This is the ghost of Truzenzuex. The corporeal Truzenzuzex has spread himself on the wind, and passed into memory.
Congratulations to the Georgia Bulldogs on a magnificent victory. They had absolutely nothing to play for but pride, and that was apparently all they needed to beat a completely feckless Kentucky team tonight. It wasn't that UK played bad -- statistics will probably say we played OK. But Georgia was terrific, and they earned a great victory tonight. Sadly, I doubt anyone in Georgia will notice, so it falls on me to sing their praises. Great job, Dawgs. Well done.
And now comes the hard part.
I could sit here and type all night and not get everything dealt with, so I'm not even going to try. I am just going to write a lament -- a lament for a team that could have been, a lament for one of the worst seasons I can remember no matter what happens next, and a lament for the state of the Big Blue Nation. It is in shambles, there is nothing left but wreckage. The recriminations will terrible, the reaction, swift.
I consider myself a mature person, and even though I shout and curse during games, I try to show restraint and class no matter what the outcome. It would be helpful if everyone else in the BBN would eschew their righteous anger and join me, but I fully expect that will not happen. For those who cannot control themselves, I pray you go elsewhere. For those who can, please join me in a moment of silence for a season which once looked promising, but now cannot be rescued, even by a miracle run in the SEC tournament.
I don't know who to feel worse for -- Patrick Patterson or Jared Carter. Carter gets the unfortunate distinction of being the senior who was honored on one of Kentucky's most ignominious nights. I don't mean my comments to demean or minimize the impressive and praiseworthy efforts of the Bulldogs. But hopefully, Georgia fans reading this will understand what was on the line, what the Georgia team had done, and what needed to happen for Kentucky to rescue the season.
I said a few days back that I retained no hopes for this season, and that is so. This loss finds me completely numb and impervious to pain. If someone brought in a knife and cut off one of my limbs, I would scarcely notice. This season has been something I hope to never be able to remember in my dotage. Not Alzheimer's, mind you, but a little dementia might be a good thing.
I don't know how Billy Gillispie recovers from this. I know Kentucky cannot fire him after two years without doing more damage to the program, and frankly, I don't think he deserves to be fired. But those who desire to get rid of him now have a strong case. I don't agree, but my arguments have sadly been reduced to, "It just ain't right to fire somebody after two years." That's it.
I'm not going to review what the team did, or the things that happened. They are pretty much irrelevant. There comes a time when the only thing that matters is the outcome, and this is one of those times. For all the players, the ones who played hard and the ones who did not, it is sackcloth and ashes. For the Big Blue Nation, it is self-flagellation for the foreseeable future. The players get off lucky. My back is already bloody.
It's difficult to explain what it's like being a blogger in this time. I can honestly say that if I could ethically do it, I would abandon this blog for at least two months, maybe more. But I can't, and it wouldn't be right, not only to SB Nation, but to all those who have come to stand and defend a fan's right not to be continuously subjected to hateful invective, and to rationally discuss the Wildcats, however deep and bottomless the pit may seem. Right now, it looks like we'll all be falling forever through the dark ...
Tomorrow, I'm sure my perspective will be better. I am confident of it. Perhaps this is a karmic burden that UK somehow accumulated in the 1990's that we have not yet properly worked off. Perhaps it is Tubby Smith praying to JoBu that UK fans suffer the misery many of them inflicted on him at times. Perhaps it is Rick Pitino asking the Pope to pray for a little Big Blue misery. Perhaps I'm just making stuff up, but that's what I do.
Anyway, discuss to your heart's content, but do remember my rules of civility. I will not relax them just because all of you are as miserable as I. I'll leave you with this -- I think we have fairly earned what we have coming from the press and media. Steel yourselves for the worst, because if you suppose this is it, you are engaging in wishful thinking.