In recent news, TV/Radio personality, Colin Cowherd has bashed John Calipari on multiple occasions.
What cannot be understood, is why would a man hiding behind a microphone have so much built up angst toward a college basketball coach? Want an accurate answer? Everyone hates John Calipari if you’re not a Kentucky Basketball fan. It happens all the time. Nobody likes the New York Yankees, or the Cleveland Cavaliers/Golden State Warriors. There are generally a lot of people who bag on the New England Patriots. You can guess as to why that is.
Kentucky Basketball is the primetime entertainment that runs the show in College Hoops. Lexington is the hub of the game that draws so much attention from media, it makes perfect sense for someone to do their best to be heard at the expense of the best.
The Herd
The same goes for Colin Cowherd. As the host of “The Herd”, Cowherd has been sited as throwing shame at Kentucky players in the NBA. As if the Former Wildcats don’t run the show anyway. The radio host went on to say that the NBA story could be told without using the name of any Kentucky player. Well, he’s probably right about that. But, that doesn’t mean that in today’s NBA, Kentucky has taken over. Here is an exerpt from TheHerdNow.com:
"“It’s the University of Underwhelming at Lexington. I’ve got multiple busts, start with Sam Bowie. Multiple guys that couldn’t get their act together, even though they have all sorts of talent. Name your pick, DeMarcus Cousins, who is a profoundly gifted player.It has always been the one university in the empirical brands of college sports that hasn’t done it at the pro level. You can tell the NBA story without Kentucky.”"
Just for giggles, if anyone wants any updates on the current Wildcats in the NBA (There’s a lot of them), slide on over to our weekly “He Did What?!” column.
Here’s a new one…this guy.
John Calipari is starting to feel the heat pic.twitter.com/WKccWOhWuh
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) March 13, 2017
One thing he says is true. Kentucky doesn’t settle for SEC Championships. The National title is the ultimate goal. But why is Cowherd dogging Calipari as if anyone else could do any better at Kentucky?
The Angst toward John Calipari
Not a lot of media members enjoy the Calipari show. You can just tell by the conversations that he rubs them the wrong way. For example, when Coach Cal was on the Selection Sunday show, he and Jay Bilas went back and forth. Take a look:
Colin Cowherd likes to ruffle some feathers
To be quite honest, Kentucky fan feathers are easily ruffled. To us, Kentucky basketball and John Calipari are sacred gems bestowed upon us by the College Basketball Gods. We wouldn’t trade his antics and recruiting successes for anything in the world. No one puts John Calipari in the corner. Not even a guy that broadcasts his radio show on television. (What’s that about?)
Kentucky Basketball fans aren’t some to mess with
The Big Blue Nation spreads far and wide. It’s the best fan base in all of college sports. There are few fan bases in college athletics that can rival the BBN. I would give close seconds to both Alabama and Ohio State Football fans.
The idea is the same. People are going to cheer for a team that wins games. Kentucky is the winningest college basketball program in history. The days of Rupp, Sutton, Joe B., Pitino, Tubby and Coach Cal have brought true greatness to the state of Kentucky Basketball.
Next: Kentucky's Final Four Formula
With success come hate. The media who have covered college basketball for decades do not like Calipari’s style of “one-and-done”. They say it ruins college basketball. The truth is, they’re jealous of his success winning games with freshman on the court. That’s the bottom line. No coach should be able to take 4-6 freshman each year and compete for National Titles with them being the core of your team. Coach Cal is simply the best, and there’s no comparison.