Big Blue Nation Linkapalooza: Calipari Stone Age Edition

It seems that John Calipari doesn't own a computer, and doesn't do a lot of his own tweets.  It can be difficult to imagine, especially for a heavy computer user like me, that one could exist in the modern world without one.  With that said, all I have to do is look around to a few of my friends who rarely, if ever, use a computer.

I rather imagine the number of people who reject technology or fail to use it these days is pretty small, and getting smaller as the older generations are replaced by those who have always had a computer at hand.  Calipari is a couple of years younger than me, but in his profession, it really isn't all that surprising that he doesn't use a computer much, so not having one at all wouldn't be much of a loss.  Besides, he has plenty of technically competent people at his beck and call, so a personal computer might only amount to a paperweight for him.

Anyway, I can imagine that Jim Tressel might wish he had neglected to own or use a computer, especially email.

Now, for today's links:

• Calipari’s Comment: Dig Or Not?

  If you listen to the rest of the audio, however, in the full context it sounds like Calipari is referring to a larger problem in the profession — wouldn’t it be a safe assumption that if the world knows about Krzyzewski’s possible mistake that John Calipari knows other coaches who have done the same thing but haven’t been fired for it? — as opposed to intentionally getting in a dig against one guy. At worst, if it’s a dig, it’s an unintentional one.

  I think RTC gets this right, and Matt Norlander gets it wrong.  In defense of Matt, it's never a bad idea, from a traffic perspective, to poke the Big Blue Nation with a stick.

• La'Rod King comes to camp the right way.

  The offense faces the biggest questions — questions the team will try to answer during camp. Newton, who has nine starts in his career, won’t have the established weapons enjoyed by Mike Hartline, last year’s starting QB. Gone are tailback Derrick Locke and wide receivers Randall Cobb and Chris Matthews.

  Football season is here, ladies and gentlemen.  Who will step up?

• Cuonzo Martin to get babtism by fire in Maui Invitational.

• Hoopsworld runs down the top players of 2012.
  Lots of UK targets in there. When will the dominoes start to fall?

• Larry Brown Sports gets it wrong on many levels.

  That’s called damage control by Cal who is trying to keep the peace. Truth is, whether he wants to admit it or not, the comments do apply to Mike Krzyzewski. As I wrote on twitter this week (follow me!), Kelvin Sampson violates the same rule and he gets called a sleaze. Coach K violates the same rule and people say the rule is wrong; actions are judged based on people’s reputation rather than their actions.

  First of all, Calipari was not using damage control, he was responding to commentary by Matt Norlander on CBS' Eye On College Basketball.  Second, there is absolutely no comparison between what Krzyzewski did and what Sampson did.  Sampson committed hundreds of illegal calls.  Krzyzewski committed one, and that one deals with a rule interpretation that he should have known, but it is clear that he didn't do it intentionally.  Sampson's intentions, on the other hand, were pretty obvious.

  Look, It is not fair to compare the two whatsoever.  They have nothing in common, including the rule being violated.  Krzyzewski, in my view, did commit a violation, but it isn't even in the same galaxy as what Sampson did.

• Crank up the Kentucky-Duke rivalry?
  Is that actually possible? I rather doubt it.

• Heh.
  For some reason, I found this funny. I think Mr. Willis has trust issues.

• Billy Gillispie is back in his element at Texas Tech

  You would think Gillispie would have a negative view of his rocky two years in the Bluegrass State. But think again. Whether you believe him or not, Gillispie refuses, at least publicly, to look at the experience as anything but positive.

  I always liked Gillispie, and despite his failure at UK and personal problems shortly after, I still do.  I wish him a lot of success at Texas Tech.

• For Whom The Cowbell Tolls looks at the Mississippi St. vs. Kentucky game.
  This will be a very interesting game for the Wildcats. MSU is good this year, and Kentucky looks decent on paper, but has some proving to do.

• Arizona Desert Swarm reacts to Calipari's recent offer to 2013 stud Chris Thomas.

• Phillips claims some frosh are ready to contribute now.

  "We will play more freshmen than we have in the past — especially at the skill positions — and I just think that those guys just need to be focused on football, getting themselves ready."

  Definitely a departure from recent years.

• Louisville Central high providing defensive punch for UK.

  Check the Wildcats’ defensive lineup. It includes three guys from Central, which sits 6.16 miles from Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, home of the University of Louisville football team.

  Those words warm the cockles of my heart, and probably send Charlie Strong's heart spiraling down.

• List of videos from Kentucky Football Media Day
  John Clay posted these individually yesterday, and I put some of them on the Facebook page, but here is a place where you can see them all.

• The new face of Kentucky football?
  He's talking the talk, that's for sure.

• I truly hate this.
  Injuries just suck.

• Tom Leach's Saturday links.
• UK coach Joker Phillips interviewed by Maria Montgomery for vaughtsviews.com

• Newton should be ready.
  It's time for him to step up and perform.

• Del Willis is busily backpedling from his now-infamous remark.
  Whatever. Send your kid to Podunk Junction Community College, I don't care. Good luck to you.

• Kentucky Wildcat's 5 for Friday: Is John Calipari stuck in the dark ages?
  Heh.

• Scout.com: Contact rules are reasonable and sensible

  Outcries of some in the media that the contact rules that Mike Krzyzewski violated when contacting both Alex Poythress and his AAU coach recently are silly, or in some other way not sensible are making lame attempts to defend the indefensible.

  The non-contact rules at such events are purposeful and are one of the few areas of the NCAA massive set of bylaws that are sensible.

  I agree with this.

• How rampant is illegal contact in the summer?
  The upshot of this is, it isn't rampant at all. Most players and coaches seem to understand the rule that Coach K either forgot, overlooked, or ignored.