How the end of the Kentucky/Indiana series turned Dan Dakich into the biggest troll of all time

The news that Dan Dakich will help Brad Nessler call the UK/LSU game tomorrow night has sent sales of the SportsSync radio skyrocketing this afternoon.  Dakich has become quite the household name around these parts over the last three years thanks to his combative interview skills and troll-like tendencies, especially where Kentucky, John Calipari, and the "KSR fanboys" are concerned. Before we all turn down the sound and turn up Tom Leach, let's take a look at Dakich's history with the Kentucky fan base, and figure out why in the world ESPN assigned him to this game. December 6, 2011:  Dakich first popped up on KSR's radar when he said he didn't believe it would be an upset if Indiana beat #1 Kentucky in Assembly Hall.  We immediately asked him to be a guest on the radio show to explain that statement. December 7, 2011:  Dakich came on the radio show in what may be one of the most awkward interviews in KSR history (and that's saying a lot).  Dakich said he didn't think Indiana beating Kentucky would be an upset because Indiana beat Cornell two years prior.  Huh?  Other odd moments: Dakich claimed he doesn't speak with Indiana fans everyday (yet he hosts a daily radio show in Indianapolis), receives emails telling him he's "bitter and angry," doesn’t need a “dot com guy, a poll or Vegas” to tell him what he sees, and doesn’t care who wins certain games. Dakich was oddly defensive and combative throughout the interview, making it very difficult to follow him. April 2012:  After Kentucky beat Indiana in the Sweet 16 and went on to win the National Championship, Dakich was surprisingly complimentary of the Cats.  Now, that could be because they had just won the National title, thereby making any criticism difficult and incredibly petty, but let the record state that Dakich praised Cal for getting a young team to play at a championship level.  I bring this up to emphasize the shift in Dakich's view of Calipari from then to now. May 3, 2012:  The Kentucky/Indiana series officially ends because Indiana refuses to play neutral site games, and Kentucky refuses to play a home-and-home series after the chaos of the court storming in Bloomington when the Hoosiers upset beat the Cats.  Somewhere in Indianapolis, a mega troll was born. September 14, 2012:  Dakich claimed Trey Lyles visited UK during a dead period, which would be a recruiting violation.  If you'll remember, Lyles used to be committed to Indiana before reopening his recruitment and committing to UK. Lyles' father, T.Lyles, called Dakich's accusations "ridiculous" and "untrue," and wanted to know why the radio host would put something like that out there.  Sour grapes... March 20, 2013:  After UK lost to Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT, Dakich seized the opportunity to mock the Cats and their incoming recruiting class:

Kentucky has #3 5 6 7 11 and 18 ranked 2013 players coming in next year.. Question..is it enough to win an NIT game..how many AA's do u need

— Dan Dakich (@dandakich) March 20, 2013

I'd love to see him answer this tomorrow night. June 28, 2013:  This doesn't pertain to Dakich's feelings about the Cats, just his hypocrisy in general.  One of Dakich's favorite pastimes is bashing the media, even though he himself is a media member.  When Tony Adragna, an aspiring sports broadcaster and graduate of IU's sports communication program, called Dakich out on twitter for his hypocritical media bashing during one of his shows, Dakich went off on him, and after Adragna emailed him to apologize, Dakich went one step further, threatening to blackball him from the business.  After Adragna wrote a blog post about it, Dakich backtracked and invited him to be on his show.  What is this guy's problem? December 14, 2013: In an interview with Jerry Tipton, Dakich said that the Kentucky/Indiana series is too important to let die, and blamed both Calipari and Tom Crean for its demise.  In fact, he said Cal not wanting to play in Bloomington because it's too dangerous is a "load of crap":

"He's giving me the load of crap that it's too dangerous," Dakich said of Calipari's objections to Bloomington. "Which is crap. Some Playboy girl (Megan Dills) got her ankle hurt. Big deal."

Apparently Dakich has something against Megan Dills, whom he later referred to as a "pretend Playmate."  Larry Vaught is outraged. January 8, 2014:  After Calipari got in a jab at IU on his radio show about disrespecting opponents by storming the court, Dakich's anger with Cal boiled over into full-fledged Twitter diarrhea.  Dakich posted several tweets about Cal, aka "the baby Baron," being too scared to play at Assembly Hall:

Calipari finally admitted why he won't come back to IU..tricked the KSR radio fanboys but not those that don't guess..AH too tough a place

— Dan Dakich (@dandakich) January 8, 2014

Assembly Hall has scared many coaches but never one from the #bbn ..Rupp Hall Pitino never scared..

— Dan Dakich (@dandakich) January 8, 2014

This isn't "trolling" ..this is responding to the Emperor of the Commonwealth..

— Dan Dakich (@dandakich) January 8, 2014

Great work tonight by #BBN ..lots of vulgarity and explicit commentary whilst telling me how classy you are and classless IU is..perfect

— Dan Dakich (@dandakich) January 11, 2014

And this is the guy they chose to work tomorrow night's game?   Can't Jimmy get in his jet and fly down instead?  I'm sure Dakich would much rather call Missouri/Arkansas. So why did ESPN assign Dakich to cover the Cats? The same reason Bobby Knight has called UK games in the past: they know it will create a stir. Just like ESPN knows Kentucky fans will stay up for the late games, they know they'll watch Dakich, and if he does get in a jab at the Cats, explode about it on social media.  Even the Worldwide Leader trolls sometimes. Will you take the bait, or turn the sound down and radio up tomorrow night?