WBN Mailbag 2: Electric Bugaloo

It’s Florida week and everyone in the Big Blue Nation is hoping that head coach Mark Stoops can pull a Joker Phillips and put an end to another way too long losing streak in football (until someone proves to me someone else coached the Cats against Tennessee in 2011, I’m going to give Joker the credit).  So, to get the BBN in the right mindset, let’s welcome the return of the almighty WBN mailbag.

“Admit it, you’re just upset that the Louisville Cardinals are going to win the BCS National Championship and continue the Year of the Cardinal. #L1C4, baby!!!!!”

-John, Louisville

A couple of points here. First, UL has no shot at the BCS championship, so let’s all stop it. Not. Going. To. Happen.  No one, not Ohio State, not Alabama, not Georgia nor the 1972 Miami Dolphins are scared to play UL. Second, the Year of the Cardinal will go down in history with the Great Depression, the Black Plague, the Dark Ages and Chevy Chases’s late night talk show as phrases that will describe a dark time in human history. Look, the Cards have a had a tremendous amount of success, but to think it’s going to be sustained is foolhardy at best and comically delusional at best.  The football Cards, which never won the Big East title outright, are moving to the ACC where there will be at least 4-5 big time games every year that the Cards will have to contend with. Sure, they’ve beaten Miami and Florida State before, but can they do it in the same year, while also contending with Virginia Tech and Clemson as well? That remains to be seen.  The basketball Cards won their title and much props to them for doing so. Winning 6 straight games in the NCAA tourney is quite the accomplishment, but with Coach Calipari and Co just down the road in Lexington, it’s fair to say that the Cards may not even be the best team in the state for 2013-14. And women’s basketball? Both the Cats and the Cards have some ground to make up to catch up to the UConns of the world.

Jul 18, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari ( r ) watches from the sidelines during the game between Team Canada and Team USA during the Nike Global Challenge at Trinity University. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

“Is there anything better than John Calipari on Twitter? I love the way he throws jabs at critics and stokes the fires of the crazed Wildcat fans.”

– Steve, Shelbyville

To put it simply, there’s no coach that’s better at Twitter than Coach Cal. His tweet in June of 2012 is one of the greatest moments of my life, when he wanted to let recruits know that he’s been busy getting his six guys ready for the NBA draft, but he hasn’t forgotten about them. I mean, what other coach in the country is going to do that? And sure, that loss to Robert Morris in the NIT has humbled him a bit, but now that he’s tweeting about having 7 starters and he’s finally installing his famed Dribble Drive Offense. Basically, he’s giving the Big Blue Nation what they want.

“Do you feel any amount of regret tweeting out ‘#BBN4CARDS’ after Kevin Ware’s injury in the NCAA Tournament? I felt dirty at the time, but now….”

-Richard, Harlan

We’ve all done something in our lives that we’re not proud of and this was one of my moments.