October 19th, 2013
Was something special going on today Lexington? I hadn’t heard; it’s been a pretty tame day for me. But for the only “alpine ski racer” you’ve ever bothered to know of, Lindsey Vonn, today marks her 29th birthday. Ms. Vonn is a Gold medalist and four time World Cup (but not the FIFA one..) champion. Aside from being really ridiculously good looking, Vonn is best known to we plebeians who don’t frequent Aspen as the skier who suffered a gruesome knee injury in February of this year, and of course, as Tiger Woods’ girlfriend. After announcing their relationship officially with several awkward professional photographs together, they became one of the most bizarrely fascinating couples in the sports world. Just days ago, Vonn reassured her hometown Minneapolis Star Tribune that “fidelity is part of the foundation” of her relationship with Tiger. So…good luck with that
On to a night of Madness:
Like most of you fine people, I was not fortunate enough to be in the house for this year’s Madness. But the recruits below were, and these guys got a show. Every moment and every word uttered by President John Calipari was directed at the recruits, and not just those present. No way that those five-star kids that missed out on this night aren’t going to be hearing about it later. $400,000 well-spent?
Class of 2014
Stanley Johnson
Trey Lyles
James Blackmon Jr.
Tyler Ulis (committed)
Karl Towns (committed)
Class of 2015
Eric Davis
Class of 2016
Harry Giles
Jayson Tatum
Josh Langford
Kobi Simmons
Class of 2017
Brian Bowen
The Mitchell Show:
Matthew Mitchell is my everything. He is the Justin Timberlake of Big Blue Madness. The man knows how to put on a show, just as Calipari knows how to utilize his Cal-isms to the utmost. Donning an afro wig, Mitchell outdid himself by dancing to James Brown AND doing the splits. That man must have done some serious stretching to prepare for tonight. But the UK Hoops coach was not done yet, and his “Hit Me Baby One More Time” routine, complete with schoolgirl backup dancers, brought me back to the not-so-distant yesteryear of the 1990s. Remember how great the economy was? Those were the days..
Mitchell closed out his performance, saying, “It can’t get any more stupid than that, can it?” No need for the self-deprecation Coach, it’s your world and we’re just living in it.
The UK Hoops team put on quite a show as well, with a whole lot of Kanye West during their introduction. The ladies broke into an unexpected Cousin Terio step team routine in the middle of their scrimmage; our friends at UK IMG could not have been more awkward for those 2 minutes. It was a treat.
The Calipari products of the New Orleans Pelicans and Washington Wizards did a coin toss to see who got the UK home locker room for tomorrow night’s scrimmage. The Pelicans won. But clearly, Kentucky won–so many pros were in the house tonight.
All of the lights, all of the lights.
Another Calipari State of the Union:
You can read the full transcript of Cal’s State of the Union address here, and watch it in full here. As Twitter has likely already informed you–Cal (or his speechwriter) may be getting some calls from the offices of Mitch McConnell and Alison Lundergan Grimes.
Surrounded by Championship trophies, Cal’s speech brought down the house with his usual one-liners, and some even more amped up rhetoric than any we’ve heard from him before. The best line of the night of course being, “We don’t just play college basketball.. We ARE college basketball.” It was even more emphatic than last year’s “we are the needle” speech, and the crowd surely did love it.
The entire speech was littered with references to the player’s first program and the success athletes like those present–John Wall and Anthony Davis, have found after their time at Kentucky. Developing into a “person of character” and into an NBA player was the mantra of the address.
Our biggest opponent? Ourselves, Calipari said. At Kentucky we compete against ourselves every day and we cannot let the strain and spotlight of this program affect us. We are the place to help you achieve your dreams. If you want to be developed as an NBA player, if you want to be developed as a person of character, you come here.In a powerful and honest moment for Cal, he referred to the disappointment of last season saying, “We were humbled. I was humbled. Tonight, we put into action what we learned.”
Think this year’s speech topped the original “Ultimate Big Blue Madness” State of the Union moment?
Player Intros:
Jarrod Polson opened up the BBM intros by coming out of the floor in a glowing pantsuit with his number 3 adorned on the back. Glowing. Rhinestones. Yes, it was absolutely absurd, and he got the night started by cranking that Lion King, and it was oh so good.
For those of you who aren’t into electronic dance music (anyone older than me I would guess..) the song that Sam Malone came out to in epic, fist pumping fashion is called “Animals.” It is by Dutch house DJ Martin Garrix, and I’m sure that many of you are going to become EDM heads after tonight [sarcasm alert.] Here is the freaky music video for your post-BBM enjoyment.
As expected, Julius Randle got a LOUD roar upon his clearly unrehearsed intro. He may be shy, but Mr. Randle does not back down on the court. Defenders won’t stand a chance against him this season.
My favorite non Malone/Polson moment was certainly the Harrison twins introduction. Seeing Aaron and Andrew rise from the floor together, on opposite sides of the stage, the season of #twinning felt like it was officially under way.
This looks expensive..
Do we really care?
Fine, the Blue team won tonight’s scrimmage 65-49 over the white, led by Julius Randle who had 14-points. Other high scorers in the running clock scrimmage were Aaron Harrison and Alex Poythress, each adding 9.
Stanley Johnson, James Blackmon, Trey Lyles, Tyler Ulis and Karl Towns all sat together during the scrimmage by the way…
We didn’t learn a great deal in the casual scrimmage between these two sides, but as was prophesied–Julius Randle is unstoppable.
His most impressive play, of many, was a breakaway in which he went behind the back to get around Hood in the lane for a monstrous dunk.
Marcus Lee showed off what makes him “athletic, athletic, athletic” with several high-flying swats, and some goal-tending as well, but hey it’s just practice right? And let’s face it, this team is made up of athletes.
Not only did the freshman show off why they may be the best recruiting class of all time, but the returnees showed off their skills as well.
Alex Poythress showed off an even more impressive physique as well as improved ball-handling in the scrimmage; he also had several big dunks–the best off a lob from Dominique Hawkins.
Jon Hood and Jarrod Polson looked more confident on both sides of the court as well; this team is going to be deeeeeep.
Love this picture almost as much as Tipton tweets.
Central Florida just took the lead. This night is shaping up to be something even more special.
[Update:] Down go the Cards. The Louisville Cards. The St. Louis ones are headed to yet another World Series.
@BrennanKSR
Photo by @KentuckyMBB
MRS. TYLER:
Cal’s sermon
Looking back at the transcript, Cal’s speech wasn’t as titillating on paper as it was in person, but good lord, the man can preach. Cal was in full Cal mode during the speech, borderline shouting from excitement. With Kentucky’s National Championship trophies lined up in front of him, he was a preacher at the pulpit, delivering the good news to the Big Blue Nation. My favorite line:
We are the place to help you achieve your dreams. We don’t just play college basketball, we ARE college basketball.As only Cal can, he rocked the sermon in Dad jeans and a button down.
Sam Malone
Coming in, I was ready to swear on a stack of bibles that Marcus Lee would have the best dance routine during the player intros. Much to everyone’s surprise, it was Sam Malone that brought down the house with his dance routine. I don’t even know what it was, but I enjoyed it. Who knew he had it in him?
The UK Hoops Cousin Terio Mob/Step routine
The “Cousin Terio” dance has become an absolute phenomenon, and at least five players did it during their intros. However, they were all showed up by the women’s team, who ended their scrimmage with an impromptu Cousin Terio mob, with all players meeting at midcourt doing a variation of the dance. After breaking for applause, they lined up and did a step routine that makes me feel incredibly white and uncoordinated. Well done, ladies.
DREW:
Jerry Tipton tweets.
Listen, this isn’t the way I wanted to walk away from Madness, but I can’t help it. Jerry Tipton’s tweets were the highlight of the night for me. I mean that. On a night that saw Kentucky’s historic recruiting class introduced to college basketball’s most passionate fan base, I’m walking away with a smile on my face because Jerry Tipton tweeted, “Cal wearing black sports coat over white shit as he takes podium.”
That’s funny to me, as was the rest of his commentary for the night. He killed it…
“Player numbers illuminated in darkened Rupp.”
“Indoor fireworks. Much sizzle and fizzle.”
“Rotating spotlights circling court like electronic birds of prey. Music evokes line from Spinal Tap: Turned up to 11.”
The twins came out together.
Rather than watching them fight over who gets called last, like two brothers fighting over an XBox controller, UK sent out Andrew and Aaron Harrison to Big Blue Nation at the same time. And it was awesome. UK’s starting backcourt emerged from underneath the stage on opposite ends as Jay-Z’s “Crown”, one of my favorite songs, pumped up the crowd leading into the scrimmage. They didn’t dance, but they didn’t have to; they’re entrance said it all. The twins are here.
Matthew Mitchell as James Brown.
It wasn’t the Michael Jackson or MC Hammer of yesteryear, but Coach Mitchell still brought the funk to kick off Big Blue Madness 2013. The Britney Spears routine? That was a little unexpected.
Still, it’s his world and we’re just living in it.
More coming throughout the weekend…
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