Something I've Never Seen

When the Big Blue Nation folklorists begin to recount yarns of past teams this one will occupy a space of its own.  I, for one, have never seen a team at any school begin the year and end the regular season so poorly only to see the light and turn into a championship contender, seemingly overnight.  After the Florida game in the SEC tournament I began to hold out hope that we would not be embarrassed but I did pick them to beat Wichita State and lose in the next round to Louisville.  I believe that had I realized at that time how good The Shockers were I might have changed that pick but I reasoned that the caliber of their schedule was suspect.  I was wrong.  Nothing new with that.  What I have seen from this mostly freshmen team is a team that never loses its poise even when they allow the opponent to put them in a deep hole.  They don't try to come back all at once, they just begin to take care of business.

I thought they had a pretty decent chance of winning today even without Willie but, again, I did not realize how powerful the Michigan offense was.  What glorious surprises we've seen come from those guys.  Alex Poythress is threatening to become the "beast" that Coach Cal always said he could be.  He is playing above the rim and with abandon.  And Marcus "Who".  I knew he was on the team but knew little about him.  His playing time this year has been minimal to say the least.  He seems to be one of those guys who is always in the right place.  Dakari Johnson has developed into a true post man capable of taking the ball to the hoop against other bigs.  Randle is getting to play farther out and is righteous when he drives to the goal while having developed into a fine assist man when necessary.  All of these things have opened up the floor and given the Harrisons space to rock and roll.  They are still half a step slow but now they are playing with confidence and no hang-dog looks.  Nothing but confidence.  James Young, deadly.  Hawkins comes in and gives quality minutes even if he doesn't quite have the offensive punch of the Harrisons.  What has happened is that Coach Cal has way more arrows in the quiver.

And Coach Cal!!  If this doesn't shut up the talking heads who said he couldn't coach then they are totally hopeless and should be ignored from this moment on.  I thought Dick Vitale was going to have a stroke gushing about it.

Right now the Cats are playing as good if not better than anyone in the tournament and have a very good shot at bringing a 9th banner to Rupp.

I've seen lots of great college teams but never one that has turned the season on its ear the way this team has.  They are a team for the ages.

Kentucky 74/Louisville 69 (And it was closer than that)

I would say that excitement over UK's win over Uof L last night knows no bounds but any observer of Big Blue Nation knows that is not so.  It was positively Hellenistic to wallow in the good vibrations last night when the Kiddie Kats (I'm not sure we can call them that any longer) showed further evidence of developing the toughness that Coach Cal has been harping on all year.  When the Wildcats were 7 down with 4 minutes to go I was very doubtful that they could claw their way back without Cauley-Stein and Young.  UK proved it has enough weapons by getting an "in your face" performance from Alex Poythress and quality minutes from Dominique Hawkins who got the most playing time he has garnered all season.  Of course, having Montrezl Harrell out of the game opened up the inside for Kentucky's power game with Julius Randle.  I was impressed on several fronts as I have been for the past few games but no more so than the refusal to give up.  The guys showed more grit than sandpaper by hanging close and making the clutch plays.  What was their weakest point (free throws) early in the season has become money in the bank for this team.  The Harrisons and Randle are almost sure things at the line.  Their form has changed and with it their confidence.

Ball handling has become more crisp and movement without the ball is worlds apart from earlier.  I'm not really sure what Coach Cal tweaked but it appears to have opened up the floor for a little more play creation.  Make no mistake, dribble-drive is still the name of the game and it produced radical results Friday night by drawing fouls and making the pace of the game more to the Blue's liking.  Over the past three games watching John Calipari coach has been a thing of beauty.  His use of time outs early to settle his team down was crucial.  This should put to rest any criticism of his ability to game coach.

UL did not play a bad game.  Luke Hancock, as usual, came through big with a couple of baseline drives that left his defender standing flatfooted.  His ability to drain the outside shot was key when Russ Smith was being mobbed when he had the ball.  The Cards just ran out of people and time.  Pitino was right when he said that not making free throws killed them.  It always does.

But, at I said at the beginning, the excitement over beating Louisville does know bounds for Big Blue Nation.  Our thoughts eternally turn to thoughts of hanging another banner in Rupp.  Each year for BBN is an exercise in striving for a national championship.  It is unrealistic and pressure packed but that is the state of UK Basketball's rabid fan base.  I can assure you that the base is already looking forward to Michigan which is standing in the way of our reaching another final four.  If my memory serves me correctly the last time the two teams met was when the Wolverines consisted of the Fab Five.  It was a final four game and the Wolverines bested the Cats by 3 in overtime.

UK fans have long memories.

Music Festivals. Am I aged out?

I'm not quite too old for festivals as a whole but I am certainly unwilling to endure some in particular.  For instance, I love our local festival which last year scored about 6000 attendees.  However, it is unlikely I would ever attend another festival such as the one I went to in Sedalia, Missouri in, I believe, '75 or '76 that scored 300,000 or 400,000 people.  Recollection is a little vague.  I still have some friends who will be off to Bonnaroo this year.  I understand there are accommodations for camping and motor homes which would make it much more tolerable.

I used to be nonchalant about a day or two or three in the burning hot summer sun but nonchalance about such discomfort is no longer a part of my life.  Of course, there were a few ingredients that made those possible that are no longer a part of my life either.

If there existed a way to go experience the crowd and music for brief periods and then retreat to air conditioned comfort for naps I maybe would be more amenable.  I would love to go to SXSW but I just can't get the motor running.  I am entranced by Burning Man.  I don't have a bucket list but if I did that would be on it.  However, the notion of spending a week in the desert in a city that only exists for that time is a little daunting.  Campers would make it bearable perhaps as long as one had sufficient fuel to drive the AC.


I suppose what would really be attractive to me would be something like the Woodland music fairs that are sometimes held in Lexington where one can pack picnic dinners and put out a nice spread on the grass under some fine shade.  For the multi-day affairs I would suggest either golf carts or some nice public transportation from the Hyatt-Regency which is about the extent of my camping these days.

Growing Up

Weight Lifter: UK Knocks Off Undefeated Wichita State in Classic - Kentucky Wildcats Official Athletic Site



I have not been too complimentary of the playing style of the current edition of the UK Wildcats but their performances in the final SEC tourney game with Florida and the two games so far in the NCAA have me singing their praises.  They are not a pretty team to watch.  There are no blazing drives to the hoop a la John Wall or total dominance around the basket like Anthony Davis but there has emerged a tenacity that refuses to give up.  Almost totally gone is the negative body language that infected the team and the tendency to not play 40 minutes is also almost totally gone.  What is left is a team that just won't give up and is a threat to take an opponent to the wire.  In that respect they remind me of the Florida team that doesn't blow people out, they just take you to the wire and do what it takes.



I have been negative about the Harrison twins all season with the hang dog looks and slowness off the dribble.  Their tendency to drive the ball to far before passing has just about driven me nuts but whatever it was that Coach Cal did to tweak the team worked.  In the past few games he should have put to rest the crows that he was a sub par coach.  He has done a fantastic job coaching and the Wichita State game was a masterpiece.



Randle just intensely plays every possession and that opens up the floor for the others then when the opponent is forced to guard the others Randle makes them pay.  It is very difficult to guard him one on one.  Cauley-Stein has grown into a beast that does not resemble the player of last season or even much of this season.  Dakari Johnson can come in with relief minutes that don't give up much at all.



This was the last game I had Kentucky winning but I could very well be wrong.  I believe they are playing as well as anyone in the tournament now and have a shot.  Of course, as a fan of the Big Blue that means hanging another banner but I will try to keep my exuberance in check.  Next game will bring up a Louisville team that I think we can beat if we show the kind of poise that has recently been in evidence.



Perhaps the most significant thing for this team has been the growth of the Harrisons.  I was extremely impressed with Andrew playing through his injured elbow and the shooting of both of them.  Against the shockers UK shot 54% which they had not done in forever.  And their free throw maladies seem to be history.



Maybe, just maybe.

Exercise Caution with Ukraine and Russia

Russia’s Shifting of Border Force Stirs U.S. Worry - NYTimes.com





We must understand that if Russia decides to move into Ukraine there is very little we could do to stop them.  If they are willing to risk negative world opinion and economic sanctions then all but military action is pretty much rendered ineffective.  Face it.  We are not going to get into a shooting war with Russia over Ukraine.  NATO cannot respond quickly enough and the risks of expansion are too great.



We are still involved with Russia exerting influence on negotiations in Syria and Iran.  Without the input from the Russians those negotiations stop.  There may be some benefit in the US/Russian dynamic to upping the ante with the threat of military action in Syria and Iran to draw the Russian attention to a new front but that would have a negative effect on both of those countries and our desire to handle those problems without war.



Most Westerners do not realize the intense relationship of Russia and Ukraine over the past thousand years.  At times they have been virtually inseparable.  In addition, the US often falls into the trap of not understanding or taking into account the cultural history of the people and what hidden buttons there are to avoid.  Take the time to follow this link for a visual demonstration.



 Changes of Russia/Ukraine over 1000 years





I give President Obama credit for seeing these things hence his reluctance to rattle the swords.  However, there is a significant coterie of Neocons that believe we should be forceful with the hard edge of our might and bring military force to bear.  Get this now.  Russia, while not the power it once was is still capable of being very effective at defending its borders.  A military attack would come at great cost and I don't mean money.



I watched an interview with the Russian Foreign Minister on Charlie Rose and Charlie pushed him pretty hard.  The Russians have a narrative that is vastly different from the version we hear on the domestic news.  We must be very cautious and accept that we can't dictate results in the short term.

Is the Secrecy Crumbling?

Cracks in the Facade

There is a big dust-up brewing in D.C. Between the CIA and its handlers, the Senate Intelligence Committee which is charged with overseeing the super-secret agency to make sure it does not unduly trample on civil rights or do nasty things. Well, nasty things that they get caught doing. It isn't even over a disagreement on what is nasty and what is not but instead it is about someone removing something from the vault of dastardly deeds and taking it to a place where it might be exposed.

It seems that there is an unmarked room at Langley (that is what the spooks call CIA headquarters) that is dedicated to allowing the overseers access to computers that contain sensitive information concerning aforementioned dastardly deeds. In this case, the so called black sites where the CIA held prisoners it surreptitiously stole from various locations so they could be interrogated out of the sight of curious eyes. It was here that many of the alleged torturous methods euphemistically called enhanced interrogation were used. It seems that the Senate Intelligence Committee headed by California Senator Diane Feinstein have been looking into the allegations of improper treatment of prisoners by the CIA and its operatives. CIA Director John Brennan has been quite protective of that information.

It is an alarming sight to see Senator Feinstein at odds with the intelligence community over anything since she has been a stalwart supporter of many questionable actions. She has defended the agencies in no uncertain terms and to lengths that some civil rights advocates find disconcerting. The CIA is allowed much leeway in its accountability for reasons they say are paramount if they are to conduct the covert work they do on our nation's behalf. Their budget is not subject to examination and is accorded a vote without knowing what it is for. The Director is accountable supposedly to the NSA Director and the Director of National Intelligence but who knows who is being forthcoming? It is to account for this great power that the Senate Intelligence Committee is given oversight of agency actions. It is all that stands between this paragon of secrecy and deadly action and the wishes of the American people. If you fear, as I do, this much power being unaccountable to a representative of the people then you should appreciate the work this committee does.

But, in a larger sense, what we are seeing here is a fracture in the formerly impenetrable wall of government intelligence gathering and secrecy. Senator Feinstein must be greatly concerned that the oversight duties of her committee are being impinged upon to take this argument public. But those that are paying attention are seeing cracks in the facade of the intelligence community.

Prior to 9/11 (see how those numbers are instantly recognizable) government was not so agreeable to the intelligence community being so able to conduct operations outside the vigilance of civilian overseers. The panic following 9/11 threw civil rights and accountability to the wind along with our previous reluctance to use “enhanced interrogation.” In the wake of that disaster the Department of Homeland Security was created that was envisioned to encompass all other intelligence gathering agencies and assure that the data collected by one was available to all. A noble goal prevented from maturing by the bloat of a huge new bureaucracy. The most super-secret of all, the National Security Agency, blossomed into an Orwellian beast capable of gorging itself on our digital communications, long distance calls, cell phones, computers and who knows what else in order to put together threads of information that, when assembled by the banks of super-computers, would paint a picture of any individual in the modern world. As citizens of the U.S. we were protected from this intrusiveness unless a warrant was obtained from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) which granted them with abandon. Of course, we had little knowledge of the extent of this surveillance until a junior grade computer operator working for one of the hundreds of private intelligence gathering business that have sprung up finally decided he had seen too much to continue to stay quiet.

Edward Snowden

If you don't mind we will leave the discussion of Edward Snowden and his actions for another time. But the fact is that without his revelations we would likely still be unaware of the government spying on ordinary people to the extent that they know us better than we do. Is this legal? Probably so since a spineless Congress granted the authority even though they had no idea what they were doing. Is it constitutional? Personally, I think not but that is something that the courts will have to decide. When it comes time I hope they will be more capable of dispassionate reasoning than I think they are.

Was it a crime for Edward Snowden to steal that information and reveal it? Most certainly so but history is rife with people who have shouldered the burden and acted according to conscience. Daniel Ellsberg revealed the Pentagon Papers that exposed the accounts of success in the Vietnam war as being fabricated and false. Those revelations changed the course of discussion and were influential in bringing an end to that war by allowing the people, yes, the people, to participate in the direction of the

Daniel Ellsbert

nation. “Deep Throat” revealed the nature of the coverup of the Watergate Breakin and brought down an administration. Daniel Ellsberg was tried but the charges were thrown out due to prosecutorial misconduct and if Edward Snowden ever comes within reach of the United States I expect he will also be tried. It is actions like these that expose the cracks in the seemingly impenetrable monolith of secrecy. So, we can be thankful that an American politician has found enough enough gumption and political cover to take the cause of personal freedom a bit further. We should not expect too much from Senator Feinstein but she may provide the opening.

Personally, my take is that if we willingly allow our freedoms to be whittled away with promises of benevolence then we are fools indeed.

What in the World is Common Core

We don't need no education, We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom, Teachers leave them kids alone

Pink Floyd

I have been in a period of intellectual laziness unwilling to examine issues and ponder what the outcomes might be and what they would mean to us as a society. Intellectual laziness is a kind of torpor in which one may be inclined to accept at face value whatever one hears or reads on the news or social outlet of choice without applying anything further. These days that is dangerous because it is so easy in this “information” age to find an outlet that supports our already preconceived notions and we are deprived of the contradictions we may need in order to examine our conceptions. I perceive that is little problem to many but that is not as it should be because the ideas of others are critically important to our proper understanding of the ramifications of any issue.

For instance, I am rarely in agreement with anything that the Tea Party groups have to say but, to my surprise, I find there are some things they say with which I can agree. I am often in agreement with more progressive ideals but even I can find some instances in which I think those kinds of groups go too far. It is just not enough to pick a group and parrot whatever it says.

One of the things I have been trying to understand is exactly what “Common Core” is in regards to our educational system and what the hubbub is about. As far as I can tell “Common Core” is an attempt to bring educational levels in the United States up to what is considered to be competitive internationally. Currently we are failing at that miserably. It seems that it is not the standards themselves that is the problem but rather the way they are being implemented. In addition, there are testing requirements and many teachers feel this would result in teaching to the test and deprive them of exercising their knowledge and skill to educate students. Not a few resent governmental intervention into the classroom.

I think the discussion on “Common Core” can be informed by the rationale for having government involved in education at all. Some Tea Party adherents advocate discontinuing the Department of Education entirely saying that education is a local matter. I don't think so.

In my mind the only reason that the government of the United States would have any interest in public education is for what is essentially a national security issue. The US needs well educated citizens to be able to make informed and rational decisions on self government. Sometimes it seems that we must surely be failing at this task since we have such a dysfunctional government but it has not always been that way. The other reason is that an educated populace is needed in order to remain competitive in a world of global competition. We aren't doing too good there either with our students performing at rates that are less than that of some third world countries. So, why don't we leave it to local governments? The reason is that local governments are notoriously hindered by poor decision making and are slow to react to global pressures. It is these global pressures that have led us to the current attempt to improve scholastic achievement known as “Common Core” which prescribes minimum levels that students must achieve at various grade levels.

A nation that consistently performs at a level that is less than those standards enjoyed by the rest of the world can't expect to hang around the top tier economically for too long. History has proven that once the economic might of a nation, empire, kingdom begins to wane that it is not long until is political power also weakens. Military might can't be maintained in the absence of a robust economy and some may argue that military might for it's own sake should not be maintained. So, in the scheme of things it is a robust economy that is paramount to the continued standard of living that we enjoy here in the United States of America.

Perhaps we have gotten a little off track but I sincerely hope that a renewed emphasis on education, research and innovation will provide the course correction that our country needs. Other countries are doing very good at stealing our thunder in areas of research and innovation but our country has tremendous inherent advantages that should make the United States the engine for the world. It is not too late. We are still the largest economy in the world by some multiples but we can see that others have a plan. We don't.

It seems readily apparent to me that it is absolutely necessary for government to anticipate future demands and provide funding and leadership to be ready to fill those needs. Free market enthusiasts will tell you that the market will drive innovation but what the market will drive is profits. Visionary thinking must come from some anticipation of future events. Certainly there are those individuals who we call visionary in the business world but in most cases their vision rests on the shoulders of some sort of government supported research or demand. For instance. How many companies have taken advantage of the opportunities presented by the coming of age of the internet. Jeff Bezos with Amazon for example, has influenced the entire model for sales in the world. However, it was the United States government with a military communication need that gave birth to the internet. Who paid for that? You did.

So, do you think that a local school board is up to the task of determining curriculum to create research scientists or others working on the edge of new strategies? Well, just take into account the efforts by many to influence the science textbooks to keep them from teaching rigorous examination of evidence and its conclusions.

So, even if I'm not quite sure what Common Core is I am very sure that our Department of Education is necessary to create course study that will strengthen the economic might of our country.

My take is that we should place a much higher value on our teachers and help them to be more effective. It is also My Take that we should view an advanced education as a national asset primed to bring a higher standard of living for all.

What a Stinker

Kentucky Wildcats vs. South Carolina Gamecocks - Recap - March 01, 2014 - ESPN







If this wasn't Kentucky's worst game this year it surely is in the running.  It featured lackluster energy, poor decision making and worse shots.  What on earth is the deal with the Harrisons charging into the paint so deep that four defenders cover them and they can't make a pass out to the open man (men).  Although Young drained some pretty threes he was called for traveling twice, once in the final minutes when UK was making a run (or a fast walk).



I can remember the day when the conference championship could be won with four losses but that is unlikely these days in a league with Florida.



I still won't fault Coach Cal for recruiting the best he can find but it obviously takes more than one year to get those starlets to learn that winning comes through teamwork and lack of attention to personal stats.  But, if Cal is going to teach dribble/drive he needs players that will buy into his scheme.  Pass the darned ball while you still can, defenses are getting wise.  When you don't have the ball, move somewhere.  And shoot a few thousand free throws.



Where is all that talk of the unbeaten season now?