Serena Williams and 38-0...

[MdWIldcat55]

In the days before Serena Williams was shocked by an unranked player this afternoon she had been making some very candid comments about how she just wanted this quest for a rare Calendar Grand Slam to be over. I was struck by an interview I read in the Washington Post where she said, "I really don't want to be playing this match." She seemed mentally exhausted. I should have placed a $50 bet on the underdog, because not knowing anything about tennis, and even though she was an overwhelming favorite, she sounded whipped. (Ironically, I read that Serena was 38-0 in semis and finals of grand slam events in which she held a lead.)

What does that have to do with Kentucky basketball? I doubt we'll ever know the crushing accumulation of pressure on the Wildcat players and John Calipari as they approached something far more rare -- in fact, something that had NEVER been done in the modern era -- a perfect season.

I know this thread will bring out the usual Debbie Downers and trolls (I have the worst of them on ignore so I'll be spared.)

But I think it time -- before the new season starts -- that Kentucky fans embrace what was accomplished last year, celebrate a feat never matched in college basketball, and let go of any lingering negativity -- especially about losing to a 1 seed with two NBA lottery picks and a couple other eventual NBA players that got a few lucky bounces.

38-0 may not be matched for decades. Yeah, 40-0 and a national championship would have been truly historic, but there is a reason no one else has ever done 38-0, never mind 40-0 -- it's incredibly hard, and unimaginably grueling from a mental standpoint. Mental fatigue got to probably the greatest women's tennis player in history today, and maybe it got to some college kids in April. But that doesn't mean we can't appreciate what was accomplished. Towns and Harrison and Lyles and Cauley-Stein and the rest deserve to be celebrated names in Kentucky basketball history.

 

[Smashcat]

I'm blaming the both UK loss and Serena's loss today on Drake.

 

[UKWildcats#8]

I can't believe Serena choked today. At least UK lost to a very damn good team.

 

[jameslee32]

Serena went threw the mental madness at age 33. Several key players on the UK basketball team were less than 20 during their madness.

Makes you wonder how Steffi Graf accomplished the Grand Slam feat at the tender age of 19.

 

[DAM]

I think she's a he..........................................................

 

[Orville Boggs]

This why they play the games! You got to bring it at all times!

 

[EvilMD]

The only difference is that people weren't saying "Serena will go 40-0 in major matches this year."

Once she got close she certainly felt it. You become such a huge target the closer you get. Your opponent has nothing to lose, and you have everything to lose.

 

[lacocat]

anytime some one gets 38-0 Drake comes band'wagon round. i 'm kidding, he's a nice guy i'm sure

 

[TNCatfanforever]

anytime some one gets 38-0 Drake comes band'wagon round. i 'm kidding, he's a nice guy i'm sure

I am still blaming the officials for an uncalled shot clock violation.

 

[ORCAT]

Not a bad post at all, OP, and it does help put things more in perspective. Our feat this season was one we should all embrace and be proud of. Being UK fans, we just wanted that title so bad. I was never one who was on the 40-0 bandwagon in the first place but I was one who badly wanted the guys to finish the job once they got so close. It was a nagging defeat for a long time after that game but I think I'm finally moving on and especially since I'm very excited again about the upcoming season. I'm now putting all my focus on this year's team and hoping they can bring us #9 and it matters not if we lose a few games along the way to me, I just want them to finish on top in the end. Last year's team will remain very special to me and I won't forget what they accomplished. As for Cal, he has brought us more excitement in his 6 years than we have had at UK in quite awhile so I'm not faulting him even though I admit I was critical of him in those final minutes of the Wisconsin game. Thanks for a good post, OP.

 

[calamitybone]

She's 33 and getting better, exhibits textbook 'roid rage on live TV, ducks all attempts at dope testing, suffers from undisclosed illnesses and resembles Wesley Snipes in To Wong Foo. When it finally comes out that she's cheating will we all feign disbelief?

 

[preacherfan]

I am still blaming the officials for an uncalled shot clock violation.

I would add that it was a bad matchup due to the fact that we had beaten Wisconsin a season earlier and they had something to prove. I think they gave it all and weren't as emotionally charged for Duke.

That uncalled shot clock violation was huge. If they get that right, I have to wonder how things would have played out but such is life.

 

[Bigblueforever]

Its ruff as we well know, I fill sorry for her.

 

[UKWildcats#8]

I would add that it was a bad matchup due to the fact that we had beaten Wisconsin a season earlier and they had something to prove. I think they gave it all and weren't as emotionally charged for Duke.

That uncalled shot clock violation was huge. If they get that right, I have to wonder how things would have played out but such is life.

I view the game differently in that UK lost the game by 3 straight shot clock violations (6 straight possessions without a point against Kenpom's best offense ever), but I will say that shot clock violation miss was the straw that 100% broke the camel's back. UK needed something, anything, ANYTHING positive to go their way at that point in the game to get some swag back, and a shot clock violation for a defensive team is like a big dunk at the other end. So yeah, it sucked, but I think UK had already mentally lost the game by the 3 straight violations on their own end on offense...maybe that call could have made a difference but idk.

 

[wcc31]

Hell, the pressure got to me, so I can just imagine how it affected the players. I had a knot in my stomach all of March. I was a mess.

 

[Cawood86]

Not a tennis fan, but to do what she did should not be diminished, just as UK's accomplishments last year should not. That said, I STILL AINT OVER IT...

 

[lacocat]

Not a tennis fan, but to do what she did should not be diminished, just as UK's accomplishments last year should not. That said, I STILL AINT OVER IT...

Cal's nowhere near done yet..

 

[Neue Regel]

Serena went threw the mental madness at age 33. Several key players on the UK basketball team were less than 20 during their madness.

Makes you wonder how Steffi Graf accomplished the Grand Slam feat at the tender age of 19.

Steffi had a mental fortitude second to none and a weapon that no one had. (that powerful forehand)

Steffi won her 22nd and last Grand Slam title by age 30 in 1999 and competed in the sport during a time when the competition level in Women's Tennis was so much higher. Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova were still a force on the circuit when Graf entered the game in the early 80's. After Steffi won the Grand Slam in 1988, Navratilova still won another Wimbledon title. (1990) then you had all the young players Steffi had to deal with which includes the Rottweiler, Monica Seles who won 8 of 9 Grand Slams from 1990-1993 and who stood toe to toe with Graf until the stabbing incident in Germany. Gabriela Sabatini (who may have been the only player to beat Graf during that magical 88 year? and who beat Steffi for the 1990 U.S. Open) Sanchez-Vicario who was a very tough player, especially on clay, Jana Novotna, Zina Garrison. etc. Then in the latter 90's before retirement, Martina Hingis had come on to be a force along with Lindsay Davenport and of course the Williams sisters.

I think Graf is no worse than top 3 all-time in the sport. Serena in the sport now is almost like UCONN in women's hoops. No one is in her league even at age 34 which is why her defeat last weekend is being ranked as one of the all-time upset's in tennis. It was a shocking loss but that's the beauty of sports.

 

[UK90]

anytime some one gets 38-0 Drake comes band'wagon round. i 'm kidding, he's a nice guy i'm sure

Seriously, that dude is such a shameless bandwagon jumper. Nobody ever saw him near a UK game until Calipari came and made our program the sport's hip cool thing, and nobody ever saw him near a Serena match until she challenged the calendar grand slam thing and became the talk of the sports world, and nobody saw him near the Raptors until they started winning a couple years ago.

You know you've made it when Drake shows up courtside claiming to be your die-hard fan.

 

[jameslee32]

You know you've made it when Drake shows up courtside claiming to be your die-hard fan.

Watch out Astros fans!

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I'll let you know which one's worse when I decide to bring up 38-1 from the deepest, darkest place in my soul. For now, that shit is locked away for years.

I'd sooner talk about my worst break-ups than Kentucky Basketball '15. Say what you will, but I'm just not ready to go into the variables and hypotheticals of that season and tournament.

And I don't think history is going to be kind to that UK team. They are always going to be the "best team to never win it". It's going to be a punchline for rival fans for decades.

 

[bbsanders]

She's 33 and getting better, exhibits textbook 'roid rage on live TV, ducks all attempts at dope testing, suffers from undisclosed illnesses and resembles Wesley Snipes in To Wong Foo. When it finally comes out that she's cheating will we all feign disbelief?

I like your post. A lot.