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KSR thread from 06

Thread from '09 after BCG's first year, lots of posters wanted Cal instead, maybe even the majority wanted him first, but the majority most certainly listed him on their short list.

This talking point that every and all UK fans hated Cal and thought he was a cheater before coming to UK is nothing but a made up lie by Rival fans.

For every post they can dig up of a UK fan calling Cal a cheater, I can just as easily dig up a post of a UK fan wanting him as the next coach.

https://web.archive.org/web/2009031...3&tid=125966155&mid=125966155&sid=888&style=2
 
I only skimmed the first thread, but only saw a couple of people talking about Cal to UK. The most notable thing was Tom Gray/Windy guaranteeing everyone that Crean would retire from Marquette. Gray knows the Marquette President personally, so defer to his judgment please.

As for the second thread, more on point - but I have to wonder what came of MemphisDrew? He seemed quite sure of himself.....
 
Dark days back then! I remember that game vividly...we got smashed by Memphis! Hindsight is 20/20, but the next time some coach starts to run our program into the ground, swift action needs to be taken! I know Mitch acted quickly with BCG, but Tubby was given too much leeway!
 
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I remember wanting Cal. I think many of us tried to make ourselves believe that BCG could get it done, but down deep inside, well knew better and were less than thrilled with the hire.
 
I
I remember wanting Cal. I think many of us tried to make ourselves believe that BCG could get it done, but down deep inside, well knew better and were less than thrilled with the hire.
I wanted Cal big time along with Pat Riley, Pitino etc. The reason why so many fans wanted Billy Clyde was because of his win over UL in Rupp in the NCAA tourney.
I was posting on several boards on how the word out of AM is that they wanted him gone as he was a horrible person, a drunk, bigot and just plain mean to everyone in the athletic department.
Yep everybody was on board the Dr Pepper band wagon around here. Lot of people thought we couldn't get any worse than Tubby...mmmm maybe we could. Lol
 
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I never understood the hype around Crean. I can't claim to have watched much Marquette or Indiana basketball, but it seems like the guy had one awesome year with D. Wade and rode that to big paychecks.
 
I

I wanted Cal big time along with Pat Riley, Pitino etc. The reason why so many fans wanted Billy Clyde was because of his win over UL in Rupp in the NCAA tourney.
I was posting on several boards on how the word out of AM is that they wanted him gone as he was a horrible person, a drunk, bigot and just plain mean to everyone in the athletic department.
Yep everybody was on board the Dr Pepper band wagon around here. Lot of people thought we couldn't get any worse than Tubby...mmmm maybe we could. Lol

Oh yes I remember that game...BCG shouldve given a portion of his new contract to Acie Law.
 
Myself and just a few others wanted Cal first foremost in 07 and 09, most everyone else wanted Donovan 1st, Izzo 2nd, and then camps started to split into Cal, Ford, Pelphry, Wright, Dixon, BCG, Barnes, Crean, bring Pitino back, etc. Everyone had detractors except Donovan. I wrote a real long post on here in 08 that I wish I had saved just talking about what an unreal turnaround Nick Saban had made at Alabama and how he was the only guy who could of done that and that Cal could do that here and he would be the only one who in a year or 2 could have us competing for NC's. 50% of posters were the we don't need to sell our souls to the cheat, 40% thought I was nutty, and 10% agreed. Funny to think back on that now.
 
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Shoot, I wanted Cal after Ricky P left. True story, but everyone thought it was because I had all the Killer New Haven you or I could ever want.
You may have wanted him, but if you're trying to claim that you thought UK had any chance of getting him, you're living in historical-revisionism fantasyworld. In May of 1997, Cal had just finished 43-39, made the playoffs, had an enormous contract, and there was 0% chance of him going anywhere at that time
 
It doesn't matter how much a coach sucks and how many times he has proven it there is always going to be a UK fan out there that wants him.
And conversely, it doesn't matter how rare of a historical run our coach might be on, like, say, 4 F4s in 5 years with a title, some fans will still find things to b&m about.
 
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Matt Jones himself said some very derogatory things about Cal.
Matt made the usual unsubstantiated accusations against Cal and even attacked posters who disagreed
 
Unbelievable! Matt would never do that, I know cause I tune him in from time to time.

Matt Jones stood out as a big basher of John Calipari and did not represent Kentucky fans. Personally, I knew Kentucky fans that were thinking that Memphis was doing a better job of looking more like Kentucky basketball than ball-line defense, Tubby ball was.
 
I love when people said I "stood out as a basher" and "went off on fans who disagreed" about Calipari. I made one comment, one time in a comment section of a post on KSR. I didn't "go off" on fans who disagreed because...well, because I didn't have a radio show at the time to even converse with fans who disagreed. I was a lawyer at that time and the blog was a part-time hobby. One comment section post (which Calipari and I now laugh about and he gives me a hard time about) has become a made up history of me hating the guy and having a vendetta against him.

And even more bizarrely, people remember hearing me blast a guy on radio when I didn't even have a radio show (I got it in the fall of 2010). Oh well.
 
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Matt, you did have a radio show for a while on another station in the afternoon... that was until Jurich shut it down.

With that being said, I don't recall you ever saying anything pro or con about Calipari on that station. I don't even recall the comments section post and didn't see it until UofL fans dug it up years later.

We were all blinded back in 2007 by Billy Clyde and his Dr. Pepper, sleeping in the office, and boot camping ways.
 
I'll admit it , I wanted Billy Donavon BAD . I honestly didn't even think Barnhart would consider Calipari because of his reputation of being dirty. Did I think Cal was a cheater ? Well since I hadn't taken the time and effort to find out the REAL story about Camby and I saw all the talented players Memphis was as getting , yeah I assumed he was dirty.
 
I love when people said I "stood out as a basher" and "went off on fans who disagreed" about Calipari. I made one comment, one time in a comment section of a post on KSR. I didn't "go off" on fans who disagreed because...well, because I didn't have a radio show at the time to even converse with fans who disagreed. I was a lawyer at that time and the blog was a part-time hobby. One comment section post (which Calipari and I now laugh about and he gives me a hard time about) has become a made up history of me hating the guy and having a vendetta against him.

And even more bizarrely, people remember hearing me blast a guy on radio when I didn't even have a radio show (I got it in the fall of 2010). Oh well.
What about that radio show you had on that amateur hour network that also had Renshaw up until Jurich squeezed them? I remember listening to you broadcasting the Patrick Patterson press conference live on the air.

I don't recall you blasting people about Cal, but I certainly could see you blast him if it were presented during a criticism of Tubby. We remember how strongly you defended him up until it became clear he had to go. You used to have a win at all costs debating style and I think you have softened after having your own words used against you well after the fact.

That's not a criticism because I'd likely have the same issue if I were to transition into being a public figure whose words were saved for history even when they were said in haste.
 
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Matt, you did have a radio show for a while on another station in the afternoon... that was until Jurich shut it down.

With that being said, I don't recall you ever saying anything pro or con about Calipari on that station. I don't even recall the comments section post and didn't see it until UofL fans dug it up years later.

We were all blinded back in 2007 by Billy Clyde and his Dr. Pepper, sleeping in the office, and boot camping ways.

That is true but that show was listened to by literally a dozen people....and when I came on at night, the signal could be heard in a few neighborhoods around the building
 
That is true but that show was listened to by literally a dozen people....and when I came on at night, the signal could be heard in a few neighborhoods around the building
I remember listening to your afternoon show whenever I could get it. That early show might have been humble beginnings, but it had some very memorable moments .

  1. Patrick Patterson's commitment relayed through a cell phone.
  2. Billy Clyde interview refusing to answer a question because "I don't know who you might tell."
  3. Beas Hamga's interview in which he said virtually nothing
  4. There are probably more. I remember the late night show, but that one was really hard to get on the radio. It would cut in and out all the time.
 
Folks' perception of Cal before he came to UK has never bothered me for a couple of reasons.

One, I'm a homer and really don't like anybody who doesn't play for us or coach for us. I'm at best apathetic; if other UK fans show an interest then I will tip toward a healthy disgust. Nothing's worse than UK fans obsessing over another team's coach.

And Cal does a lot of things to tick off rival fanbases. Easy to see why he's hated by so many. He wins and he goes out of his way sometimes to rile up his detractors. One of the things I like about him.
 
Matt , I've agreed with 95% of your "sports " stances over the years . But I was a founding member of the LOD and I think time has proven the tubster as being a mediocre coach that was not worthy of our program . You were wrong to to support him so strongly.
 
Thread from '09 after BCG's first year, lots of posters wanted Cal instead, maybe even the majority wanted him first, but the majority most certainly listed him on their short list.

This talking point that every and all UK fans hated Cal and thought he was a cheater before coming to UK is nothing but a made up lie by Rival fans.

For every post they can dig up of a UK fan calling Cal a cheater, I can just as easily dig up a post of a UK fan wanting him as the next coach.

https://web.archive.org/web/2009031...3&tid=125966155&mid=125966155&sid=888&style=2
What ever happened to Memphis Drew?
 
Folks' perception of Cal before he came to UK has never bothered me for a couple of reasons.

One, I'm a homer and really don't like anybody who doesn't play for us or coach for us. I'm at best apathetic; if other UK fans show an interest then I will tip toward a healthy disgust. Nothing's worse than UK fans obsessing over another team's coach.

And Cal does a lot of things to tick off rival fanbases. Easy to see why he's hated by so many. He wins and he goes out of his way sometimes to rile up his detractors. One of the things I like about him.

agree with all that. I really had no knowledge of Cal when he was at Memphis or UMass, other than the headlines. I knew he was perceived to be a good coach because of what he'd done at UMass, but if you asked me if he was dirty I'd have likely said "Don't know, probably, everyone seems to think so, smoke fire kind of thing." Is that two-faced somehow, do I regret it now? nope. who cares.....
 
I had Donovan 1a and Calipari 1b after Tubby left.

I had the reverse order when BCG got the boot.

I've got no problem with UK fans who gave Cal grief while he was at Memphis though. We bash / make fun of pretty much every coach out there. It's part of who we are.
 
http://kentuckysportsradio.com/1/memphis-open-game-threadand-espn-radio-show-tonight/

People hoping to lure Tom Crean away from Marquette, while saying no thanks to Calipari... I realize hindsight is 20/20... But that's ridiculous.

Actually I was shocked that there was only two posters who made a negative comment and only ONE poster, although persistent by making over 10 posts wanting Crean. I was in Maui for that game, it was as bad as those posters say it was. It was a sad Thanksgiving weekend, but hey it was Hawaii.
 
The only reason to read those old threads is if you are among those in the loud, ludicrous minority who somehow can't celebrate FOUR Final Fours in five years. Go back and let the torment of the teams that started Sheray Thomas and Bobby Perry or Michael Porter and Mark Coury wash over you, then repent your sins of stupidity and come back with words of gratitude.

I'd rather have a team that was UPSET in the FINAL FOUR by a ONE SEED than a team that looked like a Division 2 team when matched up with Memphis, as discussed in one of these threads.


Generally I agree about old threads, my intension wasn't to rehash the calipari debate with anyone who might feel awkward about their past negativity towards Cal. It was a common opinion in those days and something we've all grown beyond.

I was more surprised by the Crean praise, and think it is a good lesson on having these concrete opinions on coaches and their abilities...

But since it was brought up, I do think that time has been harsh on the arguments of Tubby supporters of that time period. My feelings in those days were focused on style of play. Tubby's slow down style was costing us... I wanted anyone who could bring an uptempo offense, which I believed would lead to better players. My choices were 1. Donovan 2. Calipari 3. Anthony Grant 4. Ford..... Some of my picks I'm not proud of.
 
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You may have wanted him, but if you're trying to claim that you thought UK had any chance of getting him, you're living in historical-revisionism fantasyworld. In May of 1997, Cal had just finished 43-39, made the playoffs, had an enormous contract, and there was 0% chance of him going anywhere at that time

I wasn't claiming a thing other than I wanted him here after RP left, and that I was waist deep in kind at the time. Best vibes man.
 
I made a thread wanting Cal after Tubby left, I think it was called something like "Calipari is so obvious it's painful"

I always wished I could find it in some archive so I could throw it in the face of people who insist all UK fans hated him before he came here.
 
I made a thread wanting Cal after Tubby left, I think it was called something like "Calipari is so obvious it's painful"

I always wished I could find it in some archive so I could throw it in the face of people who insist all UK fans hated him before he came here.
Here's a list of every capture from Kentucky Rivals on the Wayback Machine. Tubby left in March of '07, so if you can remember around which month you made that post, there's a good chance it was captured. It's going to take some digging to find it, though, because there's close to 200k captures. Good luck.

https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://kentucky.rivals.com/*
 
Here's a list of every capture from Kentucky Rivals on the Wayback Machine. Tubby left in March of '07, so if you can remember around which month you made that post, there's a good chance it was captured. It's going to take some digging to find it, though, because there's close to 200k captures. Good luck.

https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://kentucky.rivals.com/*
thanks

are they all on that page, because it seems to crash my browser
 
I love the guy on there (Tom Gray) who argued adamently that Crean would be at Marquette forever and would never leave. Pretty sure that's Smokey Pearl.
 
Yeah, in that link they are. Sorry about that. I meant to link a different page. This page you can pick the year, then the month. The blue dot on a particular date in each month represents when the page was captured.


http://web.archive.org/web/20061015000000*/http://kentucky.rivals.com
How does this work? Should you be able to pull up and read actual threads on the board from back then? I ask because it tells me that the "wayback doesn't go back that far" when I attempt to do so.
 
How does this work? Should you be able to pull up and read actual threads on the board from back then? I ask because it tells me that the "wayback doesn't go back that far" when I attempt to do so.

I've noticed that you can only see screenshots on most of those hits. Occasionally it will let you navigate, but oftentimes many of the links/buttons are dead.
 
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