Mar 22 2007
Tidbits
Today I went to the Aroma Café on Tujunga in Studio City to meet with a student. What a scene. It’s one of those places where you somehow recognize everyone there, and everyone there is talking Hollywood shop. Highlight of the visit was not the $5 mocha, but instead, seeing Jack Coleman, who plays Mr. Bennett on Heroes.
Got an email from Al Gore. Testifying before a joint committee in congress yesterday, he delivered 519,414 post cards from U.S. citizens demanding their government take action on the climate crisis. Why couldn’t this warm, affable, humorous dude have been the guy running for President seven years ago?
Tubby Smith is leaving Kentucky. I really, honestly, wish him great success in Minnesota. He’s a good man, a good coach, and he’ll build a competitive program for the Golden Gophers. It was a classy move by Smith to refuse to fire his coaches in order to keep his job, but it was time for a change in Lexington, and I don’t think dismissing a few assistants was the answer. Recruiting had nosedived, we’d lost control of the SEC, fear was no longer struck in the hearts of our opponents, and the style of play was not competitive with the speed and athleticism of the better teams across the country. When some fans cite a 12 point Kentucky loss to Kansas as a moral victory, it’s time to go. Good luck Tubby. Now let the coaching carousel begin to spin.
How about Ricky P? The big return? Or is that impossible?
1. Jack Coleman is a nice looking man
2. Al Gore is a nerd.
3. Bye Tubby, it’s been fun. How cool would it be to get Billy Donovan.
I agree with the author of this article. Tubby is a good person, coach and human being, however he was never the caliber of coach that KENTUCKY BASKETBALL is known for. Even if you go back to Adolph and his Rupps Runts, they were a running, gunning team led by Riley, Jarus, Connley, and Dampier. They would fire it from anywhere. I respect Tubby and thought he did a good job, for any other team in the nation, except Kentucky Basketball. I wish him all the luck as a Golden Golpher.
I don’t necessarily think it was Tubby’s actual coaching skills that were the problem. I think his personality wasn’t suited for the type of fishbowl he was swimming in, and that the style of play and the type of players he uses didn’t appeal to fans after the Pitino era. UK fans, as Rick says, have always loved that run-n-gun style, and when Pitino came to town, enthusiasm reached its peak. Tubby has never coached that style of play, nor has he ever really sought those types of players. If you ask me, it was mixup of expectations. When he was hired, UK got a proven winner and model of consistency. It just didn’t get the larger than life personality and type of play it had grown accustomed to. If Bogans doesn’t turn his ankle a couple of years back, maybe they win it all, and maybe things turn out differently.
I can’t see Rick P coming back to UK. He flatly refused today. That’s too much heat even for him.
Here here.
I’ve been active on the kentucky.com message boards and most fans are in agreement. However, it’s sickening the articles published over and over by the HL writers. Apparently, the’ye having trouble adjusting to the light having been up Tubby’s butt for the last ten years.