Monday, March 23, 2009
Ahhhh...
After a scare with the weather, Mrs. Hill and I found our way to our seats at Qwest Center Omaha to watch exactly what I predicted happen, although in even more cruel fashion than I thought: P'Allen loses Meeks with 10 seconds to go, and Jodie goes for a layup...PLUS 1!
Kentucky wins, despite--and I'll give it to them--one of the loudest crowds I have heard in a while, Creighton's best effort, and Kentucky playing like crap on offense. 65-63.
A couple of quick highlights:
--To the bald idiot sitting in front of me was a trip (think George Costanza at about age 57). I cheer after a Jodie Meeks three. Creighton scores the next possession, and he turns around and gets in my face and is yelling and clapping. I ask him if he's going to do that all night, and he responds "are you???"
Yes, dumbshit, I am going to cheer for my team. And probably will do so during the entire game, because I am at a live basketball game where one is to cheer for their respective team.
Then after the final buzzer went off, I clapped and yelled "great finish, Cats!" And he turns around and says "show a little class!" My God, it was hilarious.
I've watched this fool at several CU games before, so I dedicate Kentucky's win to you.
--I literally saw three people crying. Summed up best, a text response to this from my friend Grant: "I've heard that the tears of a trust fund elitist bring good luck. Try to capture some."
--This obviously didn't happen at the game, but I got about 7 texts right after the game, all saying something along the lines of "Suck it, Creighton!" Gotta love the passion, fellas.
All in all, a great time. It was hotter than hell in there, and we stood the ENTIRE second half. Again, I hate to give any credit, but it's due--the crowd was totally into it. Granted, they booed any time Kentucky tried to play defense (Creighton fan: if a Creighton player puts up a weak shot against a guy 7 inches taller than him, and that shot is blocked emphatically, that does not mean it was a foul), but they sure gave it the ol' college try.
But again, it didn't matter. Kentucky flat out-athleted them, as predicted. Kentucky's defense carried the Cats past a terrible offensive performance.
To wrap up, I will let zwierzycki from The Bluejay Cafe sum up with his awesome prediction:
The Bluejay Shock and Awe special comes out tonight. UK comes to "tiny" omaha and isn't ready for 17,000 screaming fans.
Jays 74 UK 63
Hey, zwierzycki: the "Shock and Awe" worked well for you guys...you only lost by 2. Oh, and Kentucky plays in an arena that has 24,000 in it, every single home game. Not impressed.
You gave it your best, and lost.
Suck it, Creighton.
P.S.: I am fully aware how pathetic it is that UK is in the NIT, and that I am this excited about a win in said tournament. Just let me enjoy the fact that it was in Omaha and against Creighton.
Labels: Kentucky Basketball, Suck it Creighton
The Breakdown No One Who Reads This Blog Cares About: Kentucky vs. Creighton
Well, tonight is the night. I get to witness 16,000 Creighton fans have their little Bluejay hearts broken IN PERSON! The University of Kentucky Basketball Wildcats are in town ready to do battle with the Creighton Bluejays.
It actually could be a interesting game. I know the opening line had Creighton actually favored by 3.
Let's start with a breakdown of the starters and bench...
PG: Josh Doltzer (3.1 PPG) vs. Michael Porter (4.0 PPG). Ugg. This matchup SUCKS. Porter, whether fairly or unfairly, has been on the receiving end of a whole lot of blame as to why Kentucky is playing in the NIT as opposed to the NCAA's. The problem is that the guy is not a point guard. He is the type of player that...well, that shouldn't be playing at UK, frankly. In fact, I would say he is the type of recruit that embodies why UK fans were fed up with Tubby Smith. He can hit an open three from time to time, and he absolutely plays his ass off. He was also recruited by Pete Carroll to play cornerback, and played at the same high school as UK favorite and Houston Rocket Chuck Hayes. In other words, this is about all I can say about the guy...not good.
As for Doltzer, you can say a lot of the same things. The difference being that he runs an offense alot better than Porter.
Advantage: Creighton
SG: Booker Woodfox (15.7 PPG) vs. Jodie Meeks (24.0 PPG). Booker is the nation's second-leading 3-point shooter this season. He really explodes into his jump shot, and it is a thing of beauty to watch when he is on. Booker is usually Creighton's advantage any game they go into.
That said, Booker usually doesn't line up against 2nd Team All-Americans. Jodie Meeks is an explosive player that is constantly active on offense (think Rip Hamilton). He is equally effective slashing to the hoop as he is hitting his outside jump shot. Not to mention he is a relentless defender and has a solid 3 inches on Woodfox. Oh, and he owns Kentucky's single-game scoring record. I think he scored under 20 points in only 3 games this season.
Advantage: Kentucky
Wing: P'Allen Stinnett (12.4 PPG, 2.9 RPG) vs. Razor Ramon Harris (5.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG). Normally, I love P. As Pete always says, "P is a wild horse that cannot be broken." And on paper, this matchup probably favors Creighton.
With that said, I'll pull the Corso and say "not so fast, my friends!" There are two reasons why I believe this could be--COULD--an advantage for UK. Razor is a very good defender who busts his ass every play on both sides of the court. P'Allen is, needless to say, the opposite of this. The other thing to consider is that P sometimes plays with his eyes bigger than his stomach...and this is the biggest matchup Creighton has had since at least the early 1980's. So it very well could be a situation where P tries to do too much and gets not only himself out of rhythm, but the whole team.
Advantage: Push, leaning towards Creighton.
Wing: Justin Carter (8.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG) vs. Perry Stevenson (7.6 PPG, 5.8 RPG). This is a tough one to call. UK's Stevenson has 5 inches on Carter. But, Carter will play quck and move around a lot, whereas Stevenson sometimes has a tendency to disappear from games. However, when he's involved, he plays good defense (and can block the hell out of some shots). Not to mention he can hit the 15-footer, plus usually has a ferocious dunk or two every game.
In other words, this is a post player vs. a wing player. If I'm Dana Altman, I'm doing everything I can to exploit this matchup. That said, same with Billy Gillispie.
Advantage: Kentucky, barely.
Center: Kenny Lawson (8.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG) vs. Patrick Patterson (18.1 PPG, 9.4 RPG). According to Creighton's media notes, Lawson is the MVC shot block leader, while Patterson was "HS teammate of OJ Mayo."
Here's what Creighton's media department left out for Patterson: 5 Star recruit, McDonald's All-American 1st Team All-SEC (2nd Team as a frosh), Co-SEC Freshman of the Year, All-American candidate, and currently on the NBA Lottery bubble according to many outlets. Oh, and he averaged 22.3 PPG after coming back from a early/mid-season ankle injury.
Kenny Lawson...well, Kenny has 10 pounds on Patterson, and gets winded 3 minutes into games. Patterson averages 34 minutes a game.
Advantage: Uh, I'm pretty sure that's Kentucky.
Bench: There's no question that Kentucky's bench is more athletic than Creighton's. UK has a freshman 6th Man named Darius Miller who is going to be a very good player, and has really come into his own over the past month. He can hit the outside shot, plus is very good at breaking down a zone defense with his pull-up 15-footer. He will spell Ramon Harris.
Creighton, on the other hand, has been using mass substitutions for a while now, with Altman replacing his starting 5 sometime around the 15 minute mark of the first half. That group is highlighted by Antoine Young. In fact, Young could be the key to this game. He is precisely the type of player that has killed UK this season, meaning a slashing point guard who can also hit an outside shot. If Dana is smart, he will play Young early and often.
That said, there's really no one else off Creighton's bench that overwhelms me.
Advantage: Creighton, if only because they play more people. Gillispie is known for a 7- or 8-man rotation.
Coaching: Dana Altman vs. Billy Gillispie. Hmm. Well, Dana Altman is the king of the MVC hill. He's a great coach. However, we've seen what he can do in a major conference (hello, Kansas State!). Billy Gillispie is widely considered a great coach, has 4 different "Coach of the Year" awards. However, we find him in a spot where he is probably not going to be the head coach of Kentucky next season. However, that has more to do with off-the-court issues. And to be quite honest, some of his coaching decisions this year have left me hurling profanities at the television screen.
Advantage: Meh. I don't know that it will matter that much in this game.
Overall: Athletically, Kentucky should be able to shut down Creighton. While doing a position-by-position comparison makes it appear to be a close matchup, Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson are such overwhelming advantages that it skews the entire deal.
That said, Kentucky has struggled with teams who can get hot from the outside. Creighton fits into this category, although their past two games would not give me much confidence if I'm a Creighton fan. If Kentucky takes care of the ball--which is by far the biggest problem they have had this season--they should win pretty easily.
Of course, there's the whole "the biggest name to ever play in the Qwest Center" deal, and the home crowd should be pretty solid. Creighton is going to be sky-high for this game and they're going to give them all they've got. Not to mention Kentucky has lost to some poor teams this season, for several different reasons.
Thankfully, every away game is like this for Kentucky. This environment should be absolutely nothing new for them. I think Meeks has a nice game, and Patterson just goes off.
Kentucky 78, Creighton 67.
GO BIG BLUE!!!!!!!!!!
Labels: Creighton, Kentucky Basketball, Suck it Creighton, University of Kentucky
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Creighton vs. KENTUCKY
Well gentlemen, my dream scenario has come true. My University of Kentucky Wildcats will be playing at the Qwest Center Omaha Monday night!
And not only that, they get to play Creighton.
Creighton fans, it is going to be one hell of a long night.
A proper preview of the game will be up sometime soon.
For now, I'm going to say this one--and only one--time: Creighton, GREAT WIN LAST NIGHT!!!!
If you guys hear any rumbling here in Omaha, it's the shockwaves that are following Patrick Patterson to the rack against Creighton. He just might dick around and have a career day against these fools.
And not only that, they get to play Creighton.
Creighton fans, it is going to be one hell of a long night.
A proper preview of the game will be up sometime soon.
For now, I'm going to say this one--and only one--time: Creighton, GREAT WIN LAST NIGHT!!!!
If you guys hear any rumbling here in Omaha, it's the shockwaves that are following Patrick Patterson to the rack against Creighton. He just might dick around and have a career day against these fools.
Labels: Creighton, Kentucky Basketball, Suck it Creighton, University of Kentucky
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
54!!!!
OK, I really wanted to leave "The Weekly Grind" at the top of the blog. And I have also tried hard to spare everyone of Kentucky Basketball propaganda.
That said, I just watched the greatest individual performance in college basketball I have ever seen, and I cannot help it.
Jodie Meeks--a junior who missed 20 games last season due to injury, and never had hardly anything you could say was a "good game" in the 2007-08 season--just scored 54 points AT Tennessee. The Vols and Bruce Pearl's ridiculous orange sports coat got their asses handed to them, 90-72. The Vols were 6 point favorites, and had won 16-straight SEC home games! (The last home SEC loss: I'll let you guess who that was, but I'll give you a hint: Tubby Smith coached them.)
54!!!!
In the words of Jim Rome: Jodie...FREAKING...Meeks. Do you guys understand what 54 points is in a college game? That's like 70-80 in an NBA game. He broke Dan Issel's--a basketball Hall of Famer, and considered the greatest player in the history of the greatest college program of all-time--39-year-old single-game record of 53.
Not to mention he broke his and Tony Delk's--perhaps the greatest 3-point shooter in NCAA history--single-game 3-point record, hitting 10 (!) 3's.
That was a stunning display of shooting. I mean, that was Michael Jordan-hot. Brad Nissler said that in 19 years of calling college basketball for ESPN, that was the best performance he had ever seen.
54!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And did I mention that it was at Tennessee?
God bless Jodie Meeks.
That said, I just watched the greatest individual performance in college basketball I have ever seen, and I cannot help it.
Jodie Meeks--a junior who missed 20 games last season due to injury, and never had hardly anything you could say was a "good game" in the 2007-08 season--just scored 54 points AT Tennessee. The Vols and Bruce Pearl's ridiculous orange sports coat got their asses handed to them, 90-72. The Vols were 6 point favorites, and had won 16-straight SEC home games! (The last home SEC loss: I'll let you guess who that was, but I'll give you a hint: Tubby Smith coached them.)
54!!!!
In the words of Jim Rome: Jodie...FREAKING...Meeks. Do you guys understand what 54 points is in a college game? That's like 70-80 in an NBA game. He broke Dan Issel's--a basketball Hall of Famer, and considered the greatest player in the history of the greatest college program of all-time--39-year-old single-game record of 53.
Not to mention he broke his and Tony Delk's--perhaps the greatest 3-point shooter in NCAA history--single-game 3-point record, hitting 10 (!) 3's.
That was a stunning display of shooting. I mean, that was Michael Jordan-hot. Brad Nissler said that in 19 years of calling college basketball for ESPN, that was the best performance he had ever seen.
54!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And did I mention that it was at Tennessee?
God bless Jodie Meeks.
Labels: Bruce Pearl sucks even more, Jodie Meeks, Kentucky, Kentucky Basketball, Tennessee Sucks
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Good Answer
This is from a SportsNation chat today on ESPN.com that featured Coach Billy Clyde Gillespie. Gotta love Kentucky fans...
kenny newport KY: hey coach... Can i get a preferred walk on LOL i can't jump or shoot BUT i will hustle like no other PROMISE YOU THANK
Billy Gillispie: No.
I just find that hilarious that he offered no joke, no silly answer, just a solid "no." That's hilarious. And along with not being able to jump or shoot, "kenny newport KY" also can't bother himself with proper grammar or punctuation--I cannot tell if this guy is on some hillbilly Yoda shit or what.
That's all. Back to your work day.
kenny newport KY: hey coach... Can i get a preferred walk on LOL i can't jump or shoot BUT i will hustle like no other PROMISE YOU THANK
Billy Gillispie: No.
I just find that hilarious that he offered no joke, no silly answer, just a solid "no." That's hilarious. And along with not being able to jump or shoot, "kenny newport KY" also can't bother himself with proper grammar or punctuation--I cannot tell if this guy is on some hillbilly Yoda shit or what.
That's all. Back to your work day.
Labels: Billy Gillispie, ESPN SportsNation, Kentucky Basketball
Monday, August 25, 2008
The Cubs Are 31 Games Over .500. Why Can't I Enjoy It?
The Cubs are 31 games over .500.
31.
I must admit, it's pretty weird.
Not weird, so much, because the Cubs--the Cubs!!--are 31 games over .500, and looking like one of the three best teams in baseball, if not THE best.
No, what's weird is that I am quickly discovering that I cannot handle it. The Cubs are fielding their best team of my lifetime (and possibly of the past 50+ years), and I'm having a total inferiority-complex-influenced breakdown.
I honestly do not know why this is. Every other team I love has featured arguably one of the greatest teams of their sport of all-time. And that's in my lifetime. The 1995 Nebraska Football Cornhuskers (I still want to see USC's defense try to take on Tommy, LP, and Ahman Green when LP needed a rest from various crime committing), the 1996 Kentucky Basketball Wildcats (featuring NINE players that eventually played in the NBA), the 1990's Chicago Bulls (pretty tough to single out any one of their teams, although you could argue that the second run of championships may have been a better all-around team), and the 1985 Chicago Bears (Ditka!). I am an incredibly spoiled sports fan. In all, I have seen my favorite teams play in 15 title games/series. 15! That's insane! (This is the first time I have actually counted that up, and you could make it 17 if you want to include Kentucky's 1984 and 1993 Final Fours). And of those 15, they've won 12. 12 championships from my favorite teams in just 28 (er, basically 29) years. Incredible.
So why can I not handle the greatest Cub team of my lifetime?
I wish I knew, but this isn't going well.
I literally have to put the computer away at night, because all I do is try to find articles/stats/quotes about the Cubs. At work, I have to get up and find things to do, or risk losing myself into the deep corners of the internet ("managing by walking around!" (c) Michael Scott). It's as though I have to find every possible column and comment about the Cubs in order to validate that they are, in fact, 31 games over .500; and they are, in fact, as good as it seems that they are. Stats aren't enough for me to know that the Cubs' rotation is probably the best in baseball. No, Jayson Stark has to tell me. The Cubs have won 8 series in a row for the first time in 70 years, but I have to find some story in the Tribune to validate it...over and over again.
Ultimately, it's as close to a "I can't believe my eyes" moment I have probably ever had. That, I suppose, is what happens when you are a Cub fan. The Cubs could have 8 Hall of Famers in the field and Cy Young himself on the mound, and it I probably would still be looking around and wondering, "well, Cy has pitched great this year, but what about matching up with Brandon Webb?" The Cubs--according to Sports Club Stats come tomorrow--will be at a 98.5% chance of making the playoffs (a virtual lock). In fact, the Cubs need to go just 19-12 the rest of the way to get 100 wins. When you consider that the Men in Blue have won at a slightly higher clip than that all season, it doesn't seem to be much of a reach that they can get there, does it?
So tonight, I'm taking a deep breath and saying "to hell with it!" I'm going to sit back and enjoy the greatest run by a Cub team since I have been watching baseball (I was a bit young in 1984 to get how good of a team they had then). Caution, I want you to meet my friend Wind. Go with it.
It's Gonna Happen!!
/ducks for lightning strikes
31.
I must admit, it's pretty weird.
Not weird, so much, because the Cubs--the Cubs!!--are 31 games over .500, and looking like one of the three best teams in baseball, if not THE best.
No, what's weird is that I am quickly discovering that I cannot handle it. The Cubs are fielding their best team of my lifetime (and possibly of the past 50+ years), and I'm having a total inferiority-complex-influenced breakdown.
I honestly do not know why this is. Every other team I love has featured arguably one of the greatest teams of their sport of all-time. And that's in my lifetime. The 1995 Nebraska Football Cornhuskers (I still want to see USC's defense try to take on Tommy, LP, and Ahman Green when LP needed a rest from various crime committing), the 1996 Kentucky Basketball Wildcats (featuring NINE players that eventually played in the NBA), the 1990's Chicago Bulls (pretty tough to single out any one of their teams, although you could argue that the second run of championships may have been a better all-around team), and the 1985 Chicago Bears (Ditka!). I am an incredibly spoiled sports fan. In all, I have seen my favorite teams play in 15 title games/series. 15! That's insane! (This is the first time I have actually counted that up, and you could make it 17 if you want to include Kentucky's 1984 and 1993 Final Fours). And of those 15, they've won 12. 12 championships from my favorite teams in just 28 (er, basically 29) years. Incredible.
So why can I not handle the greatest Cub team of my lifetime?
I wish I knew, but this isn't going well.
I literally have to put the computer away at night, because all I do is try to find articles/stats/quotes about the Cubs. At work, I have to get up and find things to do, or risk losing myself into the deep corners of the internet ("managing by walking around!" (c) Michael Scott). It's as though I have to find every possible column and comment about the Cubs in order to validate that they are, in fact, 31 games over .500; and they are, in fact, as good as it seems that they are. Stats aren't enough for me to know that the Cubs' rotation is probably the best in baseball. No, Jayson Stark has to tell me. The Cubs have won 8 series in a row for the first time in 70 years, but I have to find some story in the Tribune to validate it...over and over again.
Ultimately, it's as close to a "I can't believe my eyes" moment I have probably ever had. That, I suppose, is what happens when you are a Cub fan. The Cubs could have 8 Hall of Famers in the field and Cy Young himself on the mound, and it I probably would still be looking around and wondering, "well, Cy has pitched great this year, but what about matching up with Brandon Webb?" The Cubs--according to Sports Club Stats come tomorrow--will be at a 98.5% chance of making the playoffs (a virtual lock). In fact, the Cubs need to go just 19-12 the rest of the way to get 100 wins. When you consider that the Men in Blue have won at a slightly higher clip than that all season, it doesn't seem to be much of a reach that they can get there, does it?
So tonight, I'm taking a deep breath and saying "to hell with it!" I'm going to sit back and enjoy the greatest run by a Cub team since I have been watching baseball (I was a bit young in 1984 to get how good of a team they had then). Caution, I want you to meet my friend Wind. Go with it.
It's Gonna Happen!!
/ducks for lightning strikes
Labels: Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Cubs, Kentucky Basketball, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Stupidly Taunting The Baseball Gods
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Update: Sports Gods Not Remotely Worried About Kentucky
Yes, I know this is probably a shocker to most of you. But it's true: God doesn't care much about a basketball program, even if it is the program that He made in his image.
As I am sure many of you have seen, a tornado--TORNADO!--ripped through downtown Atlanta. And because of this, Kentucky's second round game against Georgia has been moved to 11am tomorrow morning.
The kicker of it is, however, that a TORNADO in Atlanta isn't going to fuck with CBS' 60 Minutes broadcast that is watched by roughly 1/4 of the people that watch the NCAA Tournament Selection Show.
So as it is, Kentucky and Georgia play at 11 tomorrow morning at Georgia Tech's arena (which holds less than 10,000 people--they don't have enough room for the media there to cover the tourney, let alone the 20,000 (as reported by ESPN) Kentucky fans alone that are in Atlanta), then the winner plays Mississippi State tomorrow night.
Either way, Kentucky and Georgia are screwed. I would argue Kentucky is more screwed: the advantage of UK earning the #2 seed in the SEC and the first-round bye have gone bye-bye, because the advantage of UK playing a Georgia team who played an emotional overtime game the night before is gone. And then the winner is screwed against MSU, because obviously a major college conference team playing two games in the same day probably hasn't happened in the past 30 years.
Frustrating stuff all around. It is incredible to me that the City of Atlanta and the SEC don't have contingency plans in place for Wrath-of-God weather coming down during their tournament--I mean really, when is the last time a basketball game has been called due to weather?--but how can this be excusable? What happens to the roughly 15-20,000 people who bought tickets who aren't going to be able to get into the games? How do they pick who gets in (check that, it's called money)? How do you rectify UK/UGA having to play two games in one day?
What a mess. Hopefully UK takes care of business and beats UGA and they are without a doubt in the NCAA's and all of this doesn't matter. However, after seeing the truly masterful coaching job Coach Billy Clyde has done makes me pretty pissed off that he's not going to get an honest opportunity to win the SEC Tournament.
I guess the moral to the story is that if you want a situation completely messed up, leave it up to city planners and the NCAA.
As I am sure many of you have seen, a tornado--TORNADO!--ripped through downtown Atlanta. And because of this, Kentucky's second round game against Georgia has been moved to 11am tomorrow morning.
The kicker of it is, however, that a TORNADO in Atlanta isn't going to fuck with CBS' 60 Minutes broadcast that is watched by roughly 1/4 of the people that watch the NCAA Tournament Selection Show.
So as it is, Kentucky and Georgia play at 11 tomorrow morning at Georgia Tech's arena (which holds less than 10,000 people--they don't have enough room for the media there to cover the tourney, let alone the 20,000 (as reported by ESPN) Kentucky fans alone that are in Atlanta), then the winner plays Mississippi State tomorrow night.
Either way, Kentucky and Georgia are screwed. I would argue Kentucky is more screwed: the advantage of UK earning the #2 seed in the SEC and the first-round bye have gone bye-bye, because the advantage of UK playing a Georgia team who played an emotional overtime game the night before is gone. And then the winner is screwed against MSU, because obviously a major college conference team playing two games in the same day probably hasn't happened in the past 30 years.
Frustrating stuff all around. It is incredible to me that the City of Atlanta and the SEC don't have contingency plans in place for Wrath-of-God weather coming down during their tournament--I mean really, when is the last time a basketball game has been called due to weather?--but how can this be excusable? What happens to the roughly 15-20,000 people who bought tickets who aren't going to be able to get into the games? How do they pick who gets in (check that, it's called money)? How do you rectify UK/UGA having to play two games in one day?
What a mess. Hopefully UK takes care of business and beats UGA and they are without a doubt in the NCAA's and all of this doesn't matter. However, after seeing the truly masterful coaching job Coach Billy Clyde has done makes me pretty pissed off that he's not going to get an honest opportunity to win the SEC Tournament.
I guess the moral to the story is that if you want a situation completely messed up, leave it up to city planners and the NCAA.
Labels: Atlanta, Georgia Basketball, How To Screw Up An Event By Not Planning For Bad Things To Happen, Kentucky Basketball, Southeastern Conference, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
A Guy Who Gets It vs. One That Doesn't
A lot of people wonder what this team can be like with a new coach, what is going to be that different when we do get one, who could possibly unify a fanbase (someone who embraces tradition but who also happens to be a really good coach), etc.
Then there are those in the media who try to say that no one can win at Nebraska--both in the sense that we can never be as good as we were in the past, meaning that that coach can never win with the fans.
I have always contended that all Nebraska people ask for is a coach who "gets it" and always puts a competitive team on the field.
Now, here is an example of a guy who just doesn't get it:
"Our guys coach to the best of their ability, and they did the best they could." - Bill Callahan
"This is why we did what we did!" - Steve Pederson, after Nebraska beat a pretty average Colorado team
What does that say to you? "Hey, Husker fan, what do you expect? The coaches did the best job they could! What do you expect? Not to mention it's not like we can go out and play for these guys."
OK, now a quote from someone who gets his fanbase and the game he is coaching:
"I want to honor this tradition, this state and this university better than we have so far," - Billy Gillispie, after Kentucky won their season opener by 27 points and held the Central Arkansas Scottie Pippens to 20% shooting from the field (!!!!!!!)
So not only does Coach Billy Clyde not go out of his way to pat himself on the back, he speaks directly to the fans and the tradition of his school and talks about how they all need to get better. After having a great night!
I know, there is a collective eye roll by people reading this because of the seeming Kentucky propaganda. But I really thought it really illustrated the difference between a guy who is a winner and a guy who gets it and...well, sadly, our head football coach.
2 games and counting to the thrills of a coach search!
Then there are those in the media who try to say that no one can win at Nebraska--both in the sense that we can never be as good as we were in the past, meaning that that coach can never win with the fans.
I have always contended that all Nebraska people ask for is a coach who "gets it" and always puts a competitive team on the field.
Now, here is an example of a guy who just doesn't get it:
"Our guys coach to the best of their ability, and they did the best they could." - Bill Callahan
"This is why we did what we did!" - Steve Pederson, after Nebraska beat a pretty average Colorado team
What does that say to you? "Hey, Husker fan, what do you expect? The coaches did the best job they could! What do you expect? Not to mention it's not like we can go out and play for these guys."
OK, now a quote from someone who gets his fanbase and the game he is coaching:
"I want to honor this tradition, this state and this university better than we have so far," - Billy Gillispie, after Kentucky won their season opener by 27 points and held the Central Arkansas Scottie Pippens to 20% shooting from the field (!!!!!!!)
So not only does Coach Billy Clyde not go out of his way to pat himself on the back, he speaks directly to the fans and the tradition of his school and talks about how they all need to get better. After having a great night!
I know, there is a collective eye roll by people reading this because of the seeming Kentucky propaganda. But I really thought it really illustrated the difference between a guy who is a winner and a guy who gets it and...well, sadly, our head football coach.
2 games and counting to the thrills of a coach search!
Labels: Bill Callahan, Billy Gillispie, Kentucky Basketball, Nebraska Football
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