Why I Will Soon Hate Kentucky Basketball

If you are looking for spiritual discussion, theological reading, pastoral insight, church planting vision, or other things I sometimes try to talk about, then you have come to the wrong place. This post is a rant. And a rant about a college basketball team. So many of you can move on and read something else. If you stay you'll probably regret it. It's a waste of your time really.

Anyway...I essentially have three sports that I follow with any kind of passion and they're in this order of priority: Baseball, football, and basketball. So it makes sense that my favorite sports teams are in this order: The Pittsburgh Pirates (I'd cut my arm off to see them win one World Series before I die), The Pittsburgh Steelers (I'd cry if they didn't win another 50 super bowls before I die), and Kentucky Wildcats basketball (I follow them very very closely and yell at the TV when they're on).

This post is about Wildcats basketball. First, I have to admit that Marshall and WVU football and basketball have for the past few years been creeping up for number three on my sports team love list. So the following statement would probably have gradually happened at some level any way. The statement for all who care: If Billy Donavan is hired as the next UK basketball coach I will avidly wish harm against them (including cheer for Duke) during his lame tenure and who knows if I'll root for them again!!!!!!

Let me give you some reasons:

1. He's an overrated coach. He's a good coach at best. I watched him while I was in high school when he coached Marshall for two years and the guy drove me crazy. Our players got worse under his coaching. His current players do too by the way. They say we won, but we didn't. We had a winning record. We won 17 and 18 games in the Southern Conference when he was here. Huckaby and White did better than that. We never went to the NCAA tourney or NIT. I watched him on two occasions simply sit down and quit coaching in the middle of the second half after we were losing. In fact, when he left and took Jason Williams, our best player that year--Greg White came in and won 20 games. The same folks who love Billy Donovan hate Greg White. It's screwed up. I'm mad about it. If you look at what he does at Florida, it's not great. He went to a school where only three years before Lon Kruger took them to the Final Four. It was a step up for sure and it's a tougher conference yes, but Donovan won 13 games and then 14 games. Went to a final--Kudos. Then didn't get past the second round for 5 years. He brought great recruits and a great system that Rick Pitino came up with. I'm not necessarily knocking him for that. It works for him so go for it. But that doesn't make a guy a great coach. And until the past two years when Florida made him get an X's and O's assistant and he got a few big guys that could pick up a ton of offensive rebounds from their slop no one has done less with more than Billy Donovan. Kentucky has always had great coaches. They've differed in styles and had varied success, but their coaches have always been great coaches.



2. It is a fundamental shift in philosophy for the team. I love the Steelers because they are a class act from top to bottom. They don't put up with players getting arrested or beating their girlfriends. They have top notch coaches who respect the game and play it right. Hard hitting defense and run the football. They would never get Randy Moss or TO. They reject winning at any cost. They will win the right way. Kentucky apparently won't. Perhaps, Kentucky only wants to win. We'll see.



3. He looks like Eddie Munster. Ok, this is petty, but he does look like a vampire with patent leather hair.

So, if you've read this far allow me to illustrate my point with Scripture and why God agrees with me and no one who cheers for Billy Donovan, Randy Moss, TO, Tiger Woods, or Derek Jeter.

Deuteronomy 25:11-12 has an odd command: "When men fight with one another and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity."

There is a right way to win and a wrong way to win. Please Kentucky do not grab at people's privates to win! I know your fans want you too, but your fans where mulletts too. Remember you're the greatest college basketball team in the country, you're going to win anyway. At least do it the right way!!