Truzenzuzex
May 03, 2008 Dec 09, 2009 2123 12525
Truzenzuzex is, as you can plainly see, an alien life form who's ancestors were of the phylum Arthropada, known collectively as the Thranx. Created by the science fiction author Alan Dean Foster, Truzenzuzex, or Tru, is a character who appears in Foster's Flinx of the Commonwealth series. The Thranx are a peaceful and beneficent race which have formed an intimate bond with humanity, creating an amalgam known as the Humanx Commonwealth.
Tru is an Eint and First Philosph, or theoretical philosopher. His specialties are the history and trajectory of civilization and galactic anthropology. Along with his friend and former ship-brother, retired Chancellor Second of the United Church Bran Tse-Mallory, Tru explores the universe attempting to gain insight into the many mysteries which impinge upon the Humanx condition.
I chose Tru as my avatar because I fancy that, like he of Foster's imagination, my years have left me wiser and more amenable to reason and logic. Like Tru, I am no longer young, and I think the benefits of that fact outweigh the negatives.
My real name is Glenn Logan and I am a small business owner currently living in Louisville, Kentucky. I have been a Kentucky fan since about age 12, when I moved to the Commonwealth from Bristol, Tennessee. I attended Western Kentucky University and spent six years as a reactor operator in the United States Navy, serving aboard the USS Olympia, SSN 717, a Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine.
I have been married to the former Petra Carr since May of 1987.
website: A Sea of Blue
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The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Post-UConn Edition
by Truzenzuzex on Dec 10, 2009 8:10 AM EST
89 comments
We'll have a look back at the UConn game a bit later, but I just wanted to get you up to date on the news, which has lagged a bit due to the pace of the season and my busy schedule.
Obviously, most of this is hyperbole directed at John Wall, but it's always fun to read. It pleases me no end to avenge the 2006 loss to the Huskies, even if the game was anything but a thing of beauty.
The news follows the jump.
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Kentucky 64, Connecticut 61 -- Postmortem
by Truzenzuzex on Dec 10, 2009 12:29 AM EST
114 comments
What. A. Game.
We may be saying that a lot this year. I have no idea why, but at no time during this game did I ever worry about losing. Why? I can only suppose that perhaps John Wall is the reincarnation of the Buddha, and all I can think of is Zen.
Great effort by the Connecticut Huskies. They were what we knew they would be -- tough and determined. Jerome Dyson was incredible, Kemba Walker was amazing, Gavin Edwards outplayed everybody on both teams -- except one. John Wall. The Huskies were awesome, just amazing, but not amazing enough this time.
For Kentucky, well, we saw exactly what John Calipari implied we should see -- a really bad team having really good stretches because of their talent. Once again, UK had one more good stretch in this game than the opponent, a now-familiar theme for the 2009 Wildcats.
I have to confess, I really wanted Calipari to go zone. But as he has said, and perhaps I should acquiesce to (not a chance), "I am the coach, let me do my job." Okay, Coach, but forgive me if I sit in my armchair and disagree. It's what we do here in the Bluegrass State, and if you are going to kanoodle the job here at Kentucky, this is just another part of what you have so enthusiastically embraced. Deal with it.
Moving along, I was not concerned going in down six to the Huskies at the half. I want to stop right there and ask you all, ladies and gentlemen of the Big Blue Nation -- when was the last time you could have imagined that we could go into half time down six points versus the UConn Huskies in Madison Square Garden and not be concerned? It has been a very, very long time, certainly the better part of a decade at least. That, in and of itself, is a wonderful thing.
More after the jump.
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Kentucky Wildcats @ Connecticut Huskies -- Open Game Thread
by Truzenzuzex on Dec 9, 2009 9:00 PM EST
655 comments
This is the official A Sea of Blue Open Game Thread for the Kentucky Wildcats at the Connecticut Huskies tonight in the Big East-SEC Invitational. Particulars are as follows:
Date & Time Weds., Dec. 9, 9:30 p.m
Coverage TV: ESPN Radio: BBSN
Online Audio 
Online Video via ESPN360
Location Madison Square Garden New York, N.Y.
John Calipari's young charges take on Jim Calhoun's talented and experienced Huskies tonight in one of the most legendary basketball fora in the nation. This will be a big early-season test for Kentucky.
More after the jump.
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John Gasaway of Basketball Prospectus on John Wall
I would suppose that most people think of Basketball Prospectus as a fairly analytical and level-headed neck of the online woods. Most people would be wrong! We can swoon like giddy adolescents with the best of them. If you don’t believe me, you weren’t tracking the Twitter feed of my Prospectus colleague Kevin Pelton during Kentucky’s 68-66 win over North Carolina in Lexington on Saturday: "Watching John Wall is turning me into Dick Vitale. I’m gushing. ‘Look at the vision! Are you kidding me?!?!’"
You must read this. Great article by a great author.
1 day ago
Truzenzuzex
3 comments
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Kentucky @ UConn: Pre-Game Analysis
by Truzenzuzex on Dec 9, 2009 11:47 AM EST
56 comments
Tonight, the Kentucky Wildcats will face the Connecticut Huskies in Madison Square Garden in the SEC-Big East Invitational.
Kentucky has only played UConn twice in its history, the first time being back in 2006 where the #2 ranked Huskies defeated Kentucky 87-83 in a closer than expected game.
This time, the Wildcats are ranked #4 in the land by the AP and the coaches, and UConn is ranked #14 and #12, respectively. Because of the proximity of Madison Square Garden to UConn, they will be the home team for this contest.
The Huskies are fairly young, but not nearly as young as the Wildcats. As far as experience goes, this UConn team is similar to the North Carolina Tar Heels. Also similar to the Tar Heels, this UConn team has plenty of size, and is also one of the few teams that can match up with the Wildcats on the front line. The interesting thing is, UConn can also match up with UK in the back court, size-wise.
The Huskies are 6-1 coming into this game, and Kentucky 8-0, but there is no doubt who has played the more difficult schedule of the two. Even with the addition of the UNC game, Kentucky has played far weaker opponents than UConn, who has played a good Hofstra team, LSU, and Duke. In fact, the Huskies lost to Duke by 9 in a game that saw them turn the ball over almost twice as many times as the Blue Devils, and get handled on the offensive glass to boot.
But UConn also thrashed LSU in a game in which their two starting guards looked like John Wall on the loose, making shots, dunks and layups from everywhere.
More after the jump.
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Blogpoll -- Week 14 Draft
by Truzenzuzex on Dec 8, 2009 8:26 AM EST
6 comments
It's Blogpoll time again, and here is the draft of my final ballot for the regular season.
As expected, the Alabama Crimson Tide is on top with their somewhat unexpected domination of the Florida Gators in the SEC championship game. I am prepared now to accept the apologia of all those who scoffed at me for keeping them on top in spite of the close game with Auburn.
The Texas Longhorns also manage to win the Big 12 title and joins Alabama in the BCS championship, but it was nothing like the Alabama game. Nebraska really came to play in this one, and nearly threw the BCS into chaos by upsetting the Longhorns.
For those of you wondering if Texas may be overtaken by either Cincinnati or TCU, it is apparent from the numbers in my calculation that could not have happened unless Texas lost. The difference between UC and Texas was quite substantial, although the difference between the Bearcats and TCU is very small.
More after the jump.
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Kentucky Basketball: Some Things Deserve Posts of Their Own
by Truzenzuzex on Dec 7, 2009 8:14 PM EST
13 comments
Occasionally, authors write articles so good, so absolutely fascinating, that they deserve their own spot at the top of A Sea of Blue. This article by Andrew Sharp, SB Nation's basketball blogger, is such a case.
Let's start off with the fact that Andrew is a North Carolina fan, and proud of it. But Andrew writes this piece from the perspective of a college basketball fan as well as a Tar Heel fan, and the combination is compelling, interesting and for my money, absolutely captivating.
The first thing that got my attention was this:
In my mind, it's a thousand times cooler to be surrounded by a bunch of people that aren't there to get caught by ESPN cameras, but because it's one of the few things in life that's been an absolute mainstay. Through generations of families, people have been going nuts over Kentucky basketball, and that's why the grown men, women, 17-year-old daughters and 70-something grandparents still make weekly pilgrimages to Rupp Arena. Because they live and breathe Kentucky basketball, and it's something they've been doing for years and years.
That's a fascinating paragraph, if you think about it. Andrew managed to encapsulate the raison d'être of the Big Blue Nation in just one paragraph, accurately. As wordy as I am, I doubt I could accomplish the same thing in three. But I digress.
It is amazing to see the combination of diversity and universal passion that is the Big Blue Nation. While I was watching the Michigan State at North Carolina game the other day for the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, I was very impressed by the Tar Heel fans, and how big and light blue the Dean Smith Center was. But with all due respect to our neighbors to the East, The crowd at Rupp Arena, at least for last Saturday, blew them away.
I think, as much as anything, it was a bigger deal for UK fans -- we haven't beaten the Tar Heels in five long years, and the Big Blue Nation were beside themselves in the hope to be relevant again:
As the game wound down, you could sense that the crowd was happy not just about the win, but a return to relevance. And these people deserve it. It odd to say they "deserve" anything since this is a fanbase blessed with more wins than anyone in college basketball history; but they do. People that care this much about basketball should have a Top 10 team. It's just good for the sport.
I agree. It is good for the sport, and it is good of Andrew to lay aside the rivalry and recognize that, something that I deeply respect and appreciate. Not because it makes me feel good, but because he is 100% right.
More after the jump.
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2006 Rematch: Kentucky vs. Clemson in the Music City Bowl
by Truzenzuzex on Dec 7, 2009 9:15 AM EST
34 comments
It is official now, and the Kentucky Wildcats will face the Clemson Tigers in a rematch of the 2006 Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl. John Clay summarizes thus:
The chance of finishing second in the SEC East with a trip to sunny Tampa and the Outback Bowl dissolved into the reality of a fourth-place finish and a get-well card from their old friends in Nashville.
We know you're disappointed, but we've been there for you before, and we're here again. You had a great time your last two visits. Remember? You'll have a great time again. We promise.
Indeed. We are all bitterly disappointed by the overtime loss to Tennessee, but I remember the excitement when we first went to the MCB three years ago. It was the rebirth of Kentucky football, and since then, the football team has ceased being the red-headed step child of Kentucky athletics and is now doing the school and its fans proud.
Add to that the benefit of Nashville being an easy place to get to for most Kentucky fans, just a few hours down I-65. In tough economic times, there could hardly be a better destination to provide a maximum Wildcat turnout.
Unlike the last MCB trip, this one will be broadcast live on ESPN Prime Time on Sunday, December 27th at 7:30 CST (8:30 EST). Tickets are still available to the game at all levels, apparently, plus travel packages will be offered.
As far as the bowl destination is concerned, Rich Brooks unsurprisingly waxes pragmatic:
"It definitely could have been a lot worse; just ask a few teams who are going other places that are upset that they aren't going where we are," Brooks said. "And we're upset that we aren't going where somebody else is going. So that's all part of the equation."
For my money, either Birmingham or Shreveport is a worse destination, even though they are both in a somewhat warmer clime.
More after the jump.
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The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Sunday PM Edition
by Truzenzuzex on Dec 6, 2009 6:59 PM EST
37 comments
I don't have a lot more to say about the Kentucky Wildcats vs. the North Carolina Tar Heels than has already been said by others.
So for this version of the BBDM, I'm just going to let the links speak for themselves.
The news follows the jump.
37 comments | 0 recs |
North Carolina in the Rear-View Mirror
by Truzenzuzex on Dec 6, 2009 12:31 PM EST
57 comments
I think the Big Blue Nation is still very much enjoying the feeling of finally exorcising a five-year North Carolina winning streak versus Kentucky yesterday in front of a record Rupp Arena crowd. I know I am.
At this point, I think we need to take a look back at the game and see how it compares to other recent efforts by the 'Cats. But before we get there, I want to comment on a few things that I didn't in my post-game analysis.
The first is the play of DeMarcus Cousins. This was a sub-par game for the big guy, and there is no doubt that he knows it. Cousins was obviously very upset with himself on the sideline, even while blaming the officials for the call that generated his benching in the second half. I think that this game will do more for Cousins than all the other games UK has played so far this year combined in bringing home the difference between the game he used to dominate (AAU basketball) and top-level college basketball. Cousins is a tremendously gifted player, and all he needs to make the most of that gift is the desire to do so, and realizing that you were outplayed in front of 24,000+ on national TV is likely to be a big motivator.
The second is the maturation of John Wall. Game by game, this young man gains a better and better understanding of what great basketball is supposed to look like. Like the last game, this is a game in which Wall did not often try to make the spectacular play, but just made the simple play. Yes, that reverse layup was spectacular, but that was the exception rather than the rule. Wall's absence in the second half, and the run UNC went on, is not a knock on the skills of Bledsoe, but a bit of a knock on the confidence of this team without Wall. John's teammates have to learn to trust Bledsoe as much as Wall.
More after the jump.
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