Kentucky Athletics: The Year That Was, 2015
By Terry Brown
2015 draws to a close and like most folks, it’s time to look back at 2015. It was a year filled with Big Blue highs and Big Blue lows.
Men’s basketball finishes 38-1. As I wrote right after the Final Four loss to Wisconsin, I’m not disappointed. I’m not disappointed in the 2014-15 Wildcats because of the incredible season they gave the Big Blue Nation. Critics said that John Calipari’s platoon system couldn’t and wouldn’t work. A funny thing happened… it did. On a team loaded with NBA talent, each player did what was asked of him and the team rattled off 38 straight wins. Sure, it would have been epic to be 40-0 national champions, but I refuse to call that team a failure or disappointed. Mostly, I just hurt for the coaches and players, to come so close to history and miss it? That’s why sports is sometimes cruel.
Football shows promise, backslides. For the second year in a row, Mark Stoops’ football Wildcats started fast and then cooled way down. Which has brought us to another offseason of wholesale changes. Shannon Dawson is out as Offensive Coordinator and quarterbacks Patrick Towles and Reese Phillips are transferring out, leaving Drew Barker as QB1. Year 4 for Coach Stoops looms large. Within the SEC East, there are new coaches taking over at Missouri, South Carolina and Georgia. The question remains: Can UK ever get over that hump? We’ll see in 2016.
The streaks against Louisville continue. Everyone knows that under Coach Cal, the Wildcats are 8-1 vs. Rick Pitino’s Cardinals. Did you know that Matthew Mitchell’s UK Hoops team has won 5 straight in the series? The same for Jon Lipsitz and the UK women’s soccer team. The UK volleyball team has won 5 out of the last 6 and UK Softball has won 4 out of the last 5. Outside of football, the pendulum in this rivalry has swung way to the blue side.
Coach Edrick Floreal and the UK Women’s track team finishes NCAA Runner-Up. That’s right, the best team finish at Kentucky, wasn’t the men hoopsters, it was the women’s track and field team. Coach Floreal led the team to a second place finish at the NCAA outdoor meet in Eugene, OR, with Dezerea Bryant and Kendra Harrison both winning individual titles along the way. All together now: “Kentucky is more than just basketball.”
I’ll remember Willie Cauley-Stein’s dunks on Florida and Cincinnati. I’ll remember Tyler Ulis’ performance vs. Louisville. I’ll remember the men’s soccer team capturing its first Conference USA title. I’ll remember the football team beating South Carolina and Steve Spurrier for the second straight year, perhaps hastening his early retirement. I’ll remember all the coaches and all the student athletes that make me proud to be a Kentucky fan.
Personally, 2015 was a very tough year as I said goodbye to my father who passed away in July. Most of the life lessons he taught me were done while we were throwing a ball in the backyard, watching a game on TV or sitting in the stands at some stadium. He is, was and always will be my hero. And I thank James Norman Brown, Sr. for fostering my love of sports and for letting me go to UK (he was a diehard UL fan/grad that softened over the years). I can only hope to be the man that he was.
Have a safe and happy New Year. Take care of yourself and each other. Remember sports are just games and that real life issues should always take priority.
Thanks for stopping by this space and reading my thoughts. I really appreciate it. Go, Cats!