John Calipari jokes with Mark Pope, "Don't you ruin my program, man."
Mark Pope revealed a fascinating conversation he had with John Calipari where Cal jokingly said, "Don't you ruin my program, man."
He said one thing right "RUIN"
John calipari jokes with mark pope "dont you ruin my program man "
- Thread starter jeffky
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He said one thing right "RUIN"
Ruin it? It appeared Cal was trying to do just that in his last few years.
Yeah. A 2 seed in 2 of his last 3 years here. Oh, the horrors!!
Surely that amounted to more than 1 tournament win
2022 - 2 seed
2023 - 6 seed
2024 - 3 seed
I still respect and appreciate Cal —— at the end it just wasn’t the same and he did the right thing by moving on.
Who cares what seed he started with, it’s what he did with those seeds. Two first round flameouts with a second round loss sandwiched between them. And of course, you didn’t include the 9-16 season before that.
Cal took "his" program with him. It's gone. New sheriff in town. 
Come on, I think that is Cal acknowledging Pope is killing it. It is like pounding your little brothers shoulder when he starts getting to the point he may be able to kick your A$$ soon!
Cal was ruining the Commonwealth's program. I know he was just joking, but I'll never believe a part of him didn't think it was his.
BBN cares about results. The results were getting pretty small in the rear view.
Yep. Was time to go for sure. That said the coach who had the most ncaa tournament wins from 2009-10 to 2023-24 was John Calipari. The last 4 years (not 5, not 7, not 10) weren’t good. But running it in the ground doesn’t really apply.
This is KSR taking a pretty innocuous quote from the interview with Pope and making it seem like it's something bigger than it appeared in context
If you think the last three years were a success, you are no real fan.
I think running it in the ground is strong language for my taste but he was pretty far off the standard imo from 2021-2024. It’s not a knock on Cal, as I absolutely adored the 2022 team but I try to be as honest as I can be. He really lost some juice and didn’t adapt to the changing landscape enough. He also make a massive mistake letting Robic go —- that’s when things changed in a negative way.
You can't be serious with that. This isn't UT. We don't hang banners for 2 seeds. And what did Cal do with those 2 seeds? CHOKE.
Choked harder than guy trying to restart his mower. Choked more than a chicken eating rocks. Choked like Chris.....nah, I'll be nice.
Maybe, but as per usual, it's yet ANOTHER example of JVC being tone deaf. It's not his program anymore; never was. It's OUR program.
The sad thing is that egomaniac is only partly joking.
What exactly did he win his last 5 years? Nothing and he set all kinda bad records while he was at it. He was not into it and it was time to move on.
Strange Cal calling UK his program when he left UKJohn Calipari jokes with Mark Pope, "Don't you ruin my program, man."
Mark Pope revealed a fascinating conversation he had with John Calipari where Cal jokingly said, "Don't you ruin my program, man."www.on3.com
He said one thing right "RUIN"
A second round loss to Jerome Tang ugh. He couldn’t beat Kevin Ollie and Jerome Tang, also lost to the most mediocre coach ever in Bruce Weber.
Some jokes are just in poor taste. Especially when you have a history of saying infuriatingly tone deaf, stupid crap.
And I'm so glad someone else calls it the Commonwealth. We're one of four and I'm dang proud of it.
But beat the likes of Pitino, Marhsall's insanely good Shocker team, Self, etc. Cal will just forever be an enigma.
And you'll never convince me something didn't happen to him during Covid. He was NEVER the same Cal after that.
Seems like it worked out well for both sides and I have moved on.
Do we need to talk about the record vs other ranked teams and other bluebloods? Do we need to talk about Evansville, Wilmington, Oakland, St.Peters? Or the worst season in UK history?
He had a great decade here but do t act like the last 4-5 years was sunshine and roses
Cals gone he was the problem. The people who defended him so long are culpable in the worst stretch of bb in our history from the end of 2019 until cal left. Worst season in history. Worst losses. Best players in history and 1 title. In his 15 years he had as much talent as the all history prior at uk combined. 1 title
I don't think Cal said this. I believe Pope was talking w/ KAT, and during the conversation Towns told Pope: You know what Cal's saying down there in Fayetteville. He's saying "don't ruin my program".
I know, makes no sense. He didn’t just beat Pitino, he massacred him.
This is UK. Not getting out of the first weekend for four years straight is running the program in the ground.
Yep. And it's not like Pitino is a stupid coach. Pitino does share Cal's weakness....stubborn as the jackasses they both can be.
He started the descent after he won the title.. It was a slow go, thanks to getting incredible talent. It kept him afloat for a short time. Then he bottomed out during the Pandemic. That was it. It was all over but the crying after that.
Cal loves UK & never wanted to leave here. He kept thinking he'd get over the hump & the magic would return. But there came a point of no return & he finally saw it & bowed out. That was harder for him than you think. I'm one who thinks we should always respect Cal! I totally understood disappointment from fans, but I never understood the hate.
When you lose rd 1 as that 2 seed to St Peter's and Oakland - yeah man its pretty damn Horrific as a UK fan to watch.
Cal was getting killed on the court and it was Cal’s own doing. He never admitted things needed to change. He may have given lip service but he never did anything different. Also, Cal made a mockery of the fan base and talked down to us and belittled Kentuckians whenever he could near the end. I don’t hate him but I am glad he’s gone. He will need 10+ years of separation before he is ever considered to be welcomed back for anything relating to UK for me.
Nah, That descent started after we got hosed by effing Higgins in that 2017 game. I honestly thing that was the punch that Cal just said "Eff it, I'm not trying anymore." And once COVID happened, I think that it was accelerated.
I've never been a man to hold grudges, but when John Higgins goes, I'm not gonna be to upset by it.
So you’re defending him by saying that? Pretty sure we flamed out immediately as those very high seeds. I must be misunderstanding.
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