This one was practically over by tipoff. Kentucky scored the game’s 10 points, stretched the lead to 30 by halftime, then added the first 14 points of the second half.
With that much margin for error, the Wildcats easily avoided the kind of second half letdown that made recent wins over Georgia and Auburn much closer than anticipated. Arkansas (8-11, 1-3) did make an 18-3 run midway through the second half, but by that time, Kentucky had plenty of cushion to withstand it.
The Wildcats’ largest lead was 46 after John Wall hit a jumper with 14 minutes left. The Razorbacks got it no closer than 92-62 with under 4 minutes to go.
Arkansas was led by Courtney Fortson ’s 21 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep up with the Wildcats’ scoring barrage.
They ended the first half and began the second on a 21-0 run, including a 3-pointer by Ramon Harris at the halftime buzzer and later consecutive 3s by Miller.
Miller connected on four of six attempts from long range.
Cousins, who finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds, secured his double-double just seconds into the second half. He probably would have gotten it even sooner but was sidelined for all but nine minutes of the first half with a minor injury.
Calipari tried to keep expectations low going into the Arkansas game, joking, ”What’s going to happen the next day, we go to the electric chair?”
One thing that did concern him was the Wildcats have been vulnerable against 3-point shooters this year, and Arkansas has one of the nation’s best of those in Rotnei Clarke . However, Clarke was just 2-of-9 from beyond the arc and the Razorbacks managed just one other 3.
It was Kentucky’s third 100-point effort of the season and first in SEC play.
Pelphrey has now lost all three meetings against his alma mater as an opposing coach.
Kentucky should be ranked #1 on Monday.
Darius Miller was stroking it from the outside hitting 4-6 from the Trey. Stevenson got in early and had a killer dunk. Wall and Bledsoe played like Siamese Twins out there. Cousins got a double double and lost a tooth. Patrick Patterson had his normal outstanding game.
Kentucky remains undefeated. Is soon to be ranked #1 and is on their way to the Top #1 Seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Less than two months until the SEC tournament. I can’t wait to get there and see it. Live and in person.
GO BIG BLUE!
BONUS: Mich St defeats the Gophers in their house. TLT strikes again. Double Bonus: UL and UNC lost this week.
Today was my last Graduation ceremony at the Regional Police Headquarters in Herat. Seems like I’m doing a lot of “lasts” these days.
The ceremony started about like most of them have. It ended like no other. I’ve graduated around 30 classes in the past 2 1/2 years. Each course had about 20 students. Pretty good. That’s not counting individual one to three day classes and seminars and our Work Shops on Camp Zafar. We’ve held our classes mostly in Herat. Either at Zafar, the MRI/RHQ or at the Park Hotel when it was the RHQ. We’ve also held classes at Shoust, Shindand, Ghalla Attar and Chaghcharan. We tried to edge into other locations, but, were unsuccessful. Eventually most of the students from the areas to which we could not visit made it to one of our classes in Herat and Shoust.
The Graduation started with prayer. In the beginning, this practice made me feel awkward. Today, though, without consciously realizing it, I found myself participating. Surprised myself. At the end of the prayer, the Afghans simulate cleansing themselves by holding their hands in front of themselves palm facing inwards and “washing” their hands over the faces. They don’t actually touch their faces but raise their hands up to their foreheads and then sweep their hands down their faces from forehead to chin.
After the prayer, MG AK rose to give his speech. He tore into the Regional Logistics folks. Really let them have it. I chuckled at first. As he ran on for 30 minutes, I began to wonder if he’d ever come to a conclusion. He’d come to low rumble and then return to a blood curdling crescendo and do it again. 30 minutes passed and finally COL Zahir called Shoaib up to the front. That was the hint that people were about to pass out from his screeching. We could take it no longer. It’s funny, but, the General tends to keep it going long past the point wherein folks start to drown him out.
Finally, he reached his conclusion.
COL Zahir called me up to start the Graduation Ceremony. I hadn’t intended to make any sort of speech. I’ve said my speech. Going so far as to do my own screeching a time or two. Since AK had touched on the Logistics Cadres shortcomings, I reiterated the simple correction for said shortcomings stating that “they’re one indispensable guide is the Log Policy which had been issued by the MoI.” Therein are instructions and guidance for any task that an ANP Loggie is expected to carry out. Easy policy guidance and step by step instruction to the MoI Logistics Program. I didn’t add “GET OFF YOUR DEAD @** AND READ IT!” As I’d stated that two days previously for the millionth time during our course.
I finished my little talk and it was time to get down to business. I’d planned this last course as a kind of friendship tour. I was able to get around and visit with old friends. Greg gave most of the course and I was free to socialize. The Graduation was the final step in cementing a life long friendship in Herat. I had purchased the carpet that I posted last week as a parting gift for MG Akrummudeen. Part of was a show of appreciation for support that he’s given me since I’ve been here. He’s always treated me like a long time friend. Since day one actually. I convened the graduation and then stated that before we recognized the graduates that I had a gift for the General and for COL Zahir.
I called the General to the front and presented him with the carpet. He seemed to be genuinely touched and blushed at the gesture. A few folks remarked that they’d never seen anyone get a reaction out of him. Apparently, I had set a new mark in Afghan~US relations. It’s part of the job, I reckon. It was a nice feeling to see genuine gratitude in his eyes and smile. I was told that it was a fairly touching scene.
MG AK took over at that. He really talked us up. He told them that I was one of the top Mentors in the region and that I had worked tirelessly to mentor and train the Logistics Cadre. I wish I had been able to have been properly utilized for the whole of my time in that manner. As it was, I probably was only able to do about 30% of that which I should have accomplished with the proper logistics/transportation support from MPRI and the Military. It’s not the local Military’s fault, though. Herat Region has always been underfunded, under-supplied, under-equipped and undermanned. It’s how it is and with the Italians taking over, it will only get worse for whoever replaces me. MG AK then presented me with a Certificate signed by the Deputy Minister of Interior. That was pretty cool. After MG AK handed me the cert and we shook hands, the loudest applause that I can remember broke out. It shocked me. lol It was probably the size of the room. We were in a small conference room. MG AK then presented Greg and Milton with their certificates.
Afterwards, MG AK handed the event back to me. I called COL Zahir up to the podium. Faced the crowd and told them that I had one more presentation before we could move onto the the graduates.
I stated:
Since I started working with COL Zahir, he and I have developed a great friendship as well as a professional relationship. As I am a fan of the Big Blue, I always try to spread the faith. With that in mind, I want to take this time to present this #54 Patrick Patterson Kentucky Jersey to COL Zahir as a small token of thanks for both his friendship and for his support during his tenure. GO BIG BLUE!
I, then, presented the Jersey to COL Zahir. We shook hands and, hell, we might have hugged. I can’t remember.
Then that same loud applause broke out.
We handed out the certs to the students and the ceremony was brought to a conclusion.
After the ceremony, I explained to COL Zahir the whole Big Blue hysteria and talked a bit about
Patrick Patterson. Compared him to Pele and David Beckham in soccer. I told him that this time next year, Patterson would be playing in the NBA with the likes of Kobe and Lebron. We chatted for a bit longer and then it was time to get ready to roll back to Camp Stone with the Army.
Later on, Milton and I were talking and came to the conclusion that it was the most emotional and sincere ceremonies in which we had participated in Afghanistan.
It was damn fine day. Another day of being blessed with a simple happiness and contentedness. Days like this make me feel privileged to be alive and to be part of all of this.
And to top it off, I was able to bring the BIG BLUE into it. Ya gotta love that. Spreading the Gospel.
GO BIG BLUE!!!
……
…..
GO BIG BLUE!!!
I purchased a couple of UK sweatshirts to give to my little friends over at the RHQ. I wanted to give the sweat shirts to the kids before I left for leave as a Christmas gift. I didn’t have the time, though. So I put them away until after my R&R.
Wahid, Shoaib and I took the sweatshirts and a few other items (puzzles and candy) to the kids today. It was fun playing with the kids and explaining them the meaning of the puzzles. I explained to them who Donald and Daisy Duck and Huey, Dewey and Louie are as well as the 101 Dalmatians and the Cookie Monster. As I was doing it, Shoaib reminded me that I used to call Wahid the cookie monster. When I first met Wahid, he scammed one of my cookies off of me. I got mad and told him that I’d kick his ass if he ever touched my stuff again. lol Then I started messing with him and nicknamed him cookie monster. It ran on for a year and finally I just let it tail off. He was pretty embarrassed by it. Of course, that just made me rub it in all the more.
We gave them the sweatshirts and the candy. Baba brought over his baby girls as well. They were cute little girls. One of them was scared to death of me and the other just looked at me as if I was a curiosity. I laughed and laughed. Kept tell ing her; “so you’re the brave one of the family” and laughing. She let me hold her and talked to me and generally was a fearless little gal. I loved it. Too cool.
After the boys put on their sweatshirts, I got them to pose with the flags and yell “Go Big Blue!” It was too funny and too cute. I wish I had my vidcam, but, I left it in Thailand with Unny. I had to coax Nahida over to get into the picture. She gets shy when the camera comes out.
I sometimes wonder what these kids think of all of this. I’m some strange American man and I bring them things for no reason. Shoaib teased Nahida today and told her that I wanted to take her back to the States to marry my son. She didn’t take to the idea. I told her that he was joking and I don’t have a son. No need to worry about that. Even so, she seemed nervous the whole time. As if she thought we might take her away.
I kept re-assuring her that it was in no way going to happen. Although, I’d love to adopt her and take her home with me. Get her away from the fate that most likely awaits her as an adult Afghan woman. Send her to school and lead her to a happier life.
I gave Shoaib the camera and he snapped away as I played and acted like a kid myself. I think they enjoyed it. Little Jalil called me Dear Uncle today. I can’t remember the Dari word for Uncle or I’d type it here. Then Jalil and Ali started calling me Dawood Khan. lol That’s what was on my name tag on my uniform when I first met them. I laughed and laughed. I got them to yell “Kentucky!” and “GO BIG BLUE!”, “Patrick Patterson” and “John Wall.” I was trying to get them to say “The Great Wall of Kentucky!” But I think it was too long. lol
Then I got them to yell “UK is Number One” and “Go Big Blue!” again.
It was a fun time. Always nice seeing my little friends. Peace!
| Kentucky | ||||||||||||
| Name | Min | FG | 3Pt | FT | Off | Reb | Ast | TO | Stl | Blk | PF | Pts |
| D. Miller | 36 | 3-9 | 3-6 | 4-5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| D. Cousins | 26 | 5-8 | 0-1 | 3-8 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 13 |
| E. Bledsoe | 30 | 2-4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| J. Wall | 45 | 7-15 | 1-4 | 8-8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 23 |
| P. Patterson | 31 | 5-9 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| D. Orton | 9 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Dodson | 13 | 0-3 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Harrellson | 4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| R. Harris | 24 | 3-5 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| P. Stevenson | 7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 225 | 25-56 | 6-19 | 17-25 | 15 | 37 | 14 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 21 | 73 |
| Percentages: | .446 | .316 | .680 | Team Rebounds: 2 | ||||||||
Calipari on Wall and Bledsoe:
“I think we’ve got two guys when the game is on the line they are not afraid to make plays, which bodes well for us,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “You saw once again that late in the game I’m not calling a timeout. I don’t need to be a hero, let those guys be the hero.”
“Those two guys have the killer (instinct),” Calipari said. “What you want is the guys with the killer to bleed onto the others. Just a will to win.”
“For such a young team, they showed a lot of poise down the stretch,” Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. “(Wall) is one of the fastest guards I’ve ever seen play on any level. He showed a lot of poise for his age. He’s a terrific player.”
On the other side, Wall was the only Kentucky player to get going before the break. The freshman guard had 15 points but could not do all the heavy lifting with preseason All-American forward Patterson going out of the game less than six minutes in with two fouls. Without Patterson’s inside presence the Wildcats struggled to get anything in the paint and shot just 35.5 percent from the field.
Patterson got going early in the second half on his way to his 25th career double-double, but he missed two point-blank opportunities on the same possession that would have given Kentucky its first lead since late in the first half with just over 10 minutes remaining.
He made up for it later, using a power post move to give Kentucky a 54-53 lead with 6:42 to play.
John Wall will be the first #1 Draft Pick in Kentucky History. He or Patterson should be the First UK Basketballer to bring home the Adolph Rupp Trophy for Player of the Year. I think one of them will bring home the Wooden Trophy as well. Wall may well be the most highly regarded Frosh/Student Athlete to ever have worn the UK Jersey by the time this year is finished. He is certainly lived up to the hype surrounding him as a player. What’s more is that the guy is actually a good student and a good guy as well.
Calipari pulled off a recruiting coup with John Wall. His second best recruiting pitch was retaining Patrick Patterson. These are two All World Student Athletes. I just hope that all of the anti-Cal or anti-Kentucky feeling out there doesn’t hurt them over the course of the year. Lots of guys out there who are waiting like vultures for something, anything to pop up to stall or kill Cal and Kentucky’s momentum. Yet, these same hypocrites defend John Wooden as if their reputations depended upon said defense.
This year, UK has three of the Top Freshman in the CNNSI Power Rankings. Wall and Cousins are ranked #’s 1 and 2 respectively. Eric Bledsoe is ranked at #25. I’m sure that Bledsoe will rise as the year goes on. All three are players. I can see them all going to the NBA after this year. Hopefully, Bledsoe and Cousins come back for a 2nd year. The good thing, though, is that IF Cousins sees it as more wise to come out for the Draft after this year, it will likely mean that he has helped lead UK to a Final Four or better.
This should be a great year for Kentucky Basketball. Patterson, Wall and the rest of the Frosh are finding ways to win this year. Whereas last year, Billy Gillispie was finding ways to lose.
GO BIG BLUE!!!
Here he is in all his glory. Coach of the Golden Gophers of Minnesota.
Any Kentucky Fan who still cheers for this guy is an idiot. They should be driven out of the Big Blue Nation or hell, we should tar and feather the losers. I’m so tired of getting on Kentucky boards only to see some moron has posted a link to a Golden Gophers board or a new link to a Golden Gopher game/win. Here’s a hint ~ No one cares. If you want to cheer for Traitor Tubby, take your sorry ass to a Minnesota Golden Gophers Board. I’m sure they’ll welcome your sorry ass with open arms.
They’re especially notorious for this over at Wildcatnation.net. Several posters over there love to slobber all over Tubby each time he’s brought into a conversation. Then they wonder why people get annoyed by them and their Tubby erotica. I swear to God. In a full moon, these idiots probably get together and have orgies under a Tubby Shrine. Lube themselves up and in a grotesque scene straight out of hell, they worship Tubby by sacrificing poor little gophers which they’ve painted gold with paint purchased on special at Walmart. I’m sure UKBOOB leads them in their sacrificial prayer and is the first to strip down and rub himself all over the TLT statue and drink the golden gopher blood.
Bunch of Damn Losers!
Honestly, I’ve got nothing against the Tubster since he did the right thing and skulked out of town leaving all the problems that he created behind for someone else to fix. Now that’s real class. lol But his slobbering and adoring leftovers at UK, I wish he’d come down and lead them away like a bandwagon driving pied piper. We don’t need the bandwagon chumps in the Big Blue Nation.
Here they are planning the TLT orgy ritual.
The TLT Orgy hunting party chasing gophers in Eastern Kentucky. Once they catch the poor critters, they’ll paint them Minnesota Gold. Afterward, they’ll lop off their little heads and smear themselves with the sacred Golden Gopher blood as a sacrifice at the Tubby altar in the post orgy festivities.
Check out Patrick Patterson on the cover of Sports Illustrated
The first Kentucky Cover since Hawkins in 2003.
The Big Blue is BACK!
http://twitpic.com/q4un0
Mr Wildcat with Ramel Bradley.
Sure wish he could have been here for this season. He would have enjoyed this one.
I’m certain he would have loved Wall and Patterson:
On the play of John Wall and Patrick Patterson tonight …
“I asked him, is that you’re A-game? Pretty good. He makes us different obviously. Let me tell you what I loved what he did. There were three or four times where he should have passed the ball but he didn’t in transition. There are times he’s moving so fast he’s not recognizing that stuff. But here is what I appreciated; he’s saying to me we have to get Patrick [Patterson] some shots here. At the end let’s get DeMarcus [Cousins] the ball. That’s a leader; he has a feel for his team, wants to keep everybody happy and wants to keep them involved. I told Patrick, shoot threes. He’s looking at me like I’m crazy. I said, you shoot the five-minute three-point shooting drill everyday and he makes as many three’s as our guards. I said, it’s you thinking you’re going to miss it, just shoot it. He’s still not in sync with what we need, and I have to figure out how we play him and really get the most out him and him get the most out of what we’re trying to do. What a great kid though, in the first half he said he’s fine. He just wants to win. They want him to be our best player.”
John Wall:
It’s just how it is. College is just like high school. If you’re a good player you play certain teams with certain players that will go after you. That’s how it is in college, but it’s not a one-man show. I have Kentucky basketball on my chest and I’m trying to support my team and do the best I can to help them win games.”
Rest in Peace, Bill.
Patrick Patterson was named AP First Team All American. Patterson is the first UK Basketball Team member to be named to the All America Team since Tayshaun Prince. If he makes the post-season team, he’ll be the first UK player so honored since Ron Mercer in 1997. Neither Smith nor Gillispie produced a post season All America honoree.
John Wall was named to the Second Team All Americas. Many folks in the Sports world are asking the obvious question. Does anyone really think that there are 8 or 9 players better in the NCAA than Wall. Had Wall been eligible for the NBA Draft, many believe that he would have been the Number One pick. He would at least been a Top 2 or 3 pick. I understand that he’s not played an NCAA game, yet. Even so, Wall is going to be one of the best 2 or 3 Collegiate players out there this year.
Here’s the AP First Team:
Luke Harangody – Notre Dame
Cole Aldrich – Kansas
Sherron Collins – Kansas
Patrick Patterson – Kentucky
Kyle Singler – Duke
***There is no way that Kyle Singler is going to have a better year than John Wall. Coach K must have paid some of his AMEX money as a bribe to the voters.
The 2009-2010 Season is going to be crazy awesome for this team and UK fans. A fitting end will be for Patrick Patterson and John Wall to be named First Team All America in the post-Season and for Patterson to be named the Player of the Year and bring the Adolph Rupp Trophy/Award home to Kentucky for the first time since it’s creation. They’ve also been named to the All Wooden Team.
That would make for an amazing year. Incredibly amazing.
“I was really excited when someone told me he was named All-American,” Kentucky sophomore Darius Miller said. “But he didn’t tell me or make a big deal out of it. Everybody was talking about it except Pat. He’s not really the type of person to brag on himself.”
Vaught’s Views on Patterson and the All America Honor
NOVEMBER
2 (Mon) CAMPBELLSVILLE–Exh. FSNS # 7:00 pm
6 (Fri) CLARION–Exh. FSNS # 7:00 pm
13 (Fri) MOREHEAD STATE ESPNU 6:30 pm
16 (Mon) MIAMI UNIVERSITY BBSN/FSNS 7:00 pm
19 (Thu) 1 SAM HOUSTON STATE FSNS # 7:00 pm
21 (Sat) 1 RIDER FSNS # 1:00 pm
24 (Tue) 2 vs. Cleveland State 4:30 pm
25 (Wed) 2 vs. Stanford/Virginia 7/9:30 pm
30 (Mon) 3 vs. UNC Asheville FSNS 7:00 pm
DECEMBER
5 (Sat) NORTH CAROLINA CBS 12:30 pm
9 (Wed) 4 vs. Connecticut ESPN 9:30 pm
12 (Sat) at Indiana CBS Noon
19 (Sat) AUSTIN PEAY CSS 4:00 pm
21 (Mon) DREXEL ESPNU 7:00 pm
23 (Wed) LONG BEACH STATE FSNS # 1:00 pm
29 (Tue) HARTFORD ESPN2 7:00 pm
JANUARY
2 (Sat) LOUISVILLE CBS 3:30 pm
9 (Sat) • GEORGIA SEC NETWORK 4:00 pm
12 (Tue) • at Florida ESPN 9:00 pm
16 (Sat) • at Auburn SEC Network 4:00 pm
23 (Sat) • ARKANSAS SEC NETWORK 4:00 pm
26 (Tue) • at South Carolina ESPN 9:00 pm
30 (Sat) • VANDERBILT ESPN 4:00 pm
FEBRUARY
2 (Tue) • OLE MISS ESPN 7:00 pm
6 (Sat) • at LSU SEC Network 4:00 pm
9 (Tue) • ALABAMA ESPNU 9:00 pm
13 (Sat) • TENNESSEE ESPN 9:00 pm
16 (Tue) • at Mississippi State ESPN 9:00 pm
20 (Sat) • at Vanderbilt ESPN 6:00 pm
25 (Thu) • SOUTH CAROLINA ESPN/ESPN2 9:00 pm
27 (Sat) • at Tennessee CBS Noon
MARCH
3 (Wed) • at Georgia SEC Network 8:00 pm
7 (Sun) • FLORIDA CBS Noon
11-14 (Th-Su) 5 SEC Tournament ABC/SEC Network TBA
# Game delayed on Big Blue Sports Network; • SEC Game; 1–Cancun Challenge (Rupp Arena, Lexington); 2–Cancun Challenge (Cancun, Mexico); 3–Freedom Hall (Louisville, Ky.); 4–SEC/BIG EAST Invitational (New York City); 5–Nashville, Tenn.
Go Big Blue!!!
Big Pat, if you need any back up, give me a yell. lol
Go Cats!!!
This is the best UK news since 1996 and 1998.
According to more sources than I can count, Coach Calipari IS the next Basketball Coach at the University of Kentucky.
WELCOME!
And may the Gods grant you TREMENDOUS SUCCESS and DOMINANCE over all you survey…
GO BIG BLUE!!!
I could not be happier with the way things have turned out. This makes the past 4 years seem as if naught but a moment has passed.
UK is back!
I’ll say it again.
UK IS BACK!!!
GET READY. Kentucky is going to start cuttin’ some nets!
Jay Bilas on why Calipari should go to UK
Calipari, 252-69 in nine seasons at Memphis and 445-140 overall, was named the Sports Illustrated coach of the year before the start of the NCAA tournament, the first time he received SI’s award. Calipari was the Naismith coach of the year last season, joining Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski as the only coaches to be named twice to the award since its inception in 1987.
Calipari went 193-71 in eight seasons at Massachusetts from 1988 to 1996, culminating with an Elite Eight appearance in ‘95 and a trip to the Final Four in ‘96.
Calipari, a graduate of Clarion State (Pa.) in 1982, also coached the NBA’s New Jersey Nets from 1996 to ‘98, going 72-112 before his ouster early in the 1998-99 season.
Calipari attracts his own set of assumptions.
But he can absolutely coach. And in the two years since I wrote my last take on whether he should come to UK, he has shown that he can take a team to the elite level, and that he can attract some of the best talent in college basketball and craft a system in which that talent can thrive.
I suppose if you’re UK, the best case scenario is that Calipari can use the power of the program’s prestige to get in on the very best talent every year, and that the program’s in-place safeguards can ward off some of the less-savory assumptions, if not elements. You bank on the fact that the NCAA has not stuck anything on Calipari in his blindingly successful time in Memphis.
But you’d also better understand — those assumptions that follow Calipari, will now attach themselves to your program. Which, while among the most storied in college basketball, is also one of the most penalized in college basketball.
I suppose my bottom line is that I have more of an appreciation for Calipari as a coach than I had two years ago.
The reward — big-time success and exposure — is a given. But the spotlight at Kentucky is very bright. And if anything turns up in the glare, fans in Lexington need only cast a glance up to Bloomington to see the risks involved.
It’s still a risk for UK. But it appears to be a Cal-culated risk that UK may well be ready to take.
IT IS OFFICIAL!!! COACH CAL is now Coach of the Big Blue Nation!
GO CATS!!!
GO BIG BLUE!!!
Take a moment and let me know how you feel about this hire. I know I”m excited as hell. And don’t worry. No comment will be censored. I’d just like to know how the BBN feels about the hire.
Peace, Dave
(reporting from Afghanistan. lol)
They’re out there. Thousands of folks running around. Rumor mongers galore.
I’ve heard that Gillispie is out as soon as he loses the last game of the year. Because everyone or most everyone is convinced that he will lose. Probably to Creighton.
Miller, Meeks and Patterson will transfer or go to the NBA if Gillispie returns. Liggins is gone. Mike Porter is going to graduate early and leave no matter what happens because of family issues. His wife is about to have their baby and Mike needs to get a job and support his family.
Calipari is already on board
Pitino is in the wings waiting. But he might be on his way to Arizona as well.
Donovan has changed his mind [again] and wants to create his own Camelot.
90% of the Big Blue Nation is supposed to want Billy G gone at year end.
A Big time Booster who owns a bank or two is financing the buyout of Billy and the hiring of Calipari. Calipari supposedly wanted to come last time but was blocked by his contract and boosters at Memphis. This time. Nothing stands in his way.
I have no idea what is going to happen. G is still recruiting as if he is staying. The JUCO kid, Konner, just signed and he’s supposed to be the real deal. Instant Impact. As opposed to flighty JUCOs Galloway and Harrelson.
There are so many rumors floating out there that I can’t keep up with them. Bloggers are going crazy. Sportswriters are swearing that he’s gone. Bromley, Bozich, Seth Davis have all come out stating that G is as good as gone. Citing “sources close to the program” or “sources within the program.”
And it’s not that Billy G is losing at a clip that makes Tubby look like a winner in his last two years. It’s that Billy G doesn’t seem to understand the role of a Kentucky Coach. He seems to think that he can coach and play his X’s and O’s and it ends there. He doesn’t seem to understand that he’s expected to BE the program. He’s supposed to kiss babies and shake hands and represent the program in the news. He’s got to glad hand the boosters and give autographs.
Then there are the rumors that he’s all over the parties on campus doing his best Bruce Pearl impression. These rumors are completely unbelievable. In this age of instant celebrity and sleuthing/outting via Youtube and webcams and cellphone cams and video recorders, there would be a record of any shenanigans. Thus far, NADA. Not a single video or picture of a drunken Billy pawing on College Frosh at Sorority or Fraternity parties. Not a single pic of a sloshed Billy G. Not one.
But that doesn’t stop morons from spreading the rumors or the gullible masses from believing every and anything that they hear concerning these rumors. It seems that some people live to tell. And the rowdier the rumor, it seems the more people are willing to believe it.
Come Monday, we’ll see.
If Billy goes up to Omaha and his boys lose, next week is judgement week. The dirty truth comes out.
Will he resign?
Will deep pocketed Boosters buy him out and bring in a big name like Calipari?
Is Pitino the “once and future” coach of the Cats?
Will Donovan pull a Roy Williams and come the second time he’s asked?
I have no idea. We’ll know soon enough.
My favorite rumor is this gem from you tube:
DUI got caught drinking with ramel bradley while he was a senior last year… tisk tisk silly redneck i guess thats what you’d expect from a school with a hick tradition like kentsucky.
And a 4 seed at that. I don’t even wanna talk about it.
First up: UNLV
Someone shoot me now…PLEASE! lol
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Jodie Meeks scored 45 points, setting a Bud Walton Arena record and leading short-handed Kentucky to an easy 79-63 win over Arkansas on Saturday.
Meeks scored 22 points in the first half and 23 in the second, capping his spectacular performance with a two-handed dunk with just over a minute to play. He helped the Wildcats (18-7, 7-3 Southeastern Conference) withstand the absence of center Patrick Patterson, who sprained an ankle in Tuesday night’s win over Florida.
The rebuilding Razorbacks (13-10, 1-9) were without suspended point guard Courtney Fortson. Michael Washington and Stefan Welsh scored 14 points each for Arkansas.
Meeks, a junior, went 17-of-24 from the field and 7-of-12 from 3-point range, breaking the 40-point mark for the third time this season.
Associated Press
Meeks gets 45 in 79-63 Win over Arkansas and John Pelphrey
Gillispie talks about Galloway and Patterson.
Next victim: Vanderbilt!
The Cats drop two in row.
I agree Billy. WTF!
USC comes into Rupp and takes it. And the Cats led by BG let them. Pitiful.
One has to question the heart of this team.
2nd Game in a row where Jodie Meeks is shut down in the 1st half.
Enjoy them while they’re here Cats fans.
They may come back.
They may…
So I’m standing outside the Regional Police HQ in Herat. Waiting to head back to base. We’re smoking and joking with the Afghan Police who are heading out to lunch. When up walks this guy:
And to my surprise…DUDE HAS A KENTUCKY WILDCATS hat on his head. One of those old tobagons (presently called a beanie) from the 70s or 80s.
Couldn’t help myself. I started laughing and told the guy that he had to stop and take a photo with me. I tried to get my terp to get the words in the pic. If you look closely, you can make it out. “Kentucky Wildcats”
We posed for the pic and I thanked him. And laughed all the way home about the incident.
The hat must have been a donation from some Kentucky fan and found it’s way to the Humanitarian Aid program heading to Afghanistan.
Crazy…
It should come as no surprise. Random school does it. Anything. It doesn’t matter. From recruiting 8th graders to UCLA paying players to stay at UCLA. Whatever it might be. Any school does it. No headlines. No outrage. No real objections.
UK does it. Suddenly it’s a problem. Billy Gillispie inks an 8th Grader. Dick Vitale screams that it’s a sign of the Apocalypse. Billy Donovan inks an 8th Grader and it’s a sign of his genius. Billy Gillispie holds midnight madness a week early. Headline news. Four other schools did the same thing this year. Can you name them? A UCLA Booster paid it’s players thousands, tens of thousands over a ten year period. Openly. It was an open secret. Absolutely not a peep from the NCAA. Duke Boosters hire parents of players into positions for which they are unqualified and help them obtain loans for housing for which they are woefully financially unprepared. Not a sound. Not a whimper. An Emery Envelope falls open in the hands of a UCLA fan containing $1,000.00. Supposedly this envelope originated with a UK booster. UK is put on two years probation. Almost given the death sentence. Emery was sued over this and settled out of court.
Now that UK has a Coach that will play the recruiting game within the rules. He does things that journalists have always found “questionable” but rarely made much noise. That is the old days. A Kentucky Coach doing it is news. Now they will make noise about it.
Jeff Goodman. He admits that everyone is doing it. But now that UK is doing it, he’s got himself a story. That Baylor was doing it or Kansas or Oklahoma State were doing it. Not big enough. UK. That’s a different story, And one that must be written.
It’s a lack of journalistic integrity. It’s a lack of integrity within the NCAA Rules and Infractions Committee. It’s been there since the beginning.
KENTUCKY COMMIT NO SURPRISE
Oct 13, 2008 | 7:54AM
I have to admit I wasn’t surprised that Daniel Orton, one of the top big men in the country, committed to Kentucky over the weekend while in town for an early Midnight Madness.
Not because Kansas took itself out of the equation when the Jayhawks took a pledge from forward Thomas Robinson.
But because it certainly didn’t hurt that Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie paid Orton’s father, Larry, to speak at camps in Lexington on three separate occasions this past summer.
Let’s be clear. This isn’t against the rules.
It’s just Gillispie being Gillispie.
Remember, he was basically the guy that came under fire for being one of four coaches to hold Midnight Madness a week before the “official” start of practice.
Creative? Absolutely.
On the verge of being unethical? It depends who you ask.
Larry Orton admitted he was also paid to speak at Kansas and Oklahoma State, but he only picked up one paycheck from each of those schools.
C’mon. He may be articulate, knowledgeable and could even rival Bill Clinton in terms of his ability to captivate a crowd, but that’s not why he was there.
He was there because he is Daniel Orton’s father.
AAU coaches, high school coaches and many others affiliated with top recruits have collected a paycheck for getting up in front of young kids at these summer camps.
Texas Blue Chips director Mitch Malone spoke a couple times at Baylor this past summer. He was involved in Ekpe Udoh’s transfer from Michigan to Baylor and also coaches Quincy Acy – who committed to the Bears and is one of the top players in Texas. There are plenty of others who take advantage.
It’s getting out of hand and isn’t illegal. Not yet.
It’s triggered an NCAA proposal (13.12.2.2.2) in which a school is not able to employ a speaker in its men’s basketball camp or clinic who is involved in coaching prospective student-athletes or is associated with a prospective student-athlete as a result of the prospective student-athlete’s participation in basketball.
I don’t mean to go after Orton here, but this guy isn’t exactly on par with, say, legendary high school coach Bob Hurley.
His background: a couple years of junior college ball, a cup of coffee at Old Dominion capped off at Cameron University in Oklahoma. He’s also an assistant AAU coach on his son’s team.
However, Orton’s resume doesn’t matter. He says he speaks about the recruiting process and “what’s going to happen once the kids get to school” and “to get kids to understand it’s hard work.”
“I’m not trying to get any special privileges or anything like that,” Orton said. “I just think I’ve got something to say. I think I’m a pretty good speaker.”
That’s not why Billy Gillispie has brought him to Lexington on three separate occasions – two with his son.
Orton wouldn’t divulge how much he was paid per appearance, but it’s likely somewhere in the neighborhood of $500-$1,000 a pop plus travel. That’s how much two other high school coaches were compensated to speak at one of the UK camps.
Orton’s other son, Terrence Crawford, who played for current Kentucky assistant Glynn Cyprien at Oklahoma State, also made numerous appearances at the Kentucky camps.
Larry Orton was recently unable to confirm whether schools had offered Crawford a position on their staff.
“I heard Kentucky and Oklahoma State both offered him a job,” Orton said. “I don’t know. Nothing’s done until it’s done. If he gets a job, it’s going to come out, anyway.”
As we know, that isn’t illegal either.
It’s that time of the year again.
Big Blue Madness signals the start of the Basketball Season.
Kevin Galloway showing off his skills and the new UK uniforms.
Kentucky debuts new uniforms, struggles offensively in Big Blue Madness drill
LEXINGTON, Ky. — A year ago, Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness was about showing off a new coach. This time, it was about showing off a new look.
Billy Gillispie’s Wildcats donned their new blue and white uniforms with a checkerboard pattern as the nation’s all-time winningest program kicked off its preseason preparations Friday night in front of 23,000 of their closest friends.
While fans arrived before 9 p.m., it wasn’t until 11:18 that the second-year coach finally made his appearance.
Last year, four large banners descended from the rafters, and when they finally dropped, there Gillispie stood, waving to the crowd.
This time, the banners fell while pyrotechnics filled Rupp Arena, but Gillispie was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he entered moments later, jogging through the crowd in his gray jumpsuit, dishing out high-fives along the way.
“I know they’re excited to be here,” Gillispie, already seemingly short of voice, said of his players. “They love being here at Kentucky.”
Gillispie’s entrance was far humbler than that of women’s coach Matthew Mitchell, who appeared riding on a fire truck.
The men’s team first took the court with a dunk contest that Ramon Harris clinched with an off the backboard follow that he jammed home.
Then, there was a defensive-minded scrimmage, in which both sides took more than three minutes to score. It was a troubling reminder of the team’s slow starts at times last season, which ended with a loss to Marquette in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Although the checkerboard pattern on the new uniforms is subtle, those who designed them for Nike said they were intended as a nod to jockey silks representing the state’s signature industry, horse racing. Penny Chenery, who owned 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat, received an honorary jersey from Gillispie at midcourt during the festivities.
They also feature a shoulder patch that says “Mr. Wildcat.” The reference is a tribute to longtime equipment manager Bill Keightley, who died earlier this year at 81. A lasting memorial to Keightley was painted on the Rupp Arena floor in front of his familiar spot on the bench.
His daughter, Karen, wept at that honor and as fans stood and politely applauded while a tribute video to Keightley played on the large screens.
Although the official opening practice of the college basketball season isn’t until Oct. 17, Kentucky is one of a handful of schools using a technicality in the NCAA rules to hold their bash a week earlier. The NCAA allows two hours of team workouts per week, starting in mid-September.
The early Madness events could be short-lived, though. National Association of Basketball Coaches spokesman Rick Leddy said the rule was intended to give coaches and players extra time working on their skills, not to hold a pep rally.
Gillispie said before the festivities that he planned to have fun at this year’s Madness after feeling a little too apprehensive ahead of last year’s festivities.
“I didn’t know what to expect last year,” he said. “I’ve been to a lot of Midnight Madness at different places, but Big Blue Madness is something special. I’m very excited about it.”
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
And a rare positive commentary from Jerry Tipton.
Recruits wow fans in public pickup game
Prospects in town for UK’s Big Blue Madness stole the show at public pickup games involving Kentucky basketball players on Saturday morning in Memorial Coliseum.
Center prospect Daniel Orton commanded about 400 fans’ full attention. Other prospects who played in the pickup games included Russell Byrd, Dakotah Euton, Dominique Ferguson, G.J. Vilarino, Jon Hood and Vinny Zollo.
Here’s some observations:
■ Orton is the main focus of the fans. Fans applauded when veteran UK players appeared on the court for the pickup games. But Orton was the only one to rate a standing ovation.
He did not disappoint. Early on, he rebounded a Patrick Patterson miss, dribbled toward the left corner and swished a set shot. “He’s a beast,” one fan could be heard to say.
Later, Orton dunked over Euton and got into an interesting competitive exchange with transfer Matt Pilgrim. First, Orton posted up for a basket over Pilgrim, which drew cheers. Then Pilgrim answered with a rousing dunk. Then, Orton dunked on Pilgrim.
Advantage, Orton, who looked completely comfortable on the court with college players. Kentucky and Kansas head his list. He’s scheduled to attend Kansas’ Midnight Madness next weekend.
■ Byrd stood out, in part, because of his red hair, yellow T-shirt and black shorts. When he hit a three-pointer, a fan yelled, “Where’s your blue at?”
Byrd, who is from Fort Wayne, Ind., has had being close to home a factor in his recruitment. But to hear his father on Wednesday night, Byrd will give UK serious consideration.
■ Ferguson fit in while not trying to impress. During warmups, I counted him making six of seven three-point shots (the Coliseum has the shorter women’s line). In the games, he showed plenty of perimeter skills.
■ Vilarino is an intriguing player. The recruiting analysts are not high on him. Yet, he shows a competitive spirit and a point-guard mentality. He was strictly pass-first while also showing a willingness to be a scoring threat. He made a three-pointer off a nice in-and-out pass from Orton. He also gets up and down the court quickly.
■ Hood has a chance to be a fan favorite. He’s got a nice rotation on his jump shot and gets a lot done on the court without forcing anything.
■ With his shaggy blond hair, Euton is easy to pick out of a crowd. He hit a three-pointer.
■ Of the players on UK’s team, two stood out for me. Junior Ramon Harris seems to be emerging (at least in the pickup games) as a scrappy player who can provide more scoring. He hit a few threes and drove for a dunk that punctuated the morning. I wouldn’t necessarily think of him as an all-conference player, but he’s been noticeably productive in these pickup games.
Freshman Darius Miller looks more comfortable in each public workout. He drove the baseline for a reverse layup and scored on a putback of a Euton miss. He’s been economical in his movement, but increasingly effective.
Jerry Tipton
I just thought that this was a cool pic. And it makes me laugh…
I would credit it but I can’t remember where I got it.
For the new occupant of one of college basketball coaching’s most prestigious seats, it was turning into the honeymoon from hell.
As he went down the bus steps, Todd reached over to give the coach a “hang-in-there” pat on the knee.
As the UK president recalls it, Gillispie raised his head and said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” The new coach looked, Todd says, “like a whipped kid.”
Rumors galore
At the news conference in which he was introduced as Tubby Smith’s successor, Gillispie publicly acknowledged that he had had a pair of alcohol-related traffic arrests in the seven years before his hiring at UK (one was pleaded down to a lesser charge, and the other was dismissed for lack of evidence).
The 48-year-old coach is divorced.
Those two factors seemed to make speculating on the new coach’s personal life a statewide obsession. A Herald-Leader article about Gillispie’s purchase of a $1.45 million, six-bedroom home in Jessamine County was the most viewed story on Kentucky.com in 2007.
Gillispie had not been on the job two weeks when the first rumor about him Ð that former Kentucky basketball player Derrick Hord had felt compelled to take the keys away from the coach at a UK-sponsored meet-and-greet Ð made its way around town.
By December, when Gillispie’s first UK team was struggling mightily and the mood surrounding the program was surly, rumors about the coach were rampant. Callers to Lexington sports talk radio shows were mentioning them without challenge. The talk was pervasive all around the state.
All of which is unfortunate, since there appears to be no evidence that any of the most widely circulated rumors were true.
Hord, the 1980s-era Kentucky forward, says he never attended a UK reception with Gillispie, much less one where he asked for the coach’s keys. He laughed when asked about the story.
By late last summer, it was being frequently rumored that Gillispie was behaving raucously at Sal’s Chophouse and Malone’s.
Bruce Drake, one of the owners of both establishments, says those stories “aren’t true. I’ve heard tons of rumors about Coach and our places, and none of them were true, not one of them.”
Drake notes that his restaurants subsequently started using Gillispie in TV ads, “and we obviously would not have done that if he’d been behaving badly in our place.”
Last autumn, the hot Gillispie rumor was that the coach had been involved in a verbal confrontation with former Lexington police chief Anthany Beatty in the bar at the downtown Lexington eatery DeSha’s.
There was even dialogue associated with that tale, with Gillispie supposedly asking Beatty if he knew who he was, and the police chief replying, “Do you know who I am?”
It was all complete fiction.
Misty Carlisle, general manager at DeSha’s, says, “I can promise you that story is absolutely untrue. Yet I have customers come in here arguing with me, that they know it’s true. Coach has only been here two or three times, and he’s never had a drink in his hand and never been in any confrontation.”
Beatty Ð who now works for UK Ð says he never had any interaction at all with Gillispie until meeting him at a memorial service for UK equipment manager Bill Keightley in April.
Another rumor that was widely spread was that university officials had ordered their coach to hire a driver. Both Gillispie and UK officials, however, say the coach does not have a driver.
Perhaps the most widely circulated Gillispie tale involved rumors that the coach had gone swimming with a pair of waitresses (in some versions of the story, the pair were topless) in a pool at The Merrick Inn, a restaurant that is part of a Lexington apartment complex.
Libby Murray, owner of The Merrick Inn restaurant, says “Good Lord, no, Coach has never been in the swimming pool here. It is absolutely beyond me how all that got going. It was all just conversation. Never happened.”
When asked about the Merrick Inn story, Gillispie laughs. “Anybody can say anything about you that they want,” he says.
UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart says that, early on, the university was hearing the same talk about its new coach as everyone else and was “concerned.” But no one ever provided the university with any credible report that Gillispie had actually behaved poorly in public, Barnhart said.
Says Todd: “One thing Mitch said to me when some of this discussion was going on, with everyone walking around with a cell phone with a camera in their pocket, if this stuff was going on, it would be on YouTube or whatever. And it never was.”
One has to think that coming into a new job in a new community where one isn’t well known and being the subject of so much gossip would be hurtful.
“You can control your character,” Gillispie said. “What you can’t control is what anyone might say about you. I did hear some things that were brought to me, but it’s not something I do worry about at all. I’m very proud of the way things have gone for me here.”
Gillispie says his close friend, Kansas Coach Bill Self, often repeats a story to illustrate what life is like in an Internet age in the fishbowl of big-time college coaching.
“Coach Self said if you were driving down the road and you were talking on your cell phone and you made a mistake and pulled in front of somebody and you cut them off a little bit, then it is probably going to be reported that you have a bad problem with road rage,” said Gillispie.
Luther Deaton, the Lexington banker who has become a Gillispie friend, says he sees some signs that the rumor-mongering has made the coach a little cautious in his public dealings with people.
“Sometimes when people approach him for pictures, I see him sort of hesitate,” Deaton says. “I think that comes from having to think, ‘How will this be used?’”
Nicholas DiFonzo, a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology and a rumor expert, says Gillispie’s two prior alcohol-related arrests “likely served as a ‘plausibility threshold’ that helped these rumors spread, in the same way that the fact that Barack Obama’s middle name is Hussein made the [false] rumors that he is a Muslim plausible.”
In explaining the wide spread of rumors that appear to be untrue, “it’s possible that they might be traced back to a faction that opposes Billy Gillispie,” DiFonzo said, “or it may have just been really entertaining stories involving someone of great public interest in Kentucky.”
By the first week of March, when UK had turned Gillispie’s first season around on the court by going 12-4 in the SEC, the off-court chatter about the coach had died down dramatically.
“I hope it didn’t calm down just because we started winning ballgames,” says Todd. “But there seemed to be a correlation there.”
The Lexington Herald leader finally takes a time out from their negativity marathon. This article sets out to debunk myths, humanize Gillispie. It portrays him as a very like-able figure. I was certain such was the case all along.
The rumors were unfortunate to say the least. No doubt in my mind who was responsible for the rumors. Any time things became heated on the internet, the primary culprit was some die hard Tubby Smith fan. The Tubby click. They know who they are. People who loved Tubby Smith. People who started to hate UK fans who they believe ran their beloved Tubby off. These folks are more fan of Smith than they are fans of the program. Sick folks who would spread rumors in such a manner. Attempting to destroy a man. Where is the class in that. I’m sure Smith was proud of them. Their finest hour to be sure. They’re still there. Waiting. Anytime something happens, they’ll be there to trump up any challenge to the program into catastrophic disaster. You see them on websites such as WildCatNation, KSR and A Sea of Blue. Always defending Tubby against all slights percieved and imagined.
At any rate, we can tell that this piece was not written by Jerry Tipton. That moron couldn’t write a positive column about Jesus Christ, Gandhi and the Buddha achieving World Peace. He’d find some negative spin on it.
Kudos to the Herald Leader for finally acting like a home town newspaper.
73 
65 
