Veteran's Day's Tuesday News and Views
[caption id="attachment_145196" align="alignnone" width="500"]
Photo via Gawker[/caption]
I couldn't let Veteran's Day end without thanking all of our veterans for their service. Throughout the day, I heard plenty of great stories about some Big Blue vets that I'll share later, but I want to start the night post with a story that made the rounds on Monday. British World War II veteran Harold Jellicoe Percival passed away last month at the age of 99, and according to his obituary, he had "no close family who can attend his funeral." Someone took a picture of the obit and posted it on Twitter last week, and soon enough, the sentence towards the end asking "any service personnel" to attend became a call-to-arms. Over 300 people came to Percival's funeral on Monday morning, a good example that there is some good left in this world.
[caption id="attachment_145194" align="alignnone" width="500"]
Photo by @SteveBeckerHack[/caption]
On Monday afternoon, I asked my Twitter followers who served in the armed forces to send in their stories which led to some pretty great responses. Shoutout to Austin Fox, a vet who served two tours in Afghanistan with the 82nd, who's still serving at Fort Benning, Georgia. Tim wrote in and said that he served eight years (five in Germany) in Operation Provide Comfort 1. Steven Eads served in the Air Force from '89-'97, and his daughter was born on the same day Laettner hit The Shot (I hope you've been able to avoid the replays, too, Steven). Kent Chambliss serves as a nuclear engineer in the navy, and while stationed in NYC, attended the UK/UConn game during the 2009 Champions Classic in a UK snuggie, which resulted in this awesome picture:
The most touching story I received was from Cody Lockhart, whose grandfather, Presley McCoy, is a WW2 vet who fought in Italy. McCoy is a huge Kentucky fan who loves Joe B. and Kyle Macy, and even though he's mostly blind now, still turns the TV on so he can hear the Cats play. That's what Kentucky basketball is all about, folks. I know there are countless other stories to be told, so if you're a veteran or just are lucky enough to call one a friend, please share in the comment section.
Now, we turn our sights to Tuesday night's colossal matchup in Chicago. Here are my three story lines:
[caption id="attachment_145184" align="alignnone" width="392"]
This picture of Calipari and his fluffy hair cracks me up.[/caption]
1. The biggest regular season college basketball event ever?
Just how big is the Champions Classic? It pits four of the top five teams in the nation against each other, and in turn, the nation's top talent. Seventeen of Chad Ford's Top 50 NBA prospects will play in the United Center Tuesday night, including the top three freshmen in the nation in Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, and Jabari Parker. The four teams also include 19 former McDonald's All-Americans (Kentucky 7, Duke 6, Kansas 3, Michigan State 3). As a result, so many NBA executives are going to the Champions Classic that they've nicknamed it "The Convention." Tuesday night's UK/Michigan State game marks the first time since 2008 teams ranked #1 and #2 in the country will meet in regular season competition, and it's the earliest such matchup in AP poll history. With ESPN sponsoring the event, the hype has reached a whole new level, with many calling it the biggest regular season event in college basketball history.
You can see why John Calipari is trying to downplay expectations surrounding the game. On Monday, Cal pointed out that "it's November," which to him, illustrates just how much the game means. The main thing Cal hopes to get from the Champions Classic? Answers. More than anything, Tuesday night's game is a measuring stick for this young squad, and according to Cal, they're ready to see how far they've come and how far they need to go.
[caption id="attachment_145198" align="alignnone" width="453"]
Tom likes long walks on the beach, and shopping on Michigan Avenue[/caption]
2. The ultimate showdown of inexperienced talent vs. talented experience
If there ever were a game to pit young talent vs. experience, it's this one. By now, the nation has heard all about Kentucky's historic freshman class. Michigan State pretty much returns the team that made last year's Sweet Sixteen, and they have only two true freshmen on their roster. On Monday, Izzo pointed out that Michigan State's strength isn't just experience, it's talented experience. Forward Adreian Payne and guard Gary Harris are considered two of the best players in the country, and both were recruited by Cal. However, Kentucky's talent is on a different level, something which Izzo freely admitted on Monday:
Does this look like a man who's going to back down from a challenge? (Photo by Matt Anderson)[/caption]
3. Will the players rise to the challenge or get stage fright?
For the past week, Cal has been trying to downplay this game because of his team's youth, going as far to call it an "unfair" test because it comes so early in the season. Part of that was in jest, along with the jokes of forfeiting and Tom Izzo shopping, etc., but I think there was some truth to Cal's anxiety about the event. By now, we all know that Calipari's teams rarely hit their stride until late in the season, and even the best squads have looked sloppy early on. However, on Monday, Cal changed his stance a little bit, saying that the game isn't unfair because his players say they're ready for the challenge:
Matt and Drew made it to Chicago and will host the show from a studio somewhere in the Windy City in the morning. (Unfortunately, it won't be from The Pony because of technical difficulties. Please don't kill us.) We've got a big day coming up, so get some rest.
Photo via Gawker[/caption]
I couldn't let Veteran's Day end without thanking all of our veterans for their service. Throughout the day, I heard plenty of great stories about some Big Blue vets that I'll share later, but I want to start the night post with a story that made the rounds on Monday. British World War II veteran Harold Jellicoe Percival passed away last month at the age of 99, and according to his obituary, he had "no close family who can attend his funeral." Someone took a picture of the obit and posted it on Twitter last week, and soon enough, the sentence towards the end asking "any service personnel" to attend became a call-to-arms. Over 300 people came to Percival's funeral on Monday morning, a good example that there is some good left in this world.
[caption id="attachment_145194" align="alignnone" width="500"]
Photo by @SteveBeckerHack[/caption]
On Monday afternoon, I asked my Twitter followers who served in the armed forces to send in their stories which led to some pretty great responses. Shoutout to Austin Fox, a vet who served two tours in Afghanistan with the 82nd, who's still serving at Fort Benning, Georgia. Tim wrote in and said that he served eight years (five in Germany) in Operation Provide Comfort 1. Steven Eads served in the Air Force from '89-'97, and his daughter was born on the same day Laettner hit The Shot (I hope you've been able to avoid the replays, too, Steven). Kent Chambliss serves as a nuclear engineer in the navy, and while stationed in NYC, attended the UK/UConn game during the 2009 Champions Classic in a UK snuggie, which resulted in this awesome picture:
The most touching story I received was from Cody Lockhart, whose grandfather, Presley McCoy, is a WW2 vet who fought in Italy. McCoy is a huge Kentucky fan who loves Joe B. and Kyle Macy, and even though he's mostly blind now, still turns the TV on so he can hear the Cats play. That's what Kentucky basketball is all about, folks. I know there are countless other stories to be told, so if you're a veteran or just are lucky enough to call one a friend, please share in the comment section.
Now, we turn our sights to Tuesday night's colossal matchup in Chicago. Here are my three story lines:
[caption id="attachment_145184" align="alignnone" width="392"] This picture of Calipari and his fluffy hair cracks me up.[/caption]
1. The biggest regular season college basketball event ever?
Just how big is the Champions Classic? It pits four of the top five teams in the nation against each other, and in turn, the nation's top talent. Seventeen of Chad Ford's Top 50 NBA prospects will play in the United Center Tuesday night, including the top three freshmen in the nation in Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, and Jabari Parker. The four teams also include 19 former McDonald's All-Americans (Kentucky 7, Duke 6, Kansas 3, Michigan State 3). As a result, so many NBA executives are going to the Champions Classic that they've nicknamed it "The Convention." Tuesday night's UK/Michigan State game marks the first time since 2008 teams ranked #1 and #2 in the country will meet in regular season competition, and it's the earliest such matchup in AP poll history. With ESPN sponsoring the event, the hype has reached a whole new level, with many calling it the biggest regular season event in college basketball history.
You can see why John Calipari is trying to downplay expectations surrounding the game. On Monday, Cal pointed out that "it's November," which to him, illustrates just how much the game means. The main thing Cal hopes to get from the Champions Classic? Answers. More than anything, Tuesday night's game is a measuring stick for this young squad, and according to Cal, they're ready to see how far they've come and how far they need to go.
[caption id="attachment_145198" align="alignnone" width="453"] Tom likes long walks on the beach, and shopping on Michigan Avenue[/caption]
2. The ultimate showdown of inexperienced talent vs. talented experience
If there ever were a game to pit young talent vs. experience, it's this one. By now, the nation has heard all about Kentucky's historic freshman class. Michigan State pretty much returns the team that made last year's Sweet Sixteen, and they have only two true freshmen on their roster. On Monday, Izzo pointed out that Michigan State's strength isn't just experience, it's talented experience. Forward Adreian Payne and guard Gary Harris are considered two of the best players in the country, and both were recruited by Cal. However, Kentucky's talent is on a different level, something which Izzo freely admitted on Monday:
"There's seven first round draft picks on this team and they haven't even played a college game yet. That kind of tells you. We laughed about it in our meetings. There's probably a ton of NBA teams that don't have seven first round picks on their team if you really think about it."Izzo was especially complimentary of Julius Randle, whom he called Chris Weber with ball-handling skills. "We haven't seen anyone like that," Izzo gushed. On the other side of the ball, Calipari said that Randle will have his first real test against the Spartans, who "will know how to take him away." Cal said he's expecting double teams and physical play, which will force Julius to take jumpers. That leads me to my final story line... [caption id="attachment_143963" align="alignnone" width="500"]
Does this look like a man who's going to back down from a challenge? (Photo by Matt Anderson)[/caption]
3. Will the players rise to the challenge or get stage fright?
For the past week, Cal has been trying to downplay this game because of his team's youth, going as far to call it an "unfair" test because it comes so early in the season. Part of that was in jest, along with the jokes of forfeiting and Tom Izzo shopping, etc., but I think there was some truth to Cal's anxiety about the event. By now, we all know that Calipari's teams rarely hit their stride until late in the season, and even the best squads have looked sloppy early on. However, on Monday, Cal changed his stance a little bit, saying that the game isn't unfair because his players say they're ready for the challenge:
"They want to play the game, my guys. They want to see where they are. We’ll learn. That’s the the best thing about playing early. You can’t learn against Popcorn State. You just can’t. You don’t learn anything. You learn you’re 30 points better or 40 points or 50 points or 57 points. What does it do? But you can learn against really good teams.”Win or lose, these Cats will learn, but judging from the fire we've seen early on from the freshmen, they're not ready to roll over just because Michigan State's more experienced. Right, Julius Randle?
"I'm not buying into [the experience vs. talent angle]. We're playing the same game. Two great coaches, we've got guys on our team with experience, too. I'm not buying into the lack of experience. At the end of the day, it's going to be a war."Get your war paint on. Oh, and if you missed it, Rick Pitino announced Monday that Behanan will be dressed and available to play for Louisville's game tomorrow night, which must mean it's December, which must mean I'm really behind on my Christmas decorating. While I go get the tinsel, check out ESPN's Tip-Off Marathon schedule and figure out how you're going to watch all this glorious basketball during work:
Matt and Drew made it to Chicago and will host the show from a studio somewhere in the Windy City in the morning. (Unfortunately, it won't be from The Pony because of technical difficulties. Please don't kill us.) We've got a big day coming up, so get some rest. 
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