Today was the day that head coaches Mark Stoops of the Kentucky Wildcats and Bobby Petrino of the Louisville Cardinals met with the media for the Governor's Cup luncheon.
This day concerns the annual state rivalry that pits the Commonwealth's two most recognizable programs against each other. Excitement is high as there are questions that need to be addressed by both men: who is the front runner for the quarterback position? Can Kentucky bust it's bowl slump? Can the Cardinals build on a successful first year in the ACC?
Those are all valid questions, but can either coach truly answer anything right now? Most of them were addressed weeks ago after spring practice wrapped up for each team. Really, the only thing of significance Stoops said was that Patrick Towles has a leg up on Drew Barker at the QB position. But that's something we knew already.
Remember last season when Mark Stoops opted out of attending the event? He was crushed by the Louisville media contingent and was lambasted on twitter by Cardinal fans. The media lamented at how important the event is to the Commonwealth and the Louisville fan base called Stoops a coward, among other choice names.
So Stoops played the nice guy and attend this all important event. The question is, did anyone notice? I follow Kentucky sports as close as anybody and I didn't even know the event was today until I saw it pop up on my Twitter feed. Nobody has been talking about it. There has been little to no hype. The media covering the event had a mostly "meh" attitude about the entire thing.
I understand that the luncheon is a charitable event as it raises money for the Dare to Care food bank. This is a worthy cause no doubt, but wouldn't it be more prudent to move the luncheon closer to when the game is scheduled to be played?
Coaches would be able to better answer questions about players, positions, and match ups. This past season, Kentucky was a five win team looking for one more victory in order to go to a bowl game. That would have drummed up even more excitement at the Governor's Cup Luncheon. The story-lines would be more viable.
And could you imagine Stoops and Petrino in the same room that close to the game? It would be like a heavyweight boxing weigh-in with both prize fighters staring daggers at each other.
I'm not trying to be a killjoy here. It's nice to have a little football break in June, but right now you can't find much interest in it. While football is never really out of the consciousness of the American public, it goes into hibernation during the summer months.
It's too bad the Governor's Cup is in hibernation along with it.