You know, as LOST, the series that I consider to be the greatest in television history comes to a close, it made me take a retrospective look at just what has transpired in my life since the first airing of the show that lived up to it's billing 100000%.I have gotten married to the woman I was destined to marry. I have had two of the most wonderfully gifted and beautiful children imaginable. I have found my true calling vocation-wise. I have deepened my relationship with the Lord... but for the purpose of this blog, I thought it fitting to take that same look back at the UK program.
At the beginning of the 2004 season, expectations could not have been higher. Coming off an undefeated regular SEC season, the Cats were ready to fire on all cylinders, behind the lead of Kelenna Azubuike (not to leave out Woo and Shagari)and the undersized stalwart, Chuck Hayes, and the nations #1 rated recruiting class coming in (Crawford, Bradley, Rondo, Morris). That season ended prematurely, though, with a one point loss to UAB in the 2nd round (up until that point, I wasn't sure that UAB even had any sports other than track and field).
2005, though, was going to be better. With all those young, awesome players coming into their second year in the program (AND another strong incoming class consisting of Jared Carter and almost Adam Williams), this team was going to make up for the inexplicable exit made in the round of 32 the year before.... almost. The Cats made it all the way to the Elite 8... beforing being upended by the jolly green spartans.
The heat was turning up on the Tubbster. The luster of his unbelievable luck of inheriting an UBER talented team from Benedict Rick in '98 was wearing off... but it was still tough to believe he should be let go (although, I personally swore him off in the Elite 8 game in '98 when the moron allowed us to get down by 18 pts vs. Duke without calling a timeout). Since all UK fans love and care about the regular season, but know our bread is buttered in the NCAA tourney, it was time to put up or shut up. After a season that saw UK endure a 3 game losing streak to the likes of Kansas, Vandy, and Alabama, we rolled into the NCAA's as the 8th seed in the East region of the 2007 NCAA tournament. Only to have our spirits CRUSHED once again with yet another 2nd round beatdown...
The 2008 season brought sweeping changes, as The One known for the bug-eyed stare and foot-stomping reminiscent of Johnny Tyler (not Ringo, or he would have been sooo much more fun to play for) was replaced by one Billy Clyde Gillispie, he of fame for rebuilding such programs as Texas A&M and UTEP (teams always known for the quality/dominant basketball teams). Things were DEFINITELY going to get better. DEFINITELY, WITHOUT QUESITON. Right? Well, that season... ya know what? I have totally blocked out the tenure of BCG from my mind (although I'm sure there are a few cocktail waitresses in the Lexington area who will never be able to), so we're gonna fast forward to the arrival of.... THE SECOND COMING, HE WHO WALKS BEHIND THE ROWS, the man with the best record in all of college basketball 3 years running, JOHN CALIPARI.
This past season went well beyond my wildest dreams... a last hour whirlwind blitzkrieg that saw Coach Cal and the Cats land not only the #1 recruiting class in the nation, but also the unquestioned #1 player in the nation in John Wall.Although the year ended just a bit sooner that any of us wanted, it was a clear sign that things were finally moving in the right direction. After blasting through the regular season, finding ourselves ranked #1 in the nation for the first time in what seemed like eternity, we had our worst shooting night from 3pt range since before the line became part of the game... and were beaten by an athletic but unimpressive WVU team.
That brings us to the present... where, on the heels of a mass-exodus of nearly the entire #1 recruiting class from this past fall (Wall/Bledsoe/Orton/Cousins), and the most impressive player to don a Wildcat jersey since Derek Anderson (Patrick Patterson), Cal did it again... hauling in yet another unbelievable class consisting of Terrence Jones, Enes Kanter, Stacey Poole, Doron Lamb, Brandon Knight, and Eloy Vargas.
What will the next 6 years hold for the UK men's basketball team? I have a feeling it's going to be pretty good... and we won't find ourselves LOST amongst the wannabe's of college basketball any longer.
Good stuff Book. Let's hope the next six years shows us reaching the promise land of college basketball.
ReplyDeleteAs for Lost, I am a bit disappointed in the ending...but I think they probably did about as good as they could given all the different story lines. I loved the first few seasons of the show and even though I wasn't as big of a fan the last couple of seasons, it was still sad to see it end.
My wife just didn't get it... but everything that actually matters in my personal and professional life has happened during the span of that show... I thought it would be good to kind of make that time-line...
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