by Paul Jordan
As of now the disappointment still lingers. The “what if’s” have yet to subside, and there is a sense of desperation towards the future as the NBA Draft is set to strip this team of a lot of talent. It’s natural to feel this way, but the most unnatural thing is to look back at this season and consider it anything but a remarkable success.
Yes, I say this as the fans in Duke, Butler, West Virginia, and Michigan State are preparing to head off to the mecca of college basketball — the Final Four. I saw this as the frustration of the Wildcat’s worse game of the season — a game they lost by just seven points — still keeps me awake replaying it and consuming me with the dozens of plays that could have turned out differently and altered the outcome.
Yet, when I awoke this morning, it felt good to be a Wildcat. It felt good to be playing basketball that last weekend of March in the tournament that ends in “AA” and not “IT”. And even though it riles my blood pressure and aggravates me to no end, it still makes me kind of laugh that trolls like Jay Marriotti are still so threatened by the resurgence of Kentucky that he still has to take back handed jabs at my school instead of writing about the glories of the four teams that actually advanced to the Final Four.
This basketball team did a hell of a lot more than go 35-3, win the SEC Conference, SEC Tournament, earn a number one seed, and advance to the Elite 8. They served notice that Kentucky is back and has resumed their rightful place among basketball’s elite. They are the first team to get that historic 2000th win, and in the course of doing so, strengthened their grasp as the all time winningest program in the history of college basketball.
If you had asked me before the season began what would have constituted a successful season, I would have replied “a SEC Title and sweet 16 appearance”. And as the season began and Kentucky was ranked in the top five, my expectations remained grounded. How ridiculous was it to put that pressure on a new coach with three freshman starters? Putting this team among the Elite before a game was even played?
Some critics waited anxiously with their poison pens at their side, waiting for the Big Blue Meltdown that did not occur all season. This team took the pressure of the nation and the media and ran with it for an amazing ride of a regular season. When they finally fell on the road at South Carolina, all the naysayers gathered together and rubbed their hands in anticipation of the collapse and embarrassment this team was sure to cause, yet it never happened.
With the scrutiny of the nations media and the heavy hopes of the BBN upon them, this team took the SEC regular season crown and ran through the SEC Tournament in exihilerating fashion and won a place in the hearts of Wildcat fans forever. Even when the NCAA Tournament started, these Wildcats played composed and focused all the way into the Elite Eight, outlasting the greatest team in college basketball, the Kansas Jayhawks by two games.
This was a team of hired mercenaries, or so the critics claimed, that cared nothing about the traditions of Kentucky and were looking for just the easiest path to the NBA Draft. John Calipari melded this team into a band of brothers that bled Kentucky Blue, and even though their stay as a Wildcat may be brief, you can tell that the members of this team will be Wildcats for life.
And this is what this team brought us this year. Through the wonders of social networking tools and the internet, Wildcat fans know this team and its coach better than any other team in history. Calipari is not only an ambassador that united this state from Paducah to Pikeville, but he invited us along for every step of the ride through his twitter account and other forms of media. We got to know the personalities, sense of humor, and quirks of this team in so much detail, and I am proud to say there is not one player that failed the “likeability” test.
This season actually took us beyond our own borders and made us humanitarians as this team was the only major basketball team to interrupt it’s season and devote it’s time to the people of Haiti. None of the other coaches that are glorified by the media … Coach K, Self, Williams, Izzo, Pitino or Donovan took their time to reflect on the cause, even though Kentucky has a smaller Haitain population that some of the other states.
And in the end, this team did nothing to embarrass or disgrace their name on the front of their jersey. They earned the right to be Wildcats and in doing so, made this an amazing thrill ride of a season that will never be forgotten.
True, there is no banner to hang in Rupp Arena. Yet this season was strangely fulfilling. True, Kentucky did not fully ascend the mountain in season one under Calipari, but this season, the thrills of the journey has outweighed the destination.
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