I don't necessarily disagree with anything you said here. I agree with you on the kneeling entirely, by the way. I do not think it accomplishes what it is intended to accomplish. To me, there are other, better ways to make a statement. All it does is it makes people angry. It is an affront to the flag, to the anthem, to our nation, to all those serving in the military today, and to all those who have died so that this flag can wave. I am with you wholeheartedly on that.
I also agree that Cal lost the team after the kneeling happened in Florida. I agree that the team lost its focus at that moment. They won that game but they lost their focus when the reactions to their kneeling weren't all positive. (again, it didn't accomplish what they thought it would) It is no coincidence they went on a losing streak right there.
For my part, I was not happy with Calipari at all for allowing that and for kneeling with them. At the very least, he should have told them he wouldn't join them in kneeling. I guess the question becomes, what should my response to them be? I have spoken out against it but I haven't stopped supporting the team and the coach because of it. I think it is an example of going with the flow of the culture. In some ways, I don't think they know any better and they believe they are doing good and helping by drawing attention to issues they think are unjust. I admire their desire to stand up to right some wrongs, I just disagree with their method. (I may also disagree with what they believe are wrongs that need to be righted, or can be righted by kneeling during the anthem)
I have hope things can be better and I believe Calipari can right the ship. If he can't and the whole thing becomes a political statement and a stop off to the NBA with little winning, I will join you and even ABlockapypse more fully.
Not a word of that needs to be edited. I never edit posts for content.
Well, I'm glad I read the entire thread since you explained your position, as well as thoughts, more concisely, in this post. FWIW, I've always had a lot of respect for you, as you have always articulated your thoughts as a UK fan very well.
Like many UK fans, I've felt Cal's system was utterly unsustainable, and this past season is verifiable proof of that. Cal MUST have the best of the best of the HS seniors in order to be successful, and for the first five years it worked but, using the pyramid analogy, it began to crumble the last several years, which was inevitable.
What happened? He no longer is able to bring in the "can't miss" upper echelon of the elite HS guys, and instead has been forced, ( G league, other schools signing some of those guys), to sign the lower ranked seniors, along with attempting to navigate the transfer market. The problem here is that most, if not all, of these guys need more than one year to do many things: acclimate to the speed of the college game; get stronger physically because they are no longer playing against lesser competition/weaker players/ guys who simply aren't as good as they are, etc.; learning what a new coach expects from them, etc, etc, etc.
Cal needs to get back to the coach he once was, which is teaching these young men the basic fundamentals of the game, because, more often than not, far too many of them, regardless their ranking, and how many stars are beside their name in recruiting rankings, are not being taught how to shoot, block out, etc., because, IMHO, AAU ball fails these players, and instead glorifies the player over the team. Basketball is, and has always been, a team game.
Again....IMHO, Cal thinks he's smarter and "above" us UK fans; look no further than his snide comments directed towards us fans, who were here before him, and will still be here long after he's resting comfortably in his retirement with his multi-million dollar nest egg. Basketball is a GAME, it's not brain surgery, nor rocket science, plenty of us understand the GAME, and the X's and O's involved.
We aren't asking for much: field a team every year that realistically has a shot at a FF; build a roster that is sustainable year after year, and show some respect to the fans who, without whom the Kentucky dynasty wouldn't be possible, and finally, keep your liberal politics out of our program. (ANY politics for that matter)
Will he change course and implement any/all of this? I have serious doubts frankly; a tiger doesn't change it's stripes, and I honestly believe Cal's ego is too big to ever admit he's wrong, but for the benefit of the program I hope he does, because our idiot AD has placed the university in such a horrible predicament due to his contract.
