Let me say this, right off the bat: this is not a Joker Phillips bashing post. If you are looking for one, then search elsewhere. My point of writing this is not to down our head coach.
The point of this post is to show how Charlie Strong’s success, however minimal it might be at this point in time, is detrimental to Joker Phillips and Kentucky football. Like it or not, the Big Blue Nation does measure its success based on the success of our Little Brother in The Ville.
Take this into consideration: how many times have you tuned into a Cardinal game in order to watch them lose? I’ve done it. I’m not proud of it and I shouldn’t pay as much attention to them as I do, but it feels so good when the football team loses to Marshall, or when the basketball team loses to Drexel. When the Dirty Birds go down, it does make me feel a little warm and fuzzy inside.
Now what about the flip side of this coin? It pains me something awful to watch the Louisville faithful hoop and holler in joy at the thought of going to a BCS bowl game. Are they essentially backing their way in? Of course they are. Hell, even Charlie Strong pointed that out, saying that if his team had taken care of business then their fate would not be resting in the hands of UConn beating Cincinnati.
So what does this have to do with Joker Phillips? When Kentucky fans see their arch-rivals down the road sitting at 7-5, tied atop of their conference, going to a bowl game, and that bowl game possibly being a BCS bowl game, their feelings towards Phillips and his football team aren’t feelings of confidence and pride.
But is this fair to Joker? No. Not in the least bit. It is unfair to compare the state of the programs at this point because of one simple thing: the strength of their conferences.
If Louisville and Kentucky were to switch places to where the Cards play in the SEC and the Cats play in the Big East, then we are probably looking at UK sitting at 7-5 (or better) and the Cards sitting at 5-7 (or worse).
But all of that is moot. The reality is we are in the SEC and they are in the joke that is the Big East. Fans don’t focus on conferences, fans don’t focus on talent, fans don’t focus on budget or facilities, all that matters are wins and losses. They have more in the W column than we do and it makes us sick.
As soon as Strong was hired I knew that Louisville would improve. I just didn’t think that Kentucky would dip like they did this season. I also knew that if Strong started having better seasons than Phillips, that the howls for Joker’s job would grow even louder, which they have. All of the dissatisfaction does not stem from Cardinal jealousy, but there are tinges of it whenever the two teams are compared. We bristle at the though of them being better than us at anything.
What I should do, what all fans should do, is ignore what is happening at Louisville. Don’t pay attention to their water weak conference and their back door bowl bid. Did they earn what they have? Yes. Do they really deserve to be in a BCS? That is debatable. What I should be concerned about is the success and failures of my team and not judge the success of the Kentucky Wildcats on the success or failures of the University of Louisville.
I might be a little more satisfied with this season if our rivals were in the same boat as we are, but that isn’t the case.
Of course, I will be laughing hysterically when Charlie Strong eventually flies the chicken coup for greener pastures, just like every other football coach that has had success there has done. Old habits die hard.