The big day we have all been talking about for the better part of a year has finally arrived, and the big question on the mind of the Big Blue Nation today is, "Will Patterson be a Wildcat, or 'Not Exactly'?"
Alex Legion has intimated to Big Blue fans via his coach Steve Smith that he has done his part to try to convince Patterson to roll with us. It hasn't been reported in the media, but I have no doubt that AJ Stewart has also checked in -- he and Patterson have famously had some text conversations over the last year that have been reported around the blogosphere.
All the pieces are in place, and Patrick says he has made up his mind. All that is left to do is wait, watch, and hope. As I said yesterday, hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Lest we forget the other schools that are involved in Patterson's recruitment, Duke and "Not Exactly", we have heard a few things about them as well. Legion suggests to us that Duke was a distant third after a conversation he had with Patterson on Monday, but Patterson described the process he used to come to his decision, and I don't think I am ready to rule Duke out.
Even if it is every Kentucky fan's God-given right to loathe Duke, the truth is, they are a great program with a great coach. In this writer's humble opinion, from a basketball standpoint Duke is very much better in almost every respect to the third school on Patterson's list -- you know, the one with the ugly combination of blue and orange (and who shall remain nameless for this post).
Around the web, Mike Fields has this new post that looks at the Patterson slow-dance from a really great historical perspective. He compares Patterson to 1970 UK recruit Tom McMillen. I was a Wildcat fan by 1970, but wasn't into them enough to follow recruiting, and of course, the Internet was only a twinkle in Al Gore's eye back in those days. Let's just hope Patterson's recruitment turns out better than McMillan's.
Eric Crawford is fast becoming one of my favorite doofus writers. Only a Courier-Journal reporter could take a relatively good premise, i.e. that the regular season for sports is being overshadowed by a "bottom line" mentality among sports fans, and utterly mangle, mutilate, fold and staple it into a muddle worthy of little more than scorn and derision. Take this for example:
Pretty harmless, right? We think we are about to be treated to a discussion of just what he purports to want to talk about. But then, a mere three paragraphs later:
Ah. First he tells us he is going to forget Patterson, then he remembers him. And then again, yet a few words later. Then, Crawford parodies whatever credibility he may have once had as an actual sports enthusiast with this beauty:
Yeah, Eric, "Not Exactly" would no doubt like to have a 6'8" 230lb. linebacker. I mean, they are the national champs, right? Why not go against the grain? Even I, a notoriously soft football fan, cannot picture such a creature in my mind's eye. At tight end, or wide out? Sure. Punter? Why not. Even place kicker, for God's sake. But linebacker?
Listen to me carefully, Eric. Makers Mark should not be consumed in quantity just prior to authoring a column. Trust me on this one.
The Courier also has this snippet, which declares the Wildcats a loser and Donovan a winner, saying he "swooped in" and took Lucas away from Gillispie. I know it's hard to believe, but these folks actually take home a paycheck for vapid claptrap like this. And if you think you could do better, well, you are (hopefully) right.
And then, there is this article:
Why? Just why?
Well, that's it for now, but oh yes, there will be more ...
Travis Hubbard of the Huntington Herald-Dispatch has a new blog post out.
Mike DeCourcy also has a new blog post out at TSN, definitely worth a read, but nothing really Earth-shattering there.
Jody Demling at the Courier-Journal has a new blog post out , and he is suddenly very confident that Patterson will matriculate to UK a school with blue as one of their colors. I am not so sure it will be UK, but hope springs in the Bluegrass ...
Here is a Blue Devil's take.