Archive for March, 2009

It’s finally a done deal. The delusion is going to be at an all-time high – and for Kentucky basketball fans, that’s saying quite a lot…

UNRELATED YET IMPORTANT UPDATE (1:20 p.m., March 31st): Georgia still needs a coach, and is trying to get Missouri’s Mike Anderson. I don’t see why Anderson, who’s also rumored in the potential replacing of Calipari at Memphis, would go to Georgia, but who knows. Calipari, Donovan, Pearl, Anderson, Stallings and Horn in the same division next year? Wow.

UPDATE 2 (12:15 p.m., March 31st): This little bit is just too interesting and kinda funny to pass up, from Geoff Calkins at the Commercial Appeal. Interesting because it’s not 110% believable and funny because the particular donut shop was/is a cool hangout place for my friends and I in high school and now over breaks and the like (after 11 p.m. you can get half a dozen donuts for $1).

UPDATE (6:25 p.m.): ESPN is now getting in on the fun, saying the reported deal is for 8 years at $35 million – still over the $4 million mark.

If you’ve been just about anywhere on the internet on a sports website today, you’ve probably seen the John Calipari-to-Kentucky news. It’s to the point now where it’s all but official

Some major sites like USA Today and SI.com are coming out in the last hour or so and saying the same thing. Good ol’ Channel 5 in Memphis says it’s a done deal, and the Tigers’ Rivals site says so as well. Interestingly, in that article, it says Kentucky is paying Calipari $40 million over six years. For those of us not good at math, that’s, oh, $6.67 million PER YEAR. I heard on the Sports Animal here in Knoxville about an hour ago Jimmy Hyams say he heard the same information in talking with Ron Higgins, who’s with the Commercial Appeal in Memphis.

For comparison sake, Pete Carroll at USC and Nick Saban at Alabama make $4 million a year, give-or-take. Florida coach Billy Donovan is the nation’s highest-paid basketball coach at roughly $3.5 million.

Hey, can you blame me for turning down $6 million a year?

Again, I have seen nothing official on this as of 5 p.m. Eastern, so if this turns out to not be true, then all this commentary is obviously irrelevant.

Now this is not Tennessee news, but it’s certainly Tennessee-related and I would even say I care more than most being from Memphis and having the disdain for both the Memphis and Kentucky programs that I do. You have a coach that’s easy for us Vols to dislike, going from the in-state rival – and a rivalry that’s grown into one of the bigger basketball rivalries for Tennessee and Memphis the past four years – to the historic conference rival in big, bad Kentucky – one that at least has become much more competitive recently (thank you Bruce Pearl).

For me, it’s more reason to hate Kentucky. Yes, hate is a strong word. But much like the case with Alabama, Florida and Georgia in anything, if Kentucky lost every basketball game for their rest of time, I would enjoy it. Seeing them in the NIT and reading the thoughts of the crazier side of their fanbase on Rupps Rafters talk about being in the NIT? Loved it. Likewise, seeing Missouri eliminate the Tigers in the Sweet 16 last Thursday was enjoyable for me.

Now throw in Mr. Calipari, who’s dislike of and disrespectful attitude toward Tennessee and Pearl was a major reason for my dislike of the Tigers, joins Kentucky. As if they shouldn’t already be, you have to put Kentucky now as Tennessee’s biggest basketball rival now, right?

I don’t see much of a change recruiting-wise. The Memphis-area will still be hard for the Vols to recruit, like it is for both football and basketball. Calipari recruited nationally at Memphis (not many players from Memphis on the roster), and he will do that at Kentucky as well. So that doesn’t change.

And finally, I’ve read that Tennessee needs Kentucky to be good, because a strong Kentucky makes the SEC look stronger and more respected. I think that’s garbage. Kentucky is a rival. How can anything that’s good for them – and this is certainly excellent for the Wildcats – be good for Tennessee? If Tennessee keeps playing a tough schedule and wins 25 games and sweeps the SEC regular season and tournament titles in a given year, they’re going to get a high seed regardless of Kentucky or the rest of the league. (Signed, Memphis and C-USA).

On one hand, this hire by UK is scary – Calipari was their ultimate dream hire, and his recruiting ability and style has much more of a probability of success than failure. On the other hand, I say bring it. Bruce Pearl vs. John Calipari twice a year (or more) now? I can go for that…

– … to me.

Images Courtesy of: AP/ Daylife

Cornell won the Ivy League for a second straight year - and got blown out in the first round both NCAA trips

The Other Side to March’s “Madness”

It’s been raining all day today (Friday) here in Knoxville, so I think it’s perfect time to do this post, one I’ve been conjuring up for the past week. A couple of disclaimers: first, it has little or nothing to do with anything Tennessee-related; secondly, overall it just isn’t going to be a happy post in any sense.

The NCAA Tournament is undoubtedly one of the greatest sporting events in the world. It’s my favorite time of the year, along with the fall of course. We all know why it’s so great – a champion being determined on the court, players rising to the occasion, teams playing their best basketball, schools you’ve never heard of putting a scare into a traditional power – so on and so forth. The office pool phenomenon is second to Super Bowl parties in sports-related hooplas. Everybody loves it and says that’s what makes college basketball so much fun to watch.

However, there’s a bad side to just about everything, and the NCAA Tournament/March Madness. And it’s one I’ve come to realize this past March more than ever before.

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» Updated: 27 March 2009 — 4:25pm

Apparently, Gillispie’s firing became official about 5 minutes after I posted this.  At least I was a little bit ahead of the curve…

» Updated: 27 March 2009 — 4:42pm

Now, as his comment below points out, HSH has discovered an even more interesting development: perhaps Billy Donovan is going to Kentucky.

Well, friends and neighbors, it’s not like it is unexpected, but it appears that Billy Gillispie is out at Kentucky.  This comes from WHAS TV in Louisville.  Seemingly in response to this report, the Kentucky athletic department issued a public statement which—paraphrased—amounts to their complete refusal to make a public statement.  It read,  “UK mens basketball coach Billy Gillispie has not been fired. There have been no meetings between Gillispie and UK officials today and there is no scheduled press conference tomorrow.“

I think a simple “no comment” would have sufficed.

Either way, this does seriously change the dynamic in the SEC East.  Hooper over at RTT has an interesting article on why this prospect scares him as a fan of SEC and Tennessee basketball.  The uncertainty at Kentucky will definitely add confusion to recruiting, but what if Kentucky actually gets a “good” coach?  With rumors flying about as to who will replace Gillispie, it stands to reason that Kentucky Mitch Barnhart will be trying to save his neck by getting a coach who is a little better fit for the Wildcats this time around than was Billy Clyde.  According to the guys at Team Speed Kills, however, that new coach will not be Billy Donovan (or will it?).

In the meantime, I suppose we will all be guessing…

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Given the fact that I have continued to be a heavy-hitting slacker (if you’re going to do something, do it well), here’s a little more You Tubification of Eric Berry set to the sounds of Korn.  This video montage, again, comes courtesy of VolzRChamps and BlazerChronicles.com.

Video: The Blazer Chronicles | Eric Berry: If You Can’t See Him, “You’re Blind”

You know, I never get tired of watching Berry shred opponents…

– So it goes …

Video Courtesy of: VolzRChamps / You Tube • Blazer Chronicles

Keeping in the swing of things earlier this week — and offering up a little more voice-over action — here is another edition of the Blazer Chronicles, this time presenting the battle of Eric Berry vs. Tim Tebow.  As always, this comes courtesy of VolzRChamps and BlazerChronicles.com.

Video: The Blazer Chronicles: Eric Berry vs. Tim Tebow

Eric Berry is one scary, scary, man…

– So it goes …

Video Courtesy of: VolzRChamps / You Tube Blazer Chronicles

The Story of the Season…In a Week

Now that it’s over and done with, I think it’s time to take a look back at this past basketball season. As is with seasons in most sports, this year’s Vols had quite a number of ups and downs and everything in between over the course of a long season stretching from November to mid-March.

But this year’s ups and downs (more downs than ups really) seemed to be more prevalent this season, since this team showed a numerous occasions it’s ability to be terribly inconsistent. At times you thought that this team might still be playing at this point of the season. Other times you wondered what the hell the Bruce and the players were thinking and why they looked like they didn’t care and if they would even make it into the Tournament.

The last week of the season was the story of the season in a complete and total nutshell. A nutshell that interestingly enough was paired up with Tennessee’s spring break and my trip to New York.

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Well, after failing to get my Oklahoma State preview up in time for the game, and given the quick end to the BasketVols‘ run in the NCAA Tournament, I really haven’t had a lot to offer these past few days.  Of course, when you set the bar very low—which has always been the policy of Gate 21—it takes extra effort to fail in grand style.  I guess I am running behind in my running behind…

In the meantime, here’s a little something that is worth giving a look.  I’m a bit behind in getting this up, but this is pretty funny if you ask me (which I realize you didn’t).

Here is a pretty hilarious look at the various coaches of the SEC in a way that I don’t think I have ever seen before.  As always, this comes courtesy of VolzRChamps and BlazerChronicles.com, with a Tennessee All-Sports Update.

The Blazer Chronicles: A “Quotetastic” Look at the SEC

That Bobby Johnson quote is simply priceless…

– So it goes …

Video Courtesy of: VolzRChamps / You Tube • Blazer Chronicles