I hate Duke

And I'm glad they lost!! I hate UNC a little more, but I derive significant, if not fleeting, pleasure from watching those pampered, crybaby Dukies go down. I've wasted a bit of time looking at how underachieving the Dukies have been in recent times. This is a good example of how undeserved they were in getting a #2 seed. If the NCAA, and the nation, generally hate the 'Cats, they have wet panties for the Dukies and the 'Heels. Following is their performance over the last 10 years in the tournament:

08 #2 l. #7 WVU 2nd round
07 #6 l. #11 VCU 1st round
06 #1 l. #4 LSU Sweet 16
05 #1 l. #5 MSU Sweet 16
04 #1 l. #2 Conn. Final Four
03 #3 l. #2 Kansas Sweet 16
02 #1 l. #5 Indiana Sweet 16
01 #1 Nat'l Chmp
00 #1 l. #5 Florida Sweet 16
99 #1 l. Conn. Nat'l Runner-up

'96-'98 was the magnanimous run of the Pitino/Tubby 'Cats who had 2 titles and a 3rd final. As you may notice, Duke has, in the last 10 years, had a Championship, a Runner-up, and a Final Four. All these performances are better than Tubby could muster in that time, Orlando being a coach who did not get past the Elite 8 in those years. Notice, though, that if you take the remaining 7 years, the Dukies were defeated by lower-seeded teams 6 times. Does that sound like seed inflation to you? Are the vaunted Devils more hyped than deserved? The last 2 years have been particularly abysmal, but look at the run of those underperforming, dare I say "choke artists", #1 Seeds from a couple years ago. My, I don't see many Elite 8s in that list even. Don't believe the hype. The Dukies are in decline. Their team is filled with small white guys who can't handle the greater amount of parity in the modern game. Inflated.

On a very different note, let's give the Hilltoppers some love for their amazing win over #5 Drake the other night. Often times forgotten in the land of the 'Cats, 'Cards, and Hoosiers, WKU has a long tradition of basketball excellence. They sandwiched between Big Ten stalwarts Purdue and Illinois at #16 on the all time wins list (through '04, crappy NCAA). My very good friend the Luv Dug (occasional commenter here) is a prof there (and well as is his lovely wife). I personally am super happy to see such a result and it's quite possible that they can get into the Sweet 16. Go Red!

Bubble?

Well, well, well. The 'Cats have snuck back onto the national radar with its 5-game win streak. ESPN has them as a low bubble to watch. They're 6-2 in the SEC, with the 2 losses close road losses to good teams, FL and MS. If they can finish equally strong then maybe they will have pulled off the miracle after early Gardner-Webb and San Diego results. That said, can the 'Cats cut a break from the generally hateful nat'l media and punditry, much less the committee? Vamos a ver, pero espero que si.

This pic is the 'Cats' destiny this year. Bradley, throwing himself to the floor, getting the result the only way possible, with blood and guts. Who'da thunk this is what would drive the 'Cats?

Apuntes

Since the DSL is working right now- who knows when it will konk out- I'm going to leave some thoughts:

• The 'Cats are on a 4-game win streak. They won a Fugly game last night @ Auburn, but I'll gladly take a road win right now. Fascinating that they can be 11-9 overall (terrible), but 5-2 in the SEC and 1 game ahead of Florida. Billy G might be a rogue, but at they're performing at least.
• Interesting game between the U.S. and Mexico last night. The crowd was overwhelmingly pro-wet back. I shouldn't talk like that, but I hate it when every time our nat'l team plays a latino team the crowd is pro-foreign. It's the hidden sports jingoist in me. If you're here, then quit with the home country crap. If not, move back. :-)
• Altidore looked very good. Dempsey easily has the best foot skills of any of our players. The wings looked terrible. Tim Howard saved us over and over. I never want to play Mx with Vela, Castillo, DosSantos and Guardado starting. They'll run circles around us. An adequate result, in that it wasn't a loss on home soil.
• Real certainly laid a dud last week vs. Almeria. They were 2+ minutes away with a lessened impact; Barca almost drew Osasuna. Instead, Barca got the 3-point swing in the 88'. I didn't watch the game, but it sounded like crap. I did watch some highlights on Ole and they had their chances. They're not unlike UK. If everybody were healthy they would be significantly better. Instead, someone is always hurt.
• Many have done a better job than I ever could, but webmaven Sheldon Brown passed on, much to everyone's dismay. What a great resource and seemingly giving guy. Kent, as often, did as good a job as any reflecting on his influence.
• Please, please, please Obama win some more delegates. I refuse to vote for Hillary if she gets the nomination, so he's my only hope of going vote-less in November's election.

Peace

Deportes y Nieve

These are the fichajes for Real this year, all discussed in an article in Marca.com concerning how many bajos there have been- injuries that is. I won't list, but you can read here. From left to right are Robben (Dutch), Saviola?? (Arg.), Pepe (Portuguese), Heinze (Arg.), Metzelder (Ger.), and Sneijder (Dutch). Why do you care? You probably don't, but I like keeping up with something that's not Kentucky losing, steroids in baseball, fat oafish football, dopaje in cycling, or loutish behavior in the NBA. I don't know. It sure is fun in Spain.

And speaking of los 'Cats. I'm sure my faithful readers saw that result last night, UK defeating #3 Tennessee by6. Gotta love it!! Maybe Billy G is finally molding them a bit into the unit he wants. They play MissSt. and Florida close on the road, so we'll see. I'm not, repeat NOT, a fair-weather fan, but when they're playing badly it destroys my innermost being.

I'm going to list the numbers from the last few days, but I'm not ready to blog them really. It finally snowed, a while 1"!! I know the northern crowd is damn excited. I rode in the snow to work Tuesday. I later experienced lots of black ice on driveways and parking lots and such Tuesday night, so I didn't ride today. I feel good about that decision too. Pics to come, though I don't know the quality.

Date: Jan 21 Mon
Mileage: 2 (9.2.5.)
January mileage: 188
Year to date: 188

Date: Jan 22 Tues
Mileage: 13 (Redline Monocog- aka 'Snowbike')
January mileage: 200
Year to date: 200

Cats?!

I want to be hugely enthusiastic about a thrilling 2-overtime win today vs. Vandy. The more rational side of my brain is asking why I'm excited about beating Vandy, of all teams, at home in front of a full house. Many moons ago, around the time of the Tubby saga, I stated that Cats fans don't expect perfection and don't expect championships every year; we do expect to play on par with the other great programs (UNC, Duke, IU, Kansas, UCLA). Tubby's teams were pretty good- top 20- but rarely top 5, if Final Fours bears that statistic. So now Orlando is doing well vs. weak competition at Minnesota and making mint while doing so. He's even getting some press while doing so. In UK's zeal to have a dynamic new coach they hired what many are saying is a partyboy drunkard who is working without a signed contact. It's just all bad. 7-7 at this point in the season is easily the worst team since Ricky P's first in Lexington, and that was a team on big-time NCAA sanctions. It all sucks ass. This all the more annoying, frustrating, grating, riling, infuriating...that at the top of the polls we have UNC undefeated at #1 and Kansas undefeated at #3. That's what the great programs are supposed to do somewhat often. Instead I'm supposed to soothe my wounds with a win over former doormat Vandy. It reminds me of the saying that the players from Duke and Vandy can say to other teams, "You might have won today, but someday I'll be your boss." Now they'll be the bosses and they're better b'ball teams. Damn.

At least Cats fans are "making it rain" with apparel purchases. Still 2nd to UNC. You know, I just reread that article on ESPN.com (based on a Forbes list) and it's a good example about how much the national media has a bias for Tobacco Rd. and against my fellow toothless, barefoot Kentuckians. They spend the first 4 paragraphs discussing UNC and Duke, with a 5th thrown in about NCState (#13). Yes, UNC is #1 and Duke 5th. Too bad UK is #2 and Louisville #3, with hated Indiana #6. So let's do some Tex69 Sabermetrics analysis of this.

• 3 teams on Tobacco Rd. (1,5,13) gives an average placing of 6.3
• 3 teams in Kentuckiana (2,3,6) for an average of 3.67. Hmmm, guess toothless rednecks win that one.

And while we're at it, let's compare number of national championships (NCAA, although we could add some NIT ones in there back when it was equally prestigious).

• Tobacco Rd. (UNC-4, Duke-3, NCState-2). That gives us a total of 9.
• Kentuckiana (UK-7, IU-5, UL-2). Hmm, a total of 14. We supersede the vaunted Tobacco Rd. again. Looks like we're doing pretty well, don't you think. The Wizard of Westwood is still king, but I'll take this as the actual hotbed of basketball. I would say super strongly that the one thing they very much defeated the locals in is the number of players sent to the pros. UNC was the most underachieving program of all time with respects to the number of future pros that only brought Mr. Forever Dean Smith 2 championships, one by luck. Some of Coach K's magic seems to have diminished, but he's still filling the NBA with first-teamers.

This is why I didn't watch the 2 overtimes today. I take it all too personally and that makes me a loser. Didn't ride today either, but I did fill 4 bags full of leaves and another 2 trashcans full too.

I'm still going. Looked up some results comparing traditional powers. Here are the years and the 'Trads' involved in the Final Four, with UL thrown in to boot.

2007 UCLA (3/4)
2006 UCLA (3/4)
2005 UNC-CHAMP, UL (3/4)
2004 DUKE (3/4)
2004 KANSAS (2ND)
2002 KANSAS (3/4), IU (3/4)
2001 DUKE-CHAMP
2000 UNC (3/4)
1999 DUKE (2ND)
1998 UK-CHAMP, UNC (3/4)
1997 UK (2ND), UNC (3/4)
1996 UK-CHAMP
1995 UCLA CHAMP, UNC (3/4)
1994 DUKE (2ND)
1993 UNC-CHAMP, KANSAS, (3/4), UK (3/4)
1992 DUKE-CHAMP, IU (3/4)
1991 DUKE-CHAMP, KANSAS (2ND), UNC (3/4)
1990 DUKE (2ND)
1989 DUKE (3/4)
1988 KANSAS-CHAMP, DUKE (3/4)
1987 IU-CHAMP
1986 UL-CHAMP, DUKE (2ND), KANSAS (3/4)
1985 none
1984 UK (3/4)
1983 UL (3/4)
1982 UNC-CHAMP, UL (3/4)
1981 IU-CHAMP, UNC (2ND)
1980 UL-CHAMP, UCLA (2ND)
1979 none
1978 UK-CHAMP, DUKE (2ND)
1977 UNC (2ND)
1976 IU-CHAMP, UCLA (3/4)
1975 UCLA-CHAMP, UK (2ND), UL (3/4)
1974 UCLA (3/4), KANSAS (3/4)
1973 UCLA-CHAMP, IU (3/4)
1972 UCLA-CHAMP, UNC (3/4), UL (3/4)
1971 UCLA-CHAMP, KANSAS (3/4)
1970 UCLA-CHAMP
1969 UCLA-CHAMP, UNC (3/4)
1968 UCLA-CHAMP, UNC (2ND)
1967 UCLA-CHAMP, UNC (3/4)
1966 UK (2ND), DUKE (3/4)
1965 UCLA-CHAMP
1964 UCLA-CHAMP, DUKE (2ND)
1963 DUKE (3/4)
1962 UCLA (3/4)
1961 none
1960 none
1959 UL (3/4)
1958 UK-CHAMP
1957 UNC-CHAMP, KANSAS (2ND)
1956 none
1955 none
1954 none
1953 IU-CHAMP, KANSAS (2ND)
1952 KANSAS-CHAMP
1951 UK-CHAMP
1950 none
1949 UK-CHAMP
1948 UK-CHAMP
1947 none
1946 UNC (2ND)
1945 none
1944 none
1943 none
1942 UK (3/4)
1941 none
1940 IU-CHAMP
1939 none


So in the 69-year history of the NCAA basketball championships, the big 6- UK, UNC, Duke, UCLA, IU and Kansas- haven't been in the Final Four only 16 times, and since 1961 it's only been 3x. It's an amazing streak, and one that UK hasn't participated in in spurts. The late Rupp years, the Hall years in the 80s were pretty fallow. The Sutton years of the 80s were a disaster. Really, though, Tubby led us to the longest FF drought, and fans really really love that. All this bullshit being said and listed, I've rarely seen Kentucky teams so bad as these of Gillespie. They're horrible and everyone should be very angry.

Scattered Musings

Haven't been riding much, and fortunately not blogging either. I figure I should earn my entries with miles, and since I've been too "lump" to ride, then too "lump" to write. The last 2 weeks have been rain and 45F followed by rain and 40F followed by rain and 45F. After a while I just stopped riding, only to be bitten in the ass by sunny days while I was at meetings and such.

This is finals week, which of course leads to the break, so I'm going refortify the effort. I would be remiss to finish '07 with a whimper instead of a bang. It seems, though, that everything is stagnating at the moment. To wit:

• Billy G's Mildcats are terrible. They're mired at 4-3, with limp losses to biggies UNC and IU. More troubling are 2 losses to near-nobodies Gardner-Webb and UAB. UAB, though, is something like 6-3 vs. UK in the last X years. It all sucks. I can barely watch the games.
• Real Madrid is pretty mediocre too, although their record reflects much more than UK's. Given the first half of La Liga, they will enter '08 at the top of the table, but so many victories, like today's vs. Osasuna reflect lots of ebb and not much flow. I would think that, the way they've been playing of late, they'll lose ground to Barca and certainly in the Champions League.
• In many ways, these 2 teams parallel each other. Both dominated play in the 1950s, but their modern reputations lie primarily on the past. Real is not as good a modern team as Man U. or AC Milan and UK is not as good a program as UNC. Frustrating.
• Dallas lost at home to Philly today, and may have compromised their home-field advantage. They'll have to win out to keep ahead of Green Bay, and I don't like their chances at Lambeau. Frustrating.
• The kitchen project is slightly forward, but it will still be weeks before it is ready for flooring and painting, and we've yet to line up those 2 projects b/c of a lack of knowledge when it's all going to be ready. And there is stuff all around the house. It's a disaster zone. And I'm tired of eating out; I want to cook a meal at home and sit down normally. Frustrating.
• A huge cheating ring was busted at school. It involves website and facebook sites where students trade stolen tests and answers and such. And some teachers had their computers raided. Their "my documents" files were copied and available. As importantly, some of the "best" students were those involved. If my students, many of which are the "best" students statistically on SAT/AP/ACT, represent the modern young person, I would posit that modernity has created an extremely cynical greedy entity void of ethics. And can you blame them? A mixture of sexually unethical lying president and everything else unethical lying president has created a void, an unctious void. My teacher neighbor posited that it all began "in 1963 when prayer was taken out of school". I in turn suggested that the modern unfettered "market approach" meritocracy has created conditions where anything goes and those with less are losers. So either Republicans are to blame in their more recent behavior, or godless Dems are to blame for fomenting the '60s anti-establishment revolution. Whatever the case, I hate looking at 30 different young people and not being able to trust even one. Frustrating.
  
• After having a great Sept/Oct losing 15lbs, I feel anti-momentum coming on. The ice cream, the snacks, the junk. I want, want, to eat well, feel good, and keep losing, but the "monkey mind" sure does interfere. I sit shaking my head but offering not solutions other than ride the damn bike and stay away from the damn junk.

And finally, it's the holidays, but it's all been so crazy that we have no tree and no decorations. I don't feel like receiving gifts nor shopping for them. Our house is too full of shit in the first place. A week ago or so I listen to a Rev. Kusula Bikshu podcast of "Voluntary Simplicity". I think more than weight loss, career ambition or home remodeling, what I would like is the Simplify, and I'm not an empty-nester. I'm 38 and want less stuff. Perhaps that should include bikes too. The fam, though, deserves to get shit if they want shit. I would like a bike ride and the ability to prepare a simple healthy meal for the family, with good talk and laughter. Some Day.

Gatos

Lots of coverage of the Cats/Gators showdown tomorrow. John Clay of the Herald-Leader has lots, so I don't feel the need to link it as well. Interestingly, though, is the article out of the New York Times. That's weird. I'm used to reading Yankees news and avant-gard modern dance reviews. UK wins this one and the season is a HUGE success. They lose this and the pressure will be on to win vs. Tennessee at home the last game of the season. For a life-long football loser, I have some faith. These guys hit and play football.

TOP TEN!!

AP Top 25
1. LSU (33) 5-0 1,593
2. USC (32) 4-0 1,591
3. California 5-0 1,475
4. Ohio State 5-0 1,420
5. Wisconsin 5-0 1,271
6. South Florida 4-0 1,203
7. Boston College 5-0 1,172
8. Kentucky 5-0 1,143
9. Florida 4-1 1,031
10. Oklahoma 4-1 992

USA Today Poll
1. USC (45) 4-0 1,483
2. LSU (14) 5-0 1,454
3. California 5-0 1,363
4. Ohio State (1) 5-0 1,313
5. Wisconsin 5-0 1,251
6. Boston College 5-0 1,138
7. Florida 4-1 1,000
8. Kentucky 5-0 971
9. South Florida 4-0 960
10. Oklahoma 4-1 925

And on a non-cycling note, can you friggin' believe the Cats are top-10?? Top-10?? And amazingly they deserve it. No losses. 2 quality wins against formerly-ranked teams. A hell of an offense. Other SEC teams flagging or beating themselves up. Who knows zither and tither, but this team seems to have legs. The only team I truly scared of is LSU, and Tulane gave them everything they could handle for 60% of the game yesterday. They lose all the rest of their games, but I think otherwise. It's a team with great senior leadership and has horses, actual horses (well, not actual, but...), at numerous positions.

C.A.T.S.

Cats Cats Cats!

My few readers mostly dwell in non-Kentucky regions, so they care not for the fair college football non-terribleness. I, on the other hand as a long-time UofK football sufferer, take delight in the Cats' latest good fortune on the gridiron. First we have last week's superbig win over rival UL. Today, it gets even better with UL's most pathetic loss to 30-point underdog Syracuse coupled with the Cats big balls win at Arkansas. This euphoric football temperament is quite rare, so I will soak in the wine for as long as possible.

Mr. Perfect

Seems Tubby's "agent" has been in conversation with the Gophers for several weeks, weeks including the SEC and the NCAA tournament. Mr. Perfect/good guy/consummate pro compromised his team's chances with his wandering interest. Now, exclamatorily (is that a word?), I support Tubby getting the hell out of Dodge if was too burned out to give his best. AND if he's burned out, then he's not that different than the rest of us; we are not all turning cartwheels every day at work, right? BUT he's also not Mr. Perfect; he's as much a free agent modern mercenary coach as the rest of the coaching community is. It makes me batty that DickieV can sit there and laud and laud and laud how wonderful Orlando and drag 'Cats fans through the mud when his guy is playing the field as good as the rest.

Face it, he found a job that pays him phat bucks and where he has almost no expectations whatsoever. Wow Mr. Perfect!! What a perfectly mediocre situation for a top-40 coach!

More to come on this whole situation. I know you're excited.

Well, it happened

Orlando seems to be heading to Minnesota, the land of many cool cyclists and lakes. The result of all this is very much dependent on the outcome. That seems oximoronic, or no, obvious. It depends on who they hire. If it's an exciting one, then UK basketball will be better for it. Tubby is a good top-20 coach, but isn't one to compete with the best: Williams, Calhoun, Shishefski. If the hire doesn't 'Pop', then Woe (sic- wifely sic) is me! A bad hire could REALLY sink the 'Cats to a depth unknown. Time will tell.

Well, it's over, and that's good for my dear blog readers. They (all 3 of them) don't care about the 'Cats, and instead want bike content.

I can't pass up posting this from a column from Gene Wojciechowski from ESPN.com.

...except at Kentucky, where, said Wildcats junior guard Joe Crawford, "people expect us to be in the Final Four every year." Those expectations, no longer realistic in an age of Winthrops and George Masons, ARE why Smith should think long and hard about a change in hoops venue.

Hmmm, the expectation of the Final Four every year isn't realistic. I totally agree with that. There is no team since Duke of the early '90s and UCLA of the '60s-'70s that has visited the Final Four every year. Kentucky fans don't expect a FF every year; they expect a FF on a similar rate as that of the Big-5: UK, UNC, Duke, UCLA, and KU. Those are the 5 winning-est programs and Kentucky should perform on par with those programs. I found this on good ol' Wikipedia , records for total FFs:

• 16 North Carolina, UCLA
• 14 Duke
• 13 Kentucky
• 12 Kansas

Ah, the Big 5. Tubby's, no UK's, last FF was in 1998, using Rick Pitino's recruits. UNC was also in the FF that year. Since then:

• UNC- '00, '05 including Nat'l Championship
• UCLA-'05
• Duke-'99, '01 including Nat'l Championship,'04
• KU- '02, '03

I guess 'Cats fans have too high an expectation. UNC has 2 with a Championship, UCLA 1, Duke 3 and a Championship, and KU 2. And Tubby? None. Are expectations are just too high? We should be satisfied with making the tournament, right? It's '07. This year's is over for UK. We have 2 more this decade.

I did a little more research:

1990s:

• UK- 4 Final Fours/2 Championships
  
• UNC- 4 Final Fours/1 Championship
• UCLA-1 Final Fours/1 Championship
• Duke-5 Final Fours/2 Championships
• KU- 2 Final Fours

1980s:

• UK- 1 Final Four
  
• UNC- 1 Final Fours/1 Championship
• UCLA-1 Final Four
• Duke-3 Final Fours
• KU- 2 Final Fours/1 Championship

1970s:

• UK- 2 Final Fours/1 Championship
  
• UNC- 2 Final Fours
• UCLA-7 Final Fours/4 Championships
  
• Duke-1 Final Four
• KU- 1 Final Four

1960s:

• UK- 1 Final Fours
  
• UNC- 3 Final Fours
• UCLA-6 Final Fours/5 Championships
  
• Duke-3 Final Fours
• KU- 1 Final Four

1950s:

• UK- 2 Final Fours/1 Championship
  
• UNC- 1 Final Four/1 Championship
• UCLA-
  
• Duke-
• KU- 3 Final Fours

1940s (+ '39):

• UK- 3 Final Fours/2 Championship
  
• UNC- 1 Final Four
• UCLA-
  
• Duke-
• KU- 1 Final Four

As college sports have become more important the Big Programs have had even more success. Their tradition and focus lead them to get the best coaches and best players. Right now UK doesn't have the best players and the results show. He also has no recruiting class to speak of, and after these last two weeks, has no chance at gaining good late-year pickups. It's all bad!

Schwag and 'Cats

On the bike end, I've received a couple of packages recently to help refine two different machines. Firstly, I extended some patronage to Hiawatha, buying some large SKS (I linked to SB for pic purposes) guardamarros for the LHT. They should do nicely, and I think I'll put them on this afternoon. I also obtained a GillesBerthoud leather mudflap for the Bleriot. That's two bikes tweaked and improved. Next, again from Hiawatha a cheap Panaracer 700c tyre for the Bianchi project. Don't know yet if it's going to be fixie or what, but it needs two new tyres and I only have 1 functional. Jim gave me a good deal. Last week I received a nice pair of the GrandBois 650B tyres from JanHeine. Yummy! I had them stored i the bathroom (still do in fact) and they gave off the best new-tyre smell. I will probably wait until Spring Break to mount them, as I've been enjoying the CdlV's so far. Most, maybe all, comments I've seen about the GBs have been quite positive. I think I'm done for a while buying bike stuff. I've been on a spending spree since the Bleriot, and maybe since the LHT in '05. I have all the bike I need, and at present very much enjoy the set-ups on the respective machines. Long-term I would rather scale back than speed up. At present the LHT is a fine commuting machine, especially when the guardamarros are mounted. And the Bleriot is turning out to be a really nice ride. After that some of the machines are niche machines, but most are reasonable in cost. I wouldn't mind finding a good home for the RB-1, as I'll never get real miles out of it again, I'm afraid. Some may be said for the Blueridge, but I'm more inclined to keep that one, as I can still get good miles out of it. Maybe in needs guardamarros and a Mark's Nice Rack and turn it into an all-purpose machine that it needs to be.

On another, and equally positive note, the 'Cats beat the 'cats last night, staving off some Tubby misery. Good or Bad, if they beat Kansas tomorrow all would be forgiven, I think. Can they? Unlikely, but you never know with this team. They're random good components of a mediocre total product, BUT if the good components came together one night...

And finally, L and I went to see TMNT this morning on some free passes. It was pretty good computer animation and the story held attention. I suggest it for all those folks out there who have children, especially boys, between the ages of 6-12. Outside of that, well, why not?

More non-cycling

I've stated before that once tennis starts, cycling becomes difficult, so no cycling this week. I'll have to wait until the weekend to sneak some rides in.

On a basketball note (it is March Madness!!), the nat'l media-compiled by JohnClay- have a couple articles pertaining to the Tubby situation, one from USAToday chiding 'Cats fans as usual and another in Yahoosports summing up many points that many 'Cats fans agree with. Sometimes I get tired of hearing national commentators rip on UK fans for having too high a level of expectation. Would I love to go back and link to lots of articles from the MattDoherty/UNC era when the 'Heels sucked ass and I'm sure TarHeel nation went berserk. It's easier to pile on a bunch of rural, not-quite-as-monied-as-the-research-triangle rubes and non-rubes that comprise Big Blue Nation. Sorry, but we've had as sustained a period of excellence as any program in the country, winning titles from 1949 or so to 1996. The 'Cats have been good the whole time. We've won the most games ever. We've won the 2nd most titles ever, and over a longer-sustained period than UCLA. We have a strong basketball legacy and Orlando is getting paid $2 million to win, not to be a "nice guy" who has a mid-major level team. High expectations? Yes, sorry but Notre Dame isn't allowed to suck and neither is Kentucky basketball.

Cats, Cats, Cats

This is the kind of thing you work on when you want to avoid showering or doing other work. The first is performance summaries of Tubby's teams. These stats were mostly gathered from bigbluehistory.net :

• 06-07..........21-11.......... (so far)
  

• 05-06..........22-13 ......... L 2nd round vs. Connecticut


• 04-05.......... 28-6........... L Elite Eight vs Michigan St.


• 03-04.......... 27-5........... L 2nd round vs. UAB


• 02-03.......... 32-4.......... L Elite 8 vs. Marquette E8
  


• 01-02.......... 22-10 ......... L Sweet Sixteen vs. Maryland


• 00-01 ..........24-10 ..........L Sweet Sixteen vs. USC


• 99-00.......... 23-10.......... L2nd round vs. Syracuse


• 98-99.......... 28-9 ............L Elite 8 vs. Michigan St.


• 97-98.......... 35-4 ..........National Championship

The second batch of useless information only runs up to 00-01. I think this is a pretty good indicator of the continuing excellence- and there lack- of the UK program. This has the year, the final ranking and the highest ranking in parenthesis. If also contains those years with lack of rankings. This info. comes entirely from sportsstats.com, but that runs out at the end of the 00-01 season. The audacity of such a person to not continue so I can complete this useless project!

Hall

• 76-77'...... -- (6)- 12 weeks unranked
• 77-78'...... 1 National Champs
• 78-79'...... -- (6) 9 weeks unranked
• 79-80'...... 4 (2)
• 80-81'...... 8 (1)
• 81-82' ......15 (2 for 4 weeks)
• 82-83'......12 (2)
• 83-84'...... 3 (1) Final Four vs. Georgetown. UK shoots 3/33 in 2nd half that game.
  

Sutton

• 84-85' ...... -- (18) 16 weeks unranked
• 85-86'...... 3 (3)
• 86-87' ...... --(9) 9 weeks unranked
• 87-88' ...... 6 (1 for 3 polls)
• 88-89' ...... -- "death sentence year"

The Eddy Sutton years were marked by his alcoholism, the FedEx payment scandal and the Eric Manual ACT scandal. And all-round mess

Pitino

• 90-91'...... 9 (8) 2 weeks unranked
• 91-92' ......6 (6 "Unforgettables" and GGoAT vs. Duke)
• 92-93'...... 2 (1)
• 93-94' ......7 (1)
• 94-95'......2 (2)
• 95-96' ......2 (1 for 5 polls) National Champs
  
• 96-97' ......5 (3) Final vs. Arizona

Smith

• 97-98' ......5 (4) National Champs
• 98-99' ......8 (3)
• 99-00' ......19 (11) 2 weeks unranked
• 00-01' ......9 (9) 11 weeks unranked
• 01-02' ...... 16 (6)
• 02-03' ...... 1 (1)
• 03-04' ...... 2 (2) Really, there were a high 10s, low-teens team all season and jumped late.
• 04-05' ...... 7 (3)
• 05-06' ...... -- (4!)
• 06-07' ...... -- (20) 11 or so weeks unranked- This season is unfinished, but the Big Blue faithful see little hope.

So far Tubby's reign certainly isn' the disaster that was Eddie Sutton. He is wearing a Championship ring, courtesy of Rick Pitino's stash of studs. His peformance has been more up-and-down. The 02-03' season was one that really hinged on Keith Bogan's ankle injury in the NCAA tournament. In this realm he's getting grief for multiple seasons of double-digit losses, this year (high likely) setting/tying a mark for most seasons between the Final Four, and for the last two years of not even ending with a ranking. He's the anti Joe B. Hall of the 70s and 80s. Joe B had LOADS of talent but couldn't coach his way out of a wet paper bag. Tubby can coach Xs and Os, but can't recruit or at least asses for shit. He has numerous players playing regularly in the NBA: Tayshaun Prince (Pistons), Rajon Rondo (Celtics), Chuck Hayes (Rockets), Keith Bogans (Magic), Nazr Mohammed (Pistons), Jamaal Magliore (Trailblazers) and Scott Padgett (Nets). Some of these guys are pretty serviceable players, but the Tubster didn't win at the highest level as other coaches.

Yes, we're living the dreams of Rupp, Hall, and Pitino (all with rings, Pitino with 1.5 from Tubby's assistance), but UK isn't Ole Miss. It isn't Iowa. It isn't Clemson. It's the winningest program ever in college basketball, and trails only UCLA in championships, but has done it over a much longer span than did UCLA and did it with 3 different coaches. It's the only positive tradition the state of Kentucky has. Bourbon, smoking and gambling aren't good for you. It's wake-up time Orlando.

God, what a waste of time. I would've been better off meditating all the time it took me to write this.

Orlando revisited

Two tidbits of late have made me see the light on Orlando "Tubby" Smith, coach of most-high-exalted-best-of-all-time UK Wildcats. First Tubby was on my fav sports show PTI last night. Fact is, the guy comes off as a humble, down-to-earth, head-on-straight man. You couldn't find a person to better represent the university. I like just about every one of his answers. Immediately I came away thinking that you cannot fire this guy, no matter what. He has earned the right to prowl the sidelines, and here's hoping he re-rights the ship.

The second is an illustrative blog entry from the H-L's John Clay, one I've alluded to before. It's a very apt comparison of many of the top programs since Tubby has been at UK. No, he hasn't been to as many Final Fours as, say, Michigan State or to as many Elite Eights as Connecticut, but there has been a consistency of performance in the UK program, just not at the last two games. Tubby needs a Final Four and UK Fans would shut up for another 6 or 7 years. I think a title is even unexpected. I've changed my tune. Yes, I'm frustrated with the wins/losses, but UK couldn't come up with another coach who could engender such a long run of excellence.

6 en seguida

6 in a row to Florida, first ever. Longest stretch ever out of Final Four. Multiple losses in a row to Vandy (4?). first time to not beat a seeded team since '74. haven't beaten UNC or Kansas since the '03/'04 season (3 yrs). A #8 seed last year ('06) and most assuredly no better this year. They're a #4 seed from the Eastern Division in the SEC tournament!

I stated recently that the media is picking up on Tubby's woes, the latest coming from the Lexington Herald-Leader, the 'Cats home rag. It sums up everything else that has been said, that Tubby is un-fire-able. John Clay, the lead H-L columnist, also chimes in, stating that of course Tubby deserves a chance, or multiple ones, to get the program back to where it needs to be. This things are true. They don't mitigate, though, the fact that it's a second-class program at the moment; that's a fact not likely to change. It's a boring offensive set that doesn't attract the better recruits, and that's the ticket there. It's ALL about talent. No, coaching comes into play too, and those 'Cats just don't have it right now. And I don't think Tubby has the fire to change. He is what he is.

Oh Orlando

The Media are starting to notice the "Tubby" situation. Tony and Michael discussed it on PTI the other evening. Given the links above it's definitely on the mind of the 2 biggies, ESPN and SI. There were 2 articles in the CJ the other day as well, one by the columnist, the 2nd discussing how to turn things around...AGAIN, and today's one of Billy Donovan singing Orlando's praises. You can't fire Tubby b/c some of his numbers are grand: winning percentage, cleanliness of program (can't ignore that one), several high seeds in tourney ('03 very good but for Bogans' injury), etc. BUT he won with Ricky's players. He can't win the biggie or make it even to that level. He can't get real talent anymore. His teams are NOT at the consistent level of UNC, UCLA or Duke these days. (well, Duke isn't too pretty right now). I love the fact that UK fans have too high a level of expectation, but Tar Heel Nation doesn't seem to have to acquiesce to terrible teams. Is Matt Doherty still there? The most cogent comments for Seth Davis (Devil Dukie). He recognizes the expectations that arise from one of the top-5 historical programs, having come from one himself. The Nat'l media can bitch all they want about Cat fans, but UK isn't friggin' New Mexico State. It's Kentucky b'ball. The traditional historic powers are ranked as follows right now: #2 UCLA, #3 Kansas, #8 UNC, #14 Duke (before the Maryland loss- they're not any good either). Are the 'Cats going the way of St. Johns? As of 2004 they were #5 on all-time wins, but they haven't been a player since the days of Chris Mullins and Walter Berry, nigh 20 yrs. ago.

Frankly, this shit is unimportant but fun to discuss, as long as they aren't so damn bad. Another good find is this site about the 2003 team. (Junk) Food for thought.

"10-Loss II"

The Lexington Herald-Leader's John Clay says it best in today's pre-game b'ball article. I say they're just not very good. I was riding today and fortunately didn't watch what must've been a pretty terrible game. It really wasn't that close and they didn't play well. This week's SI has a blurb about 'dem 'Cats in the college bball section, saying, to paraphrase, that the Cats would be unstoppable if they could only shoot. This was based on the close loss to Florida while shooting 3-22 from the arc. It's too bad shooting is essential to scoring. That's right, Tubby. You must score to win... My few readers don't tend to follow the 'Cats, but this, on a sporting level, hurts. In the grand scheme of things, no, it's very unimportant, but...

Thoughts

• Haven't written an entry since last Tuesday. That day was the tail-end of my and then Z's Ick. Given that I haven't written since then, I also haven't ridden since then either. I'm not feeling willfully strong. I don't want to put on the 3 or so layers to go out in the sub-30s. yes, my brethren in other places still are; they're obviously more man/woman than I. I do intend to ride M/T/W. Let's hope.

• Cats almost pulled one off last night, but 3-22 3-pt. shooting did them in. Really, they played equally or better than the #1 Gators, but still didn't win. At home, crazy crowd, more rebounds, even on fouls, even on free throws, Noah and Horford in foul trouble. Everything was in line for an upset, but it still didn't happen. The tides have turned on Tubby (not intentional, but awfully good alliteration there). The 'Cats had beaten them 6 in a row, but now we're 0-5 vs. the Gators. The last team to beat UK 5 in a row was the '70s Tennessee team of Bernard King and Ernie Gruenfeld (sp?). Can you imagine them going down to Gainesville and doing it this year when every aligned last night? UF is the program on the up- last year's championship included, and UK is the one of the down- no Finals Fours in the longest stretch ever, EVER, for UK basketball.

• I got a good Buddhist mojo going there before I got sick. It's challenging, I found, to consider the impermanence of it all when you're under 3 layers of blankets with a nasty fever and chill. Consistency, the story of my non-life.

• I'm impressed by Mark Wahlberg. Here's a guy who has become a solid craftsperson while coming up from the bottom-feeders of society. I haven't really seen many of his movies, but he impresses me with his professionalism and candor. He said something very Buddhist, and perhaps Christian, on Inside the Actor's Studio. He stated that he wanted to do more and get more and become more not for his own sake, but rather so he could give more back to his rough-n-tumble community. And he does. Impressive, to me at least. And rare out of that entertainment world. No, rare out of the world of acquisition.

• I've been hesitantly vegetarian of late. It's really not that bad, but I also realize how much mean, especially little chunks of processed dead animal in pre-prepared food and restaurant food, there is out there. I can't imagine being vegan. What do you eat in winter if you don't can and freeze mega food? Like booze, I won't ever go cold turkey, nor do I really want to, but on a logical and physical level it is of benefit, and a path worth venturing down.

Out