The men’s basketball season is officially over for the Kentucky Wildcats! It hurts to say that, but it’s true. I thought about setting up a triage unit for emotionally battered Cat fans. Fact of the matter is the title of this post says it all as to why we lost to the West Virginia Moutaineers–we couldn’t even shoot ourselves (translation for all you non-basketball readers: we shot the ball very poorly and couldn’t seem to make a basket when we needed one.) Shot poorly? Understatement of the tournament: like saying Northern Iowa beating Kansas was a mild upset! 4 of 32 from 3-point range?! Missed 13 free throws! Ughhh! If it weren’t for the floor some of our shots might not have hit anything at all!
And still . . . the season was a revival of sorts. UK being back in the discussion of elite programs and the top of the polls (nice). Wildcat coaches being in the national spotlight for things other than alcohol-related incidents (refreshing). Highly-touted recruits who understand “team” and “chemistry” in ways they never had to in high school (sweet).
Yes, it’s been a great ride and the beginning of UK’s rise to regain prominence in the college hoops world. It’s hard to call this year a “baby step” but even if that’s what it is, this baby may grow bigger than Demarcus Cousins’ mammoth frame! Can’t wait til next year!
The entire Big Blue Nation (everybody’s fan-base is a nation, now) is awaiting the expected, albeit bittersweet, announcement from at least two of our freshmen (Wall & Cousins) that they will be entering the NBA draft. Not surprising, considering the fact that those two may be the top two overall picks. Whether they stay or go, this freshmen class has withstood a national media blitz, the withering expectations of such a highly-ranked recruiting class, and a horde of fans who are with them “win or tie.”
And even though we didn’t reach our ultimate goal of a national championship, and we may never see these young men play together for the University of Kentucky, and we have fans who can be just a wee-bit obsessive . . . thank God it’s not West Virginia (and I lived there for four years and have good memories and even better friends from the Mountaineer State).
Apparently, officials were relieved that the number of state-wide celebratory fires were down compared to the aftermath of recent milestone wins for WVU athletics. In a recent ESPN blog, Diamond Leung reported,
“According to WDTV:
Dispatchers over at the Monongalia County 911 center tell 5 News that there were ten dumpster fires, seven rubbish fires, and at least six other types of fires after Saturday night’s game. The number of incidents have dropped dramatically compared to the last elite eight game, where police made hundreds of arrests.
Celebrations went on into the early morning until Bob Huggins and the team arrived back in town, and fans shown in this video from WSAZ-TV seemed to be having a great time.
‘There will be some couch burning, but I don’t think anyone will get injured,’ one fan said.”
Well, that’s sweet; no one got injured–that we know of anyway. During the game, the Mountaineer team torched the nets in the Carrier Dome, I had no idea that the Mountaineer fans torched couches in their front yards! Maybe it’s good they won . . . no telling what might have been burned otherwise.
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