It has been an interesting day around these parts as we completed the last ever Matt Jones Show (the new Sports Night on ESPN Radio starts Monday, August 4th), found out another great story for the next “Kentucky Cat Trivia” post and saw an unexpected surge in Rob Bromley popularity. Combine that with the fact that I am still getting over a weekend playing golf at the Cardinal Club (Louisville’s home golf course) while wearing a UK shirt and getting taunted by the Card masses, and it has been a difficult few days to wrap one’s head around. But we must go forward…..looking for something interesting to say during the dog days of late July and early August.
With that in mind, we start today off with a UK basketball summer Player report. Over the past few months, I have had a number of conversations with people who have been able to watch the guys play during the off season and have even be able to see a couple of games myself. In addition, I have had emails from fans who have been privy to the famous “pick-up game reports” and have been able to talk to a couple of those around the program who are involved in the summer projects. What has been interesting to note is just how consistent most of the reports are. When you get past some of the bias (from those who say that every player is doing amazing), certain themes emerge and are generally consistent from report to report. So what follows is somewhat of a summary of UK Summer Reports player by player:
Jodie Meeks:
Possibly the most important player on the team next season, Meeks is showing signs of fully recovering from the injury problems that plagued him last season. He is gaining back his trademark jump shot and is still considered the best pure shooter on the team. There is some concern that his explosive athleticisim is only around 80% at this time, but most believe it will return. The overall feeling around Jodie is total optimism….a huge change from last season.
Patrick Patterson:
Not really playing at this point, but most assume he will be ready when the action begins in earnest in October. Patrick has become fully dedicated to maximizing his physical shape and has been as dedicated as anyone on the team physically. There is no game report for obvious reasons, but from a physical standpoint, no one on the team looks better.
Ramon Harris
The MVP of the summer without a doubt. Ask anyone that has spent significant time watching these guys play and they all will rave about what they see from the Razor. One former player told me, “if he isnt the most improved player in the SEC next season, I will be shocked.” He is without a doubt the best perimeter defender on the team and has made it a priority to take the ball to the basket on offense. Still not the best shooter, but scoring at will in the one-on-one setting. Will he be a summer legend (a la Carrier/Camara) or will he be an improved player just showing his talent (a la Daniels/Estill). We shall see.
Perry Stevenson
Most comments I hear about Perry suggest that his game is very similar to where it was last year…..good at challenging shots, nice outside jumper but still needs a lot of work handling the ball. He will be pushed for minutes this season and word is that when his biggest competitors for minutes are on the floor, he steps up his game. I expect a lot of the same from Perry, but with the year seasoning that he needs. Still no real change in body type.
AJ Stewart
Probably second in line for “Most Improved” in the summer. Those who watch AJ this summer describe his game in a way that harkens back to his time in high school…..energetic, athletic, ready to attack the rim and constant movement. Still struggles from time to time trying to do too much, but much more confident and seasoned on the court. Finding minutes will be tough for AJ and he has to come out swinging. I expect to see marked improvement this year.
Jared Carter
There is no player who gets wider ranges of reactions in descriptions than Carter. Half of the reports say there is no change and he wont see the court. Half then say they think he has seen the light and he looks better. His trip to Africa seemed to be a success, but the one game that was seen by a person who I really trust suggested that little had changed. Jared is the one player I havent laid eyes on all summer. I wish him well but have little expectations at this point.
Michael Porter
The first “WOW” moment of the year will be at Midnight Madness when the fans get a load of Michael’s new physique. He is seriously ripped even more so than in the past and is looking more and more like the star football player that USC wanted (if you believe the constant talk by television broadcasters). He still is having trouble with his ball handling and decision making and any game you watch showcases these facts. But he is likely the third best shooter on the team (behind Meeks and Krebs) and can find some minutes….and may have to, depending on the Galloway/Liggins resolution.
Josh Harrellson
Everyone who watches Harrellson play always comes to the same comparison: Scott Padgett. A good outside shooter and a good passer, Harrellson shares some of Scott’s traits. However he is a bit bigger, likes to bang inside more and is a step or two slower. I think he will end up playing a lot like a typical second tier European big man in America. Spends time on the perimeter, gets in the mix down low and contributes good minutes in the right situation. Because of his shooting however, he is very valuable, ESPECIALLY on this year’s team.
Darius Miller
Will be a consistent, very good four year player at Kentucky. Think Gerald Fitch, but a bit taller and more athleticism. I liken him to a guy with Fitch’s work ethic and Antwain Barbour’s frame. He will play a great deal this year and looks good in pickup games. I am told his weakness so far has been his defense, and this has especially shown itself in his frequent matchups with Ramon Harris, who has taken the ball to the basket on him with ease. But everyone likes him and the sky is the limit at this point.
Kevin Galloway
More questions than answers right now. Like Jared Carter, opinions on him are all over the map, but with much less back story to compare him with. He is certainly athletic and a good defender….but his shot selection is poor, his range not deep and some question his decision making. He is good at taking the ball to the basket, but I had one person tell me “he just isnt a point guard.” I dont know if I believe that (and he may have to be either way), but at this point it is hard to get a true read on Galloway…..will be an unknown likely until practice begins.
DeAndre Liggins
Like a ghost from another realm, Liggins is rarely seen and little is known about his whereabouts. I have yet to see him, but havent really been around since he arrived on campus. Few that I have spoken with have seen him and no one has commented to me on his game. I think Liggins has LOADS of talent…..the question is just whether he will be eligible. If he is, I think he likely starts. We shall see.
OTHERS
I was speaking with someone close to the program a few days ago and I mentioned that I thought there was room for a shooter to come off the bench and get some minutes, due to the lack of overall shooting ability on the team. The person agreed and told me to watch out for Mark Krebs. He is likely the second best shooter on the team, has dead-eye range and could be perfect for that role of three point shooter in a spot role. I have also heard that Landon Slone has had a decent summer, although I personally know little about the kid. Buddy Halcell (”Turtle”) also has some athleticism and a good work ethic and could be in the mix if Coach Gillispie looks further down the bench for guys to come in and play hard.
So there is the report from what I have heard so far. As with all of these types of things, this should be taken with a grain of salt, but represents a decent look at the team from what I have been told this summer. We will have more stuff throughout the day, including my first look at the SEC schedule breakdowns……
Read the Original Article Here:
http://blog.kentuckysportsradio.com/?p=6804
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Rupp the Legend
One of the most successful coaches in the history of college basketball was Adolph Rupp. In 41 years of coaching, Rupp won 876 games, making him the third winningest coach in history after Bobby Knight and Dean Smith. He coached at the University of Kentucky from 1930 to 1972, and the state of Kentucky loved him.
Dubbed “Baron of the Bluegrass,” Rupp took 80 percent of his players from Kentucky. Demanding and expecting excellence, he became a master of developing talent. His teams were known for sticky man-to-man defense, which resulted in their fast break offense. Time and time again, teams were beaten into submission.
Under his leadership, the Wildcats won four NCAA championships (1948, 1949, 1951 and 1958,) one NIT title in 1946 at a time when the NIT was a highly regarded tournament of national contenders. They appeared in 20 NCAA tournaments and captured 27 Southeastern Conference titles.
The Baron was selected as “Coach of the Year” four times as he established a winning tradition at Kentucky. This tradition is carried on and expected to this day by the loyal and loving fans of the Big Blue. Twenty-four of his players earned All-America honors, seven won Olympics gold medals and 28 played professional basketball.The mandatory retirement age in 1972 was 70 for Kentucky state employees. That year, Rupp was forced into retirement. Can you imagine what the Baron might have added to his incredible list of achievements had he stayed? He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame on April 13, 1969.But it seems only UK fans remember the titles and accolades. What the world remembers occurred on March 19, 1966 when Kentucky once again fought for a national championship after defeating Duke in the Final Four. After overcoming Kansas, Texas Western moved on to face the number one team in the tournament, the Kentucky Wildcats.No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 3 Texas Western – nothing strange about that set up. But remember, it was 1966. Kentucky put five white players on the floor while Coach Don Haskins went with his best lineup, which happened to be five black players. The movie, “Glory Road” implies that Haskins only chose an all-black starting five for that game; however, these five starters had been Haskins' regular starting lineup all season. This was the first time a team started an all-black lineup in an NCAA title game. The Miners defeated the experienced and powerful Wildcats, 72-65, before a televised audience. Coach Rupp gave Bobby Joe Hill credit for the inevitable “turning point of the game.” Hill, a 5-foot-10 junior guard for Texas Western, dropped in some of the biggest shots of the tourney and scored 20 points. He also was a demon on defense, often taking the ball away from Kentucky players. Even though the final horn blew, the game would never really be over. It is still talked about, debated over, written about and even a topic of a major film. It was great for college basketball but would forever label Rupp a racist. He was very aware of this and answered his critics. “Don't call me a racist. You didn't know me, and neither did those who offer one-liners about my life as basketball coach at the University of Kentucky from the Great Depression to the first Nixon administration,” he said. “I knew (African Americans) could help my program and wanted them to, and anyone who says I didn't is wrong. How badly did I want? Not enough, I concede, to become a civil rights leader and take on the whole south and lots of other areas too. We played in the Southeastern Conference. Look around. Who else in our conference had (African American) players at the time? No one! In fact, SEC schools generally refused to schedule home games against opponents with even one (African American). I was ready to take care of that. Twice I petitioned the league to integrate. That brought fire from college presidents, athletic directors, regents, boosters and fans.”There are those who believe Rupp is not a racist and tell stories about his constant attempts to recruit black players and severely chastising a group of boosters who tried to stop him. One of these is a former member of “Rupp's Runts,” who started in that most talked about title game, Pat Riley. Riley, as we all know, has gone on to be a very successful NBA coach. These are some remarks from Pat Riley about that game and Rupp.”I look back 37 years later, at a time when there was a lot of pain in losing. But now, when I look at it from the blue-sky standpoint, the best thing happened for society. It was a breakthrough game,” he said. “Most people that have done something absolutely significant in their industry can often be misunderstood. He was the greatest coach at the time. He was the John Wooden, the Bobby Knight, the Dean Smith and he was bigger than life.“There were a lot of perceptions about him that absolutely took on a mythical thing. Something he would say, all of a sudden would be something else 10 years later,” Riley continued. “The best thing that ever happened to me in my life was to go to the University of Kentucky and play for a man, who was disciplined, organized and when I left there I thought I was a better person for it. So all the misconceptions about him from the outside world weren't true.”The movie, “Glory Road,” concerning the 1966 championship was released on January 13, 2006. Director Jim Gartner stated that Rupp would not be portrayed as racist. Draw your own conclusions from the movie’s portrayal of him. Rupp set the standard for excellence and winning. Someone once said to him, “When the one Great Scorer comes to write against your name, he marks not that you won or lost, but how you played the game.”To this, Rupp replied, “Well now, I just don't know about that. If winning isn't so important, why do you keep score?”Rupp died at age 76 in Lexington on December 10, 1977. That night his beloved Wildcats defeated Kansas in a game promoted as “Adolph Rupp Night.” The Baron of the Bluegrass listened to the broadcast of the game from his hospital bed before finally succumbing to a battle with spinal cancer and diabetes.
Read Original Artical Here
http://www.williamsondailynews.com/articles/2008/07/28/sports/doc488d13e67aedb604117754.txt
The Baron was selected as “Coach of the Year” four times as he established a winning tradition at Kentucky. This tradition is carried on and expected to this day by the loyal and loving fans of the Big Blue. Twenty-four of his players earned All-America honors, seven won Olympics gold medals and 28 played professional basketball.The mandatory retirement age in 1972 was 70 for Kentucky state employees. That year, Rupp was forced into retirement. Can you imagine what the Baron might have added to his incredible list of achievements had he stayed? He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame on April 13, 1969.But it seems only UK fans remember the titles and accolades. What the world remembers occurred on March 19, 1966 when Kentucky once again fought for a national championship after defeating Duke in the Final Four. After overcoming Kansas, Texas Western moved on to face the number one team in the tournament, the Kentucky Wildcats.No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 3 Texas Western – nothing strange about that set up. But remember, it was 1966. Kentucky put five white players on the floor while Coach Don Haskins went with his best lineup, which happened to be five black players. The movie, “Glory Road” implies that Haskins only chose an all-black starting five for that game; however, these five starters had been Haskins' regular starting lineup all season. This was the first time a team started an all-black lineup in an NCAA title game. The Miners defeated the experienced and powerful Wildcats, 72-65, before a televised audience. Coach Rupp gave Bobby Joe Hill credit for the inevitable “turning point of the game.” Hill, a 5-foot-10 junior guard for Texas Western, dropped in some of the biggest shots of the tourney and scored 20 points. He also was a demon on defense, often taking the ball away from Kentucky players. Even though the final horn blew, the game would never really be over. It is still talked about, debated over, written about and even a topic of a major film. It was great for college basketball but would forever label Rupp a racist. He was very aware of this and answered his critics. “Don't call me a racist. You didn't know me, and neither did those who offer one-liners about my life as basketball coach at the University of Kentucky from the Great Depression to the first Nixon administration,” he said. “I knew (African Americans) could help my program and wanted them to, and anyone who says I didn't is wrong. How badly did I want? Not enough, I concede, to become a civil rights leader and take on the whole south and lots of other areas too. We played in the Southeastern Conference. Look around. Who else in our conference had (African American) players at the time? No one! In fact, SEC schools generally refused to schedule home games against opponents with even one (African American). I was ready to take care of that. Twice I petitioned the league to integrate. That brought fire from college presidents, athletic directors, regents, boosters and fans.”There are those who believe Rupp is not a racist and tell stories about his constant attempts to recruit black players and severely chastising a group of boosters who tried to stop him. One of these is a former member of “Rupp's Runts,” who started in that most talked about title game, Pat Riley. Riley, as we all know, has gone on to be a very successful NBA coach. These are some remarks from Pat Riley about that game and Rupp.”I look back 37 years later, at a time when there was a lot of pain in losing. But now, when I look at it from the blue-sky standpoint, the best thing happened for society. It was a breakthrough game,” he said. “Most people that have done something absolutely significant in their industry can often be misunderstood. He was the greatest coach at the time. He was the John Wooden, the Bobby Knight, the Dean Smith and he was bigger than life.“There were a lot of perceptions about him that absolutely took on a mythical thing. Something he would say, all of a sudden would be something else 10 years later,” Riley continued. “The best thing that ever happened to me in my life was to go to the University of Kentucky and play for a man, who was disciplined, organized and when I left there I thought I was a better person for it. So all the misconceptions about him from the outside world weren't true.”The movie, “Glory Road,” concerning the 1966 championship was released on January 13, 2006. Director Jim Gartner stated that Rupp would not be portrayed as racist. Draw your own conclusions from the movie’s portrayal of him. Rupp set the standard for excellence and winning. Someone once said to him, “When the one Great Scorer comes to write against your name, he marks not that you won or lost, but how you played the game.”To this, Rupp replied, “Well now, I just don't know about that. If winning isn't so important, why do you keep score?”Rupp died at age 76 in Lexington on December 10, 1977. That night his beloved Wildcats defeated Kansas in a game promoted as “Adolph Rupp Night.” The Baron of the Bluegrass listened to the broadcast of the game from his hospital bed before finally succumbing to a battle with spinal cancer and diabetes.
Read Original Artical Here
http://www.williamsondailynews.com/articles/2008/07/28/sports/doc488d13e67aedb604117754.txt
Saturday, July 26, 2008
So, thought of the day....I was talking to someone who has been following the recruitment of Ames star basketball recruit Harrison Barnes, and he says that Kentucky feels that they are in the lead for Barnes.
One has to wonder why Kentucky is now at the center of everything relating to ISU basketball these days.
There's one connection.
Jeff Bergstrom, former Iowa State walkon, is a graduate assistant for Billy Gillispie and the Wildcats. His only real qualification to play at ISU was the new indoor football practice facility that just happens to share the same name. It certainly wasn't his 11 points per game in high school. Needless to say I was a bit surprised to see him as part of the UK coaching staff.
It's an odd connection between two schools that almost ended in one Cyclone basketball player ending up a Wildcat, and may have the top Cyclone recruit landing there as well.
Read Original Article Here
http://www.clonechronicles.com/2008/7/26/579841/question-of-the-day-harris
One has to wonder why Kentucky is now at the center of everything relating to ISU basketball these days.
There's one connection.
Jeff Bergstrom, former Iowa State walkon, is a graduate assistant for Billy Gillispie and the Wildcats. His only real qualification to play at ISU was the new indoor football practice facility that just happens to share the same name. It certainly wasn't his 11 points per game in high school. Needless to say I was a bit surprised to see him as part of the UK coaching staff.
It's an odd connection between two schools that almost ended in one Cyclone basketball player ending up a Wildcat, and may have the top Cyclone recruit landing there as well.
Read Original Article Here
http://www.clonechronicles.com/2008/7/26/579841/question-of-the-day-harris
Friday, July 25, 2008
Louisville vs. Kentucky Football
We are beginning to seriously approach the kick-off to the 2008 football season, and over the next few weeks, we are going to be taking a very in-depth look at the first game of the season -- our arch-rivals, the Louisville Cardinals. But before we start talking players and numbers (Ken still isn't done looking at the Kentucky depth chart yet), I just wanted to make a quick comparison of the moods of Kentucky and Louisville football fans and programs.
Coming into 2007, both U of L and UK fan bases were expecting big things from their respective teams. Louisville was coming off a big BCS game victory in a 2006 season which found them at one point in the national discussion for the BCS title game. Folks, it doesn't get any bigger than that, and with all the experience and talent they had returning, Cardinal fans can be forgiven for having dreams of grasping the brass ring. Kentucky was coming off it's first bowl appearance since 1998, and returning a powerful offensive machine, but nobody expected much more than a middling bowl out of the 'Cats (which is exactly what happened).
But something happened on the way to the coronation. Bobby Petrino, in my opinion the most ethics-challenged coach not under a "show cause" order from the NCAA, departed Louisville, and Tom Jurich quickly hired Steve Kragthorpe, former coach of Tulsa, to be the next Cardinals football coach.
What followed, in a nutshell, was a shock for Cardinal fans. Despite a lot of national hype and expectations, the 2007 version of Louisville was a dismal disappointment. The first sign was coming into Commonwealth Stadium undefeated -- and then this:
The loss to Kentucky was a season-ruiner, but the Cardinals could have still come alive and had a good year. We all know how history turned out, though. The low point came when Syracuse, then 0-3 coming in to Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, defeated the Louisville team 38-35 in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the score. Mike Rutherford of the SBNation's excellent Card Chronicle, normally a voice of reason and sanity among an increasingly restive fan base, found that loss a bridge too far:
Somebody asked me last week how I felt about the growing "fire Kragthorpe" movement, and I half-jokingly said that if this guy can invent a way to lose to Syracuse then I'll be all for it. Now I'm not for firing a coach before the end of his first season, and I'm not going to let this site become one where we focus on how much we dislike the head coach more than we do supporting the team, but my God, name ONE positive thing this guy has accomplished since Aug. 30.
Despite this outburst of frustration, Mike has never honestly suggested that Kragthorpe should be fired, and despite the kind of provocation that had some Kentucky fans and others calling for Gillispie's head early last basketball season, he and most of the sane Cardinal fans managed to get through the season over on his blog. Apparently, not so much at other Cardinal on-line sites, according to Mark Story's article today.
In the interregnum since, Louisville has struggled with attrition, losing some 21 players to early draft entry, dismissal, transfer, academics and medical issues. Hype and hope have been replaced by a lowering of expectations and talk of "rebuilding" over the next two years.
So that brings us up to date with Louisville, so now it's time to look at UK. Despite losing almost all of it's storied offensive skill players, Kentucky returns an experienced defense, an experienced offensive backfield and an improving offensive line. While football expectations in the Bluegrass are never through the roof if you don't count the early part of last season, Kentucky football fans are arguably in the happiest mood since the days of Derrick Ramsey and Sonny Collins. UK is clearly a football program that is improving, even though in the hyper-competitive SEC, that improvement may not translate into many more victories anytime soon.
Back in 2005, I remember lots of calls for Rich Brooks' head, and as recently as early 2006, through the magic of SBN 2.0's search feature, I recall JL Blue's comments heading into the 2006 season:
As I have previously admitted in these pages, I am not much of a Kentucky football fanatic. While I dutifully check the cross-country scores in the paper on Sunday mornings and will watch a game on the rare occasion it's not national television, like many Kentucky fans I'm nervously pessimistic.
That's what decades of losing will do to a fan.
Indeed, and it has jaded the perception of most Kentucky fans. To say that we are satisfied with less success in football than the Cardinal fans is an understatement -- Kentucky fans are used to losing,and losing a lot. With that reality has come the understandable reflex of low expectations. In that same 2006 season, those reflexes were again validated against Louisville, who swamped the 'Cats in embarrassing fashion 59-38, prompting this comment from JL:
This loss was ugly, and on national television. It showed very little progress from last year, and if the Cats want to make strides, quite simply, they need to play way over their heads.
All in all, a dispiriting start to the 2006 season, and one which better motivate Brooks and his staff, or they will be seeking new employment next offseason.
How far have we come since then? Pretty far, but it looks even more impressive if we take the last 10 years or so into consideration. As Louisville has been rising on the national stage over the last 10 years, up until 2006 the Kentucky program has been mired in futility, scandal, and disappointment. As of the time of JL's posts above, UK football had managed to get to .500 on the year only three times since 1994, and above .500 only twice. That is two winning seasons in 11 years, no matter how you count it. Louisville, in that same time frame, had exactly two losing seasons and nine consecutive bowl appearances. But over the last five years Rich Brooks and his staff have slowly, but steadily and with purpose, set out to change both the perception and the reality.
The shoe isn't exactly on the other foot now, but Kentucky is no longer a sure victory on the Louisville schedule. Two straight winning seasons with post-season bowl victories against traditional ACC powerhouse programs have radically improved the perception of Kentucky's football program everywhere but inside the SEC, where it has generally received only a tepid acknowledgment. I have read somewhere (but I cannot seem to find it) that UK is only a three point underdog to Louisville in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in the pre-season prognostications for this year. Given a Louisville team only one year removed from a major BCS bowl victory, that says something about the sea change that has taken place in the perception of these two teams.
But how about the coaches? Well, no doubt their situation could not be any more different. Brooks is now seen as the Great Rebuilder of the Kentucky football program, and Kragthorpe is, to say the very least, on the hot seat at Louisville after only one year as head coach. The Mark Story, in the article I linked above, puts it this way:
In all my years following sports in the commonwealth, I've never seen a fan base turn against a coach as dramatically and vociferously as (many) Louisville football fans turned on poor Kragthorpe in 2007.
Folks, that says it all. Hot seat? I'm not sure the temperature of Kragthorpe's chair can be accurately measured with current technology.
Kentucky, up until mid-2006, expected to lose -- to almost everybody. We didn't like it. We groused about it. Most of us actively hated it -- but we knew what we were -- a moribund football program at a basketball school. Is that changing? Yes, but gradually. Kentucky fans are still leery of getting too excited about football for at least two very good reasons: History and the conference we play in. There is no comparison between the Big East and the SEC, top to bottom, in quality. None. Which means that even if UK were able to go to bowls every year, the odds are it would be doing so without ever having a winning record in the SEC. Winning the conference, even the Eastern division, still looks like a pipe dream to all but the most radical Kentucky fan. All you have to do is look at this earlier post to see how this fact is mirrored in UK's football recruiting.
So as we go into the Governor's Cup game this year, the big subplot will be waiting to unfold. Lose this game at home, and the cries for Kragthorpe's head will be deafening, perhaps even irresistible. Brooks, on the other hand, will barely hear any recriminations for a loss at Louisville this year. Of course, if the rest of the season takes a nose-dive there will be some grousing, but it would take a complete implosion to something like 2 or 3 wins to cause even a few of the UK faithful to gather up pitchforks against Brooks & Co. There is a completely different feel to these two teams, and Louisville is on very, very thin ice.
How quickly things can change in college sports.
Read the Original Article Here on Sea of Blue
Coming into 2007, both U of L and UK fan bases were expecting big things from their respective teams. Louisville was coming off a big BCS game victory in a 2006 season which found them at one point in the national discussion for the BCS title game. Folks, it doesn't get any bigger than that, and with all the experience and talent they had returning, Cardinal fans can be forgiven for having dreams of grasping the brass ring. Kentucky was coming off it's first bowl appearance since 1998, and returning a powerful offensive machine, but nobody expected much more than a middling bowl out of the 'Cats (which is exactly what happened).
But something happened on the way to the coronation. Bobby Petrino, in my opinion the most ethics-challenged coach not under a "show cause" order from the NCAA, departed Louisville, and Tom Jurich quickly hired Steve Kragthorpe, former coach of Tulsa, to be the next Cardinals football coach.
What followed, in a nutshell, was a shock for Cardinal fans. Despite a lot of national hype and expectations, the 2007 version of Louisville was a dismal disappointment. The first sign was coming into Commonwealth Stadium undefeated -- and then this:
The loss to Kentucky was a season-ruiner, but the Cardinals could have still come alive and had a good year. We all know how history turned out, though. The low point came when Syracuse, then 0-3 coming in to Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, defeated the Louisville team 38-35 in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the score. Mike Rutherford of the SBNation's excellent Card Chronicle, normally a voice of reason and sanity among an increasingly restive fan base, found that loss a bridge too far:
Somebody asked me last week how I felt about the growing "fire Kragthorpe" movement, and I half-jokingly said that if this guy can invent a way to lose to Syracuse then I'll be all for it. Now I'm not for firing a coach before the end of his first season, and I'm not going to let this site become one where we focus on how much we dislike the head coach more than we do supporting the team, but my God, name ONE positive thing this guy has accomplished since Aug. 30.
Despite this outburst of frustration, Mike has never honestly suggested that Kragthorpe should be fired, and despite the kind of provocation that had some Kentucky fans and others calling for Gillispie's head early last basketball season, he and most of the sane Cardinal fans managed to get through the season over on his blog. Apparently, not so much at other Cardinal on-line sites, according to Mark Story's article today.
In the interregnum since, Louisville has struggled with attrition, losing some 21 players to early draft entry, dismissal, transfer, academics and medical issues. Hype and hope have been replaced by a lowering of expectations and talk of "rebuilding" over the next two years.
So that brings us up to date with Louisville, so now it's time to look at UK. Despite losing almost all of it's storied offensive skill players, Kentucky returns an experienced defense, an experienced offensive backfield and an improving offensive line. While football expectations in the Bluegrass are never through the roof if you don't count the early part of last season, Kentucky football fans are arguably in the happiest mood since the days of Derrick Ramsey and Sonny Collins. UK is clearly a football program that is improving, even though in the hyper-competitive SEC, that improvement may not translate into many more victories anytime soon.
Back in 2005, I remember lots of calls for Rich Brooks' head, and as recently as early 2006, through the magic of SBN 2.0's search feature, I recall JL Blue's comments heading into the 2006 season:
As I have previously admitted in these pages, I am not much of a Kentucky football fanatic. While I dutifully check the cross-country scores in the paper on Sunday mornings and will watch a game on the rare occasion it's not national television, like many Kentucky fans I'm nervously pessimistic.
That's what decades of losing will do to a fan.
Indeed, and it has jaded the perception of most Kentucky fans. To say that we are satisfied with less success in football than the Cardinal fans is an understatement -- Kentucky fans are used to losing,and losing a lot. With that reality has come the understandable reflex of low expectations. In that same 2006 season, those reflexes were again validated against Louisville, who swamped the 'Cats in embarrassing fashion 59-38, prompting this comment from JL:
This loss was ugly, and on national television. It showed very little progress from last year, and if the Cats want to make strides, quite simply, they need to play way over their heads.
All in all, a dispiriting start to the 2006 season, and one which better motivate Brooks and his staff, or they will be seeking new employment next offseason.
How far have we come since then? Pretty far, but it looks even more impressive if we take the last 10 years or so into consideration. As Louisville has been rising on the national stage over the last 10 years, up until 2006 the Kentucky program has been mired in futility, scandal, and disappointment. As of the time of JL's posts above, UK football had managed to get to .500 on the year only three times since 1994, and above .500 only twice. That is two winning seasons in 11 years, no matter how you count it. Louisville, in that same time frame, had exactly two losing seasons and nine consecutive bowl appearances. But over the last five years Rich Brooks and his staff have slowly, but steadily and with purpose, set out to change both the perception and the reality.
The shoe isn't exactly on the other foot now, but Kentucky is no longer a sure victory on the Louisville schedule. Two straight winning seasons with post-season bowl victories against traditional ACC powerhouse programs have radically improved the perception of Kentucky's football program everywhere but inside the SEC, where it has generally received only a tepid acknowledgment. I have read somewhere (but I cannot seem to find it) that UK is only a three point underdog to Louisville in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in the pre-season prognostications for this year. Given a Louisville team only one year removed from a major BCS bowl victory, that says something about the sea change that has taken place in the perception of these two teams.
But how about the coaches? Well, no doubt their situation could not be any more different. Brooks is now seen as the Great Rebuilder of the Kentucky football program, and Kragthorpe is, to say the very least, on the hot seat at Louisville after only one year as head coach. The Mark Story, in the article I linked above, puts it this way:
In all my years following sports in the commonwealth, I've never seen a fan base turn against a coach as dramatically and vociferously as (many) Louisville football fans turned on poor Kragthorpe in 2007.
Folks, that says it all. Hot seat? I'm not sure the temperature of Kragthorpe's chair can be accurately measured with current technology.
Kentucky, up until mid-2006, expected to lose -- to almost everybody. We didn't like it. We groused about it. Most of us actively hated it -- but we knew what we were -- a moribund football program at a basketball school. Is that changing? Yes, but gradually. Kentucky fans are still leery of getting too excited about football for at least two very good reasons: History and the conference we play in. There is no comparison between the Big East and the SEC, top to bottom, in quality. None. Which means that even if UK were able to go to bowls every year, the odds are it would be doing so without ever having a winning record in the SEC. Winning the conference, even the Eastern division, still looks like a pipe dream to all but the most radical Kentucky fan. All you have to do is look at this earlier post to see how this fact is mirrored in UK's football recruiting.
So as we go into the Governor's Cup game this year, the big subplot will be waiting to unfold. Lose this game at home, and the cries for Kragthorpe's head will be deafening, perhaps even irresistible. Brooks, on the other hand, will barely hear any recriminations for a loss at Louisville this year. Of course, if the rest of the season takes a nose-dive there will be some grousing, but it would take a complete implosion to something like 2 or 3 wins to cause even a few of the UK faithful to gather up pitchforks against Brooks & Co. There is a completely different feel to these two teams, and Louisville is on very, very thin ice.
How quickly things can change in college sports.
Read the Original Article Here on Sea of Blue
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
