SB Nation User Blog: BigSkyCat

Ramon Harris on Becoming a Father

BigSkyCat — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:13:41 -0000

Ramon Harris on Becoming a Father

This is a wonderful story. Larry Vaught talks with Ramon about his role as a father.

Guess which team member Ramon trusts to baby-sit? (I think the answer is fabulous, very touching, and says a lot about our current team. So neat to hear.)

Cousins in the Big Apple

BigSkyCat — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:09:02 -0000

Cousins in the Big Apple

This is a picture of DeMarcus Cousins from Coach Cal's Twitter page. Apparently, Cousins is asking random people on the streets of New York about UK.

I thought it was pretty cute, and funny.

Kentucky Basketball: Dear Santa

BigSkyCat — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:02:45 -0000

'Tis the season....

View full size photo »

For those of you who have children that still believe in Santa I'm sure you are all too familiar with "Letters to Santa", and if you haven't already done so, I'm sure you are getting ready to help your children write their Christmas lists, stamp the letters, and then get them mailed off to the North Pole. Or perhaps you are a grandparent who is assisting your grandchildren, or maybe you are simply an adult who is still very much a kid at heart and you, too, want to make a list. Either way, it really doesn't matter, the point is that this is the season for making wish lists and they give you the opportunity to see if you have been naughty or nice this past year.

I know that we all regularly post wishes and hopes that we have for our players as that is just what fans do. After a loss we want random things for so-and-so, and since we are a particularly hard-to-please bunch and are never quite satisfied, we even want random things for so-and-so after we win.

I'm a sucker for posts that are relevant now, but posts that are also interesting to look back on, so with that in mind, I thought it would be rather fun if we had all the basketball-related type things that we want for this year's team posted in one neat singular place. That way, in one, two, or maybe even three months down the road we can look back on our lists and not only see what areas of concern were addressed, but which ones might still be lingering.

In keeping with the spirit of the holiday season what better way to make our requests than to ask Santa? Based upon what we have witnessed from our boys up to this point in the season, I'll go first and make my list as to what I would like Santa to bring some of our boys this year in order to help out our team.

Dear Santa,

I am writing to you on behalf of some fabulous members of the Kentucky Wildcats Men's Basketball team. I'm certain that they have all been on their best behavior this year and I happen to think that there are a couple of things that they might need in order for us to have a stellar season. If you could assist them with the following it would be greatly appreciated.

First of all, there is one of our outstanding point guards named Eric Bledsoe. Eric is extremely gifted, appears to be in great physical shape and plays much larger than he actually is. But, one thing that might help our dear Eric at times would be the gift of control when he is in possession of the ball. I would also request that you assist him in the healing of his apparent tendinitis as he is having some pain, and since our Eric has shown great poise down the stretch on more than one occasion in this young season, he really does deserve the reprieve.

Next I would like to talk about one of our big men, Daniel Orton. Daniel has a certain gentleness about him and his demeanor definitely gives me a sense of calmness when he is on the floor. I'm never really worried that he will do anything totally horrible or out of control, but on the reverse side, I would request that that you bring some ferocity and aggression to his game that he could use when the occasion calls for it.

One of the three seniors on this year's squad is Perry Stevenson. Perry's role on this year's team is quite a bit different than it was last year as he is not getting nearly as many minutes as were asked of him last year. Even given Perry's somewhat diminished role, it appears to me that Perry has kept a great head about him and has come in and given good solid minutes and I would ask that you see that he is able to maintain that great attitude and those solid contributions. He is a senior and most surely has a special place on the team.

Next, I want to talk about yet another senior on our current team, the oft-criticized, Ramon Harris. Ramon is another person who goes about his business in rather obscurity and depending on what he does on any given night he is either forgotten about because he did just enough, or he is remembered because he made a mistake. In addition to possibly giving Ramon a bit more of an offensive repertoire, please see to it that he is able to keep up his defensive intensity and also, more importantly, please give Ramon the gift of being able to tune out all of the outside chatter (criticism) and just go about his business.

Now, let's move on to the beloved boy from Kentucky, Darius Miller. Although I think he has made considerable progress from last year, he still has a tendency to disappear, and although I realize not all the boys on our team can be standouts, if you could please see your way into giving Darius some more consistency in his play? Well, that would be awesome.

Next up is our All-American, Patrick Patterson. He is certainly a fan favorite and I have a feeling that he will remain that way long after he has left the confines of the University of Kentucky. He holds so many great qualities and it has truly been a blessing and an honor for him to wear the blue and white. His work ethic is second to none; he is a poster child for not only what you want in a player, but a poster child for what you want in a human. I'm struggling to find anything that Patrick might need as he really does seem to "have it all", already, but if I had to pick something, I guess I would say my one request for Patrick would be that he could embrace more of public leadership role for our team. We do have several youngsters that can only benefit from being around and absorbing the kind of wisdom not to mention the outstanding work ethic that Patrick has. In short, please give Patrick the ability and the know-how to share his wisdom with our youngsters and maintain his extremely high level of on-the-court intensity.

The member of the team who provides us all with plenty of topics for debate due to his incredibly spirited nature, DeMarcus Cousins, is next. Cousins already possesses a really solid foundation to be an excellent player. He has good size, soft hands, and a ridiculous wing span, but I think he is still in need of a few things. For DeMarcus, I would ask that you give him a greater degree of focus, more explosiveness around the basket and the strength to own his shots on offense. Additionally, and probably most importantly, I would request the ability to shoot a decent free throw percentage for DeMarcus. I'm not asking for anything spectacular here, but since he does seem to get fouled an awful lot, a decent, respectable percentage from the charity stripe would really come in handy.

In closing, (and I certainly saved the easiest member for last), I have one teeny-tiny request for John Wall, as well. I'm positive that John really isn't in need of many basketball-related things this year, but I would just ask that he have access to lots and lots of Gatorade, PowerAde, or whatever kind of sports drink he prefers that contain electrolytes so that he can stay properly hydrated.

Sincerely,

BigSkyCat

Now, I realize that I don't have a request for every single player on the team and I know that Darnell, Josh, Jon, Mark and DeAndre are all very deserving of gifts from Santa, as well. I'm also fairly certain that there are quite a lot of things missing from the above letter, but that's where all of you, my fellow fans, come in. My list was just to get things started, and your ideas are now most welcome and certainly encouraged.

Go ‘Cats! : )

Behind John Wall

BigSkyCat — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:54:09 -0000

Behind John Wall

I think this is a phenomenal piece about John Wall.

Fair warning, the article is a bit lengthy, but it's worth the time as it gives you an extensive look into John Wall's life. The piece talks about Wall losing his father and how that affected him (I actually got a little choked up reading that part), it talks about Wall’s relationship with Brian Clifton, about Wall the person, about Wall the basketball player, about his recruitment and how he ended up at Kentucky, and even more. It really is a must read.

Youth, speed on display in UNC-Kentucky showdown

BigSkyCat — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:45:33 -0000

Youth, speed on display in UNC-Kentucky showdown

Jay Bilas breaks down the UK / UNC game. He talks about key match-ups, pace, and how DeMarcus Cousins is the "X factor".

Even though Bilas ultimately chooses UNC to come away with the win, I still found this piece interesting and worth a read.

Does Wall Have Something to Prove?

BigSkyCat — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:10:36 -0000

Does Wall Have Something to Prove?

I’ve noticed that the above story is garnering a bit of attention, and will more than likely gain even more steam the closer we get to tip-off on Saturday against the Heels.

To be candid, I had totally forgotten about the fact that Wall is from North Carolina and might be experiencing some feelings about his recruitment by UNC, or rather, lack of recruitment going into Saturday’s game against them. Wall says that it doesn’t bother him, of course, but in the same piece goes on to say that "he grew up bleeding blue - Carolina blue".

There was some discussion in Ken’s recent piece about how we match up against North Carolina and I’m fairly certain that the general consensus is that at the 1 position, the advantage definitely goes to Kentucky. But, how about when the person at the one position feels he has something to prove? Is it still an advantage to Kentucky? I’m going to say yes, and I can’t wait to find out for sure.

Football Fanatics -- UK Fashion

BigSkyCat — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:58:28 -0000

Have ya'll ever ordered anything from Football Fanatics? I actually order quite a bit from them, as their selection is pretty extensive, quality is good, service is excellent, and I really like their stuff.

Well, I recently ordered the cutest little UK Nike t-shirt (pictured below) and just couldn't wait for it to get here. If you have ever used FF you know that all their stuff comes really fast, like in 3 days, and shipping is only $4.99 regardless of order size. It's a great deal.

So, anyway, just a few minutes ago I'm sitting in my living room and who should arrive at my doorstep? -- But UPS! I'm super excited, of course, as I just love to get packages by mail, and I know that this particular package just so happens to contain a really cute new shirt for me to wear as I'm watching the game tonight as well as some pom-poms for my daughters. After checking out the pom-poms (they are darling, btw) I turn to the t-shirt package and open it up. I can hardly wait to go and put on my new shirt and so I hold the shirt up to examine it, and holy crap, you'll never guess what I saw? Instead of my UK shirt -- it's a KU shirt! Yes, that's right, it's the exact same style of shirt I ordered, but instead of saying UK with the word "Wildcats" on the side, it has a KU and "Kansas" written on it and where there should be a little UK logo, there is a none-to-attractive Jayhawk staring at me!! I simply can't believe it, is this some sort of joke??

Obviously, I immediately proceeded to call the Football Fanatics customer service department, and I actually feel rather sorry for the poor women who had to take my call as I was probably not all that polite after receiving my incorrect order, but bless her heart, she just fell all over herself apologizing, telling me that the shirt I actually ordered should be arriving by next Tuesday, all shipping fees would be waived, of course, and she's so sorry, she's just can't see how the service department could have made that mistake, is there anything else she can do for me, etc. etc. in addition to giving me all kinds of free coupons to use on my next order. She was really great and even though I'm still waiting for the shirt I ordered to arrive I will most definitely be shopping at FF again.

I thought it was a rather funny (and true) story; I just had to share it as I still can't believe it happened. Pretty crazy. : )

How I Know Its Basketball Season

BigSkyCat — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:48:22 -0000

I am a creature of the senses. So, without looking at a calendar (because that's just plain boring!), and since I also don't currently have the benefit that the majority of you have of living in the unbelievably exciting environment of the bluegrass, where reminders of the season are EVERYWHERE -- I rely on my senses to alert me that the seemingly endless wait for basketball season is almost over.

When I say that I am a creature of the senses, I mean, of course, that in addition to using the typical sense of sight to define things, maybe more importantly and more invigorating there are distinct sounds, tastes and smells that remind me of certain seasons or particular events in my life. I'm sure this is the same for most of you, too. You know, I'm sure that hearing certain music, eating certain foods, tasting certain drinks and smelling certain aromas can, on occasion, instantly transport you to a specific time or event. For example, perhaps hearing a familiar song takes you back to your wedding day, or the aroma of a certain food takes you back to your most favorite vacation or holiday, or likewise, the smell of chlorine and the taste of gin and tonics and refreshing fruity umbrella-like drinks may remind you of summer.

The other evening, it was a bit chilly around these parts, so I decided to pour myself a lovely Maker's Mark for a warm-up as bourbon is my typical go-to drink in the fall and let me tell you, in one sniff, and in one incredibly delicious sip, I was instantly transported to the memory of basketball season. I could envision seeing the players on the floor, I could see the UK blue-and-white surrounded by fans, the lights, the scoreboard, the ball being passed down the court, I could recall the high of a remarkable win, or the moment of sadness after a loss -- all of it. All the memories that previous basketball seasons have given me were instantly brought to my mind with that one smell and that one taste, and it was wonderful.

For some of you there might be different reminders that basketball season is right around the corner, maybe you are a huge MLB baseball fan and the play-offs send a signal to your brain that it's almost time for some hoops, but for me, the taste of mouth-watering bourbon, the feel of cooler weather (I'm not a football enthusiast, so I instinctively think of basketball season once the cooler weather hits), the desire to go out, buy, and wear all the latest absolutely beautiful fall clothing, the sight of Halloween costumes, the sound of children trick-or-treating, and the feel of simply sitting around a fire on a frosty day are just a few of the unmistakable sights, sounds, feelings and smells that let me know that basketball season is almost here.

To say that I am excited for basketball season is a given, a no-brainer, really, as it is that way for me every year, and every year I totally plan our lives around the season making sure we are able to see each and every game, but considering all that we have on deck for this upcoming season (just a few of those reasons are pictured at left) it would seem that this particular season has the potential to be extremely wonderful and will hopefully be able to provide us all with some lovely lasting memories, perhaps even brought on by one of the senses.

NCAA Names 2011-13 Tourney Sites

BigSkyCat — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:24:47 -0000

NCAA Names 2011-13 Tourney Sites

Lexington was chosen as one of the hosts for first- and second-round action in 2013, while Louisville is among the early sites for 2012.

Cousins is a Badass

BigSkyCat — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:07:16 -0000

Cousins is a Badass

Yes, that's right, according to DeMarcus Cousins -- he is a badass. On the court, that is.

This piece takes a look at Cousins' on the court personality and although I think some of his statements could be seen as controversial, I also think that his brazen, get-in-my-way-and-you’d-better-watch-out style of play is something we have been missing and I’m personally really looking forward to seeing it.