Cal - Going, $taying?
by hoboat33 on May 5, 2010 2:06 PM EDT
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maysvilleblue brought up the latest rumor of Cal going to the NBA - this time Chicago. That coupled with the news concerning the platinum parachute in the works for Cal has started to leave me a little unsettled. On the one hand, I firmly believe Cal is running a very clean program and there are no "surprises" but it's almost as if Cal is becoming bigger than the program.
Without a doubt a lot of this publicity is because it is Calipari. Any other coach going through this exact scenario wouldn't garner near the press as Cal and anything he does is looked at from 57 sides; with 56 sides being illegal, unethical, unseemly, shady, deceitful or dishonest.
This past year has been more than we could hope for from "the door", through the season, post-season and recruiting future Cats. It has been a year of wide-eyed jubilation. While I am very grateful for all of the work by Coach Cal and the turn around he has made in the program, I'm beginning to feel like the program is almost being held hostage. Four million bucks a year is a lot of money in anybody's book and now the infinite wisdom of the administration appears to be enhancing Cal's contract in respect to the length of the contract. Why don't they just add ...will remain highest paid basketball coach until leaving. to the existing contract?
The "Is he staying/is he leaving?" question will hang over our heads as long as Cal is with us and I can understand the administration wanting to get him committed for the purpose of program stability. I just hope this latest revelation was instigated by the administration and not Cal. I won't back any coach, regardless of success, if he begins to think he is bigger than the program. Just sayin'.
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hoboat
I don’t think a piece of paper will hold anyone who wants to leave. He is all ready the highest paid. What else can they throw at him. Memphis offered to beat our offer last year. I’m thinking you may be right about him and his self worth.
Happy Days are here again The sky is all ways BLUE again Happy days are here again !
Maybe
they can write in some type of poisin pill addendum. “Kentucky gets $20 million” buyout (since we probably couldn’t use draft picks ;-)) ). But seriously, anything written in as far as buyout money would essentially have to come from Cal because the NBA is not under guidance of NCAA contracts.
Overall, though, all the press has almost gotten to the point of “Coach Calipari” in big bold letters and “coach of Kentucky” as a notation. I’m probably overreacting since 99.9% of fans are not paying any attention to any college basketball news. Just like when Wall had his malichious tresspassing incident last summer, virtually nothing was ever mentioned during the season when fans started paying attention.
Kentucky fans are significantly more involved in college basketball news after the tourney than others. I have several friends that are always jabbing me when they can about Kentucky basketball foibles and nothing has been said. Basketball news which we take dear to heart and is at the top of our thoughts doesn’t even register on the radar anywhere else.
I am glad I am not the only one
that is thinking this way. I don’t think a contract (extension or new) will stop him from leaving if he wants to go.
He said this was his dream job !! I really would like to take that as word. Could he have meant one of his dream jobs? I don’t know……………
Sighs*
Blue... there is no other color to Bleed !!!
cal has big dreams....
so, yes, “one of” is probably right.
watched this act of his for 9 years at memphis – he used it to get more and more.
i always wished that the on court excitement i saw in fedex forum would return to rupp arena – be careful what you wish for….
only one rule in my house - uk has to be your favorite college bball team
by memphis wildcat on May 5, 2010 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions
Big SIGH now
Just what I thought. Thanks memphis. I knew you would know.
Blue... there is no other color to Bleed !!!
now some good news...
on the contract extension, Cal has played this one before.
my thought was that Cal was not looking for a raise (can hear him now “in these tough economic time, i did not think it was right to take a raise”) but something else. odoyle was on parrish’s radio show, and said what cal was after was more control over his twitter/blog/website – etc. therefore, the reworking of the contract would not increase his salary, but would increase his pay through other sources. that is typical Cal…..
memphis sports radio is having a field day with this one. the bad news is the things he is saying about not being interested in chicago are the same things he said about uk. the good news is the things he is saying are the same things he said about all the other jobs he did NOT take prior to the uk job….
only one rule in my house - uk has to be your favorite college bball team
by memphis wildcat on May 5, 2010 10:00 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't think Cal would ever leave for another college job
Would he want another shot at the NBA to show that he can cut it at the highest level? I dunno.
To date, he has shown that with superior talent; he can win a gaudy amount of games. In the NBA, he will never have vastly superior talent than his competition. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether he can succeed in the pros or not. Maybe for someone as driven to succeed as him, that still has a lure.
I don’t see any reason to rework his contract at this time. He has an 8 year deal. Barnhart wants to keep him until he retires… fair enough, but how much longer than 8 years do we really think that will be??
Of course its difficult, its a shortcut... if it was easy it'd just be "the way."
Not past THIS current 8-year contract.
“I will,” he said of retiring from coaching, "Sooner than everyone thinks. I’m not a, quote, lifer. I’m not going to be coaching till I’m 70. If I’m coaching in my 60s, something happened.
http://www.kentucky.com/2009/04/17/763917/calipari-says-hes-not-a-lifer.html
'..when they bring a knife, you bring a gun...that's the Chicago way..'
He's welcome to stay
as long as he’s winning and I can’t see him NOT winning. He can put together a high quality college team and win 20-25 games by default. Good point chirop on repeating that formula in the NBA. There he’ll actually have to coach, and to coach egos larger (and better paid) than his. Again, I’m glad he’s here and enjoy everything he’s doing for the program – just don’t want to crown him.
You Can Count On Your Fingers The Number Of College Coaches Who Average 25 W
You’ll have fingers left over when you’re done.
No one wins 25 games by default.
by FortyYearCatFan on May 5, 2010 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Rupp was NEVER bigger than the program....
(sarcasm font)…
only one rule in my house - uk has to be your favorite college bball team
My opinion
Rupp was the program. Look at what we had before he got to Lexington.
Pitino got to the point he thought he was, my opinion.
Tubby just came in and won.
Gillispie has out of his league.
Hall, one of my favorites, took over the toughest job in coaching and continued with out a misstep. He was a Kentuckian, spent part of his college years here and knew what the program was all about. I wish we could get someone who lived the program like he did.
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
Off the subject of this post, but
UK football will be just fine. Glad to see you feel this way Paris.
He was a Kentuckian, spent part of his college years here and knew what the program was all about. I wish we could get someone who lived the program like he did.
Blue... there is no other color to Bleed !!!
by a2d2 on May 5, 2010 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
A little difference in the two
Hall was coaching at Rollins College when they called him back to Kentucky. Got some experience of being on his own. Rupp wasn;t going to accept being put out to pasture so Hall was about to take the head job at Saint Louis.
The current football coach, well, he’s undefeated.
I don’t remember Joker being mentioned as a canidate at any other university as a head coach. Maybe I’m wrong.
He may be the next Bear Bryant of SEC football.
Luckily its only a few months away before we’ll find out
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
A little difference...
Six of one, a half dozen of the other. Joe B was an assistant to Rupp prior to taking over the head coach position. Just sayin’.
:-)
Joker does have all the same things you outlined though. I hope he surprises us all. If he outshines expectations, we won’t have to debate quality of wins getting us to a bowl. We will soon find out, won’t we?
Blue... there is no other color to Bleed !!!
Actually UK Was Pretty Decent In 1920's
Not Rupp level but not bad.
by FortyYearCatFan on May 5, 2010 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions
According to Tru's
post on the main page the extension idea was initiated by the administration. That make me feel better. Now if we could return the Cal worship to that of mere mortal and let Kentucky’s basketball tradition take center stage due to Cal’s effort, not vice versa.
In this age of
basketball, Kentucky’s tradition is mostly do do. It means nothing to the kids who actually play the game except for a few here or there in remote villages in the state. We are kidding ourselves and living in the past to think that there will be a resurgence of UK’s past status just because we are UK. Those days are gone folks. Not that they are meaningless, just not relevant to the current generation of ball players. Better lock into the Cal worship and then look for the next Cal if you want to remain relevant. Stick your head in the sands of the past and that is where you will remain.
I woke up feeling BLUE this morning. It's gonna be a great day.
Au contraire mon frere.
But not like you think. Granted, today’s kids are more likely to carry along the “me first” attitude that has slowly but in inexorably spread throughout our society but that still works to our favor. Kentucky’s tradition may very well carry less weight in recruiting players than years past but that same tradition is what unites our fans into as rabid a group as any in college basketball.
First, I don’t care for generalizing and there are always exceptions; however, it’s pretty safe to say that recruits want exposure, adulation and a shot at the next level. They may not appreciate our tradition but the result gives them what they want. (Oh yeah, unless things have changed since I left school, we’ve also got the prettiest girls!)
I been thinking about this all day
This whole NBA/Coach Cal brings back memories of the 90’s when we went through this just about every year with RP. I hate it. I just think he will go. Just a feeling I have. I stated earlier today that I think even though he failed at New Jersey he has the ego which makes him want to go back to the NBA to prove he can win at that level. And I also must admit that a small part of me wouldn’t mind if he went. Maybe it’s this whole GPA thing or the rumors that swirl at every turn. It all makes me nervous.
you are right...
he will leave…maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, maybe at the end of the contract.
my advice – enjoy the ride. its like a roller coaster at Kings Island – there will be ups and downs, but if all you do is focus on the fact that it will be over at some point, you miss the fun!
only one rule in my house - uk has to be your favorite college bball team
by memphis wildcat on May 5, 2010 10:04 PM EDT up reply actions
He hasn't proven he
can win it all at the college level yet. His ego will drive him no doubt, but I think he is still studying the map for his destination. This is America, he is a free man, he can go where he chooses. If he chooses us, he will build a winning program. If he doesn’t, we will find someone who will. The coach is dead, long live the coach.
I woke up feeling BLUE this morning. It's gonna be a great day.
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