| Cakes on The Griddle As Lexington and Joe B. Burned |
October 18, 2007
If Al 'Nobel' Gore had finished the world wide web sooner...by say,
March of 1982...there's a good chance both his web and the city of
Lexington, Kentucky would have been destroyed that spring. After
measuring the amount of displeasure generated by Kentucky's
second-round exits in the final two campaigns of the Tubby Smith
era, one can be sure the Commonwealth would have virtually
exploded some 25 years ago. Because it's only 'Cat fans of youth
or short memory that believe what happened the past two seasons
was catastrophic. Consider the disappointment of 1981 and 1982 if
you will, to truly find the measure of madness in March for Big Blue
fans...
Starting with a little background, one has to remember that Joe B.
Hall carried the burden of following the legendary Adolph Rupp, and
that fact alone made his job as the basketball coach at the
University of Kentucky difficult enough. On top of that, Hall dealt
with a fan base hungry for their first national championship since
1958. Hall delivered that title in 1978, ending two decades of
suffering for Big Blue Nation. For his critics, though, the
championship did little to sway their feelings that Hall wasn't worthy
to sit in Rupp's chair, and the developments of the next few years
would do little more than warm Hall's seat. One can only imagine
how hot that seat might have been had Hall been forced to live in a
world saturated with sports coverage and haunted by vitriol-driven
message boards.
The 1979 edition of the Wildcats would not even have the
opportunity to defend their crown, as Kentucky missed the 40-team
field ('79 was the only year of 40 teams as the NCAA transitioned
from 32 to 48 teams). Kyle Macy's brilliance was relegated to the
NIT, and some fellas named Bird and Magic battled it out for UK's
crown. Kentucky rebounded the following season as Macy was
joined by a gifted seven-footer named Sam Bowie, and the 'Cats
stormed through the SEC on their way to a number-one seed in the
Big Dance. After a bye (in the 48-team field), Kentucky thrashed
Florida State, but saw their postseason ended prematurely by
fourth-seeded Duke, 55-54. That's right folks, Duke. The
nightmare started way before 1992. In fairness, we started the
whole thing by topping the Dukies in the '78 title game, but in 1980,
Bill Foster (no Coach K just yet), Mike Gminski, and Gene Banks
were able to exact a measure of revenge.
In case you weren't keeping score, that's one postseason win for
Hall in two years since the title. Joe B. managed to survive the
'80-'81 campaign, despite having to take the team from the steady
(and graduated) hands of Macy and drop it into the lap of the
talented (and mercurial) Dirk Minniefield. Led by the brilliant play of
Bowie, and anchored by the immortal Chuck Verderber, Kentucky
finished second to a fantastic LSU team, handing the Bayou
Bengals of Rudy Macklin, Dewayne Scales, and Ethan Martin their
only conference loss (a little straaang muuusic from Lexington, KY
for all of you Joe Dean fans). Hall's mixture of young (super sophs
Bowie, Derrick Hord, and Minniefield) and old (Verderber and
Sturgis, KY's own Freddie Cowan) went into March with a two seed,
and promptly exited with a loss. Gene Bartow's UAB Blazers (an
omen of things to come) upended the Wildcats, led by the stellar
play of Oliver Robinson. And if you think that wouldn't have
collapsed CatsPause.com, you're crazy...
That's three seasons, one NCAA tournament win. I don't even want
to think of what might have happened to Tubby Smith in such a
scenario. But it would get worse. Bowie would miss the '81-82
season as his chronic foot problems began to stunt what should
have been a Hall of Fame career, but the one and only 'Dinner Bell'
Mel Turpin would step into the void (literally...although to be fair,
Melvin was quite svelte at this point). The big soph with the soft
hands and softer touch would go for better than 13 points a game,
and Derrick Hord would finally live up to the promise that made him
a high school All-American in Bristol, Tennessee. Hord led the 'Cats
with 16.3 points per contest, and Jim Master, the sharpshooter from
Fort Wayne, knocked in another 13 points per night. Dirk the Quirk
still led the ballclub, balancing the sublime with the altogether
maddening. Charles Hurt provided the muscle, and the
roller-coaster Wildcats would earn a share of the SEC title (sharing
with Don Devoe's (Don Devoe!) Tennessee Volunteers. Kentucky
would garner a six-seed and need only to beat the Ohio Valley
Conference representative, Middle Tennessee to set up a Dream
Game with third-seeded Louisville.
But alas, it was not to be. Led by bruising forward Jerry Beck and
the outstanding guard play of Edward 'Pancakes' Perry, the Blue
Raiders would end the dreams of Commonwealth fans wearing both
blue and red, sending Kentucky to a shocking 50-44 defeat. And
that would have been the night that Lexington burned, a fire no
doubt that would have started on every Kentucky message board in
cyberspace. So thanks to you, Mr. Gore, for not having the Internet
ready for public consumption in 1982 (you were probably too busy
planting trees...or bedding Tipper...).
So just remember those days following UK's fifth national title when
you think things have gotten bleak. Four seasons, one NCAA
tournament win. If that's not enough to remind you things are OK,
next time we will talk about the Eddie Sutton era...
If Al 'Nobel' Gore had finished the world wide web sooner...by say,
March of 1982...there's a good chance both his web and the city of
Lexington, Kentucky would have been destroyed that spring. After
measuring the amount of displeasure generated by Kentucky's
second-round exits in the final two campaigns of the Tubby Smith
era, one can be sure the Commonwealth would have virtually
exploded some 25 years ago. Because it's only 'Cat fans of youth
or short memory that believe what happened the past two seasons
was catastrophic. Consider the disappointment of 1981 and 1982 if
you will, to truly find the measure of madness in March for Big Blue
fans...
Starting with a little background, one has to remember that Joe B.
Hall carried the burden of following the legendary Adolph Rupp, and
that fact alone made his job as the basketball coach at the
University of Kentucky difficult enough. On top of that, Hall dealt
with a fan base hungry for their first national championship since
1958. Hall delivered that title in 1978, ending two decades of
suffering for Big Blue Nation. For his critics, though, the
championship did little to sway their feelings that Hall wasn't worthy
to sit in Rupp's chair, and the developments of the next few years
would do little more than warm Hall's seat. One can only imagine
how hot that seat might have been had Hall been forced to live in a
world saturated with sports coverage and haunted by vitriol-driven
message boards.
The 1979 edition of the Wildcats would not even have the
opportunity to defend their crown, as Kentucky missed the 40-team
field ('79 was the only year of 40 teams as the NCAA transitioned
from 32 to 48 teams). Kyle Macy's brilliance was relegated to the
NIT, and some fellas named Bird and Magic battled it out for UK's
crown. Kentucky rebounded the following season as Macy was
joined by a gifted seven-footer named Sam Bowie, and the 'Cats
stormed through the SEC on their way to a number-one seed in the
Big Dance. After a bye (in the 48-team field), Kentucky thrashed
Florida State, but saw their postseason ended prematurely by
fourth-seeded Duke, 55-54. That's right folks, Duke. The
nightmare started way before 1992. In fairness, we started the
whole thing by topping the Dukies in the '78 title game, but in 1980,
Bill Foster (no Coach K just yet), Mike Gminski, and Gene Banks
were able to exact a measure of revenge.
In case you weren't keeping score, that's one postseason win for
Hall in two years since the title. Joe B. managed to survive the
'80-'81 campaign, despite having to take the team from the steady
(and graduated) hands of Macy and drop it into the lap of the
talented (and mercurial) Dirk Minniefield. Led by the brilliant play of
Bowie, and anchored by the immortal Chuck Verderber, Kentucky
finished second to a fantastic LSU team, handing the Bayou
Bengals of Rudy Macklin, Dewayne Scales, and Ethan Martin their
only conference loss (a little straaang muuusic from Lexington, KY
for all of you Joe Dean fans). Hall's mixture of young (super sophs
Bowie, Derrick Hord, and Minniefield) and old (Verderber and
Sturgis, KY's own Freddie Cowan) went into March with a two seed,
and promptly exited with a loss. Gene Bartow's UAB Blazers (an
omen of things to come) upended the Wildcats, led by the stellar
play of Oliver Robinson. And if you think that wouldn't have
collapsed CatsPause.com, you're crazy...
That's three seasons, one NCAA tournament win. I don't even want
to think of what might have happened to Tubby Smith in such a
scenario. But it would get worse. Bowie would miss the '81-82
season as his chronic foot problems began to stunt what should
have been a Hall of Fame career, but the one and only 'Dinner Bell'
Mel Turpin would step into the void (literally...although to be fair,
Melvin was quite svelte at this point). The big soph with the soft
hands and softer touch would go for better than 13 points a game,
and Derrick Hord would finally live up to the promise that made him
a high school All-American in Bristol, Tennessee. Hord led the 'Cats
with 16.3 points per contest, and Jim Master, the sharpshooter from
Fort Wayne, knocked in another 13 points per night. Dirk the Quirk
still led the ballclub, balancing the sublime with the altogether
maddening. Charles Hurt provided the muscle, and the
roller-coaster Wildcats would earn a share of the SEC title (sharing
with Don Devoe's (Don Devoe!) Tennessee Volunteers. Kentucky
would garner a six-seed and need only to beat the Ohio Valley
Conference representative, Middle Tennessee to set up a Dream
Game with third-seeded Louisville.
But alas, it was not to be. Led by bruising forward Jerry Beck and
the outstanding guard play of Edward 'Pancakes' Perry, the Blue
Raiders would end the dreams of Commonwealth fans wearing both
blue and red, sending Kentucky to a shocking 50-44 defeat. And
that would have been the night that Lexington burned, a fire no
doubt that would have started on every Kentucky message board in
cyberspace. So thanks to you, Mr. Gore, for not having the Internet
ready for public consumption in 1982 (you were probably too busy
planting trees...or bedding Tipper...).
So just remember those days following UK's fifth national title when
you think things have gotten bleak. Four seasons, one NCAA
tournament win. If that's not enough to remind you things are OK,
next time we will talk about the Eddie Sutton era...
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |