I've always admired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. This is a piece that he wrote for Time Magazine iin response to the Donald Sterling debacle is outstanding, and it should be read by everybody. Consider:
So, if we’re all going to be outraged, let’s be outraged that we weren’t more outraged when his racism was first evident. Let’s be outraged that private conversations between people in an intimate relationship are recorded and publicly played. Let’s be outraged that whoever did the betraying will probably get a book deal, a sitcom, trade recipes with Hoda and Kathie Lee, and soon appear on Celebrity Apprentice and Dancing with the Stars.
I think this is right. I wrote a whole essay expounding on it, and then decided that it was a bunch of words basically saying the same thing over and over again. I think I'll just let his commentary, and this one, stand as a fair representation of my feelings on this matter. All I could do is muck it up with more bloviation.
Racism is evil, but we cannot cure it with evil, or hypocrisy, or vengeance; only with courage, integrity, honesty, loyalty, fairness, and truth.
Tweet of the Morning
Looks like UK assistant Kenny Payne will be staying at Kentucky as Southern Miss looks elsewhere.
— Patrick Daniels (@BBNsportsTalk) April 29, 2014
Glad to have Kenny back.
Your Quickies:
Kentucky football
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Patrick Towles springs into the spotlight in the Blue/White game. I'm glad to see it. I was really worried that by redshirting last season, Towles had gotten himself into a trick bag and limited his options. Thankfully, those fears seem misplaced, and that's good.
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Neal Brown tweaks Cardinals, talks about the running backs and line play.
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Drew Barker says he's "at the basics right now." I think that's right, but I liked what I saw from him. He needs a year before he'll be ready, or at least it seemed that way to me.
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The UK marketing department is back at it, delivering some serious cool to Kentucky recruits.
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Patrick Towles had to make major changes to his throwing style.
Kentucky basketball
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Calipari talks playing rotations. This is obviously going to be a big debate all summer, both inside and outside the Big Blue Nation. I think this team would be the perfect candidate for "brigade" style substitution. Will Calipari try that? He never has while at Kentucky, but Calipari has been anything but rigid in his thinking.
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Dick Vitale calls Kentucky "prohibitive favorites," and I'm not surprised at the hyperbole. Here at A Sea of Blue, we, or at least I, will be taking a more conservative approach. Yes, this team looks good on paper, and deserves to be a favorite. This may be the most talented Kentucky team in modern history, although I'll stop short of declaring that to be so — 1996 was an awfully talented team, as was 2010. It goes without saying that, relative to their times, other UK teams may have been even more talented.
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More hyperventilating can be found here, and I don't blame anybody going here. I'm just content that this team is bound to be competitive for all the marbles yet again, and in reality, that's all I've ever wanted. Basketball is a funny game, and the NCAA Tournament is full of surprises.
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Eamonn Brenman revises his top 25 with UK at the top. I will take issue with this:
- Duke Blue Devils: Nothing less than a Jabari Parker return could have moved Duke beyond Kentucky and into the No. 1 spot at this point in the season, and Parker is heading to the NBA, as expected. Even so, the Blue Devils are in great shape, mixing the nation's best recruiting class with a really solid group of veteran, tried-and-tested role players. [My emphasis]
I can't see how Parker's return could have moved Duke to #1 over UK as currently constituted, even if Rodney Hood had also stayed. It isn't as if Duke was a great team last season even notwithstanding their early ouster in the tournament.
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Kentucky is currently at 5-1 to win the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Duke is 9-1 and Louisville 25-1. Hat tip: Aaron's blog
Other Kentucky sports
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UK honors student-athletes with CATSPYS. More, including the winners, here at UKAthletics.com
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Men's golf finishes 8th at SEC Tournament. Relay team sets a school mark at Penn Relays.
Links posts
College football
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Saturday Down South runs down the SEC's quarterback picture team by team.
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Majority of athletics directors think the college football playoff will be expanded by 2023.
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What's the SEC's penalty for poor non-conference scheduling?
College basketball
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Kim Anderson will be Mizzou's next basketball coach. I think this is a pretty good choice. Dana O'Neil takes issue with the "cloak and dagger" process of hiring him, but frankly, the process is not all that important — only the outcome ultimately matters.
Bill Connelly at Rock M Nation has more here. Consider:
Missouri just hired an honors student. We'll see how Anderson goes about proving doubters wrong when it comes to his ability to score top-level talent, both within and outside of the Show-Me State. But nobody doubts the man's prowess for coaching the game of basketball, the man's Missouri ties, and the man's class. Mizzou will now be led by one of the best, brightest basketball products the school has ever produced. And for those who belong in the "basketball is basketball" camp, this Mizzou product has 274 career NCAA basketball wins to his name.
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So now Chane "Ganja" Behanan will enter the NBA Draft after all. Good luck in the D-league, Chane.
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Tennessee's recruiting class is really suffering from Cuonzo Martin's exodus.