Howard Zinn's Thursday News and Views

Everybody has that one book that they read when they went to college and it changed things for them. Maybe it was a novel that led you to become a fan of a certain writer, an economics textbook that pushed you towards business or a philosophy writing that changed your worldview. For me that book was written by Howard Zinn, who died on Wednesday at the age of 87. My first semester at Transylvania, a professor handed me A People's History of the United States and in between crazy nights with the group that would later become the KSR Crew, I read it. From the beginning, the book had impact and its "history written not just from the perspective of the winners and the ruling class" became crucial to the development of my worldview. While in later years, I have gone back to the book and found things about which I can quibble, its initial impact still lives with me today. You may even know the book if you saw "Good Will Hunting" (one of my top ten favorite movies ever), as Matt Damon's character references it at one point as the most important book he has read. Over the years his approach to US History has extended to other topics (most notably the "Peoples History of Sports", which is very good), as other authors have picked up and ran with his approach. I was saddened to learn today of Zinn's death and decided to pull out my old worn copy of his famous treatise and read it anew. It will be my 5th trip through the book in my life, and further proof that at least for this Middlesboro blogger, Zinn's legacy still lives on. To the news: (1): The focus today was mostly on the relative freakout as to Loss #1 of the Cats by the UK fanbase as a whole. In every forum imaginable, from talk radio to message boards to the KSR comment section, fans went nuts about all the problems associated with the first loss of the year. Bottom line is that the team lost because the problems it has had all year, closing out games, letting teams stay around and not always controlling the game, caught up to them and bit then at the end. The freakout from the fans is ridiculous, because they forget that the Cats at 19-1 are still exceeding everyone's expectations and will be fine. My guess is that you will see intense practice tomorrow, followed by a national television performance on Saturday against Vandy that will right the ship once again. (2): Speaking of national television, Kentucky's game against South Carolina drew a 1.9 rating on ESPN, which is the second highest for a game this year, behind the UNC-Texas game. The Cats have now been involved in three of the four most watched ESPN games this year, with the UCONN and Florida games also on the list. (3): We talked earlier about the story of the South Carolina fan and Demarcus Cousins. I wont go over it again in detail (the post is below if you care), but another video has turned up, this one from ESPN. It tells us very little and the shot is from way back, but if you look at the top right hand corner at the 5 second mark, you can see the ruckus that occurred that may have included Cousins. It tells us almost nothing of the specifics and from it, there is really nothing conclusive that can be said. The video is here. (4): The last basketball story of the day really saddens me. It is clear that the players have been feeling some fan criticism and have expressed their disappointment today. Patrick Patterson made a Facebook post asking fans not to message him to criticize or question his or the team's love and desire for the University. Then tonight, Demarcus Cousins posted this on FB: love ya when u hot n hate ya when ya not!!!! And from John Wall: is saying thanks to all the ppl who came to watch me play yesterday....still upset about the lost from last nite but things happen for a reason...Just got to stay focus so the team and I can bounce back from this....Also it's crazy how the fans love you wen u winning but talk bad bout u wen u lose...so the only fam i got up here is my team Luv Ya"ll...{ It goes to show how the fans' negativity can rub off on players and be a real distraction and negative vibe for the team. It may be a natural tendency, but when fans' turn on their own, it is never positive...and when they do it to the players' faces or on their Social networking sites....well those folks should be deported. (5): Also, Bill Cosby called Calipari today to talk after watching UK play last night. Not sure what else to say about that. (6): Finally, two football tidbits. Anterio Sloan, who according to one recruiting source was the only 4 star recruit in the 2010 class, has decomitted from the Cats. He is a CB and was thought to be a huge get, but he has been wavering for a bit and Jeff Drummond reported today that he has decommitted. Bad loss for the football Cats on an already struggling 2010 class. (7): And more bad news from the Kentucky CB positions, as Trevard Lindley has been struggling at the Senior Bowl. The ESPN SEC Blogger Chris Low reported that Lindley has been struggling with his mobility and that some think his stock is dropping. He has never totally gotten over his injuries and that is still causing problems for him. Hopefully he will be able to work through it over the course of the next few weeks. Finally, our server issues caused many to miss our last edition of the Podcast, with Woo, Drew, Will and myself. You can listen to it below, or better yet, subscribe on iTunes and you can get them as they come out on your computer. This is a funny one and includes some lines that will become classic from the Woo, so I hope you enjoy. I will be heading to Middlesboro today, but we will have more here all day as we get ready for the Fighting Nerds from Vandy. [podcast]/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Twokeys-arkansas.mp3[/podcast]