Post by CatDaddy on Feb 22, 2007 17:06:31 GMT -5
As I start to chronicle the reasons for my skeptical feelings about the future of the program, such as poor recruiting, I encounter an endless barrage of complicated explanations for those problems.
There just always seems to be some seemingly simple, yet incredibly complicated answer to all my concerns.
Here’s just a couple of examples.
My concern: Kentucky is no longer the dominant force in the Southeastern Conference.
The answer: The Southeastern Conference is much tougher and much more competitive than it ever has been.
My concern: Kentucky is well on its way to a fifth 10-loss season in 10 years under Tubby Smith and has spent most of the last two seasons outside of the Top 25.
The answer: Kentucky plays a much tougher schedule now then during the Rick Pitino era and that many writers/coaches hold a bias against the Cats and won’t vote for them.
This is basically how the conversation goes until one of us gets tired of arguing and decides to bring an end to a really rather pointless debate.
In the end, neither one of us is the ‘winner’ and neither one of us is 100 percent correct in our assessment of the situation. In all reality, we both probably sound pretty ridiculous as we try to speak eloquently on subjects that we don’t fully understand.
With that being said, it wasn’t my intention to use this column as a chance to shoot holes in the arguments of my co-worker, because ultimately that’s not what the debate is about, at least to me.
It’s much less complex than that.
For me and so many other Kentucky fans, it all comes down to results, not explanations or excuses.
Anyone who knows anything about Kentucky basketball is well-aware of the ridiculously absurd expectations of the school’s ultra-rapid fan base. They fully expect UK to put a national-championship caliber team on the floor every season and anything less is totally unacceptable.
Period.
No excuses.
And the past few years Tubby Smith has been unable to deliver the kind of team that can compete with the best college basketball squads in the country.
Period.
No debate needed.
The most die-hard, hard-core fans in the Big Blue Nation don’t want to hear a long list of reasons why the Cats are slowly being surpassed by less historically powerful programs, like Florida.
They just want results.
They want wins and titles.
And ultimately that’s what the conversation with my co-worker always ends up being all about, at least to me.
I’m looking at the results and all I get is tons of reasons why Tubby and the Cats haven’t been able to produce the kind of success that the fans have grown accustomed to enjoying.
It’s really just two people evaluating the same situation in two totally different ways.
And there’s nothing wrong with that.
But, for me and many other Kentucky fans, there is really only one way to look at things.
And we are growing tired of the excuses.
www.richmondregister.com/localsports/local_story_053035635.html?keyword=topstory
-D
There just always seems to be some seemingly simple, yet incredibly complicated answer to all my concerns.
Here’s just a couple of examples.
My concern: Kentucky is no longer the dominant force in the Southeastern Conference.
The answer: The Southeastern Conference is much tougher and much more competitive than it ever has been.
My concern: Kentucky is well on its way to a fifth 10-loss season in 10 years under Tubby Smith and has spent most of the last two seasons outside of the Top 25.
The answer: Kentucky plays a much tougher schedule now then during the Rick Pitino era and that many writers/coaches hold a bias against the Cats and won’t vote for them.
This is basically how the conversation goes until one of us gets tired of arguing and decides to bring an end to a really rather pointless debate.
In the end, neither one of us is the ‘winner’ and neither one of us is 100 percent correct in our assessment of the situation. In all reality, we both probably sound pretty ridiculous as we try to speak eloquently on subjects that we don’t fully understand.
With that being said, it wasn’t my intention to use this column as a chance to shoot holes in the arguments of my co-worker, because ultimately that’s not what the debate is about, at least to me.
It’s much less complex than that.
For me and so many other Kentucky fans, it all comes down to results, not explanations or excuses.
Anyone who knows anything about Kentucky basketball is well-aware of the ridiculously absurd expectations of the school’s ultra-rapid fan base. They fully expect UK to put a national-championship caliber team on the floor every season and anything less is totally unacceptable.
Period.
No excuses.
And the past few years Tubby Smith has been unable to deliver the kind of team that can compete with the best college basketball squads in the country.
Period.
No debate needed.
The most die-hard, hard-core fans in the Big Blue Nation don’t want to hear a long list of reasons why the Cats are slowly being surpassed by less historically powerful programs, like Florida.
They just want results.
They want wins and titles.
And ultimately that’s what the conversation with my co-worker always ends up being all about, at least to me.
I’m looking at the results and all I get is tons of reasons why Tubby and the Cats haven’t been able to produce the kind of success that the fans have grown accustomed to enjoying.
It’s really just two people evaluating the same situation in two totally different ways.
And there’s nothing wrong with that.
But, for me and many other Kentucky fans, there is really only one way to look at things.
And we are growing tired of the excuses.
www.richmondregister.com/localsports/local_story_053035635.html?keyword=topstory
-D
NICE!!!