A Sea Of Green?? What the???

Well folks, Kentucky Basketball is certainly back in the forefront of the collegiate athletics scene. My wife and her morning parade of news shows brought me the Harry Smith/Dave Price/Maggie Rodriguez friendly wager this morning. The Internet is all aflutter with the Cornell/Good Kentucky/Bad press. And in a game where the Big Blue is facing the Big Red, why is it that all I am seeing is Green?

I have never seen this much acrimony, this much angst, or this much envy of a program in my life. Embracing the Hate, as Tru puts it, wont even cover the check for the horsd'ouvres (spelling??) How did this get so ugly?? Are we really hated that much throughout the land? Or is this the latest fad in the sports world? And this is getting deeper than athletics. We have to drag the greatest time consumer of the 20th century into the picture and defame Mr.Rubik and his wonderful Cube too? Forgive my frustration and swelling pride here people but this is going off the deep end.

And since when did Cornell even enter into the discussion of the really great programs this year? We are 34-2 folks......34-2.....let that sink in for just a minute. Cornell couldn't go 34-2 if the only teams they played were in the Ivy League. We have what appear to be 5 possible NBA lottery picks facing 5 possible MBA's. Donahue is a good coach, don't get me wrong, but he has not reinvented the game. Everyone has heard this stuff from John Calipari down to some nutcase on a website that gets 5 hits a week, saying we are in trouble here, and everyone is really buying it. Look, if the wheels fell off of this thing tomorrow, it has been one helluva ride this year, and I for one, have loved every last second of it. Compared to what we have been dealing with for the last few years, this is Heaven.

 Now, having said that, Cornell is not winning this game tonight. A worthy opponent, yes. A team that has worked very hard to get to where they are? Sure. You want to whine to me that Cornell players are not the quality of ours, take a hike. They have the players they want. If they didnt, they can go get some others. Mark Coury, and I do love the Coury Flurry at heart, would be hard pressed to work as a trainer for this Kentucky squad.

We will not take this game lightly, and we will not bend to the will of these potential Rhodes Scholars from the east. Kansas had trouble with Cornell because they were struggling at the time they played, and they still won. And from the look for the tournament, there was a weakness they must have shown to others as well, because Northern Iowa found it and made the most of their opportunity when Cornell could not. We fell twice this season, to a hot-handed shooting guard that we allowed to make some of clutch shots, on a team that probably could also beat this Cornell squad, and to a rival that has played as well as anyone in the Nation at times who also beat Kansas. Both of these losses came at away games with very hostile crowds. Are we away this time? Yes, but Cornell is not Tennessee, and Big Red would get his hat handed to him at Knoxville too.

All of a sudden, Cornell has 2.5 million fans ( maybe more, who knows) from California to Vermont and that's great for them. I say this to Cornell, enjoy them, because next week, they won't be able to remember your name or why they were backing you. Lots of people want to get on the train when it is high-balling it's way down the track, but sooner or later the track comes to an end.

Everyone wants to compare this to David Vs.Goliath. Well, forgive me for interjecting a Sunday School lesson here, but David won because God intended for him to, and to lead his people. God was angered at the Philistines for their treatment of His people, and wanted to punish them and send them a message. The University of Kentucky is not a bunch of Philistines on a quest to make the rest of the world their slaves. They are a group of kids who have been maligned, bad-mouthed, slapped, punched, talked down to, smeared in the press, and vilified by the media as thugs, hotheads, or anything else that someone could invent out of thin air. They are lead by a man who has been crucified in the media with no proof of any wrongdoing, treated like he is the Anti-Christ, and slandered all season long, because he sees something in each and every kid he recruits and is willing to go the extra mile to get it out of them, regardless of what people are saying about them.

So, David, bring your best shot, because I don't want to hear any excuses when this is all over. And all of you new Cornell fans out there, try and remember after this week, who it is you have been cheering for. Please go buy your Cornell sweatshirts and hats, and make sure that some of that love you are professing is going to get back to that team, because they will need more than fair-weather fans showing up to make themselves the greatest basketball program in the history of college athletics. We already did that here, and let me tell you, you cant do it in one season or even 20.....it takes great kids, great fans, and great coaches, and we are extremely fortunate enough to have them all. If that makes us the Philistines, then so be it, I just don't think God sees it that way, because he has blessed us too much to this point, and we are more than thankful.

This is going to seem like a very self-serving piece for the Cats, and for that I do not apologize. Go Get 'Em Cats.....let God sort 'em out.......