Cobb To Green Bay

The perfect place for Randall Cobb. A team on the rise with a great quarterback who will be around for a while. Cobb stands a good chance to get a ring with this pick. Go Randall we are all proud of you.

What Would You Do?

I have read or heard many comments concerning coach Calipari about his recruiting/coaching methods.  Unfortunately, most of them are negative comments about him.  Writers and coaches have axes to grind and they grind away at Cal.  I am convinced that every one of them and I mean every one of them are just jealous of the man.  They are jealous of UK for the success they have had for many, many years.  However, even more importantly to them is the recent success of coach Cal, because UK had been relegated to an  afterthought until he came to UK.

Try as they might they can only come up with innuendo concerning his past.  They have no proof of misdeeds by him, because if they did where do you think he would be today?  There has been more trash thrown his way than at guys that have actually been caught making mistakes.

Backing up just a bit, I want to say that it is difficult and almost impossible to not do something wrong according to the hypocrites handbook (NCAA).  In my view a coach is a human being with his profession on the line if he doesn’t perform to expectations by his athletic director and fans alike.  They are under intense pressure to work in the “gray area” of recruiting, whatever that is!

It seems Calipari is one of the few that isn’t allowed (by the media) to work in that area.  Well there is no such thing as a gray area!  A violation has either been or hasn’t been committed every time they contact a potential recruit. As an example, recruiting is like a posted speed limit in that you don’t get a ticket unless you drive too slow or too fast.  Everything you do within your automobile while driving within that posted speed limit that isn’t specifically legislated against is legal, pure and simple.  Now, if coach is doing something different than other coaches and if it isn’t legislated against it is legal, period!

If he wants to work harder than other coaches or treat his players differently than they would it is his decision, and theirs.  If his success is better than theirs because of what he does that is their problem.  If they complain they are just eating sour grapes.  When they spit those seeds into the wind they get hit in the face with them.

Cal takes the high road and doesn’t respond very often to negative remarks and why should he?  He doesn’t need to give them any reason to latch on to a remark that would divert attention from their hypocrisy and jealousy.  Those same “sharks” (writers and coaches) hate each other, but they team up hoping to “share” in the kill.  After a kill they go back to looking for an opportunity to eat one of their own rather than improve their profession.

Having said all that, what would you do if you were Cal?  Would you respond to them, would you change your philosophy just because they are throwing darts your way.  Those darts don’t seem to be hitting the target because Cal keeps on going just like the Energizer Bunny.  He keeps banging the drum of successful recruiting year after year.  He keeps telling the recruits that he will look out for their best interests and he proves it year after year.

This year is no different  than the rest of them, because he has told his players what they needed to hear and now three of them are testing the waters of the NBA.  UK may lose all three of them and maybe not.  What if they do leave, what will happen next?  Recruits are listening and watching his every move.  Players now want to come to UK and the major part of it is because of coach Cal and his “gray area” of success.  Perhaps, that “gray area” is that he tells them the truth and watches over them like a father!

What would you do if you were in his shoes?  Would you be selfish and tell those young men that they aren’t ready and they should stay another year knowing they could move on to the NBA?  Other coaches are doing that very thing this year, in my opinion, and they are being watched by the recruits.  Oh yeah, they will get recruits going forward simply because Cal can’t take all of them and because the recruits have biases as well.  However, Cal will get the cream of the crop next year too.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the secret of his success isn’t all that “gray” after all, but just doing what is right for the young man and his future?  What would you do or perhaps I should ask what should you do under the same circumstances as Cal?

In my view,  UK will be a contender for the NCAA championship every year as long as he is coach.  UK may never get championship #8 while he is here, but perhaps #’s 9, 10 or 11!   What a ride we will have every year during that time.  UK basketball is fun again, period!  The young men that are “chosen” to come be a part of it receive an opportunity to see if  they can hear Cal tell them they need to test the waters of the NBA!

Those recruits were watching Cal and now what would you do if you were Cal?

catfan4life!

 

Stewie Says Kiss My Bobby

Well Bobby Knight caved in like Dog the Bounty Hunter was kicking in his front door. He issued a sort of apology today to Kentucky and the players.

“My overall point is that ‘one and dones’ are not healthy for college basketball,” Knight said. “I should not have made it personal to Kentucky and its players and I apologize.”

This caused celebrity Kentucky fan Stewie to issue his own statement to ESPN.

Sad News Here at BBR

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but BigBlueRules didn’t win a Pulitzer Prize this year. Thanks to all of you we are hoping for a Nobel Peace Prize for last years hard hitting thoughts on Ricks 15 seconds of fame. I loved the picture of him hanging on the rim with that huge dunk. We will try harder this year and we just hope that Rick does so we win the Noble.

War I Say

The high point of the off season is almost upon us. I’m talking about the royal wedding. It seems to me that we in Kentucky were snubbed by not receiving an invitation since we are royalty. We wear royal blue not sissy blue. Our coach is the duke of recruiting. Horse racing and pillaging the neighboring teams is in our blood.

All that and much more makes us royalty so we say Duke Calipari has no choice but to set up a trip to England where we will plunder and ravage English basketball and force the English to make the mini Cooper big enough for royalty to drive.

USA Thumps The World

Future Cats Anthony Davis, Michael Gilchrist, Marquis Teague and Kyle Wiltjer combined for 50 of the points of the 172 scored yesterday as the USA Junior National Select Team beat the World Select Team 92-80 in the Nike Hoop Summit.

Anthony Davis, 16 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal tied a Team USA record for rebounding in the Nike Hoop Summit. He played solid post defense all night but his lack of muscle and strength will hamper him in the SEC till he meets Kentucky’s strength coach.

Michael Gilchrist, 16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 blocks and 1 steal was by far the best defender on the floor. On the offense end he seemed to enjoy contact and made 1 deep 3 pointer.

Marquis Teague, 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal showed he is a pure point guard and will be a great asset at Kentucky once he gets better from beyond the arc.

Kyle Wiltjer had 12 points but his lack of athleticism showed. On the bright side he wont face a team in the SEC that remotely compares to the USA team.

The long athletic USA defense dominated, blocking shots and forcing the World team to throw up bricks for much of the game. Overall the teams combined for 23 blocked shots.

Although he had a good game the star of the game wasn’t Austin Rivers it was Bismack Biyombo, a 6-9 forward with a 7’7″ wing span from the Congo who had the first triple-double in Nike Hoop Summit history with 10 blocked shots, 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Your Busted Cup II

Spring football is almost over and many young SEC football players thoughts turn to mischief, so its time to start our second Your Busted Cup.

When a SEC football team gets a player arrested or suspended and you see it post the teams name and the players name on the topic in the forums and that team will get 1 point. If a player gets kicked off the team or suspended for unspecified reasons without being arrested the team gets 2 points and if he is arrested and suspended or kicked of the team the team gets 3 points.

We will announce the winning team when the season is over and possibly someone will unseat last years winner Georgia.

Congratulations UConn

It sure ain’t like a riot in the old days. This picture shows that. Come on drinking Coors Light during a riot is down right pathetic. Painting you nails before you go out to a riot is classy though. It shows exactly why she went to a all fluff school like UConn. Even Stanford students can carry out a riot with better taste. They would at least have brought some marshmallows to roast with the car antennas, and can you see what the imagination of California Institute of Technology students would have come up with if they were going to riot. And yes they had a better right to riot than UConn students did, having won their first conference basketball game in years or is that decades. Anyway you get the picture.

Here is a full link to where the picture came from with more pictures. A couple of those girls are defiantly going to get caught since they were so photogenic.

BigBlueRules offers our congratulations to the UConn students on their trip to the county holding block. May you enjoy tonight’s game.

The Day After

I awakened this morning to a bright sun shining. The air has a breath of spring and the sun has a little warmth for these old bones. All that was a good reminder to me that I am still alive and looking forward to a great team come the chill of fall and the cold of winter later in the year of 2011.

In reflection the loss was a bitter, bitter pill to swallow for all of us fans. Those that have actually played the competition of collegiate basketball (and other sports) probably feel and understand it even better than I, but it was no less a bitter pill. We will probably dissect the game a little more as we move forward and heal a little, but for now we must heal.

What should be foremost in our minds, at least in my view, is the joy we received from those same young men as they won game after game. They proudly wore the UK uniform for all of us insatiable Big Blue Fans. They came to UK knowing that they would be held to a different standard than most young men at other schools. They knew that every move and play would be dissected and debated by perhaps millions of the UK faithful. They came knowing that the press would tend to write negative things about UK and their coach. They came knowing they had history to uphold and the proud tradition represented by all those banners hanging above Rupp Arena. They knew that jealousy and envy would be the norm if they came to UK, but they came anyway.

They came because they wanted to be a part of something special. Those young men and coaches are winners even though they lost the last game. They can and should hold their heads high, because they left it all on the floor. Every young man representing UK left it all on the floor last night. They certainly failed in all they were trying to do, but it took a monumental effort by UConn to win that game.

There was Knight (speaking for all the players) brandishing the uniform for all to see after the victory against UNC. That said it all to me and Brandon I want you to know that I am just as proud of you today after the loss as I was on that day. Certainly many fans go over the top with their adulation, hatred and demonstration of UK players depending upon the circumstance. The same can be said about going after our adversaries as well. A game is a game and should be treated as such. It isn’t about life and death. It isn’t about worrying about where the food is going to come from and other such challenges of life.

Basketball is a game albeit a wonderful game. We can ride the wings of victory, but it is the losses whereby our character is tested. Losses mold the metal in the players and fans alike. Therefore, today, I am spending my time being thankful for all those young men on the team. Not just one of them, but for all of them. They have made me proud to wear my UK stuff no matter where I go. Going forward, I fell they will do the same for the university.

It is my hope that all of them come back next year to keep building upon the successes of this year and last year as well. I am looking forward to seeing the next crop of young men come into the system to perhaps hang some more banners in the rafters. However, it is the banners they hang in their hearts and our hearts that keep the history of UK elevated like no other program in the nation.

In finality, thanks to all the coaches and players for the remarkable year.

Triumphs n Tribulations

Being a Kentucky fan this year has been like playing with TnT. Some times we were up and sometimes we were down, and sometimes we were blown away by the triumphs our teams gave us.

Football started the season off with many of us having high expectations for our Cats to continue their climb to the top. After starting the season with wins over Louisville and a couple of cupcakes we came face to face with reality that’s the SEC. Granted we beat the old balls coach and took national champion Auburn to the wire before losing but we couldn’t get over the hump with the east teams. The Vanderbilt win can be ranked up there with the cupcake wins over Western Ky and Akron so the only reason to mention it is that its a win. Tennessee was the loss that hammered the team and fans the worst. They were down according to our thoughts and ripe for the picking. Unfortunately instead of picking the Orange they squeezed us like overripe grapes. The final game of the season was a embarrassing lose to Pittsburgh after losing QB Mike Hartline due to stupidity.

What should we expect in Jokers second year? A better defense and special teams for a starter. On the other side of the ball with the loss of so many key players we should expect a grind it out less scoring offense with more use of the TE position and fewer long completions.
Triumphant players: Randall Cobb, Derrick Locke , Danny Trevathan, Winston Guy and Mike Hartline.
Tribulation player: Mike Hartline who ruined his best season.
Season Ranking: Tribulation

Basketball started out with some eye popping games by the freshmen before running into UConn and a tsunami named Walker in Maui. We finished the non conference part of the season strong with wins over big east powers Louisville, Notre Dame and a blow out at Indiana. A 2 point loss to North Carolina could have as easily been a win and the rest of the games fell into the football cupcake category.

We started play in the SEC where home games were like canned food for the Cats and away games were dried food. Losing those road games made the Cats realize that they preferred canned food and they finished the season roaring by beating Florida and Vandy at home and then showing they were over those road woes by pulping the Vols.
Then the Cats continued to show they had crossed over the hump by sliding through the SEC tournament like a veteran mature team while showing the fans that they were the team that the fans and coaches thought they could be.

After an insulting #4 seed while Florida received a #2 the Cats traveled to Tampa where it took a last second shot by Knight to win pull out a tough win over Princeton. After a revenge game win over West Virginia they faced #1 overall seed Ohio St. Once again they proved they were able to win a close game as Knight finished the nutz off with a jumper with 5 seconds left. That brought them to the regional finals where unlike last year the Cats had a easy time knocking off North Carolina in a sweet revenge win.

Then it was off to the final four in Houston to face UConn in the semifinals. The Cats came out cold and were down by 10 at the half. At the start of the second half shots started falling and they took the lead only to go cold and ended up losing by 1 point.

Everyone knows what I just wrote and if they don’t agree blame it on my magic fingers.

What can we expect with next years team? That’s going to depend on who returns. Josh is gone but if Knight and Jones decide to return like Lamb has said he is and you throw in the #1 recruiting class this team will be hard if not impossible to beat. Hopefully coach Cal will finally realize that free throws are a necessity not an after thought.

Was this Coach Calipari’s best coaching job? You bet it was but that’s to be expected when you coach at the best basketball school in the country.

Finally thank you guys for giving us what we have longed for for 13 years. Hanging a final four banner in Rupp ranks you right up there with the best to ever play for Kentucky in our hearts.

Finally part deux. In my opinion the player of the year for the wildcats is Josh “Jorts” Harrellson.

Triumphant players: The whole team especially Josh Harrellson who took his game to a level where he has been invite to Portsmouth..
Season Ranking: Triumph