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Anyone else feel like this about college basketball

C

Crawfords Corner

Heisman
Jul 9, 2004
93,075
38,060
0
Not only did Coach Pope and these players return the joy of watching Kentucky basketball back to me, but they've returned my love for the game of college basketball to me.

I used to spend all my free time when not with family watching as much college basketball as possible. East Coast games, West coast games, Sunday afternoon games, Thursday night Pac-12 games, etc; Could never get enough. Then Covid and the 9-16 seasons hit and UK basketball just became a chore to watch. I wasn't watching it because I enjoyed it. I watched it as some sort of requirement to be a fan of the program. You just knew when UK played ranked teams it was going to be either brutal to watch or come down to a last second possession that Coach Cal and the team would piss away.


Thank you, Coach... for returning the joy of watching college basketball to me!
 
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RichardCory

RichardCory

Senior
Nov 28, 2007
1,074
841
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crawfords corner said:
Not only did Coach Pope and these players return the joy of watching Kentucky basketball back to me, but they've returned my love for the game of college basketball to me.

I used to spend all my free time when not with family watching as much college basketball as possible. East Coast games, West coast games, Sunday afternoon games, Thursday night Pac-12 games, etc; Could never get enough. Then Covid and the 9-16 seasons hit and UK basketball just became a chore to watch. I wasn't watching it because I enjoyed it. I watched it as some sort of requirement to be a fan of the program. You just knew when UK played ranked teams it was going to be either brutal to watch or come down to a last second possession that Coach Cal and the team would piss away.


Thank you, Coach... for returning the joy of watching college basketball to me!
Click to expand...
Yeah feel very similar, brought the excitement and joy back. I've been watching more other teams games also. Listening to the post game show again and have flipped over to the Marquette vs Purdue game at the moment.
 
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C

Crawfords Corner

Heisman
Jul 9, 2004
93,075
38,060
0
Richard Cory said:
Yeah feel very similar, brought the excitement and joy back. I've been watching more other teams games also. Listening to the post game show again and have flipped over to the Marquette vs Purdue game at the moment.
Click to expand...

For the last 3 seasons I couldn't bear to watch other teams play. Especially the top teams because you could clearly see the difference between those teams with their skill for the game and our guys going out there with only their high rated "talent" with little basketball skill. It's very hard to watch bad basketball.
 
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RichardCory

RichardCory

Senior
Nov 28, 2007
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Lempface said:
The past few years it's just felt like a relief when we won, zero joy. Can't really explain it any better than that, but this season has been a great return to joy.
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and seemed to lose that "expected" to win feel, more of a dread that we very well may lose, as you say just a relief when we won.
 
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JDHoss

JDHoss

Heisman
Jan 1, 2003
16,482
40,076
113
No, I still watch very little college basketball outside of UK and ETSU. I watch way more NBA than college, and right now, the Cats are playing a style of play like that.
 
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PoBilly

PoBilly

All-Conference
Mar 18, 2012
2,784
4,460
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This group and Coach Pope has brought back all that is good in college sports. It is not lost or forgotten. The fact is that it was lost and forgotten by the last leader of this program.
 
O

ORCAT

Heisman
Jan 6, 2003
24,597
11,781
113
In the past 5 seasons I just about gave up on the prospect of playing ranked teams. If we won it was a pleasant surprise but most of the time I watched with the attitude of an underdog. And, most of the time, we lost. It is so refreshing to feel like we can compete with and beat anyone again. I actually went into the Duke game (admittedly with a little apprehension) feeling we woukd win. I now feel much stronger about our chances with anyone. I feel we are KENTUCKY once again!!!
 
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26MichaelUK

All-American
Feb 14, 2013
36,518
5,077
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crawfords corner said:
Not only did Coach Pope and these players return the joy of watching Kentucky basketball back to me, but they've returned my love for the game of college basketball to me.

I used to spend all my free time when not with family watching as much college basketball as possible. East Coast games, West coast games, Sunday afternoon games, Thursday night Pac-12 games, etc; Could never get enough. Then Covid and the 9-16 seasons hit and UK basketball just became a chore to watch. I wasn't watching it because I enjoyed it. I watched it as some sort of requirement to be a fan of the program. You just knew when UK played ranked teams it was going to be either brutal to watch or come down to a last second possession that Coach Cal and the team would piss away.


Thank you, Coach... for returning the joy of watching college basketball to me!
Click to expand...
I was tired of going into NCAA tournament time and knowing Cal would screw it up. His "rock fight" mentality during said tournament made me irate. My family, my friends and myself had literally quit watching. Now we're calling each other cheering for Pope and players who are playing for the right things. I'll officially eat crow, I didn't like the hire till the press conference.

About another coach, I was irate when we hired Billie G and I had to find out in Iraq. I knew it was bad when only two guys from Texas knew who he was, vaguely.
 
C

CapnBlubs

All-Conference
Jun 30, 2008
1,711
3,059
81
Everything about it has exceeded my expectations so far. And I agree with you OP. Cal and Stoops and the NIL era in general have really made me question how much longer I'd continue to care about college sports at a level anywhere close to what I did as a kid and younger adult. Pope is pulling me back in.
 
U

ukwildcatwildfan

All-Conference
Oct 17, 2008
1,358
2,215
18
crawfords corner said:
Not only did Coach Pope and these players return the joy of watching Kentucky basketball back to me, but they've returned my love for the game of college basketball to me.

I used to spend all my free time when not with family watching as much college basketball as possible. East Coast games, West coast games, Sunday afternoon games, Thursday night Pac-12 games, etc; Could never get enough. Then Covid and the 9-16 seasons hit and UK basketball just became a chore to watch. I wasn't watching it because I enjoyed it. I watched it as some sort of requirement to be a fan of the program. You just knew when UK played ranked teams it was going to be either brutal to watch or come down to a last second possession that Coach Cal and the team would piss away.


Thank you, Coach... for returning the joy of watching college basketball to me!
Click to expand...
Something I've noticed lately, sort of related to your point, is I get excited just thinking about future seasons... when Pope gets to coach his first POY candidate, when he gets to coach a leader like Ulis, or a scorer like Monk, just how he'll find ways to maximize their contributions. Our return to Maui (or the next Phil Knight invitational??), an SEC tournament run, the few days buildup before the Sweet Sixteen or a Final Four, etc.
 
B

bigblueinsanity_rivals250340

Heisman
Apr 13, 2002
44,001
97,152
0
crawfords corner said:
Not only did Coach Pope and these players return the joy of watching Kentucky basketball back to me, but they've returned my love for the game of college basketball to me.

I used to spend all my free time when not with family watching as much college basketball as possible. East Coast games, West coast games, Sunday afternoon games, Thursday night Pac-12 games, etc; Could never get enough. Then Covid and the 9-16 seasons hit and UK basketball just became a chore to watch. I wasn't watching it because I enjoyed it. I watched it as some sort of requirement to be a fan of the program. You just knew when UK played ranked teams it was going to be either brutal to watch or come down to a last second possession that Coach Cal and the team would piss away.


Thank you, Coach... for returning the joy of watching college basketball to me!
Click to expand...

Beyond enjoyment, this coaching approach is literally the only way to succeed in todays revenue sport collegiate sports landscape.

If players are there solely for money, its a very bad situation just waiting to reveal itself. If you target guys that want to be there but also give them competitive nil - thats the winner.
 
F

FFWhite

All-American
Dec 20, 2006
26,535
7,677
98
I am still a little apprehensive about getting my expectations up. Crushing losses to bad teams and getting schooled by the Gonzaga and UCLA ‘s of the world has been tough. An occasional big win was only teasing me.
 
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