This is a formal response to Jeff Neuman who has published an [URL=”http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2010/07/01/calipari_the_devil_wears_zegna_97004.html”]article[/URL] that compares John Calipari to satan. Really? Although I have linked the article here (it’s the right thing to do) don’t worry with clicking it. I’ll include the important pieces of it here to review.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
First, no reason to take this personal. It’s just another writer re-purposing content that has been around for a year, and circled the state over and over. There are two reasons I wanted to talk it about it briefly. First, the Devil? Second, is digging a bit too deep into the rich tradition of the Wildcats. Let’s dive in.
[quote=Calipari: The Devil Wears Zegna]
Big Blue Nation may be perfectly happy with a revolving door in the Wildcats’ locker room, with a coach and a team that make no pretense of connecting athletics with education. The future of college basketball, Calipari argues, lies in recruiting the best of the “one-and-done” players and turning them loose. “I hope we have six [first-rounders] one day,” he said after the draft.
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Let’s be perfectly clear. John Calipari does not make up the rules of the league. He has clearly stated that he does not agree that players must be one year removed from college before entering the NBA but since the rule is in place, he has to live by it. Living by that rule means that if you want the best talent, you have to take the risk that they will enter the draft after one year. It is simple, I don’t know why there is a continued lack of understanding with the reasoning.
By the way, instead of picking a Corvette as your optional rental car, perhaps you should request the Ford Focus since a tank of gas will last you a little longer.
[quote=Calipari: The Devil Wears Zegna]
Of course, in Kentucky he may have found his perfect home. The biggest prior days in UK basketball history include the one when the NCAA ordered the program shut down for a year because of its players’ involvement in point-shaving, the day Adolph Rupp signed the only African-American recruit in his 41 years of coaching, and the night in 1978 when Joe B. Hall’s team won an NCAA championship that was almost universally described as joyless and unhappy due to the pressure of expectations.[/quote]
Again, really? Are you sure you want to go down this path? Trying to taint the program with more wins than any other program in men’s college basketball? A school that has 7 national champions to go along with the SEC season and tournament championships? Two coaches with traditions like Rupp and Hall? I do not know you, and don’t care to know you. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near you when a Kentucky fan who knows you and your jibberish crosses your path. Them there are just about fighting words.
I’m sure you’ll get some juicy comments here, just as you did on the site who published your article. Enjoy.
