Possibly the most forgotten thing about John Calipari’s illustrious career is this:
The man won an NIT.
2002.
During the dawning age of the South Carolina dynasty.
He went through Tulane in the semifinals.
Now, Calipari is falling on dark times. He’s out of NIT range, and his fans hate him for it. On Saturday, they booed him off the floor, the unified tone of disgruntlement drowning out individual shouts of, “Why can’t you win an NIT for us?! Why can’t you make one again?!? You hack!!!! You [slurs you didn’t know existed for Italian-Americans which vaguely relate to Christopher Columbus and the 2006 World Cup]!!!!!”
Fans in Lexington expected the divine when they brought John Calipari to town, and in Calipari’s fourth year, they tasted it, earning the right to play Robert Morris in the world’s most prestigious tournament’s first round. In 2021, they played their way close to that fertile ground, but they couldn’t finish the job. This year, they’re too far out for even this late run at it to matter.
Kentucky fans have notoriously high expectations, and deservedly so, one of few teams in history to win multiple NIT titles. (Shoutout Joe B. Hall, the former Harlem Globetrotter who’s dead now but looks like he was an absolute riot at the horse track.) Calipari, to be frank, isn’t meeting them. It might be time in Lexington. At least Billy Gillispie made the quarterfinals.
Is Patrick Mahomes Failing His Children?
Sterling, Bronze…no gold? Like many Americans, I was alarmed yesterday to learn that the best living quarterback only named his children after the metals they give to losers.
While some might be concerned by this because of the implications that the next generation of Mahomies will be destined to play for the 49ers, I’m wary on a different tack:
What if Patrick Mahomes is preparing his kids to lose to him? What if Patrick Mahomes is planning to never retire?? What if Taylor Swift’s dietary influence on the Chiefs is going to make them immortal???
The World Prepares to Turn on Caitlin Clark
Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder threw a temper tantrum after losing at Nebraska yesterday, and while the details are murky (she might have been in the right), she was reportedly mad at Nebraska for being too hype, specifically objecting to an instance in which Nebraska played music during free throws.
We love a good coach temper tantrum, and we love Nebrasketball. No blood, no foul, we support all parties. But. Having processed Caitlin Clark’s rough fourth quarter and the readymade court-storming jokes when the Pinnacle Bank Arena floor suffered its third overtaking of the year, we want to warn Iowa of something: Those of us who respect women enough to not patronize your sport are ready to turn on you. Lisa Bluder, we are ready to be your biggest haters, and we have a number of avenues through which to channel that hate. We have no queen but Staley. (And Taiyanna Jackson, of course.)
Morgan Rielly Didn’t Want to Fight
The first ever mention of Ridly Greig on this blog (which started following the Senators during the Canada-only 2021 season) went as follows:
“Some guy named Ridley (sic) Greig… cross-checked a man to the face and is suspended two games. Happens to all of us.”
First, I was a new Sens blogger. How was I to know he’d been a first-round pick!
Second, Ridly Greig is familiar with the process of slamming a hockey stick into an opponent’s head. Which I think makes this better?
Some context:
- The Sens stink.
- The Leafs are usually pretty good in the regular season and then flop in the playoffs.
- The Leafs are having a mediocre regular season, but not a bad one.
- The Sens and Leafs are rivals, in that they both play in Ontario, but it’s very much a big brother/little brother relationship, where the Senators are the historically bad team in the small city and the Leafs are the historically wealthy and once-successful team in the big city.
- An argument could be made that the Sens exist, cosmically, to troll the Leafs.
So, it was very natural on Saturday night for Ridly Greig, notorious shit-stirrer, to slapshot an empty-netter as he punctuated the Sens’ third victory of the season over Toronto, and for Morgan Rielly, Leafs’ alternate captain, to decline to challenge Greig to fight and instead cross-check Greig in the head.
The Senators are up to 6–1–2 in their last nine. Glimmers of hope are beginning to present themselves. We’re being set up for an emotional cross-check to the head.
Etc.
The NIT, NITexas, and 2019 NIT champion Shaka Smart:
- Another team suddenly reeling is Wisconsin, and while they’re reeling worse than Kentucky, the situation isn’t looking as existential. For those wondering: We don’t think Wisconsin will sniff the NIT. They’d have to continue this string of losing games in more and more unforgivable ways for at least another week, and that’s feasibly hard to do. I’m not sure how you make it more unforgivable than getting blown out by Rutgers. Good try, Badgers. We’re not buying it.
- Gonzaga got their big win, but here’s the thing about it: Will Kentucky still be a good team in a few weeks, when it matters? Here’s the other thing: Is it enough in a vacuum to escape our clutches?
- Texas blew out West Virginia here in Austin, and that doesn’t affect the NITexas cause, but the NITexas cause hasn’t been looking great lately anyway. Relative to what Texas was supposed to be, this Texas is bad, but it’s not quite bad enough. This week’s Bevo’s Fake Nuts will focus on softball unless some unexpected news comes through the wire.
- Texas Ex (can he call himself that?) Shaka Smart saw Marquette’s win streak extend to seven games, rallying in the second half to dismiss St. John’s in Milwaukee. The victory brings Smart’s career record against Rick Pitino to a clean 2–0.
- We’re honing our scouting of potential NIT teams, so keep an eye out on Instagram and/or TikTok later tonight for what we like and don’t like about Iowa. Tomorrow? We’ll be examining either Minnesota, Texas Tech, or Wake Forest.
Chicago:
- The Bears made a big deal on social media last night about being on the clock now, which shouldn’t come off as lame (because they were savvy in how they got this specific first pick) but comes off as lame (because this is the biggest thing the Bears have had to celebrate since they took a big halftime lead against the Packers in the 2018 opener).
- The Blackhawks have evidently increased the size of their female fan base this year, which is surprising because the only people I knew growing up who liked the Blackhawks were guys who played hockey as kids and girls (plus associated girl dads) who jumped on the bandwagon in 2010. I thought that market had tapped out. Maybe it’s the youths.
- Franz Wagner cut up the Bulls on Saturday as the Magic won that one in overtime. Next up is the Hawks, who took the Bulls approach and didn’t deal a valuable piece at the deadline. NBA mid-majors. Playing for the Play-In.
Joe Kelly and the Burnleys:
- Joe Kelly has reported to spring training, which means baseball season is officially underway. No word on the behavior and wellness of his neighborhood javelinas in Arizona, but plenty of weeks between now and the departure for Korea to get those details.
- Burnley looked as solid as a bad team can look when they lose by multiple goals to a good team, inspiring hope that they could prank Arsenal with an upset this coming weekend. Stay tuned.
