Bruce Pearl: Hero to Con

Sometimes you just have to put bias aside and look at things in a different light, that is how I’ve been gauging the Bruce Pearl situation since the moment I heard that NCAA violations could come crashing down on old Rocky Top towards the beginning of the season. Many UT fans thought that an eight game suspension would suffice, but suddenly more and more rumors are catching like wild fire, what will happen to the coach in the orange blazer and where will he find himself at the end of the year?

First off, as a Kentucky fan I would like to just say that a wise man once told me to truly love the team you root for you must learn to LOVE to HATE your rivals. It was love to hate at first sight for me and Bruce Pearl. The moment I saw his sweaty behind pacing up and down the sidelines against Kentucky for the first time in 2006…I knew I would hate this man for the rest of his duration at the University of Tennessee. I knew I would love looking forward to playing UT so I could beat that orange blazer off him every single game.

Pearl holds a 4-8 record against Kentucky but it just doesn’t seem like he’s only won four games because of how well he’s pressed the Wildcats since he’s been at UT. No longer is Tennessee the door mat for south eastern conference basketball, the regular season title has ran through Knoxville since Pearl has been coaching, finishing ahead of Kentucky three times in the SEC east in four years, something no one coach had EVER done since the divisions started in 1992.

Now it all comes crashing down for Pearl, and I’m going to be honest, it really pains me to see it happen.

I hate Tennessee as much as the next guy. I hate their obnoxious fans who think they are relevant, I hate the streak, I hate that ugly orange, I hate Thompson-Bolin and I hate that garbage dump worker convention that they call a football stadium, but I LOVE to hate Bruce Pearl. Think about how he has put Rocky Top back on the college basketball map. Think about how competitive he has made the SEC, because before John Calipari, Pearl was bringing the talent to Knoxville and had some hellacious teams in the past.

Now we see the guy sitting in an interview on television asking if lying was the same thing as not telling the truth instead of the cocky mannerisms on the sidelines with his orange blazer. We see his wife on Facebook comparing him to Jesus Christ. We see rumors of whether he will be coaching next year at the collegiate level at all.

This may be the last time we see Bruce Pearl as the coach of the Volunteers.

It should pain you to as a Kentucky fan. Yeah we can make fun of the orange clad fans all we want over this, but I loved beating Tennessee when they were relevant. I loved when they were ranked and we were always just better than they were. I loved Jodie Meeks hanging 54 on them right in the mix of Thompson-Boling arena. I loved when Patterson dunked on Chism and I loved beating the ever loving hell out of them in the SEC tournament last year.

Bruce Pearl has went from hero and savior on Rocky Top to the con of Knoxville. The fans can rally behind him all they want, the players can do the same and so can the administration, but when it comes right down to it he broke the rules and then lied about it. This also makes him a hypocrite.

In 1988-89 Pearl was the assistant coach at the University of Iowa, both his team and Illinois at Urbana-Champaign were recruiting a highly touted player from Chicago. When Pearl lost the recruiting battle he proceeded to call the recruit and asked him personal questions about the recruiting process, like if he had been offered an SUV and cash for going to the school. Pearl taped the whole conversation and then sent the tape into the NCAA. Illinois was never found guilty and the coach of the team Pearl turned in was asked in 2005 if he would ever forgive Pearl, because they never took part in the traditional post-game hand shake. The coach said ‘No. I will never forgive a snake’.

Now Pearl has been caught lying to the NCAA and not only did he lie to the NCAA but didn’t tell the truth until he knew he was caught and they had picture proof of a cook out that Pearl had where recruits were there.

What will happen to Pearl? Your guess is as good as mine, but at this point I don’t think we see him on the sidelines for a long, long time. What will happen this Sunday?

Well, it will be the last time Kentucky will beat Bruce Pearl.

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