Haiti and basketball

[Al in Canada]

I grew up in Lexington Kentucky, and like most young men I grew up loving UK basketball. I occasionally got to go to a game, for my dad had friends teaching there, and he was an old acquaintance of the AD Bernie Shivley. But going was a rare occurence until I become a student and got to line up and buy tickets for home games at Memorial Arena.

Mostly I listened to the broadcasts on the radio and to the voice of Caywood Leadford.

Later when I moved away from Kentucky I found there were people who hated UK. They were only to ready to spread lies about UK and especially about Adolph Rupp. One of those lies was that Rupp was a bigot, which I knew to be false, I had been involved in trying to recruit a couple of black ball players to UK while a student there myself. And this was during the Rupp reign. the problem was that the first black player playing in the SEC was going to face everything that Jackie Robinson had faced breaking the color barrier in baseball, but playing most of the games in the south.

What does this have to do with Haiti?, you ask. Well read the story about how the UK basketball team organized a fundraiser for Haiti, in less than 2 days, and raised over $1,200,000 in donations in the "Big Blue Nation", including

dinner for six at Calipari’s home, with him, his wife, Ellen; and
actress Ashley Judd went for $98,100. All the money, 100 percent, will
go to the American Red Cross,

To read the whole story go to :http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=dw-ukhaiti012110&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

And you will know why I am proud to be a Wildcats fan.

Al (in Canada)

 

[Centurian 803]

With good reason! :cheers: :cheers:

 

[Doc Manhattan]

Dear Kentucky,

Enjoy your long-overdue #1 ranking next week.

You've earned it. We just gift-wrapped it for you today.

Sincerely yours,
UConn

 

[puros_bran]

Hmmmm Has UConn even mattered since we beat their ARSE on the 9th of December? Especially since they are no longer ranked????
Puuuuhhhlease!

And Al it's true, their are Big Blue Haters, but its natural, when you get beat so often for so long it's to be expected. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

 

[puros_bran]

Irreverant BUT FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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[puros_bran]

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[puros_bran]

And just because I can't help it.... what a squeeker only 30 points.....LOL.. The ONLY undeafeted NCAA team in the United States of America

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[Al in Canada]

Dear Kentucky,

Enjoy your long-overdue #1 ranking next week.

You've earned it. We just gift-wrapped it for you today.

Sincerely yours,
UConn

UConn,
I thank you and your team's help in assuring the ranking. It's easy to be smug and think UK will coast through the SEC regular schedule, but that is not a sure thing, couple of injuries, or just a bad game with any other little bad luck, like the odd officiating that can show up from time to time and there comes an upset.

Excuse the excesses in PB's message, UConn has a great program and we know all about years that don't go right, don't we PB?

NCAA basketball here is limited to what the CBS and other networks carry that's on my Canadian satellite dish or what I can pick up on the radio out of Michigan or Ohio. I was watching a bit of the 1st half of your game today and hoping for a score on the UK game before going out to dinner to celebrate my wife's birthday. When I finally got a score I relaxed figuring they could hold a 30 point lead.

Sometimes at night I can get the radio signal out of louisville (WHAS) for the games, but for some reason the signal gets better after the game.

I am beginning to think the most frequent comment that Coach Cal makes is about Kentucky fans, when with a smile he states "you guys are crazy."

And he is right. You know it is common for season ticket rights to be included in wills in Kentucky? (or at least it was when I lived there.)

A friend of my fathers was a professor at Kentucky and took a position at a university in California and kept his season tickets. He and his wife would only get back to see a couple of games a year, but he never had a problem selling the rest of the tickets.

It seems unlikely that Patterson, Cousins, or Walls will be back next year, and I can understand the economics of their electing to go pro, but can you imagine what a run they could be putting on if they stayed to complete their eligibilty to play? Guess Coach Cal will just have to see what other rabbits there are in his hat. And that is the nature of the sport these days in the NCAA.

Hope today's win for UConn is the turning point for their season.

Al (in Canada)

 

[Doc Manhattan]

It's okay, Al--I root for KY when they're not playing the Huskies. My Grandfather was and my Mom is a Kentucky Colonel, so I feel obliged. (I even have the special blue-wax Maker's Mark bottle from back in the Tubby years.)

It's been a hell of year off-the-field for UConn sports, kind puts the not-so-great performances in perspective. I'll settle for a season without any further surprises and work from there.