Kentucky basketball is polarizing. That’s not news. A lot of people will jump on the UConn bandwagon tonight. Not because the Huskies are likable, but because it’s not UK. I for one am rooting for the Wildcats. But only because I’m rooting against the NCAA. When John Calipari is doing flies in the face of the NCAA’s “amateurism” myth. Even Mark Emmert himself could not describe the starting five on the Kentucky basketball team as “student-athletes” and keep a straight face.
I admire Coach Cal for flouting convention and exploiting the broken and hypocritical system. ESPN’s Colin Cowherd seems to agree with me that UK makes a compelling story and rooting for them to achieve is inherently capitalistic and American. Very few other sports pundits do however.
And if you think the pundits hate Kentucky basketball, well take a look at college basketball fans at large. They’re not “friends of the program.”
Aaron Harrison on this past season:
“It is an us against the world thing. We have a little swagger to us now. We had a little down period with some scrutiny where a lot of people talked negative about us, but we just stayed together as a team.”
Aaron Harrison just used the “us against the world” cliche. *VOMIT*
Yes Aaron, tonight Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Vladimir Putin, Ayman Al-Zawahiri et al. They’re all watching tonight and rooting for you to fail!
Dakari Johnson also plays the Kentucky basketball is the underdog card.
Dakari on if they feel vindicated on being in the championship after being plagued with ‘one and done’ all year…
“Yes. A little bit. Earlier this year, a lot of people counted us out. I just think we have a bunch of competitors on this team that just wouldn’t give up. I think that is how we have been able to get this far.”
Although Coach Cal probably had the best answer to these questions about the polarizing nature of Kentucky basketball.
Q. For Coach Cal, why do you think your program can be, let’s say, a magnet for criticism sometimes?
COACH CALIPARI: It’s Kentucky.
Q. Did you get the sense that when the team was struggling that people enjoyed that?
COACH CALIPARI: It’s Kentucky. It’s what you buy into. If you want to coach at Kentucky or play at Kentucky, You got some guys with agendas, you got some guys that, you know, it’s that program. It’s part of it.
Also no discussion of Kentucky basketball is complete without ripping the IDIOT, MORONIC misuse of the word “adversity” by the talking heads on TNT, TBS, CBS etc.
Trailing in the second half of a game and/or not living up to expectations immediately is not “adversity.” You stupid stupid stupid idiot announcers.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a frequent guest on national talk radio. Banks is a former contributor to NBC Chicago and the Washington Times, who’s been featured on the History Channel. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)