The Michigan State Curse

It has truly been a remarkable five months for college basketball fans throughout the state of Kentucky.

Despite starting Michael Porter at point guard, January saw the 54 point explosion by Jodie Meeks against Tennessee that had UK fans bathing in the champagne-soaked after party that was positive national media attention. UK opened up their weak conference schedule with five straight convincing wins and looked to be poised to reclaim dominance in the SEC and at worst a four seed in the national tournament. Things were good.

UofL was showing signs of development into a really good college basketball team in an unbelievably tough conference. Terrence Williams was cementing his game as that of a stat filler point forward with All-American type talent and All-world type athleticism. Pitino, despite two occasions of donning an all-white linen suit, was praised for the development this team, and players such as Terrance Jennings were showcasing. Things were even better.

Then UK went on a three-game losing streak. Coach Billy Gillespie visibly started to show signs of a mental breakdown, and Michael Porter was still our point guard. After losses to Georgia's A-League Intramural Team and Florida, Kentucky was NIT bound. Things were not good.

UofL's development continued, and after a convincing win against Pittsburgh, looked to be the best team in the Big East. Even after they suffered a 33-point loss to (Brandon Cunningham's) Luke Harangody's fade away jumper, UofL stormed through the Big East regular season and championship to sit at the throne of the number one seeds. Things were great.

Three N.I.T. games, 120 minutes of Gillespie crouched and cracking his knuckles, and several hours of quiet sobbing by this blogger later and Kentucky's season was officially over. Word soon got out that Gillespie would be fired for off-court behavior and clashes that were magnified by a miserable season. Almost just as soon, Billy Donovan's name again arose as the likely replacement. He opted to stay in Florida because Dan Werner was returning he's invested in the community. Things were suicidal.

UofL marched to the Elite Eight in sometimes impressive and other times lackluster fashion. However, appeared at the onset to have a relatively easy road to the final four with the upset of Wake Forest. (Call 911 time for UK). But thanks to Michigan State, Louisville was stopped from reaching their second final four under Pitino leadership. Things were disappointing, but hardly worthy of complaint.

UK turned their attention to John Calipari, and most of the bluegrass began to feel excited again. Cal accepted the job as coach, and fifty thousand anointed him as the savior. (I'm excited about Cal. And I think any level of excitement over his hire is deserved, but I don't automatically think a coach without a national championship is going to deliver a multitude of championships to UK. He generates excitement, and I'm positive will be able to handle the attention given the coach of Kentucky, and we will be relevant, competitive, and fun to watch. That's why things are exciting.) UK seemed to have made a giant step in the right direction. Things were exciting.

UofL did not fear the hire, or dismiss the hire as inconsequential. Most realized it helps UofL as well by generating more national attention to the rivalry. But it does disappoint fans whom loved watching UK fans in agony and turmoil over the decisions and recruiting of Gillespie. There was no reason to feel bad about the status of UofL, just the loss of jokes and fire-poking that provided entertainment over the last three or four years. Things were lost, but not down.

Then UK began entertaining the idea of combining DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton, Xavier Henry, and John Wall in one of the greatest recruiting classes ever with Patrick Patterson, Jodie Meeks, and Darius Miller. Visions of 1996, Phi Slamma Jamma, and the Runnin Rebels danced in Wildcat fan's heads. Things were orgasmic.

UofL gained the commitment of Mike Marra and Pitino became embroiled in a personal scandal of alleged extortion, alleged defamation, alleged personal encounters, with the soon-to-be-ex-wife of UofL's current equipment manager and close friend of Pitino. Fans pondered which was worse, and most sided with the alleged Pitino scandal. I went in the other direction because the existence of a clown wrapped in a straight-jacket tattoo on Mike Marra's left bicep is not alleged. In somewhat quiet news, Dick Pitino, the son of Rick Pitino, left UofL to work under Billy Donovan at Florida because all of Donovan's assistants become head coaches. It's a striking move considering the inability of Florida to find success after their back-to-back national championships. Things were not a good type of crazy.

Calipari locked up Cousins and Orton, but missed on Xavier Henry. As usual, some fans looked at this as a sign of the apocalypse, others, myself included, were impressed we stayed in the hunt for so long when both of Henry's parents played basketball at KU. John Wall's future remains a myth, much like that of an epic green sea creature whose name does not come to mind or Bigfoot. By all accounts he is a prospect capable of having an impact like Derrick Rose or Lebron James. He has that much talent. Most suggest it is a battle between UK and his desire to stay in state, with Florida and Miami playing the warm weather good-looking girls wild card. Regardless, just the notion that UK has a chance to land this kid has created an excitement not seen in the past three years. (Not counting my excitement after seeing Mike Marra for the first time). Things are not getting done because everyone is watching John Wall highlight videos.

As the cherry on top of the Pitino maybe sexual encounter, then extortion after the act scandal sundae, Jeremy Tyler has decided to skip his senior year of high school to play professional basketball in Europe. This means Tyler will surrender his amateur status and not play for UofL as he originally intended. As Admiral Sax accounted, this is a big loss for the UofL family, as Tyler seems like a once every ten to fifteen year type talent. He looks extraordinary on film. So much so, I'm very glad I didn't see tape of him prior to his announcement to turn pro. Things are looking down.

I don't want to suggest, even though I have in more my more irrational moments like after watching a John Wall highlight tape, that a 180 has occurred between the UofL and UK programs. I write merely to coin the phrase "The Michigan State Curse" in applying to the future years of the UofL basketball program. UofL is not down in the sense that UK was down when playing in the NIT, but UofL has taken some knocks after that loss in the Elite Eight, while UK has seemingly received only good news. Whatever happens, the first five months of 2009 will never be forgotten by either program. Now things are looking stressful for me because I wrote this rather than study for law finals.