SouthEastern Wildcat Review

Before getting into the football stuff from the SEC Media Days in Birmingham, how about this PERFECTLY clear video of the infamous "Dunk on LeBron." The video that TMZ has is nowhere near the quality of this one:

Now let's get into the football swing of things with today's post, here is the entire video from Rich Brooks' segment at the Southeastern Conference Media Days in Birmingham:
(Courtesy of al.com)

And now for the Trevard Lindley segment:

When I think back to how much I used to hate Rich Brooks and wish that UK would just cut their losses with him and move on, I get embarrassed. I was very shortsighted and never bothered to consider that maybe this old school coach knew what he was doing. To go from probation to where he is now is simply amazing. What a turnaround and what an attitude change he has brought upon the Kentucky football program. That being said, I don't want to get used to being happy with 7-5 or 6-6 every year. I want the 'Cats to break through the glass ceiling and join the teams in the upper half of the SEC. Can Rich lead the team there? Is the program even capable of pulling off that "miracle season?" Based on previous results, it's hard to bet against "Papaw," however according to him, he may not be around as the coach of the Wildcats much longer. If this turns out to be his last year, let's hope he's right about this team being one of the best he's had and much improved over last year. Of course leave it to Rich to have the last laugh at the media's expense.

As I mentioned above, the SEC Media Days began yesterday in Birmingham. Clay Travis did an interesting live blog on all the events. Rich Brooks entertained everyone as always, here is a complete transcript of his question and answer session. Brooks had this to say about All-American cornerback Trevard Lindley, and UK lineman Zipp Duncan had some really disgusting and incestuous funny quotes himself. Some bad UK football news from yesterday, as Chip Cosby reported that three fall recruits aren't going to be academically eligible and will likely go the JUCO route. One of the funnier stories to come out is about the search to figure out which head coach didn't vote for Tim Tebow on the 1st team All-SEC Squad. (Had to be Kiffin, it just had to be). And finally, how about a list of questions to ask Steve Kragthorpe and Rich Brooks next time you have them over to your house for dinner.

OK, first things first, haul your tails on over here and vote for Rupp Arena. CBS is conducting a poll asking which arena is better, Rupp or the home of perpetual losers, professional whiners, and Big Blue wannabes, Freedom Hall. Hope it doesn't take you too long to pick sides. Ever since his smart decision to re-open his recruitment, Josh Selby seems like he has been the talk of everyone everywhere. Reportedly his list is now Ohio State, UConn, Kansas, and the obvious pick Kentucky. Selby is in Las Vegas now, tearing up the court and drawing a crowd of coaches. Even Dick Weiss of the NY Daily News way back East had something to say about him. And then we get to hear even more about Selby and some comments about Kentucky from point guard Joe Jackson through Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports. Then Jerry Meyer of Rivals answers four more questions (out of a possible five) concerning UK recruiting targets. We all know that Coach Cal was hired to bring back the luster of the Kentucky Wildcat brand, but when you really think about it, he also has a unique brand of his own. And finally, is the one-and-done rule soon to go the way of mammoths and Beta tapes? (I personally hope so). Well if Tennessee congressman Steve Cohen gets his way with the NBA, yes.

Of course they're my favorite colors: (Actually are there any more ???)

While doing a little thinking earlier this morning about just how wonderful it is to be a Wildcat fan right now, a terrible thought crossed my mind. What if Mitch Barnhart and Lee Todd hadn't pulled the trigger and fired Clyde following the NIT loss to Notre Dame? What would we be looking forward to this fall? What would the roster and probable starting lineup look like? Very sobering train of thought let me tell you. Of course we have all heard the rumors about some of BCG's more disturbing motivational tactics. All of these are alleged, no one to my knowledge has come out and directly vouched for the validity of any of these stories. There is the one where Clyde made Josh Harrellson sit in a toilet stall during halftime after Billy thought he turned in a bad first half performance. Then the one regarding an injury to Darius Miller where he was supposedly told by Clyde to suck it up and play like a man, and if he couldn't do that, maybe he needed to walk back to the team hotel instead of riding the bus. Of course a team mutiny followed, with the players stating that if Darius had to walk, they were all walking. Jodie Meeks and Derrick Jasper were also victims of the BCG "Play Through Pain" philosophy. It led Jasper to transfer and Meeks to insinuate leaving for sure if Clyde came back.

And we all know about the Jeanine Edwards interviews and the "Ambassador wasn't in my job description" comments, so I think there was a clearly defined pattern of behavior all Kentucky fans had to look forward to. Add to that the undefined substitution patterns and unpredictable starting lineups, and 'Cat fans would be standing in line to jump off the nearest cliff and what a sad, sad season we had coming my fellow fanatics.

Now my next comments are not meant to disparage any of these players in any way. All these guys (Porter especially) either gave or would have given their all for the program, this is just a talent comparison. A realization of what could have come to pass had the UK brass not had a change of heart. B.C. = Before Calipari and A.C. = After Calipari. I'm not going to compare what each player brings (or would have brought) to the team, I'll leave that judgement up to you. This list is just to remind you what would have been versus what now is.

Point guard: B.C. - Michael Porter, Konner Tucker, G.J. Vilarino. A.C. - John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, DeAndre Liggins (combo 1 & 2). Maybe Porter still leaves the team, maybe he doesn't, but Liggins has stated the had Clyde came back, he would've been gone. Konner Tucker went on to sign with Wake Forest, but I believe that Wall and Bledsoe are adequate replacements.

Shooting Guard: B.C. - Jon Hood, Kevin Galloway (combo 1 & 2), Landon Slone. A.C. - Jon Hood, Darius Miller (combo 2 & 3), Darnell Dodson. The difference here being the exchange of Galloway for Dodson, Miller playing SG and SF for Cal, and Slone. I thought Galloway had more game than Clyde allowed him to show, and Dodson is still an unknown quantity, so this one will just have to play itself out. Slone had the potential to be the shooter the 'Cats need this season but transferred to Morehead after realizing Cal wasn't going to offer the scholarship that BCG had promised.

Small Forward: B.C. - Darius Miller, Ramon Harris, A.J. Stewart (combo 3 & 4). A.C. - Darius Miller, Ramon Harris, Perry Stevenson. Perry might play some power forward for Cal, it's not clear yet at this point. Stewart may or may not have been back, as he had already been suspended for the first 10 games of the season due to academic troubles. Miller will almost certainly play more shooting guard for Cal than he would have for Clyde.

Power Forward: B.C. - Matt Pilgrim (combo 4 & 5), Josh Harrellson, Perry Stevenson, A.J. Stewart (combo 3 & 4). A.C. - Patrick Patterson, Josh Harrellson, DeMarcus Cousins (combo 4 & 5). This has to be the greatest impact position because had Clyde stayed, Patterson would likely have joined Jodie Meeks and stayed in the draft. Pilgrim migrated to Oklahoma State, so the jury is still out on that one. Cousins appears to be an incredible talent who will also see time at the SF and C positions.

Center: B.C. - Daniel Orton and Matt Pilgrim. A.C. - Daniel Orton and DeMarcus Cousins. Cal's offense has so many interchangeable positions, center may not be much of a label. However Orton will be a beast either way, and personally I would take Cousins' potential over Pilgrim's potential.

So there you go, you can extrapolate whatever starting lineup you like from that list of players, and in my view Cal's version will always be superior, talent-wise. But draw your own conclusions and comparisons and come up with your own results. (I have a sneaky suspicion yours will be very similar to mine) Now onto the UK news for the day, started off with the new Louisville logo......the one on the left is before Calipari was hired, the one on the right is the redesign to reflect 'Card fans feelings about Coach Cal leading the Big Blue Nation.

It's great to be back, Kentucky has 5-1 odds to win it all this year.

Does tradition really matter? You bet it does!!

Will former 'Cat Randolph Morris ever fulfill his potential? Who knows??

Big shocker here, Cal's offense is perfect for point guards.

TMZ is claiming they have the tape of LeBron getting dunked on by Jordan Crawford.

Cal hopes Antonio Burks is OK and has learned a lesson.

John Clay's random notes.

Rich Brooks wants Randall Cobb to be more creative.

A look at the SEC by the numbers.

A pre-season SEC power poll. (UK gets no respect)

A ranking of the toughest stadiums in the SEC.

And that's the end. I haven't forgotten about the funny story to post today, I'm trying to get the guy who is the subject of the story to write it himself.