A question about Kentucky

[TouchdownHusky]

Yeah, definitely try out that line: "You won't get enough exposure at Kentucky" - let me know how it goes.

People seem to be inserting a lot of what they hope is going on at Kentucky into this narrative and it's way beyond the point of sounding like sour grapes.

Only 5 players on the court at a time and one basketball.

 

[pj]

There's an odor of slime about Kentucky and always will be as long as Calipari is there. Meanwhile ESPN treats them like royalty because they're part of its marquee SEC-ACC property. Unearned honors and corrupt practices are worthy reasons for despising someone.

They are really the only college basketball program I dislike. I have mockery for Syracuse, contempt for Boston College, but Kentucky I dislike.

 

[Gurleyman]

Sour grapes is a frequently misapplied cliche. It comes from the fable about the fox who was trying to reach a bunch of grapes that were too high up for him. After numerous failed attempts, he gives up and rationalizes that he doesn't want them anyway, since they were probably sour. So it's meant to mean disparaging something that you can't have (or someone - "she's probably a bitch.")

To the degree that we have sour grapes over something Kentucky related, it's over recruiting. We wouldn't want their top recruits anyway, since they are all one and done, would ruin chemistry, etc. which frankly hasn't really happened for them. They've had off seasons, but they haven't had attitude problems - or at least any worse than anyone else's. But I would say though that the sour grapes expression would work better if someone like Vandy said it - a place that hasn't actually won. We've ended up finding our own grapes, so whether the grapes we missed out on were sour isn't really all that significant. Saying that we like our system better where we develop talent and see out players improve over time isn't automatically sour grapes, because it's worked. But saying "I didn't want Briscoe anyway - who needs his attitude?" is very much so.

There probably is too much Kentucky obsession here (they've taken over the Duke spot at the top of our angst meter). But if they were doing this under a different coach, we'd probably be more rational about it, since we've suffered at the hands of UK exactly zero times (unless you really wanted to win that game at MSG).

 

[johnhuskies95]

Kentucky dislike UConn a lot. I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it hate, but to say that the animosity is completely one sided is not accurate.

There are several Kentucky fans on Rivals' mainboard who continually insist that UConn's wins over Kentucky have been flukes.

Cause, you know, if Kentucky doesn't play well it has nothing to do with the other team at all.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Kentucky dislike UConn a lot. I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it hate, but to say that the animosity is completely one sided is not accurate.

There are several Kentucky fans on Rivals' mainboard who continually insist that UConn's wins over Kentucky have been flukes.

Cause, you know, if Kentucky doesn't play well it has nothing to do with the other team at all.

Well, just for ____ and giggles I checked out the Rivals and Scout UK boards and do not see a single reference to UConn anywhere. Around here it's a minor miracle if we can go one day without a new Kentucky thread.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Do we actually dislike Kentucky or is it John Calipari we dislike?
UConn has bad blood with him going back to UMass.
There is also the sense that his former programs took the fall ,and he has come out smelling like a rose. The injustice of that irony is the cause for much of the distain for him and by Proxy UK. Kentucky was my second home and I have many friends who live there. They Bleed blue. The basketball knowledge runs the gamut of levels.
Their love for their state school is admirable and only slightly more intense than the people of Connecticut have with their Huskies.

 

[mauconnfan]

The board's collective obsession with Kentucky is out of control. It is not - as far as I can tell - mutual. No matter how many "well, we beat them in '11 and '14s" qualifiers someone attaches to a post, it's pretty clear that the green eyed monster is rampant around here when it comes to UK. People want UConn to get the attention that Kentucky gets, and they're bitter that they don't. It's that simple.

There is no obsession with UK from what I see. Maybe Calipari but not UK. And it's not an obsession and it's not bitter. It's just easy to see and it's painful to watch and listen to. What's so hard to understand about this? It's been like that everywhere he's been. The UMass fans said we were afraid to play them because of him, Memphis and UK get great recruits why? Because he's a great coach? Think about it, we're not obsessed with UK and/or Cal, you have that wrong. The media and ESPN specifically are, not us. He's a piece of crap and it's tough to watch! Simple enough and always worth talking about.

 

[TRest]

I actually thought he did a great job coaching a bunch of nobodies (with one massive blue chip) at UMass and selling that program. He did it partially be demonizing UConn, which the stooges at UMassHoops still believe in. I'm impressed the Memphis fans, unlike UMass, stopped drinking the koolaid when he left them high and dry. He has morphed into a guy who can't take the floor without overwhelming talent, and a thousand excuses for why they don't win the title every year. Even trying to give UConn and Ollie credit last year he came across as ultimately self-serving and insincere.

 

[mauconnfan]

I actually thought he did a great job coaching a bunch of nobodies (with one massive blue chip) at UMass and selling that program. He did it partially be demonizing UConn, which the stooges at UMassHoops still believe in. I'm impressed the Memphis fans, unlike UMass, stopped drinking the koolaid when he left them high and dry. He has morphed into a guy who can't take the floor without overwhelming talent, and a thousand excuses for why they don't win the title every year. Even trying to give UConn and Ollie credit last year he came across as ultimately self-serving and insincere.

Agree TRest. With Travieso, Padilla, Kellogg and gang he was a better coach. They played hard all the time, very good defensive teams and it showed his coaching skills. But he made a deal with the devil and his players are now just rentals and stopovers for what they believe will be an NBA career. They barely listen to him but he can't tell them do it or leave because then that aura of being the place to land would be potentially damaged.

 

[David 76]

Part sour grapes. I would love to have half their recruiting success and or media coverage.

Part not sour grapes. Calipari has a history of slime and we are waiting for some accountability for all his cheating. Second, he and Kentucky represent the biggest recent detriment to college basketball. One-and-done. While one-and-done was inevitable, no school has glorified it like KY and Cal. They are the poster child. The failure of Cal at KY would be a win for college basketball.
However they have succeeded fairly brilliantly. Only the true sour grapes guys aren't able to see that

 

[Jaker]

Kentucky has been our b1tch, that is all that matters. Carry on.

 

[Paesano]

Well, just for ____ and giggles I checked out the Rivals and Scout UK boards and do not see a single reference to UConn anywhere. Around here it's a minor miracle if we can go one day without a new Kentucky thread.

And, from what I see, there isn't a single Kentucky or Calipari thread that goes by without you whining about it. The board's obsession with the squid is no greater than your obsession with the obsession. You seem to be quite the Calipari fanboy and apologist. If anyone is tied up in knots, it is you.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

And, from what I see, there isn't a single Kentucky or Calipari thread that goes by without you whining about it. The board's obsession with the squid is no greater than your obsession with the obsession. You seem to be quite the Calipari fanboy and apologist. If anyone is tied up in knots, it is you.