KENTUCKY BASKETBALL

Let's talk about Kentucky basketball for a moment, shall we? The season is just getting underway (the CATS are 2-0 so far in exhibition with another game coming up tonight) and let me just say this is the most excited I've been for the start of basketball season in oh...about ten years.

The Billy G. era was (thankfully) short-lived but even so I think it forced even the most devout Kentucky fan to struggle for something positive to say. It was just horrible. Painfully horrible. A horrible, horrible two years in the history of Kentucky basketball if you ask me. (Did you get that? Horrible). I wish we could have a do-over. Or an annulment. Like "Hey remember those two seasons where we had that redneck Texan as our Coach? Um, yeah...just kidding! Those don't count." I wish I could erase the past two seasons from my mind completely.

It's not that we weren't winning (although 18-13 and 22-14 are pretty sorry records) or even that we didn't make it into the NCAA tournament last year (but talk about an insulting way for this program to end a season) that made me loathe Billy Clyde so much. Oh no. I could have tolerated a couple rebuilding years, as could I believe, most of the rest of the Big Blue Nation, had he given us any other reason in the world to keep him around. Anything at all. If he had been a super likable guy who played to the media and made us CATS fans feel loved and appreciated, we'd have surely given him another season or two to get his program up and running. Had he been a really stand-up guy who was setting a great example for the community while slowly rebuilding the tradition that is Kentucky basketball, we'd have been more than happy to keep him around then too. But no. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Billy G. was either too arrogant or too busy or straight up too stupid to realize that in Kentucky, basketball is King. As long as you're winning you are a God among men; but the second you stop winning, well, you better have a backup plan in mind. Mocking and belittling fans, earning a reputation for being a womanizer and a drunk, and sacrificing a team victory to prove a point to one player are just not good ideas around here and won't make you very many friends; especially when you're losing. Just horrible.

As much as I disliked Billy G. and kinda wished sometimes that he'd get hit by a car on the way to a game (not mortally wounded, just enough to keep him out for the remainder of the season) it pales in comparison to the absolute disgust I had for our previous coach, Mr. Tubby Smith. If Billy G. was a flash in the pan of Kentucky basketball despair, Tubby's tenure was the equivalent of dying a very slow and painful death. In my mind he literally sucked all of the life right out of Kentucky basketball. He turned our program into one of the most boring, lackluster, almost painful to watch in the whole country. We were big and slow and got repeatedly and handily whipped up and down the court by teams that were smaller and quicker. We played a slowed down style of ball that was so out of touch with reality that it wasn't even funny. We recruited guys based on nothing more than their size (who cares that he's not really capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time?? He's 7'3"! We'll take him) and then seemed stunned when they failed to perform. Uggggggh. I think my blood pressure is rising just thinking about this. It got so bad that I literally just quit going to games altogether; a move that bordered on the sacrilegious (cause when you're a UK student and have access to $5 basketball tickets, you better be on your deathbed if you turn them down). But I couldn't help it. I couldn't stand to watch. It just hurt my heart too much.

So yeah. The Gillespie era was like a gunshot wound; painful and fatal, but mercifully quick and over almost before you even realize its happened. The Tubby era was more like slowly suffocating to death. Or being buried alive. Together they combined to form a very dark and dismal period in the life of Kentucky basketball.

Which brings me to now, and why I'm so fired up about the beginning of this season. I already LOVE Coach Calipari. Love him. I think he's great. I think he's the best thing to happen to maybe the whole state in a very long time and if I have to eat these words later because it comes to light that he used illegal recruiting strategies or was involved in some underhanded dealings, well, so be it. For the time being I'm a big, big, big time supporter of Coach Cal.

He makes it so easy to like him because so far, he's doing everything right. He's doing the things a Kentucky Coach should be doing and technically, the season hasn't really even started yet. This just proves that Kentucky fans are not quite the bloodthirsty win-mongers we're made out to be. Ok fine, we're pretty close but still, we do care about other things too and its possible to be hugely popular here without the Win/Loss record to back you up. For a time anyway.

And Coach Cal gets that. He understands and appreciates that he's at the pinnacle of men's college basketball coaching jobs. For a man in his profession there is quite simply no better place in the entire world to be than at Kentucky. A coach won't find a more devoted fan base in all of college basketball, or a program/university/state more devoted to the sport. It just won't happen. Calipari knows that and more importantly, he appreciates that. He's playing to the media, he's befriending the fans, and he's making us feel like this is "our" team again. Oh and also, he's recruited one of the best freshman classes in the history of the sport which has lead to a preseason ranking in the Top 5. That doesn't hurt either.

I'm almost sick with knowing I probably won't get to see the CATS play in person this season because based on what the experts are saying, we're going to be one heck of a fun team to watch. We're going to be quick and we're going to push the ball and we're going to be, for the first time in a long time, really really good. I can't wait.

Really???

This picture was taken at an Anti-Gay/Anti-Black protest that took place outside the Sidwell Friends school in Washington D.C. earlier in the week. Sidwell Friends is the private school President Obama's daughters attend. I'm going to ignore the brazen ignorance of protesting an entire race for now (though on another day at another time I may bring this up again) and instead focus on the one detail that first caught my eye when I saw this picture.

That sign. The one that reads "God Hates You."

Really? Really??

What kind of disgusting, hate-filled person do you have to be to justify in your mind carrying a sign like that around? I don't know which is more disturbing; the fact that someone actually believes such a thing and is ok with broadcasting it to the world, or the fact that someone who is clearly an adult is audacious enough to wave that sign at a bunch of elementary school kids. These people call themselves Christians too, which I cannot fathom. Who do they think they are, to speak for God like that? Who are they to tell someone else that God hates them for a lifestyle they've chosen or the color of skin they were born with?

The God I know does not hate anyone and all I've ever learned in Sunday School and Church has taught me that we, as Christians, should practice and cherish love and acceptance above all else. Period. End of story. What happened to Jesus loving all the children (red and yellow, black and white) of the world? We were not put here to condemn each other, or to decide for ourselves who is or is not worthy of God's love. And I'm pretty sure God doesn't need any of us to speak for Him.

I Don't Get It

I wrote about this awhile back but then this morning there was an article about childhood obesity online and I decided it was a topic worth revisiting. The article was about some studies that have been done which concluded that today's kids are astronomically more likely than their parents or grandparents to suffer from heart disease. The article went on to say...

"Our study suggests that more of these young adults will have heart disease when they are 35-50 years old, resulting in more hospitalizations, medical procedures, need for chronic medications, missed work days and shortened life expectancy," said Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, lead author of the study. A study released last November at a Heart Association conference found that the neck arteries in obese and overweight children were similar to those of 45-year-olds. The children in the study also had "abnormal cholesterol" and were said to be at high risk for heart disease in the future."

Isn't that horrible? Overweight children have the arteries of 45-year-olds??? I mean, that just makes me sad. It also makes me kinda sick. Sick because, barring any rare medical conditions that cannot be helped, this is an epidemic (yes, epidemic) that is largely avoidable. Childhood obesity isn't like cancer, or autism, or even H1N1 swine flu. Those are all things people are either born with or may contract/develop at some point later in life for no foreseeable reason and which can't be helped. This isn't like that. Today's kids are getting out-of-control fat simply because they and their parents are too lazy to do anything about it. If you ask me, there's far, far too much of this...

and this...
and this.And there's not nearly enough of these...

or this.

I mean, do kids even play outside anymore? Do they still have bicycles and rollerblades and trampolines like we did when I was growing up? I don't really understand what makes any parent think its ok to feed their kid a continual diet of processed, packaged fast food and then let them spend hours on end sitting on the couch in front of the television. My brain cannot wrap itself around the line of reasoning that goes on there because its just ridiculous!

Whew! Sorry. I got a little fired up there. I just think its a horrible failure on the part of any parent who lets that happen to their kid. Children who struggle with their weight don't have easy childhoods. I know they have to deal with self-esteem issues, getting made fun of by other kids, and just a general inability to participate in the physical activities they should be able to participate in at that age. What part of that sounds good, or like something you would want for your child? Why as a parent would you ever let that happen if you could prevent it? I just don't understand.

My Friends

They say that if, over the course of your life you have five real friends you are truly lucky. I can say with total conviction that in this respect I have been exceedingly and abundantly blessed. I have some of the most loyal and supportive friends anyone could ever ask for. Most of the time I don't deserve them at all and I have no idea why they put up with me...but they do and I am humbled by and indebted to their unfailing love and support.

Moving to a new city where I know no one hasn't been easy for me. It has however, made me painfully aware of just how fortunate I am to have the people in my life that I do, and has shown me how much they really mean to me. I miss them like crazy and if not for their constant long distant support (the texts, the phone calls, the silly cards in the mail and the care packages) I don't really know what I would do or how I would survive.

I don't really know how I managed to do this but somehow, I've convinced this incredible, amazing, wonderful group of people to love and accept me unconditionally...and for that I am very grateful.

Hurricane...no wait...Tropical Storm Ida

This little beauty is a satellite imagine of Tropical Storm Ida, which is bearing down on the Gulf Coast as we speak. Guess what? I live on the Gulf Coast now and old Ida seems to be headed this way! Actually, that's a bit of a fib. I don't think New Orleans is even in its direct path. I think they're saying now the only fallout we'll see from the storm are some potentially high winds and of course, truckloads of rain. As in, several inches over the next day or two. (I fail to see how this will differ from the weather on a normal day here, but that's just me).

For someone who said a couple months ago that I'd be out of here at the slightest hint of a storm, I feel like I've failed miserably in my prep for this one. To be honest, I didn't even really know about it until I got to work this morning. They're not calling for evacuations so I guess the only things I might have done differently would be to buy a couple cases of bottled water and fill the cars up with gas. I'll admit; working at the hospital has given me a sense of security for any storms that may come. Maybe it's a false sense of security and I'm being foolish, but whatever. During Katrina most of my co-workers actually rode out the storm here in the hospital. They've told me stories about sleeping on cots in their offices and having emergency planning meetings in a board room that was upwards of 110 degrees. I know conditions got pretty unpleasant at some points (once the power went out and the generators flooded especially) but it was for the most part a safe place to be. So,worst case scenario if it ever comes down to it and for some crazy reason we can't leave, I'd probably just hole up here in the hospital with everyone else.

But seriously, I don't think it's really going to be that bad. There are very mixed reactions about the storm by people here. Those who were here for Katrina seem to be the most cautious. They're already talking about how they're going to go about draining the water from their yards and gauging how high they think the water will get. At the same time though, those people don't seem too overly worried, you know? They know it won't compare to Katrina and after living through that, well...there's not much that can scare them. Then of course there are those who are completely freaking out right now and others who think the whole thing is ridiculous and everyone is overreacting big time.

So, we'll see. They say that we can expect the rain to begin this afternoon/evening and I guess last until...God knows when. January maybe. I'll keep you posted and if not, just assume that New Orleans is under water and I'm floating around the hospital somewhere.

Geaux Saints!!!

Remember back when I told you that Zack was determined we were going to become Saints fans? Well, slowly but surely I think its happening. I've personally never lived anywhere that had a pro team (of any sort, not just football) to root for so I've never developed a real loyalty to anyone. Since we're here in NOLA now the Saints seem like as good a team as any to get behind. Plus, they're really, really good this year so its easy to like them. (How's that for fair weather fandom on my part)?

The rest of the city though, is absolutely manically obsessed with the Saints. Their reverence for the team is (and it pains me a little to admit this) on par with loyal Kentucky fans' love of their basketball teams. Of course, no team anywhere has fans that can completely match the Big Blue Nation in terms of sheer unabashed loyalty for their team, it would be blasphemy to even say that, but Saints fans come as close as any group I've personally ever seen. In Lexington everyone wears blue; here everyone wears black and gold. During basketball season back home its a safe bet that just about any new conversation you begin on a given day will include at least a two minute discussion about the team. It's the same here. It's been a little unnerving to me actually, because I feel like everyone else is in on this big secret that I'm just now starting to hear about. Everyone at work has been crazy busy the past few weeks trying to finalize the Budget; the Finance department has worked 14 and 15 hour days for weeks. I was talking to one of the ladies on Monday though, just asking her how things were going and she said, "Obviously this is one night where no one is working late!"

I was completely stumped and started running through all the possible reasons for such a comment. Monday? November 2? No. Is it a holiday? No. What gives? Come to find out, the Saints played the Falcons Monday night! I knew this in the back of my mind but it just hadn't occurred to me that a football game would dictate the budget work schedule. But once I realized this was the reason I think I started liking New Orleans just a little bit more. I can totally respect a town and a people who plan their lives around their sporting events!

So yeah, the Saints are having an amazing season so far. Monday night made them 7-0 and supposedly the rest of their schedule is teddy bear soup. If they can manage to avoid any serious injuries everyone's saying they're going to the Superbowl. Granted I'm not a hardcore fan yet but I've got to admit that would be an awesome thing. And like I've said before, it would maybe do as much to boost the morale of this city as anything possibly could. Below are a couple of pictures from the game the other night. No, I didn't take them but I thought they'd be fun to have on here anyway.

Cats...

the musical, that is. Last Thursday one of my bosses at work offered me his tickets to that evening's production of Cats. You should know that I love seeing Broadway shows. I wouldn't say I'm an expert or anything but over the years I've definitely seen my fair share of them and so far, I've enjoyed every single one immensely (Wicked, and Jesus Christ Superstar have been my favorites to date, but that's neither here nor there). Needless to say, I was thrilled with the offer to see Cats even though I had gotten very mixed reviews from people I know who had seen it. So, we went.

And it was really, really weird. I mean, really weird.


I don't know if maybe I'm just not artistic enough to appreciate it or what, but frankly I didn't get it. I sat there for two hours trying to figure out what in the world was even going on. I never did establish what the plot or the storyline of the thing was...I'm pretty sure it just didn't have one. If it did, it certainly managed to elude me. Between all of the jeckle Cats and Rum-tum Tuggers, and Old Deuteronomy I was lost. (If you just read those last few phrases and had no idea what in the heck I was talking about then congratulations, you now know exactly how I felt the whole time the show was going on).


All that is not to say some parts weren't enjoyable. The costuming and dancing really were amazing. I'd always heard that part of what made Cats so unique was the way the actors and actresses managed to appear so feline. And they did.

See what I mean? Kinda eerie almost, isn't it? The way they moved and danced was, like I said, incredibly feline in nature and was very cool to see. It's too bad there weren't those pesky little things like dialogue, or a plot.