[I][/I]
[I]Note: This is not my original post. My original post got lost because I’m too stupid to save it as I go. This has happened to me before, so you’d think I’d learn from my mistakes, but obviously I don’t. This qualifies me to be the football coach at Kentucky. So if this post seems boring, uninspiring, emotionless, and just plain frustrating, well, it will be perfectly fitting, since I do it in tribute to Joker Phillips.[/I]
I’m not mad. I’m not even disappointed. After seeing the lackluster first half, I quickly lowered any expectations I had for UK last night in their loss to Louisville. The best team won, and congratulations go out to Charlie Strong; he earned it, and the Cardinals deserved it.
But Joker, what the hell, man? You put forth an uninspiring, unprepared, and woefully over-matched team, and you deserved to lose. Several fans I’ve talked to aren’t mad, either, and that should speak volumes to you.
I don’t have enough faith in Joker Phillips to even get down after a rivalry loss. Granted, this is probably a knee-jerk reaction after a bad game, but I’m serious. Ever since the Tennessee game last year, I’ve been very “meh” regarding his aptitude as a coach. You remember, the one where UK punted from inside the Vols’ 40 yard line? The one where the punt was a touchback, resulting in 18 yards of field position gained?
Even though last season was a borderline success, what with the team making a bowl game (even if they forgot to show up and play it), this season is teetering on the edge of the toilet, with ever-increasing odds of surfing a turd down a dark tunnel. After three games, I’ve seen exactly one half of watchable football, and that was the second half comeback against CMU.
After the game last night, Joker said it was “hard fought”. Please. That bland, gutless statement is as chickenpoop as the play-calling on a 3rd-and-long draw. What Joker should have said was “we were not prepared to win tonight, and that falls on me and my staff.” But we will never hear that from Joker. Instead, we punt from inside the 40. We run a draw on 3rd-and-long. We have gutless plays that even the fans watching can predict. The only thing hard to fight last night was the urge to throw a remote through my TV.
Yes, I realize that just last week, Joker went for it on 4th-and-goal. But UK had momentum at the time, and if you can’t get a yard at home against a MAC opponent when it matters, then don’t even bother putting forth the effort driving to the stadium. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m over Joker. Am I calling for him to be fired? Absolutely not. Three games do not a season make. But I am seeing a pattern of ineptitude that will not lead to good things, and if the fans decide to show their displeasure with their wallets, Mitch Barnhart will have a decision to make soon.
Joker blamed it on “execution”. Makes sense, since most fans wanted to execute themselves rather than watch the crap UK gave us last night. Am I being too harsh? I’m sure I am. But Morgan Newton is a junior, with several games under his belt, and more often than not he is clueless. I blame that on a lack of player development. If these guys can’t get it together after 3 games, I don’t have any hope for them to. Sure, I imagine there will be a game or two with a clean offensive performance, but overall, the corner they have to turn is not only far away, it is hidden by the smoke Joker is blowing up our butts about his team. Remember that time we had a great offensive line, way back in the summer? A unit of white dudes hasn’t been this responsible for a young black man taking a beating since the Rodney King incident.
The point of all this rambling is to say that Joker has not, to this point, put his teams in a position to win. As fans, that’s all we really have the right to expect. Not 5-star recruits, not offensive or defensive domination. Just give us a competent product, and get the best out of your players. That has not been happening. I can take a loss, or even several losses, as long as those losses come in a hard fought, well-played game. Last night was neither.
Last year, Joker had the leadership and playmaking ability of Randall Cobb to get the team through tough stretches. With that leadership gone, the Big Blue ship appears to be rudderless. They better find a way to get the ship straightened out, before it crashes on the rocks.
The question is, will Joker hold himself accountable enough to go down with it?
