The big story of the day is the wreck that Terrence Jones and Stacey Poole were involved in at 2:30 AM this morning. The two were out with a friend when they were t-boned by a drunk driver. Both were treated for minor injuries and were released and neither were driving.
Jones walked away from the scene to avoid an altercation with the a person in the other car and was questioned extensively by the police and was let go. No drugs or alcohol were found in the car and neither player was accused of any wrong doing.
First, let me give you John Calipari’s response and then I have some editorial comments of my own to share. Here is what Cal had to say on the issue:
"Our players did not break any rules by being out last night. As of yesterday, this team did not have a curfew and our normal procedure is to begin the season without one. I usually let the actions of my team determine a curfew. However, because of the actions of a select few, this team has showed me an inability to make proper judgment and decisions that they’ve been given the freedom to make.Therefore, going forward, this team will now have a curfew for the rest of the season. I will inform the team of a time later today.We hold our players to a higher standard at Kentucky. They must learn that they’ve been placed in a leadership role and that every action defines this team, this state and its fans. As always, any additional punishment will be handled within the team."
John Calipari handled this beautifully. He nipped this in the bud and showed that he is handling the situation. He made sure to emphasize that no rules were broken but I am sure that Poole and Jones were given a stern lecturing.
Now to my editorial comments: already the haters are starting to swarm and even some Big Blue fans are blowing this whole deal up to be bigger than it really is. Let’s get a few facts straight here and then we can go on with headlines:
- Thankfully neither of the players were injured.
- Neither player broke any laws and cooperated with the police in every possible way.
- Let’s not forget that they were victims of a crime. They were hit by a drunk driver. Drunk driving is illegal in all 50 states.
- Guess what’s not against the law? Being in college and driving around after midnight. I was on a college football team and I got into a wreck in a Wendy’s parking lot at 12:30 AM. It didn’t ruin my life or my team’s season because of it.
- Is this a distraction? A little one but not one that one that will derail an entire season.
- Lay off Terrence Jones. He did the right thing by walking away from the situation before it escalated. Think if he would have stayed and gotten into a physical altercation. Then we would have had a problem.
Chill out people. Cal has it under control. Teenagers and twenty something college students get into wrecks all the time, it’s not the end of the world. And for the people saying “Nothing good happens after 2 AM”, would you still be as critical if they were hit by a drunk driver at 2 PM? Didn’t think so.
Headlines:
-Guess what? The Cats still have a game to play tonight against Marist. Marist is awful and we should have another blow out victory. If the Cats play like they did against Morehouse then all of this “Curfewgate” stuff goes away like it never happened. Just win baby.
-Stacey Poole is set to sit down with John Calipari in the next couple of days to discuss what his decision
will be as far as his spot at UK. I’m not sure if this whole wreck issue is going to work in his favor. I don’t expect an official announcement to after the Kansas game. Right now the Cal has bigger fish to fry.
-Rick Pitino is going for win number 600 and nary a word has been spoken about in nationally. That is where Pitino is in his career. If he would have hit this milestone at Kentucky there would have been articles and pageantry galore. But he is doing it at Louisville. The tree fell in the woods.
-If you need a good laugh today midst all this silly unneeded drama, then check out Paul’s Coach Calipari is the recruiting Honey Badger article. It will have you ROTFFLOLing all day long. If you don’t know what that means then look it up on Urban Dictionary.
-The football Wildcats have a HUGE game at Vanderbilt tomorrow. I haven’t been this excited about a game against the Commodores since, well, since EVER. If UK wins this then they will be one game closer to a bowl. Unbelievable.
I’m spent after all that commentary. Enjoy the games tonight and tomorrow. I’m delegated to watching B-Ball on my laptop due to Direct TV not carrying Fox Sports South. I blame my wife. I can do that on here because she never reads my blogging. I hope…
Oh yeah, Go Cats!
UPDATE: I just came across an article that Paul forwarded to me from Lex18.com that reports that Jones was “slightly under the influence with alcohol”. Jones was not the driver and it was not illegal for him to leave the scene. He was not arrested and let go police. Punishments will be given internally by Calipari. That’s hopefully the last we hear about this.