Coach Cal Talk II

Back by popular demand...

This feels so good....

More to come later, but this win was awesome. I am wore out. These kids played with awesome heart and desire. I can't tell you how proud I am for how hard they played today. I am just beaming right now. I think I'm gonna have a stiff bourbon and listen to the post game show. GO CATS!!! I hope this is the catalyst that gets us going in the SEC. 1-0 is a great start. Kudos to the players and coaches. All the hard work appears to be paying off, especially when you get into double overtime. Those hard practices paid their dividends today.

photo courtesy of ukathletics.com

OH....I...can't beat the SEC...O

Ran across this juicy picture on Facebook. This would have been a nice Phriday Photoshop Phun pic, but I didn't come up with this. I love it though, and had to give it some props; although I have no idea who made it. Ohio State has got to begging for an ACC match up next year for a bowl game. The SEC...it just doesn't get any better.

Monday Night Quick Hitters....on Wednesday

Okay...okay...I know its not Monday night, and I have definitely been slacking lately. I am really relaxing hard this week, which should give me time to do this blog, however I've also been extremely lazy. You see I start my new job on Monday at the Weber Group outside Louisville; and this could very well be the last place that I work. I will be doing theme park design work as well as construction management. It appears to be a dream job of sorts. So I may not have any other time off, other than paid vacation, for some 30 years or so. Wow that sounded scary. Anyway here is the belated version..enjoy!

• Now that the SEC has won two straight BCS Championships, I STILL strongly believe that the SEC Champion should get an automatic bid the National Championship, as well as another team in the BCS. I have stated this before, but I have to stick to my guns.

• The SEC going 7-2 in bowl games this year reaffirmed most people's sentiments that the SEC is, and was, the best football conference in the country...hands down.

• I sat next to the Louisville family section on Saturday and I almost reconsidered the move to Louisville...seriously. They are absolutely ANNOYING, but who can blame them really. I got so hot at times I had to call them out on their Bowl trip this year...which was NO WHERE!

• I know Louisville was supposed to win, but after the way UK ended the first half, I was very optimistic, I really didn't think the wheels would fall off that game so quickly.

• I completely agree with Matt Jones from kentuckysportsradio.com that Ohio State should no longer be allowed to participate in the BCS Championship Game. When you get outscored 79-38 in two games...you had your chance, let someone else get a shot to lose to an SEC team.
  

• This is going to be a rough year, "basketball-wise". Billy Clyde did a lot of his magic at A&M once conference play started. Lets hope this holds true for these Cats.
  

• I know a lot of people are thinking, "Ramel and Joe have been there forever", when watching the Cats on TV (Even some UK fans share that sentiment for other reasons). I had a similar thought last night watching Alabama and their big man Richard Hendrix. It seems that he was posting up on Andre Riddick some 12-13 years ago. (Side note: Andre Riddick continues to be one of my all-time favorite UK players.)
  

• I can't say enough how special this senior class was on UK's football team this year. I look forward to seeing their reunion at Commonwealth Stadium 10 and 20 years down the road. There is no doubt that I will be there.

• By the way, UK beat National Champion LSU. The other loss LSU had was Arkansas, which UK also beat. Is it that far-fetched to name UK the defacto National Champion. Also last year UK beat UGA, which beat Auburn, which beat Florida. So can we say that UK is back-to-back Defacto National Champions? I think its a fair statement, but maybe its just me...
  

photo courtesy of ESPN.com

What a Year it was in 2007

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, its been a while since we last spoke. I am very sorry for the time off, the holidays have been pretty hectic. However 2008 is here and we just experienced a great weekend to end 2007 in Nashville. The "Back-to-Back" Music City Bowl Championship is UK's first back-to-back victories in some 50 years. Coach Brooks said that we would accomplish some things that hadn't been done around here in long time; Coach Brooks...you are no liar. The job you have done during your tenure here at UK is nothing short of amazing.

Lets start with the Louisville game shall we. Mr. Little Brother all high and mighty sporting their Orange Bowl Championship and their top 10 ranking, strutting into Commonwealth Stadium expecting another Big Blue Blowout. Well our boys in Blue had other feelings about that. Tired of being shown up by Little Brother since the days of J-Load, Andre connected to Stevie "Got Loose" Johnson and sent the crowd into a frenzy and also sent little brother packing. What a day that was. And I think we all know where Louisville ended up this year. The Lay-Z-Boy "In front of your TV" Bowl.

We now move to Fayetteville, Arkansas. A formidable road opponent. These Razorbacks were the defending SEC West Champions as well as being lead by Heisman Candidate superstar Darren McFadden. A sure loss for the Cats, especially after the early turnovers. As Lee Corso would say..."Not so fast my friend!" Insert true freshman Derrick Locke in the second half and you have the first significant road victory of the Rich Brooks era. Not to mention a top 15 ranking to follow after the win. We then captured a top 10 ranking following the win over future bowl victor FAU.

After a tough loss in Columbia, SC we ushered in the consensus #1 team in the Land...the LSU Tigers. In front of a national audience, the entire country saw our beloved Cats pull off arguably the biggest victory in school history. Who could have imagined walking into Commonwealth that day that we would stop the Tigers on 4th and short and pull out the win in double overtime. It was simply incredible; the atmosphere, the fans... words do absolutely no justice.

We had ESPN Gameday make it's first ever stop in Lexington for football. Another day for the country to see that we are more than just a basketball school. We had one of the largest crowds ever for the show, and lets hope that its not the last time they come our way.

Sure there were some tough times. The turnover plagued USC game. The hard fought loss to Tebow. The exhausting loss to Mississippi State. The "what could have been" defeat at UGA, and of course the Tennessee game. So many close games, but the season was a success and we were rewarded with a return trip to Nashville, and the Music City Bowl. While it wasn't the Florida State that we all know from a few years back, it was still the Seminoles and legendary Coach Bobby Bowden. The victory was the perfect send off for these group of Seniors, the Seniors who stuck with the program through the lean years of probation, and lead this team to where it is today. We are forever indebted to these kids for all of their blood, sweat, and tears over the past 4 -5 years. 2007 was truly a great year for UK Football. With Rich Brooks stockpiling recruits and red-shirts, lets hope it only gets better.

Phriday Photoshop Phun

In Thursday's Lexington Herald Leader Jerry Tipton noted how injuries have plagued this team... well no shit Jerry. Billy Clyde refuses to call it an excuse, and I respect him for that. However it is clear that injuries have played a fairly substantial role in this 4-5 start to the Billy Clyde regime. (As well as turnovers, see below) Maybe we should move the games over to the corner of Nicholasville Rd. and Rose Street and rename the hospital.

Anatomy of a turnover

turn·o·ver (tûrn'ō'vər)-noun

1. Sports A loss of possession of the ball to the opposing team, as by a misplay or an infraction of the rules.

CBC has said that he has been looking for something that this team can hang its hat on; well I believe that they have found that "something." I'm not sure that there is a better team in the country that has exhibited the ability to turn the ball over as good at Kentucky does. They excel at the inept ability to pass the ball. The 18 balls displayed here represent the number of turnovers the Cats had in their most recent 83-69 drubbing at the hands of the Houston Cougars. In fact in UK's 5 losses they have turned the ball over an absurd 85 times, thats 17 a game! I don't care how great you shoot the ball, if you turn the ball over at that rate, you will lose. This is clearly evident in the past two games. Against UAB the Cats shot 52.8% for the game and nearly 70% in the second half, and lost. Against Houston they shot 50.0% for the game and lost. You simply have to take care of the ball.

On a positive note, it was nice to see Jodie Meeks back. However karma reared its ugly head with a Patrick Patterson injury. I wonder if we will ever field a complete healthy roster. I don't even want to fathom what this team would look like without a healthy Patrick Patterson for a substantial amount of time. His presence was sorely missed last night; not so much for his offensive production, but for REBOUNDING. We were absolutely hammered on the offensive boards last night.

Bomani Jones, of ESPN and Kentucky Sports Radio, has already called into comparisons of the 8-20 North Carolina team of 2001 - 02. While I hate to see that comparison made, can we really say that its unrealistic? Hardly. We as Cat fans have to stay supportive, as much as it pains us, we need to be "True" Blue Fans. We were True Blue Fans for the football team, and the dividends have paid off immensely. We just need to grin and bear it, and know that greener pastures lie in the not too distant future. But Hey! Cheer up...its still football season. Nashville will be rocking in a few weeks. In fact (or not), I think FSU just suspended another 25 players for cheating on their end-of-the-semester professor evaluations.