Alternate Reality

I’ve been an avid SciFi reader since the late 50′s. The trend over the last twenty years in SciFi has been away from hard core to fantasy. I loved the old time travel story’s with a passion so I wondered what Andre Norton would have written about Hawai’i coach Greg McMackin’s blunder in using a word he shouldn’t have used.

Would she have written a story about time travelers accidentally changing the course of history causing the British to win the revolutionary war? If she had,  Greg McMackin’s use of the word would have had a totally different meaning. He would have meant the players were dancing around like a bundle of sticks or branches.

Sadly, what Greg McMackin did wasn’t a SciFi story, it was real life and he really blundered in the way he used the word. Anyone who knows him knows that his crying while apologizing wasn’t an act, it was the real man truly sorry he had hurt the gay community, the fans, his school and his players.

It’s sometimes difficult for someone not raised in Hawai’i to understand not only the way people talk, but how words are used. Due to the waves of immigration of Chinese, Mexicans, Portuguese, Japanese and Filipino’s there were tensions between the races. They came up with a unique way of dealing with the problem; humor. There are jokes about the length of a Japanese persons legs,  Filipino’s eating dog, Potagee’s being dumb and Haole’s diets to name a few. Thats all they are though is jokes and Hawai’is favorite comedians like Frank DeLima use them in their on stage humor.

They also came up with a way of distinguishing between using a word to describe a person and to slur a person. Here’s some definitions from the Pidgin dictionary and their usage.

popolo
(poh poh loh)

Definition: slang term used to describe an individual of African-American descent
Used In A Sentence: No, Ku`uipo’s boyfriend stay popolo.
In English?: Actually Ku`uipo’s boyfriend is African-American.

Potagee
(poh tah ghee)

Definition: slang term used to describe an individual of Portuguese descent
Used In A Sentence: Randy stay one pocho or wot?
In English?: Do you know whether or not Randy is Portuguese?

Mahu
(mah who)

Definition: homo sexual; a man who acts very feminine or like a woman
Used In A Sentence: Ho dat Charlie, he so mahu yeah?
In English?: Does that Charlie bat for the other team?

Haole
(how lee)

Definition: slang term used to describe an individual of Caucasian descent
Used In A Sentence: Damn haole!
In English?: I wish that Caucasian individual would understand me for once!

The way you distinguish between describing a person and a racial or sexual slur is that they would simply add fu^&*#g in front of the word and it became a slur.

Why go thru all this? Coach Greg McMackin wasn’t intending it as a slur he was using it as a description all though a not very good one. It got blown all out of proportion by the media and activists. Should he have used the word no but lets face it even those who are yelling the loudest about it say things like that on occasion.

Is $28,000 a letter enough of a punishment to satisfy the media and activists only time will tell.

Successful Juco Class Could be a Key to the Season

This could be the most successful Juco class of football players that UK has had since they have been tapping into the ranks. They are being counted on by many to bolster us on the defensive side of the ball, as well as at the WR spot. Both Chris Matthews and DeQuin Evans are in the Top 20 of all Juco’s and Crawford ranks in the Top 100. Here is a rundown of the kids.

2009- 2-4 Stars From the JUCO RANKS!

Chris Matthews WR 6-5 210 4 STAR ****
Mark Crawford DT 6-1 305 3 STAR ***
DeQuin Evans DE 6-2 275 4 STAR ****

 
Chris Matthews is the highest rated juco signed by UK this year and perhaps ever. He has a measured skill set that exceeds anything we’ve seen in the Juco Ranks for some time. I don’t think it will take a long time for him to develop, since unlike Stevie Johnson, he is not coming into a great receiving corps to start the season.

Has great hands, and just outruns people catching the football. He is going to make the UK QB job much easier. Caught 80 balls last year and is the second rated Juco WR by Rivals, behind Halo Carpenter…., AND, from a raw athletic standpoint…, How many 6’5 210lb receivers will UK have this year who run 4.4 forties?

My hunch is that Matthews locks down one wide spot, and will be very good in short order. Randall Cobb will play the slot, and the other WR spot goes to Lanxter.

We received an interesting quote  from Los Angeles Harbor College Coach Brett Peabody about Chris, “Chris is probably the best junior-college wide receiver in the country,” Peabody said. “He lives up to the saying that ‘big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games.’ He can beat you short, he can beat you deep, he can beat you across the middle.”

==============================================================
Mark Crawford was one of the nation’s top 100 junior college prospects at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College after making 41 tackles and getting 6.5 quarterback sacks last year. He only played two years of high school football in Indianapolis, one reason he redshirted his first year at Coffeyville. Certainly UK is not taking this Juco out of desperation like they were a few years ago when they were coming through the probation.

By all accounts Crawford is looking good and making strides at the DT position: “I am adjusting real well. It is a new experience with coach Petri teaching me how to play better and teaching me stuff I never knew in junior high or high school.”

==============================================================
 DeQuin Evans: Defensive Ends are sorely needed, a known fact, and “DE”, as I’ll be calling Dequin Evans, needs to hit the ground running. Watch him on film and you see what amounts to a man among boys. Now granted that wasn’t SEC competition, but the film says a lot about what type of player we are getting. Simply stated, I don’t think we have seen a Defensive Juco player who looked any better than DE did on film.

Making up the loss of a Jeremy Jarmon may be a daunting task,  therefore this makes it even more important that someone from our stable of players at the Defensive End position step up and make a big splash there. DE  has all the tools. Evans (6-2, 275) is rated the No. 15 junior college prospect in the nation by Rivals.com, as well as one of our 4 Star athletes. He was a teammate of Chris Matthews. Did I mention he ran a 4.6 forty according to Scout…That is truly smoking for a man his size! GBB!!!

Tebow is the talk of the SEC media days

Well a couple of things have kept Tim Tebow in front of the media. Which coach didn’t vote him preseason all-SEC and is he still a virgin?
No doubt these are pressing questions that deserve to be answered so BigBlueRules will attempt to answer them.

Well that was easy the old balls coach answered the first question for us. It wasn’t me he said it was the guy I had answer my coaches ballot for me. I have to admit Steve Spurrier is still more entertaining than his new challenger Lane Kiffin.

In an attempt to answer the second question BigBlueRules is looking for volunteers to visit Florida and help us discover the answer. Volunteers have to possess several qualities. They have to be good looking, don’t mind spending time at the swamp and not be afraid to break one of the Kentucky fans ten commandments. Thou shall not sleep with a gator.

Which brings up another interesting thought what are the other nine commandments.

Hanging our first banner

Kentucky is picked by many to finish first in the SEC and enter the tournament with a number one seed. With my blue sunglasses on or off I think they have the potential to hand an eighth banner this year. After all we have the number one recruiting class to go with the number one returning player in Patrick Patterson and some good returning defensive players. We have a coach and an offensive scheme that hard to beat.

So what what could go wrong and keep the Cats from being number one in everything basketball. Simple coaches website will keep us from hanging a banner for the number one coaches website. Granted its good looking, technologically sound and will draw viewers but using video like its using with coach talking is like using dynamite to fish.

OK so its the first day its been up and people have been waiting to view it for days but if its going to be this hard to view without timing out now whats going to happen after a game. My average time today has been 45 seconds to load the main page. So be sure to pity the poor fan who doesn’t have a high speed connection.

With any luck they will have added some bandwidth or we wont be hanging our first banner for coaches website this year.

What Are Patterson and Orton Doing With Hell’s Trainer?

Frank Matrisciano. The mental and fitness expert that has earned the moniker of “Hell’s Trainer.” Who is he? What does he do? And why in the world would a highly regarded freshman center and arguably the best frontcourt player in the country seek out such a secretive man to prepare them for the season?

Because they want to experience the same results Blake Griffin, this year’s #1 overall draft pick out of Oklahoma experienced.

I did a lot of research for this post, and it really amazed me just how little information I was able to find. But what I could find was very interesting. Either this guy is a complete basket case, which I do not believe, or he is one of the few innovators left. His methods are definitely different, but anyone who witnessed Blake Griffin terrorize the Big 12 and the rest of the country, realizes they bring results.

Matrisciano is half-italian, half-spanish, and was raised in northern New Jersey. (Couldn’t find a town). He is the youngest of four, has no kids himself, and has never been married. Reportedly he is 43 years old but that hasn’t been confirmed. Frank has been training basketball players since 1992, and though he doesn’t like to talk about the athletes he trained, the list includes the Wizards’ Gilbert Arenas, Celtics’ Leon Powe, the Pacers’ Kareem Rush, and Arron Afflalo of the Pistons.

“I look at them like robots.”

“I take them to a level they’ve never been.”

“I’m just a shadow in the background.”

All quotes from a man that has coined a personal phrase “Law-7.” What that means is for every ten athletes that enlist his help, seven of them leave within the first half-hour. He does not advertise his services, you must know someone within his training circle to get hooked up with him. Matrisciano addresses everyone “sir” and expects the same in return. He admits that in the past he was saddled with nicknames like “Mental Patient” and “Genetic Freak.”

“You don’t know how many say they want to do it,” Frank says. “But it’s easy to say when you’re on the couch. It’s another thing to get up at 5 a.m. and get out there on the sand hills.” He does not accept payment from high school or college players. They are responsible for paying their living expenses and bringing the will and desire to follow through with what they started. Four to eight hours per day five days a week for four to six weeks is what the newbies have to look forward to. Basketball doesn’t get neglected either as part of that time is spent in skills training under former NBA coach Bob Hill.

Survival of the Fittest training. Chameleon training. Two of the terms Matrisciano uses to describe his workouts. Stairmasters, ellipticals, treadmills, and even traditional free weights mean nothing to this man. His playground is San Francisco. Adapting to one’s surroundings and overcoming any obstacle is the mantra he preaches as his charges labor up stairs carrying medicine balls, jog up sand hills in harnesses he tugs at from behind, and run in the soft, sandy beaches while wearing a 65-pound weighted vest. The workouts are held almost exclusively outside and never on a flat or hard surface.

Hell’s Trainer has pushed many to their absolute limits which some say is his ultimate gift: the ability to identify exactly where each of his client’s “limit” is. He has trained boxers, MMA & Martial Artists, Federal Marshalls, Firemen, Policemen, Pro Athletes, and Military Personnel.

So did Patrick and Daniel make the right choice? Only time will tell, but if Blake Griffin’s domination last year is any indication, Wildcat fans will appreciate the time and hard work our two big men are putting into the team’s success. After all, when you have ran stairs, sand dunes, and inclines of every sort, how hard could it be to sprint up and down a 94′ basketball court?

 http://sewildcatreview.com/blog2.php?p=105&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

Darius Miller playing great at U19 games

Darius Miller is continuing to improve his play and build his confidence at the U19 World Championships. His defensive play has been outstanding according to Purdue coach Matt Painter.

His ability to block shots and make steals is evident with him leading the team with 11 blocks and 11 steals several coming at critical times in a game. His stats in 16 min. or so of play a game show he is gaining confidence every game. He is shooting over 60 percent while averaging 5 points, almost 4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals a game. Coach Calipari and his teammates have to be ecstatic over his play.

You can see highlight video at the fiba tv site.

Will Coach Calipari Get Quarantined

I see where the New Orleans mayor is quarantined in China after sitting next to a passenger showing swine flu symptoms on the flight there. If coach gets quarantined imagine the headlines.

• Calipari hiding from NCAA in China.
• Calipari gets swine flu to save reputation.
• Calipari helps Chinese recruits cheat on swine flu test.
• Calipari gets quarantined with top Chinese prospects to circumvent NCAA recruiting rules.
• Kentucky fans defend coaches runny nose as part of recruiting.
• Todd told about flu before hiring Calipari.
• Todd admits not looking close enough at symptoms but still has faith that Calipari was right hire.

UK BIG 7 set to make Waves This Year in SEC Football

Here are 7 players that methinks might be difference makers for this year’s UK squad, in no particular order, except for the #1 slot. I’m sure you have your own 7, more or less, so feel free to add or subtract….:)

7. Danny Trevathan: From his coach Chuck Smith, “Trevathan is athletic, fast, and physical. He looks to be a future star. He’s not started a game yet, but once he gets a taste of SEC play and progresses like I think he will, he has a chance to be one of the great linebackers at Kentucky.” Danny runs very fast and hits very hard, two attributes that a LB must have. Danny returned a kick 31 yards in Spring Game…A linebacker!

6. Winston Guy: A physical specimen who said that he really did not understand what it took to be an SEC type player when he arrived on campus last fall. Rich Brooks has called Guy the most talented defensive back he’s signed at Kentucky. Guy looked the part this spring at free safety. He is doing the work now and the possibilities are there for him to be one of the “Greats” at UK before he is done. Has that rare combination of size, 200+ lbs, and speed 4.4 forty… Back at his natural position at Safety he should make big waves this year.

5. Micah Johnson: Micah was Coach Brooks first high-profile recruit at UK. A bigger hitter at the middle spot you will not find. Just a man-child waiting for his draft numbers to go up. Had 11 tackles in the spring game.

4. Chris Matthews: Some of us like the outrageous numbers he has put up, not only catching a football, but his raw athletic ability. Has great hands, and just outruns people catching the football. He is going to make the UK QB job much easier. Caught 80 balls last year and is the second rated Juco WR by Rivals, behind Halo Carpenter…., AND, from a raw athletic standpoint…, How many 6’5 210lb receivers will UK have this year who run 4.4 forties? Nuff Said.

3. Dequin Evans: I had Jeremy Jarmon here, before it has been ruled that he is ineligible to play this year. This makes it even more important that someone from our stable of players at the Defensive End postion step up and make a big splash at that spot. Dequin has all the tools. Evans (6-2, 275) is rated the No. 15 junior college prospect in the nation by Rivals.com as well as one of our 4 Star athletes. He was a teammate of Chris Matthews. Did I mention he ran a 4.6 forty according to Scout…That is truly smoking for a man his size!

2. Randall Cobb: Talk about Mr. Everything, what can you say about him that has not been said? Joker says “If he is on the bus, you got a chance”. Look for him to excite the fans once again this year, as we break out the “Wildcat Package” and snap a few balls toward Randall. Remember he has a gun for a left arm, and out there in the flats he can see exactly where he is throwing.

1. Trevard Lindley: The quiet man. He lets his game speak for itself. Probably would have been selected before Jeremy and Micah in the NFL draft, he choose to come back for his senior season. Coach Rich Brooks says he is one that you can just “leave on an island” out in coverage and not worry about him.

Calipari Gets His Man – Eric Bledsoe

UK filled a huge need for a point guard yesterday, when Eric Bledsoe announced he would play his college basketball for UK…The recruit from Birmingham, averaged 20.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 11.5 assists, per game last season for The Class 5A runner-up.

Bledsoe, is rated a 5 star pg, and 3^rd best in the class according to Rivals. ““It’s a dream come true for my son,” said Maureen.

The last year of Bledsoe’s life has felt like a dream. Seven months ago, nobody knew much about the 6-foot point guard from Parker. The only colleges who wanted him were UAB and Ole Miss — fine schools with fine coaches, but not exactly on the same level as Duke and UConn and Florida and Kentucky and Memphis.

“I was nervous (at not signing in November),” Bledsoe said. “Coach (Maurice Ford) told me if I waited, that a lot of schools were going to want a point guard. But I wasn’t sure. It wasn’t easy to wait.”

It was quiet in December and January. And then, almost out of nowhere, the phone started ringing. Jim Calhoun of UConn. Billy Donovan of Florida. Mike Krzyzewski of Duke. John Calipari of Memphis before he became John Calipari of Kentucky.

As The Basketball Spins

The more I read this week about the player situation the more can’t wait for the week to get over. John Clay in todays LHL says players are in limbo. Players say they want to be here next year but it seems like many are expecting some of the players leave. These same players are representing the state and the fans. They are expected to work hard on the court, be perfect off the court, win all their games and go far in the NCAA. In simple words they are expected to be loyal to the university and the fans. Will the university and the fans be loyal to them in return is the question now.

Coach Calipari is being straight with them in telling them that if they don’t fit the system they wont get any playing time and it would be better if they go some where they will fit in. I can applaud that and am sure the players can respect that. The question is can Coach Calipari, the university and the fans respect it if they tell the coach they want to be here next year and be a Wildcat.

With the possibility of signing several players with better basketball talent we will just have to tune in to the next As the Basketball Spins for the answer.

« Previous Page — Next Page »