"You people are crazy"
- Thread starter etownblue25
- Start date
If I have learned anything since Cal got here its that to placate this fanbase it doesn't matter what he says just as long as he says something. He could say oranges are the devil and most in the fanbase will breathe a sigh of relief and start crucifying those who buy oranges.
Cal is a great recruiter and coach that eats up and enjoys all the trappings that go along with being the UK coach, but he always manages to keep himself at arm's length. He is not exactly the greatest salesman for Kentucky tradition, the school, or the fans. He doesn't need that for his style of recruiting. I'd love to see him completely embrace the school, the tradition, and the fans and be at peace with coaching here until he is done, but I know we'll never get that from Cal. He'll never be completely Kentucky because he doesn't see the game the way we do. He is blind to the game itself. That bouncing a ball can lift an entire people up from nothing and make them one. Cal sees basketball as a means to an end. That he is helping young men become something that will change their family and maybe even their neighborhoods forever and we are the vessel to make those wonderful things happen and those are great things indeed. Great accomplishments.
But Kentucky is like The Masters. Alabama Football. Ghosts prowl here. There is a fire that burns forever inside Kentucky fans because the game is part of our character. It's where we are from. It's what our moral compass tells us is true North.
Cal will never be a part of that part. He might even consider it foolish. He sees the material product of our greatness and he admires the banners and is proud of the way he changes lives. But it is just a game. An entertaining feat of athleticism for which he provides the actors in a grand play. Make believe. Entertainment. We must seem like silly children that still believe in Santa Clause to him. We can't really love the game and be serious. Be sane. He might wink and smile at such foolishness and does not really understand it in the least. We seem like a publicity stunt. "What's the angle?" he might ask.
But this game is more. It's the green jacket. It's Bear walking the sidelines. It's every glorious moment and every crushing defeat lived and relived for all eternity as nothing is lost here. It is added to each year and kept. Money, the NBA, none of those things are part of it. Kids don't know who Sam Snead is, but instinctively they know when the green jacket goes on that it isn't just a green jacket. Something unseen is being passed there and if you listen closely you might hear why. The grounds will be carefully kept because something lives there, always.
If ever, years from now, somebody wants to know then there is a place where the words will be kept and they'll mean something when you ask. It will always be that way and not some other for as long as a barefooted kid on a gravel country road looks up at a rusty iron rim and dreams of a real Camelot. A place where basketball will be tended to, looked after, cared for forever. We promise this but the words are silent. If you only see a green jacket, if it's just a houndstooth hat, if you look at Kentucky basketball and see only a game, then we do appear crazy. Like we're talking to ghosts. Like history is alive and all around us. Because it is.
But Kentucky is like The Masters. Alabama Football. Ghosts prowl here. There is a fire that burns forever inside Kentucky fans because the game is part of our character. It's where we are from. It's what our moral compass tells us is true North.
Cal will never be a part of that part. He might even consider it foolish. He sees the material product of our greatness and he admires the banners and is proud of the way he changes lives. But it is just a game. An entertaining feat of athleticism for which he provides the actors in a grand play. Make believe. Entertainment. We must seem like silly children that still believe in Santa Clause to him. We can't really love the game and be serious. Be sane. He might wink and smile at such foolishness and does not really understand it in the least. We seem like a publicity stunt. "What's the angle?" he might ask.
But this game is more. It's the green jacket. It's Bear walking the sidelines. It's every glorious moment and every crushing defeat lived and relived for all eternity as nothing is lost here. It is added to each year and kept. Money, the NBA, none of those things are part of it. Kids don't know who Sam Snead is, but instinctively they know when the green jacket goes on that it isn't just a green jacket. Something unseen is being passed there and if you listen closely you might hear why. The grounds will be carefully kept because something lives there, always.
If ever, years from now, somebody wants to know then there is a place where the words will be kept and they'll mean something when you ask. It will always be that way and not some other for as long as a barefooted kid on a gravel country road looks up at a rusty iron rim and dreams of a real Camelot. A place where basketball will be tended to, looked after, cared for forever. We promise this but the words are silent. If you only see a green jacket, if it's just a houndstooth hat, if you look at Kentucky basketball and see only a game, then we do appear crazy. Like we're talking to ghosts. Like history is alive and all around us. Because it is.
Crow you are delusional. Cal at his press conference when hired praised everyone that walked through UK doors. Tubby, billy g, evn Rick had problems dealing with the fans and what goes with UK. Cal says on many occasions he never wants to cheat his position he is in. It's more than basketball. He gets it
Before Cal we won two championships in 30 plus years. Cal is constantly knocking at that door and has won one. He has almost amassed 1/4 of our final fours in his six years being at UK. So go on with that bs
Before Cal we won two championships in 30 plus years. Cal is constantly knocking at that door and has won one. He has almost amassed 1/4 of our final fours in his six years being at UK. So go on with that bs
I have to agree with my coach. I went crazy a blown shot clock violation on Wisconsin and after 3 straight shot clock violations on the Cats and the Wisconsin victory. I am still in a daze.
IDK...I've read a lot of posts here and comments from other places blaming Cal for what was essentially an ill timed shooting/rebounding slump. Many....the same people bragging on Cal for 38 games...mocking rival fan criticisms.
The past week has caused me to reevaluate my dislike of Vital for his expectations rant.
reminds me of a saying about hot chicks....
"No matter how hot she is....somewhere there's a guy that's tired of putting up with her ****"
Apparently Cal has to be punished...he must atone for his sins.
Well, he is just as good at redundancy as he is at recruiting. Really second to none in both cases. I'm not sure I've ever seen/heard a human being repeat himself as much. If he was interviewed today he'd drop the line about MKG and Davis taking "the 3rd and 4th most shots on the team"... like he'd never said those words before in his life.
Ha. I was just thinking something along these lines. You have to give it to Cal, when he coins some new analogy or phrase, he tends to use it at least 15-20 times over the next several interviews. Just the other day, I was reading a transcription of one of his interviews, I think it was the post-game presser or maybe the hall of fame interview (maybe both). I can't recall the exact thing he fired up, but later in the day I clicked on a video of another interview - it wasn't the same one as the transcription read earlier, but you could have fooled me. I swear I was in a state of deja vu because he was literally saying the exact same thing as he had said the day before.
So you're right, he is pretty redundant at times, and some of those redundancies stick around longer than others. Remember the "we don't bring replacements, we bring reinforcements...tanks!" line earlier in the year? That was one of them - I think he coined that on the spot and then reused it probably 20 times in different interviews that week! I don't know how he keeps them all in his head!
But even with all that said, there's really no one else I'd want as our coach.