I was born a UK fan and according to family lore, ran a 103 degree fever during the 1966 title game and got out of bed in a fever haze to do layups like Dampier and Riley were doing. I've lived and died with UK all these years and although the family pocket book kept me home and going to UofL, I raised my kids to be the same way.

I'm not superstitious in any way that I'm aware of...I have no lucky number or coin and walk on sidewalk cracks all the time but when it comes to UK basketball......oh that football would rise to the same level.....I have to admit being a superstitious NUT!!

Last year my older son and his beautiful wife....both UK grads.......invited us over for dinner and to watch the West Virginia game. They have a lovely home and we were sitting on their very comfortable leather furniture watching on a 50+ inch plasma tv with surround sound when at some point.....probably in the first half.....my son and I both realized that a MISTAKE had been made!! We toughed it out to the bitter end but hugged each other afterwards and agreed.....we can NEVER watch an important UK basketball game together again!!!

Now I think of myself as being a very rational and logical person and I have a college degree....albeit from UofL......so most of my brain knows that our being together last year didn't make UK miss all those 3's but UK basketball is TOO IMPORTANT to take another chance right? I mean I've changed channels zillions of times over the years in order to stop the other team's runs......I've left the house and walked around......I've driven around with UK flags flapping or without UK flags flapping.....I've worn hats, not worn hats.....listened on radio with tv sound down, not listened to radio at all......dvr'd to watch later, not dvr'd.....the examples of what I've personally done to assure a UK victory are too countless to list.

Tonight I know the players will do their best and Cal and the staff will make all the right coaching moves but I also know that they'll NEED  me to be wearing the same unwashed KENTUCKY sweatshirt I was wearing last weekend for both games. I NEED to be sitting in the same chair....as long as UConn doesn't go ahead. I NEED to be texting my older son but we obviously won't be together!!

Those are the major things I'll be doing tonight to assure a UK victory and I think by posting this I've admitted I'm a NUT but I'm curious if you or your family are similar UK NUTS.....what will you be doing to make sure Cal and the kids get a victory tonight?

GO CATS!!!!

FanHouse Article

The above link goes to a FanHouse article that makes some sense at least in my opinion. I posted last week on the personal conflict I have about seeing 4 freshmen become one & done's at UK. The article if nothing else is thought provoking and while this isn't necessarily a perfect answer, I found myself agreeing with many of the articles points.

I'm not going to rehash the article.....I'll let you read through it to form your own opinions but I'm certainly interested in your views. Since UK's set the new bar for one & done's, I think we should also set the bar for intelligent informed discussion of what many perceive to be a cancer on the sport we all love.  

Now for some cancer may be a strong word or even totally off base but in my opinion, the NCAA is cynically letting the NBA use it's schools and programs as a minor league knowing this is a way to make more money. Yeah I know, money is what makes the world go round and the odds of this being changed by the NCAA on their way to expanding the tournament to every team in division 1 is slim to none and slim just left town but.....it still makes for some fun discussion so read the article and let's discuss the proposed Kentucky Rule.

First, let me give credit for the title line to a gentleman in the Kroger parking lot this morning. Apparently I live a sheltered life innocently traveling along without hearing the most stunningly obvious line to describe what's happened in the last year. As I struggled to stop laughing he said he'd seen the line on a t-shirt in Nashville while at the SEC tournament......I WANT ONE!!!!!

As we bask in the glow of last night's victory and dream of even bigger things in the next 3 games, let's stop a second to remember where we were at exactly this time last year.

We'd just been bounced from the first round of the NIT to no one's surprise,  we'd just witnessed our President and Athletic Director make the ballsy decision to fire Clyde after only 2 years,  we'd laughed and maybe been embarrassed as we watched Clyde run through the halls from reporters,  we were looking at the returning roster and wondering if any of the recruits would still come..... how would we even make the NIT in 2010??  was a common question, and we were ALL wondering.........WHO WILL IT BE????

Well a years gone by and the hiring of John Calipari has to rank in UK history with the hiring of Adolph Rupp and Rick Pitino. I won't list the countless ways he's changed the direction of this program, I'll leave that to other posts and comments but as we go through today smiling at everyone we see wearing BLUE......let's all remember what a difference a year makes!!

If you watched the first few minutes of the Wake Forest game and didn't think for a second....."this doesn't look good", well don't read the rest of this.

If you're like me though and DID think that or something similar, when did you actually relax? When we were up 15? 25?....or only after the game was over? I was reading through ABC"S excellent post regarding the David and Goliath aspect of the Cornell game when it hit me.......if Cornell goes up by 8 in the first 5 minutes, many of us will be in a panic state.

Let me just interject at this point that UK could be playing Auburn and down by 7 ANY YEAR and I would probably switch channels for a few minutes to change the "karma".......switch back and if we're still down, maybe watch for a minute and if something positive didn't happen, switch again. Even in 1996, I can remember sweating during the championship game with Syracuse.

Now that's me and I will say that I've watched almost every second of this season's games because this team inspires that much confidence but still......I've switched a couple of times!! I've also heard of folks that only listen to the game and then watch it later when they know we've won. Folks who have to be in a certain chair to watch......be wearing certain clothes.....folks that have to be by themselves to watch......have to be with a group....I mean the stories go on and on and most of us know someone that fits into one or more of those categories.

Why do we fret so? The winningest program in history, most SEC titles, 2nd in NCAA titles....the list of accomplishments goes on and on also. You would think that we would be so arrogant that none of us would EVER entertain a seconds thought of losing but many of us just can't help it. This season we have a team that has at LEAST 4 players that will be high picks in the NBA and we might feel a little more confident than other seasons but usually many of us see a way to loose to anyone.....no matter how good we are or how pitiful the other team is.

Maybe I'm weird and no one else out there worries every game. I've also heard stories for years about ex spouses who get along better now than when they were married but in my life they're kinda like bigfoot......never met one!! If you're like me and can't help but worry anytime we're down more than 7, do you ever ask yourself later...."what was I so worried about"?

My answer after YEARS of asking myself that question (can't afford therapy) is the passion I feel for this team and program. I think that might be why you worry too!! We almost live & die with the team......screaming at the tv.....stomping out of a room.....throwing things.....jumping up, falling down.....cheering....laughing.....sometimes crying and hopefully........when the game's over, feeling blissfully happy and thinking all's right with the world.

So if you're like me and a "little" worried about Cornell or West Va. or Duke or.....well you get the point.........don't worry be happy!!!! It's excellent advise and I'm SURE it will make your life better and watching UK play easier.......just wish I could do it!!

I want to thank tenken for the link to the Dan Patrick article on Coach Cal.....it's a summary written by DP of what Coach Cal said on the Dan Patrick show today. After reading it I started reading the responses which featured the usual UK haters and supporters but then I got to the post of bluedaisy which I've copied below. I wish I could thank her?? personally but this public thank you is all I can do.

It may be "borrowed" from a source but I've never read anything quite like it and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. From bluedaisy...................

To All of You Anti-Big Blue Nation Fans....this sums it up best!! "It's not a coach. It's not a player. It's pride...tradition. It's a 5 year old with a cat paw on his cheek saying, "Beat Louisville!" It's not a game. It's not a season. It's pride....tradition. It's expecting to be dancing every year where most pray to be. It has no beginning. It has no end. It's pride....tradition. It's waiting for midnight ... See More madness when the March buzzer rings. Players that come are in awe of it. Players that leave treasure it. Players that oppose despise it. It's pride....tradition. It's getting the best from every opponent in hopes to top it. Rupp built it. Hall polished it. Sutton shamed it. Pitino restored it. Smith nourishes it. It's pride....tradition. Keightly has served it. Happy sang to it. Cawood lived it. It's pride....tradition. Digger hates it. Vitale and Packer are jealous of it. McGuire realized it. It's pride....tradition. What is Kentucky Basketball? It's "Blue and White" and "Go Big Blue" It's "C!-A!-T!-S! Cats!, Cats!, Cats!" It's pride....tradition. It's more than a pastime It's more than a hobby. To some it's a religion. It's pride....tradition. It's K-E-N-T-U-C-K-Y on the jerseys. Win or Lose, that's all that matters to me." They can argue all they want in North Carolina, Indiana and Kansas. In Kentucky, we know there is no other state where basketball matters more than here.To understand the commonwealth's love affair with putting an orange ball through a round hoop, you have to know the history of KY Basketball...WAY TO GO TEAM!...

I was skimming this weeks SI just now and they had a blurb about something new from the NCAA. A free "hulu" type website for the NCAA Sweet 16 is now available to one and all. Tru or someone else may have already posted this site and I apologize if so because this is the first I've heard of it. I quickly went to check it out.....anticipating seeing some of our NCAA games of the past. The site is vault.ncaa.com

I quickly realized how impressive the site is. You can choose the team or players you want to see and it shows entire games, highlights, individual players.....all at your finger tips and easy to maneuver.

My excitement diminished though as I noticed that the site only goes back 10 years to 2001. For a UK fan.....or at least for me.....this site quickly showed me concisely why this past decade will always be the lost decade at least for me.

While we had some wonderful players and even had a few very good games, the NCAA tournament was not very good for UK during the past decade. This site unfortunately makes that all too clear.

I highly recommend this site if you love basketball and hopefully Coach Cal and this year's team will give us a few more games to watch!!

There was a lot of comment before the season started and especially lately that our three point shooting could be UK's achilles heal. While we haven't shot the three very well the last few games and Jimmy Dykes last night (yeah I still like him weird hair and all) acted like it was a problem....is it really heading into the tournament?

Eric Crawford in today's CJ brought up some of this and I went digging a little further and came up with the following numbers based on KenPom stats and the NCAA stats. The average points per game is obvious but the last number is what percentage the three pointer is of our offense. Forgive me if the columns aren't straight.

Team                                APG                             3 point%

Duke                                 79.7                                29.0

Kansas                             82.6                                26.6

UK                                    80.5                                22.9

Purdue                             73.4                                23.0

Syracuse                          81.3                               26.6

Villanova                           83.8                                27.3

Looking at the numbers....it would appear we're putting up very similar points per game while the three is not as crucial to us as it is to other teams. The point in my mind is if we're hitting three's GREAT.........as Pelphery said after the Arkansas game, "if they're hitting from outside no one can beat them" BUT with Cousins and PP, we have ways to score three more consistently from a more traditional source.

Bottom line...hitting three's from outside will make life easier but this team isn't going to live or die in the tournament based on their three point shooting.

I posted this idea on the Brook's thread but I felt it was sooooooo delightfully thought provoking that it deserved it's own post just to get the juices going. MANY of us question handing the job to Joker but as Tru has pointed out several times.....that horse is long gone out of the barn. Good, bad or indifferent the job is Joker's now that Coach Brooks has stepped down.

One of the biggest issues that many have had with Joker is the play calling especially at critical times on the O side of the ball. It didn't really lend itself to feeling good about him as head Coach. By hiring one of the top Offensive minds in college football, this would immediately take all pressure off Joker in that area and allow him to settle into the Head Coach job with a longer honeymoon.

It would also obviously be a one and done kind of job because Coach Leach will have his pick of head coaching jobs regardless of what Craig James says. It would give Joker a full year to establish himself  and concentrate on recruiting and everything else other than the offense. When Leach almost surely leaves after one season, Joker will have had a full year as head coach under his belt.

On the Leach side, it would obviously be a step down but he's been here before, knows the school, knows the conference and knows the fan base. I think he wouldn't be a threat to Joker because he's going to have his eyes on bigger programs. It would also allow him to keep his hands in the game, battle TT in court and give him a chance to start rebuilding his reputation without Craig James and family "hovering" around.

Coach Cal has shown that "one and done" seems to work pretty well!!! A lot of stars would have to align to make this happen but it looks like several of the stars have moved already! Now that we've beaten UofL and don't really have anything to talk about for a week or so.......have at this idea!!

First, UK beats UNC....then Alabama beats UF.....then UofL gets crushed at home.....it's almost like Christmas 3 weeks early!!! UofL was missing 3 players and it's not going to help our RPI when we crush them but who doesn't LOVE to watch a good Card whoopin?

A few thoughts on the day.

Everyone talks about Wall and Cousins leaving after one year and we'll certainly miss them but I think Orton and Bledsoe will be a great foundation for next years team. Bledsoe looked pretty cool at the line there at the end and he's got all the skills if he just starts playing within himself. Orton made the play of the game imo, when we were up by 2 and he had the point blank shot block that led to a fast break basket putting us up by 4.

The player I think we're going to miss most next year is Patrick......is he a stud or what? NEVER gets rattled....never stops hustling.....what a heart the kid has!!  We let them come back because we quit getting the ball to Patrick....something good happens almost everytime he touches the ball. He's joined Kenny Walker as one of my favorite UK players of all time!!

I did take Tru's advise (from the header of the game thread) and clicked on the UNC link to their SBNation site. It must be brand new or maybe they don't have many fans with computers!!;-) We had hundreds of posts and they had 10. On the post game....we currently have 250+, they didn't have any. Maybe they're all going out to the airport to welcome UNC home!!

Did the first half remind anyone else of UK in the mid 90's? Talk about spurtability....strangely if Kellogg mentioned that during the game, I missed it. I think Coach C is proving to be EVERYTHING we wanted in a coach....just wish we'd have hired him 2 years ago!!

Loosing Wall to cramps obviously took the wind out of our sails but the team never quit hustling....never quit playing solid defense. We lost focus on the offensive end but we also missed some shots that we were hitting in the first half. Bottom line, we won a game against a very good team that we could easily have choked away and we didn't!!

I was pulling for Alabama and thought they played a super game. UF just never seemed to get any rhythm going in the game, they just didn't seem to have their normal focus. I'm kind of tired of Tebow and it'll be great to see him graduate but watching the kid crying at the end shows EXACTLY why he stayed around for his 4th year.....you've got to admire a kid with that kind of heart.

Ah Louisville......the floor stomping and Coach C wanting to play more games in Freedom Hall just seem to be getting under their skin. You'd think with a football Coach to hire, a new arena coming, and the number of injuries they have would be enough to keep their minds off UK but apparently not. LOTS of chatter on their sites about these two subjects!! Living in Louisville.....it's kind of a head scratcher to me because they're going to have a new arena next year anyway.....just don't understand why this is bothering them but it definitely is!!

The only thing that could have made this Saturday any better is if all my Christmas shopping were done!!! Oh well....can't have everything!:-)

I'm one of those who've questioned Coach Brooks and his staff's ability to move this program to the next level. What is the next level exactly? I think we all have different opinions but I think most will agree that winning 3 SEC road games in one season for the first time (if I'm correct) since 1977 is truely an impressive feat.

I have to give credit where credit is due and admit that Coach Brooks deserves to retire at UK whenever he wants. The team could EASILY have quit on him last night and it has to say a LOT about the staff that they didn't. I still question naming an heir and this season (including last night) has had it's head scratching decisions but you can't argue with the results.

7-4 with the chance to be 8-4 by beating UT at home.....what more can a UK fan ask of a Coach and his staff?

Goooooooooooooooooooooooo CATS!!!!

My son sent me this link and if you can read through it and not cry, you're a tougher person than I am. As Jason King says.......Patrick is True Blue!!!! We all knew that he had the heart of a lion from watching him on the court. Now we know just how big that heart is.

Midnight Madness is upon us and what a great thing to read as we start this season.  We may not win a championship but we've obviously got a champion on the team!!!

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=jn-patterson101609&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

I guess we've known this was coming for months....it was just a matter of how much, but seeing in print that Billy Gillispie will get approximately $3million more from UK is just stunning.

I've racked my brain for similar examples of sports figures who've been so unbelievably bad at what they did and still managed to get a boat load of money out of the process. In sports it's usually a high draft pick..Brian Bosworth and Ryan Leaf come to mind....who just don't pan out but as for as coaches, Billy G might have started a new industry.

I laughed at reading his attorney say he expected Billy to have a bright future in coaching. Coaching what? Everyone deserves a second chance and as Michael Vick is showing...at least currently....some take advantage of the second chance and turn themselves around. With Billy G it's hard to imagine that he'll suddenly become a model citizen and realize that coaches don't have to be 24/7 jerks to everyone around them.

I won't even ask the obvious question of why one of the most storied programs in college basketball history with all the supposed advantages that UK has, had to offer this guy a buyout....well I guess I did ask it didn't I!!!

But to the question......wouldn't it be neat.......at least in UK dreamland.....for Billy's DUI conviction (yeah I'm assuming that) to result in a $3million fine and community service as say the UK towel boy for 2 years?

Hey....a guy can dream can't he??

Watching UK play Alabama today reminded me that Bear Bryant once coached at UK and I couldn't help wonder what the programs would be like today if he'd stayed at UK. Why did Bear Byrant leave UK? Well many reasons have been documented but I think everyone agrees that one of the biggest is that he thought UK Football would never be as important to the University as UK Basketball. 56 years have gone by and has anything changed?

I watched UK play Alabama today like most of you and saw on one sideline a #3 ranked team heading toward post season glory in the BCS. I looked at the other sideline and saw a team that will be VERY lucky to get to any bowl game. One sideline had a top drawer coach who's won a National Championship and was hired with no thought to the expense and in less than 3 years has his team ranked #3. The other sideline had a nice gentleman who has had such an impressive football career that he was out of football when he was hired and in 6+ years has his team and it's fans hoping....praying??? that we beat Vanderbilt.

Let me disclose at this point that I was NEVER a Rich Brooks fan from the first day. Barnhart forced out Guy Morris for whatever reason and after months hired Brooks. He's a very nice guy, very good with fans on call in shows and runs a clean program......SO DID BILL CURRY!!!! If Bill Curry wasn't good enough, why is Rich Brooks?

I guess this is the point I'm trying to make. UK Basketball just did what big time programs have to do to maintain that status.....they went out and got the BEST guy available. Just like North Carolina did with Williams, Kansas with Self, UofL with Pitino and countless other examples.

Apparently in 56 years UK has never learned that you can do the same thing in football.....that football programs as well as basketball programs can have great success. Look at JUST our conference...Alabama hires Saban, Florida hires Myer, Arkanas hire Petrino, Tenn. hires Kiffin, Spurrier at SC, Nutt at Miss. If FLORIDA can have National Championships in football and basketball......is it inconceivable that UK can at least have a top 5 football team in the SEC?

While I think Brooks deserves credit for winning some games that in the past UK would probably have lost (LSU) ,is the program doing anything more than treading water at this point and maybe not even that? Another year or two with Brooks and then his hand picked successor takes over. Does Joker Phillips name make anyone think of a young Urban Meyer? Yes, 3 bowl games wins but is the program really improving or is this smoke and mirrors and better scheduling?

I guess I'm left asking the same question that Bear Bryant must have asked 56 years ago......will UK Football ever be as important as UK Basketball? To put it another way, would Barnhart still have a job if he'd hired Gene Keady instead of Calipari???

Having lived in Louisville all my life, actually graduating from UofL (hey I was too poor to go to UK but born & bred a UK fan!!) and reading the Courier Journal and the old Louisville Times since I was old enough to read, I think I'm qualified to make a point regarding Pat Forde's continued "holier than thou" attitude toward UK and now Coach C.

The Louisville papers have been blessed over the years with such great writers as Dick Fenlon, Billy Reed and of course Dave Kindred. All seem to have had hall of fame careers without forgetting who they were and how they had got to their positions. Love them or hate them, I don't think anyone could question that personal bias didn't enter their writing.

Mr. Forde seems to confirm the old adage that no one is more righteous than a reformed sinner. Most outside Louisville probably don't remember that the CJ put Mr. Forde on several weeks suspension several years ago for an undisclosed issue. It's been alledged that he was suspended for unethical behavior in his reporting.

Now I personally haven't read the reason he was suspended but it does raise the question: Coach C has a clean bill from the NCAA and Mr. Forde doesn't have one in his profession......who has more creditibility?

Wow does this guy get UK basketball, the state and the fans!!!!  Did he leave any base untouched? IF ONLY Mitch & President Todd had ignored the sleeze gossip 2 years ago and called Coach Cal.....where would the program be right now?

Well you can't change the past and you have to give them both credit for yanking off the band-aid and getting rid of Gillispie and making this hire!!! Is there a UK fan out there that doesn't have a positive feeling for next year?

The call in show was just proof positive of how great this hire was. He came across as a EVERYTHING that we'd want as a coach and more.

Ricky P who? There will always be a special place for Coach P in any UK fans heart for what he did to restore the program and the heights he took it to.....almost 3 straight championships!!!!! That said, Coach Cal seems to be everything Coach P was a maybe more!!

GO CATS!!!