UK Athletics: Time To Sling A Little Self-Righteous Paint

These folks up here aren’t all bad are they? Well I didn’t think so, and neither do a lot of people, but it seems we have some that just can’t let go out there. And they are seeing nothing but red, literally, and I must admit it has me quite puzzled.

You folks know that this is a fansite. We know it as writers, we know it as fans. But we also try to give as much of a professional approach to what we do as we possibly can. Are we unbiased, forget it. Do we understand that there are folks out there who do not support the Cats? Sure.

However, it seems lately that the folks from down the road in Louisville have lost some of their perspective, and they seem to think that we no longer have the ability to see things for what they are.

Over the past two weeks, I have been blasted for calling in to question a few things that are happening in Bat Town lately. When Coach Cal came to Kentucky, we made him one of the most highly paid men in the coaching profession. In my opinion, he has delivered on most everything he said he would do, however, it is still early, and I have faith that he will fulfill all of his promises in time. The man gets paid a lot, and he produces a lot.

So, when UL decided to give Rick Pitino a contract similar to Calipari’s, I asked the question, For What? Pitino’s numbers at Louisville clearly don’t merit the kind of money that he is getting paid, and furthermore, if he was still at Kentucky, well, let’s just say he wouldn’t still be at Kentucky. That’s not a slam against the man, because as I have said on numerous occasions, I am a big Pitino fan. However the truth is right before anyone’s eyes who cares to look. Pitino’s stats show him to be a decent coach while at Louisville, however, not up to the standards he himself set here at UK, nor the standards set by his predecessor, Denny Crum. That’s not bias talking, that’s just cold hard facts. I don’t claim Pitino does not work hard, nor do I claim he is not a good coach, he just has not performed well enough to make that kind of money. He got the contract because Tom Jurich wanted to be able to keep up with UK, and that’s fine by me, but let’s just call it what it is. But what offends me the most is the insinuation that I cannot raise that question without being called biased, or a homer, or uninformed. Just because my blankets on my bed are blue, my den looks like the Cats locker room, and I wear something blue everyday, does not mean I am ignorant. I can take off the blue toned glasses and see things for what they are, and frankly, I wouldn’t be doing this if I couldn’t.

Now we have the Pros Vs. The DR game from last night. Several of the UL faithful want to complain about the game, the coaches, the teams, and the entire event. The media covering the game were absolutely in awe of the DR’s performance last night. I brought it up this morning on another site. Francisco Garcia and Edgar Sosa played amazing games last night, as did many others from the DR squad. It’s a testament to how hard they are working to get their country’s team into the Olympics for the first time ever. The game was fun for the former UK guys, but it was work for the DR, hard work. And anything or anyone who says or does anything to take away from that is just wrong. Now does that sound biased? Do I seem distraught because my boys in Blue lost to the DR?

A few of the quotes from UL fans concerning my praises of the former UL kids and my aggravation concerning their attitudes:

"Could you please introduce us UofL folks to these seemingly polite and civil “UK folks” only you seem to know? Don’t expect any civility or slack from our fanbase as we certainly don’t expect it from yours."

"cousins = jackass garcia= our kid Coach Cal= bad parents thats why people are upset, because of your BAD parenting skills leading to our kid having to deal with YOUR jackass, ps no one cares how impressed UK fans are with anything…. Mountain Dew, Truck Nuts…. thats all i can really think of that impresses UK fans"

By the way, this was the post I placed before those:

I try not to get too hung up on the tolerance issues facing us in the world these days. I know that being insulting to people of other races, creeds, colors, or even beliefs is wrong, and I agree with that. No man holds the right to pass judgement. But I don’t do this to pass judgement on anyone, either from or not from UK. I do it because I love doing it, and I enjoy the interaction with other fans.

If I just want to be an opinionated S.O.B. I believe there are a lot of places and ways to to that much easier. I never keep my opinons quiet, and I never miss an opportunity to have fun with what I do, but I take offense at not trying to be professional at this. I don’t get paid, this much is true, but I believe I can be as “fair and balanced” as anyone else. Well, at least I know how to take a compliment.

"You know guys, all the UK folks I have talked to were talking about how impressed they were with Garcia and Sosa and how they flourished in that game, Cousins and Garcia were laughing about what happened later, and you folks have a game coming to your arena tonight that lets you see a bunch of EX-UK players probably get beat again, and this time on your home floor. What exactly are you folks unhappy with? Your guys are getting praised by UK Fans and you want to complain?"

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