Whiny Coaches: Are We Back?

I'm an avid reader of John Clay and I couldn't help but notice that his video clip of Rick Stansbury this morning contained a rather drawn out exposition on what might have been if Rodney Hood had not gotten hurt and was available to effectively guard Michael Kidd-Gilchrist the second half (news flash: I'm not sure anyone in college basketball can effectively guard MKG when his team really needs him). "It's not fair."

This reminded me a bit of earlier comments by Kevin Stallings -- which were subsequently repeated by Billy Donovan -- lamenting SEC scheduling and the fact that Kentucky does not have to play any Thursday/Saturday turnarounds. "It's just not fair." We even have ex-coaches joining the chorus: Digger Phelps ranting "This is Vanderbilt's day - don't ruin it." "It's REALLY not fair (you guys support your team way too well)." Bob Knight (enough said).

This tone of "stacked deck" from the captains of the industry jogged some old memories for me. You see, I was raised to be a rabid UK Wildcat fan by another rabid UK Wildcat fan who would share stories of days gone by (and the latter fan, now 81, and I still watch every game together through the modern miracles of ESPN and text messaging). So I reached out to my mentor this morning to see if he remembered any similar stories from the glory days when our ship was guided by Mr. Rupp. Very succinctly:

"Just general whining & constant excuses."

If we judge how we are perceived by the behavior of those around us, it would seem that UK basketball has reclaimed its status in the minds of the industry leaders.

And, finally, one story to serve as fair warning to our opposition that it might be best to spend their energies raising their own level of play as opposed to focusing so much on UK:

"My main memory about that era was all the SEC schools except Tennessee voted to bar UK from playing the 1952-53 season, rejoicing at the opportunity to get UK off their schedule. The next year Rupp had the scoreboard refurbished to add a third digit for home games - we used that digit."

It feels good to be back.

(More stats next time....)