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[B]Coach Cal’s Mailbag: Week of December 20[/B]
LIVE Chat with Cal Takes Place Monday, December 27 at noon ET
Click here to view Coach Cal’s Mailbag on [URL=”http://www.foxsportssouth.com”]FOXSportsSouth.com
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FOX Sports South, in conjunction with the University of Kentucky Men’s Basketball Coach John Calipari, presents “Coach Cal’s Mailbag,” an interactive webpage found exclusively on FOXSportsSouth.com.
“Coach Cal’s Mailbag” features Calipari in video responses to reader-submitted questions every week throughout the 2010-11 college basketball season. Readers can submit questions by visiting FOXSportsSouth.com.
In addition to the latest Wildcats basketball news and videos, “Coach Cal’s Mailbag” will also feature live chats with Calipari, the first of which will take place next Monday, December 27, at noon ET on FOXSportsSouth.com.
Upcoming University of Kentucky men’s basketball games on FOX Sports South include:
· December 22 – vs. Winthrop University Eagles – 1 p.m. ET
· December 28 – vs. Coppin State University Eagles – 7 p.m. ET
Please check your listings for channel location.
[B]This week in Coach Cal’s Mailbag:[/B]
Is this the hardest you’ve ever worked in your career on the sidelines coaching in games? – Chris, Washington D.C.
Coach Cal – “That’s a great question. I am working really hard on these guys. I’m really challenging them. I’m raising the bar. At some point this has to be their team and they have to be empowered. They’re just not ready yet. Brandon Knight’s taken more of a leadership role; I like it, but not enough to give him the team yet.”
Give your team a grade after 10 games. Are you ahead of schedule or behind? – Pamela, Phoenix, AZ
Coach Cal – “Grade B. They’re not an A yet, but for this time of the year I think they’re doing fine. Right now it’s the middle of December and we’re playing like it’s the middle of December. I never want my teams to be playing like it’s February in December.”
Does the season ever end for you? If you had to guess, how many hours do you work per week? – Dustin, Phoenix, AZ
Coach Cal – “This job can consume you if you let it. I work long hours, probably no longer than any other coach. I’m not a guy that sleeps in the office and I don’t want my staff to sleep in the office. Right now I’m on a treadmill. There are no days off during the season. If I give the players a day off I go recruiting. So I don’t have a day off. ”
What is the biggest regret in your career? – Michael, Houston, TX
Coach Cal – “There are three or four young people that I regret that I couldn’t get through to them and change them. I couldn’t get them to buy into what they had to do to change the trajectory of their lives. They were moving in the wrong way and I couldn’t get them to change.”
Is your career a success if you retire without a National Championship? – Beth, Lexington, KY
Coach Cal – “There will be people out there who say if you don’t win a national title you’re not a success. I don’t believe that. My success is based on the success of the young people that I coach. Would I like to win a national title? Absolutely, for the Big Blue Nation, for these people here in this state. But I don’t feel like it’s life or death if I don’t.”
Do you listen to any specific music to pump you up on gameday? Georgia, Portland, OR
Coach Cal – “Did you watch (Kentucky women’s basketball head coach) Matthew Mitchell do The Dougie? That’s what I do. I shower, put my clothes on and I do The Dougie before every game. Thank you, Matthew Mitchell. That’s how we work here at Kentucky, we share, we help each other. Matthew Mitchell’s got me doing The Dougie.”
