Thankful for Wildcats, the Letter K, & Redemption

In this season of giving thanks, I thought I'd post something I'm thankful for: my hometown, childhood, and current favorite team - The University of Kentucky Wildcats

Sure, I could have grown up in another city where they say that basketball is king, but God knew exactly where he wanted to place me.  He knew where greatness exists and what kind of environment I needed to grow up in. In this day and age of what have you done for me lately, we tend to forget that you have to look at the full body of work for a program and when you do that, Kentucky basketball simply cannot be matched.  That being said, I do remember what we've done lately.  75-65 Win last night.

I am also thankful for the letter K.  The letter K was certainly the main emphasis throughout the night before, during, and after the game last night.  Before it was Kool-ade, which is what I was drinking (and some may argue been drinking for a long time) before the game.  During it was Kentucky.  After it was a butt Kickin'.  Aside from my name, there really wasn't any other K of consequence last night.

I am also thankful for my influence over friends and family.  Had it not been for me, some of my closest family members, who were unfortunately not placed in great locations, would have grown up thinking that other programs where the greatest all time.  Statistics aside (who uses those as a means of proof anyway), I couldn't let them go through life without knowing TRUTH.

Friends.  I am proud to tell you today, we have seen the results of that very truth.  Aside from the fact that statistics prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that UK is the greatest program of all time, we now have other visual proof that even the most stubborn of folks want to hold out on that belief.

Exhibit A: (click link)
Notice the declaration for their new found love of the team.  Notice the asterisk leaving him an out (which is common for anyone with lack of faith aka:haters).  Notice the dates have passed on the pending investigation and nothing found.

Exhibit B: (click link)
See all statements from Exhibit A.

Subject has clearly gone from, what his grandson would call, Delusional, to a fan of the University of Kentucky.  "The Guy" even went so far as going to bed early last night because he knew the game was in hand and a comeback by the other team was a wasted effort.

Sweet dreams UK fans.  Sweet, Redemptive Dreams

Kansas Going Old School

This was taken from a blog I read. Pretty funny and creative way, if you asked me, to keep your athletes in check.

"In a story that couldn’t be funnier if we made it up, Kansas seems to have employed a senior citizen watch brigade to improve its system of checking on athletes’ attendance to their daily classes. The force is in charge of signing in players when they come to class and making sure they stay for the whole period, although I’m sure most of the athletes would agree it’s pretty easy to sneak out during one of the handful of bathroom breaks the spies take during a given class. The school is using the old folks because the traditional class checkers, who were almost always students, were too easily struck by the celebrity of their assignments and could be ‘convinced’ to let players slide on their attendance. Senior citizens are apparently above being wooed by the high-profile athletes they track, although anonymous reports indicate that several of them are open to offers of ‘mashing up my peas’ and ‘turning the volume up on the TV,’ so it remains to be seen if the new system will really be any better.

There are drawbacks, however, like when the senior citizens end up in the wrong place on the wrong day or, you know, can’t actually see the players:

"Some checkers say their vision isn’t quite what it used to be, either: Except for the offensive linemen, it can be tough to pick the athletes on their lists out of a crowd.

On a recent morning between classes, the checkers gathered at a campus dining area called the Underground to familiarize themselves with the images of the athletes in their blue binders that had to be checked in the next period. A debate ensued over the distinguishing characteristics of “a medium-sized white kid” on the football team, though the checkers did manage to agree that “he was a nice-looking boy.”

…

Being an elderly class checker does have some downsides. Senior moments can be inconvenient: Jerry Robinson, a 67-year-old retired child psychologist, says he has waited for hours outside eerily quiet classrooms only to realize later he was in the wrong building or had confused the days of the week."

The newer, older accountability measures even go so far as to monitor the athletes during their classes, making sure they don’t spend class time texting or doing whatever else the kids are doing by observing them through the classroom windows, which I’m sure isn’t weird at all. Evening classes seem to be the only hope for those trying to avoid the everpresent eyes of the watchdogs, although tuning a nearby TV to ‘Bonanza’ will usually distract them long enough to make an exit. There isn’t really a point in telling you all this, but these old people jokes pretty much write themselves and laughing at Kansas is always a good time. That’s it though. As you were."

I could see some poor ole SAP doing this. Seems to fit right up his ally

If you aren't cheating, you aren't winning

Anyone that has been following sports can tell you that cheating is prevalent. Whether it is in the professional ranks, college, high school, or even youth leagues. It is simple, you can't get away from it.

That being said, I'm always amazed at the hypocrisy of fans of other college teams that really believe that their team is above cheating. I get it all the time. See, I'm a Kentucky fan. Which subjects me to daily posts from other fans, friends, and family members that tell me how rotten John Calipari is. Seriously, I've heard it all.

"Your coach is a cheater" "Snake oil salesman" "Slimy Coach Cal" "Caliban" "UK has sold their soul"

Trust me, those are just the basic generic ones. But I've got to tell you, I laugh at it really. Look, I'm not here proclaiming Calipari to be an angel or anything. I completely realize that he operates in the gray areas. Some say, he's the master of the gray areas. OK, sure, we'll say that he is. UK fans are always quick to point out that he's never been tagged with anything on his record, but that is quickly debunked by other fans that say they are just blind and are going to cover for him at any cost. OK, let's say that's the case.

My biggest issue in everything is that fans act as if their own team (poo) isn't cheating (don't stink). Let me tell you this....YOU'RE DEAD WRONG.

Case #1

See the guys above? Those guys are the notorious (in AAU circles) Pump Brothers and they are at the center of a brewing scandal at Kansas involving basketball tickets and overall shady practices. The story is best summarized in this great article on Yahoo Sports, but it basically comes down to this. A number of individuals in the Kansas Athletic Department and Basketball Office worked to get tickets for the NCAA Tournament and Big 12 Tournament that were then sold to the Pump Brothers for higher sums of money and scalped (or given away) by the brothers Pump. In exchange, the Pump Brothers AAU programs were potentially helped and the players on those programs (which include the children of Coach Bill Self and Danny Manning) were likely told favorable things about Kansas. The last is just an implication, but one would think that in addition to the money that changed hands for tickets, some advantage for KU basketball would have been expected.

While nothing huge is likely to come from this event (although a number of Kansas staffers have already resigned) it showcases the seedy underbelly of AAU basketball and its effect on college sports. Guys like the brothers Pump (who run teams that are called “Pump & Run”, which was has made me laugh every time I have seen it) are everywhere in AAU basketball and their power is great. Media types and Kentucky rivals’ fans all focus on World Wide Wes and what evil things he might be doing, but they have no clue how the real system works. Every school, or at least most every school, has guys like the Pump Brothers, who have relationships with the University in some unofficial capacity and help in the recruiting process. Go to a big AAU tournament and you will see these guys and if you are at a Final Four somewhere, they will be seeping out of every pore in the city. Add these guys to the scalping of tickets (which is a dirty secret that involves officials and assistant coaches at MANY schools) and you have a recipe for a scandal.

This is my favorite quote from the article...

“Not going there,” Freeman said. “One of them was about 250 pounds and he [expletive] talked like [he had a New Jersey accent]. You seen Goodfellas? I don’t know who the [expletive] they were. I can honestly tell you, I don’t know who the [expletive] they were. It was ‘This is the room you go to, this is the guy you need to see.’ There were no [expletive] names. The door would open and a guy would be standing there with a gun. You walk in, do the deal and you’re out.”

Really? A gun? For basketball tickets and AAU basketball? Surely this couldn't be happening at Kansas? This stuff only happens under Cal's watch right? Wrong.

The hard reality for Kansas however may be this. When the “We Want to Pump…You Up” Brothers got involved in the ticket scalping business with the Jayhawk staff, they will become the fall guys for a much more systemic problem.

Case #2

Cheating at UCONN? Not the great Jim Calhoun. He couldn't possibly know about it or have facilitated it. In the words of the great Lee Corso, "Not so fast my friends."

Gary Parrish writes in his article about how UCONN has absolutely cheated. He states....

"The school released the notice of allegation letter Friday following a 15-month investigation into the recruiting of former player Nate Miles. The eight alleged violations include improper phone calls and text messages to recruits, giving recruits improper benefits and improperly distributing free tickets to high school coaches and others. Coach Jim Calhoun was cited for failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance."

They'll charge them with failure to monitor and move on. But once again...UCONN? This couldn't happen there. It only happens under Cal's watch.

These are just two examples of major programs that have been involved in cheating. And if you think that the coaches (Bill Self and Jim Calhoun) didn't know about this, I've got some clean florida salt water to sell you.

So, whether it's Oklahoma, USC, IU, Kansas, Kentucky, UCONN, or anywhere else. Cheating is going on. You may think it isn't, and if that's the case, I'll gladly come and kick you in the butt while your head is stuck in the sand. So the next time you hear a fan run their mouth about how your team is cheating, look at them and laugh. That's what I do

The Special K's lose, but I win GOLD!

Fair trade-off right? My beloved Wildcats lost to the team I hate almost as much as Satan, the Criminals of UT. Then to make matters worse, my other team the Kansas Jayhawks decided to follow the trend of a powerhouse losing to a team that has no business being on the same floor with them as well as their colors are represented best by that bile that one throws up, Oklahoma State (that was a long sentence). So the Cats and Jayhawks are keeping up with each other, but both should still win their conferences. It would have been neat to see Kansas sweep their conference though. I don't believe that a team from a BCS conference has gone undefeated in their conference since....you guessed it, UK in 2005-2006.

But, there was some good news today. In case you didn't know, I am on the US Bobsled team and we took home our first gold medal for the first time in 62 years or so....
Go me and Go USA.

John Wall Dances all over Tennessee

I love beating UT. Because I hate them so. John Wall led the way with 24 points over the criminal-snitches and helped UK continue to dominate the Vols year in and year out. Eric Bledsoe chipped in with 16 and Scotty Hopson was left wondering if he made the right choice to attend a crappy school like he did when he could have been part of winning big time basketball at UK. Does anyone at UT know who he is? Doubt it.

Additionally, ESPN did a piece on John Wall and the dance crave that is sweeping the nation. This time, not just the Big Blue Nation




Question....

If UT beats KU and UK beats UT...does that make them better than KU? Hmmm...things to ponder

I love this picture...



Ain't that the truth!

Vols Rock...Shock...Jayhawk

(Disclaimer. This will most likely be the first and last time I ever put a picture of a UT basketball player on my blog. So don't get use to it. It dumbs this blog down)

I sat down yesterday to watch an NFC playoff game between the Cardinals and Packers with some friends. One of my buddies is a UT fan and I knew the basketball game between Tennessee and Kansas was coming on as well. I mentioned to him that I'd like to watch about 10 mins or so of the first of the game. I figured in 10 mins or so KU would open up a sizable enough lead in order to make the game unwatchable. See, Kansas is the #1 team in the country* and UT, while the #15 team in the country*, they have lost 3 of their better players to suspensions and 1 player, Tyler Smith, has been kicked off the team.

Brief history: Four players all were arrested on New Years because they had drugs, open containers of alcohol, and unregistered weapons in their car. Since then, Smith, arguably their best player has been kicked off the team.

This has pretty much been the UT moniker for the past couple of months since players on the football team robbed people at a gas station in Knoxville. Needless to say, this didn't help the public perception that UT is a school for criminals.

Those that know me know that I'm a huge Kentucky and Memphis fan and thus the common denominator rivals of both are Louisville and Tennessee. Living in Tennessee as I do makes it easier to hate UT all the more because I'm around them more than Louisville fans. I'm also married into a large family of Kansas fans so I've adopted them as one of the teams I pull for as long as they aren't playing UK or Memphis. All this in mind rooting against UT yesterday was a given.

With said issues in mind, I did not expect UT to put up much of a fight and I was pulling for Kansas to wipe the floor with them. This, however, did not happen. UT hung with the #1 team* for most of the game and as the time went on my buddies and I found ourselves watching the whole game with the NFC game on the small screen off to the side. As the game went on, I thought in the second half that the UT players would wear down and Kansas would impose their will on them and the game would get out of hand. The problem is that one, no one told UT they were supposed to wear down and two, Kansas shot the ball atrociously throughout the game and it never got better.

By the 17 min mark of the second half UT actually took the lead and never relinquished it. Kansas battled back to only being down by 3 with around a min or so. Then, out of nowhere, this kid hits a 3-pointer with the shot clock running down to zero.



This kid's name is Skylar McBee. If you haven't heard his name you're not alone. He's a walk-on
player that isn't the kind of player you'd want taking a shot as the shot clock is expiring. When he hit the shot, I almost jumped out of my seat cheering for him. After some made free throws UT ended up beating Kansas by a score of 76-68.

Wait...did I just say I cheered for a player from UT? Yep. I can't believe it, but I did. Over the duration of the game I found myself cheering for David over Goliath. The only reason I can explain is that I felt bad for what had happened to the players on the UT team. I've sorta felt like if it was me playing on a team and four other players virtually ruined my season, I'd be pretty pissed. So for some reason, in that moment, I cheered for UT.

I actually think that good will come from this for both teams. Kansas in my mind, needed a loss like this to give them a dose of reality that they are not as good as the polls might suggest. Let me say that they are arguably the best and most talented team in the country, but they've had a crummy non-conference schedule highlighted by a near loss to scrappy Memphis and Cornell teams and a blowout win over a horrible UCLA team. The only good win they've had so far is a blowout at a nationally ranked Temple. I think this is just the medicine this team to come together and play better before their conference play starts. Bill Self said this after the game, “When you talk about all the stuff they have been through, I do not think Tennessee was a team until this past week. I do not think Kansas is a team yet.”

Bruce Pearl will surely use this win as a spring board going into SEC play and tell his players that anything is possible when you come together and play like a team. The SEC is a weak basketball conference this year so the chances of UT doing well is still a possibility.

Let me say this again, I AM NOT A UT FAN by any stretch of the means nor to I care for Bruce Pearl all that much (I like to call him the "Sweaty One"). But a walk-on burying a shot with the time running out on the clock is one of the cooler things that happens in sport (unless they hit it against your team). Make no mistake about it though, the UT players showed a ton of heart last night and effort outlasted talent. While I won't be singing Rocky Top anytime soon, I do salute the players for a great effort and something that they'll always remember.

Go Cats! (This post had too much orange in it)

* according to the polls