The lights flash out, the spotlights circle 23,000 of your best friends.  The strobes fire up, and The Who’s “Teenage Wasteland” begins to blare.

On the big screen we see Delk 3′s, we see Kenny sky-walking, Tayshaun bombing the Tar Heels, the Comeback Cats exercise the Blue Devils, the “Goose”, Rex, Kyle touch his socks, and countless other moments that make us proud to tell everyone our favorite colors baby: Blue and white!

The hair on your neck stands up, you jump up and down, Rupp starts to rock, your heart races, and just when you can’t stand it any longer; it finally happens.

“And now, your University of Kentucky Wildcats!!!”

Whoa, whoa, whoa, Miss Lippy…let’s go back and find out how we got here.

This past offseason was one of the most eventful in the storied history of Kentucky basketball.

The most recent edition of UK basketball finished 22-14, and earned a berth in the NIT.  They were bounced from the not-so-big dance by Notre Dame, and Digger Phelps probably almost died from joy.

This also meant that the coach of said Cats would be under some heat.  Billy Gillispie was arguably the most polarizing person in Lexington. Love him, hate him, either way, everyone had an opinion, even ESPN’s Jeanine Edwards.

Billy G repeatedly started postgame pressers by saying he wouldn’t throw any of his players under the bus; which he followed by throwing his players under the bus.

All the rumors of his off-court antics and the stories of how he treated his players led to his demise.

Mr. Gillispie (I almost wrote Coach Gillispie there, but remembered a press conference were the media simply called him Billy) was eventually fired by Kentucky and the circus added another ring.

Who would ride over the nearest hill and save the poor Wildcats?

Well, that depended on who you asked. Jay Wright of Villanova, Mark Few of Gonzaga, John Calipari of Memphis, Tom Izzo of Michigan St.,  Bruce Pearl of Tennessee, Billy Donovan of Florida, even Rick Pitino?

The same Pitino who left the Cats to coach the Cards was rumored to be walking through that door.

After the dust finally settled, UK convinced Calipari to leave Memphis and take the reigns of a beaten-down program. He kissed babies, walked on water, and said all the right things when introduced by Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart.

John Cal hit the recruiting trail hard and brought some major reinforcements to Lexington.  Ranked as the No. 1 class by most media outlets, Calipari immediately raised the bar in the SEC. J.C. did lose out on one key player, Jodie Meeks, the fifth leading scorer in the country last year, when he declared for the NBA.

Well, that pretty much brings you up to speed.  Where was I???  Oh, right.

(You have to pretend I’m using my announcer voice here.)

“And now, your University of Kentucky Wildcats!!!

At guard, a 6’7″ sophomore from Maysville, Ky., No. 1, Darius Miller,

At guard, the 6’7″ sophomore from Greenbelt, Md., No. 3, Darnell Dodson,

At guard, standing 6’6″, a freshman from Madisonville, Ky., No. 4 Jon Hood,

Another guard, standing 6’7″, a senior from Anchorage, Alaska, No. 5, Ramon Harris,

At guard, coming in at 6’4″, a freshman from Raleigh, N.C., No. 11, John Wall,

At forward, a towering 6’11″, a freshman from Mobile, Ala., No. 15, DeMarcus Cousins,

At forward, standing 6’9″, the senior from Lafayette, La., No. 21, Perry Stevenson,

Again at guard, a 6’1″ freshman from Birmingham, Ala., No. 24, Eric Bledsoe,

At forward, 6’10″ freshman from Oklahoma City, Okla., No. 33, Daniel Orton,

The last guard, 6’6″ sophomore from Chicago, Ill., No. 34, DeAndre Liggins,

At forward, 6’10″ junior from St. Charles, Mo., No. 55, Josh Harrellson.

At forward, last but certainly not least, 6’9″ junior from Huntington, W.Va., No. 54, Patrick Patterson.

—And your head coach, John Calipari!!!!!!!!”

Now all the players gather in a circle and rock side-to-side.  They bring it in and break the huddle. It’s game-time.

Your starting five are: Patterson, Miller, Wall, Cousins and I’m going to guess, and it is a guess, Dodson. I might take some heat for the Dodson pick, but I like his jump-shooting ability to help them early in the season. I’m sure the lineup will be fluid for the first month or so.

Front-court: Patterson anchors this group. He returns for his junior season hoping to actually get to play in an NCAA tournament game.  Cousins, Orton, Stevenson and Harrellson add good depth.  Patterson, Orton, and Cousins should be interchangeable parts.  I still like Stevenson’s length around the basket.

Easily the best front-court in the conference.

Back-Court:  Meeks is out, but many talented others will step in. Wall, Bledsoe, Hood and Dodson were all big catches this offseason.  This gave immediate help to a back-court that was desperate. Liggins, Miller and Harris all are capable players too.  Easily the best back-court in the conference.

Liggins will shine more in the “dribble-drive offense” than he did under the Gillispie “get it to Patterson no matter what offense.”  Miller is coming off of a good showing in the Under-19 World Championships, where his US squad brought home the crown.  Ramon Harris is an above average defender and is capable on offense too.

Prediction time: The Cats will go 13-3 in conference.  I don’t want to make some dumb claim that they will go undefeated, but they really could. We don’t have the schedule yet, but games against Louisville and U.N.C. are marquis. Anytime you play the champs it’s a big deal, and Louisville is well, Louisville.

Not to mention it’s Pitino v. Calipari.

The Cats will be back in a big way. Kentucky enters March no lower than a No. 2 seed.  I like their chances of playing into April and maybe even placing ladders on the court in Indy.

Close your eyes one more time.

The clock’s at zero, the streamers have fallen, everyone is going nuts.  Indianapolis has gone blue.  The scissors come out and the tears start to flow.  Just when you think it can’t get any better, the band strikes up “My Old Kentucky Home.”  That’s when you remember why you’re a Kentucky boy, or girl.

Seven was heaven, and as a certain cereal tiger might say, “Eight sure feels Grrrreat.”

Hey, there you are, I didn’t think I would find you in this mess.  You got here just in time.

“For my old Kentucky home, far away.”

For the last 17 years, the UK basketball team has been an NCAA Tournament staple. Growing up as young boys and girls across the Commonwealth, it was almost certain the Cats would not only make the NCAA Tournament, but compete in Final Fours and — even more likely — hang another championship banner during our time here at UK.

No one saw this.

The losses the past two years sound off in a way never imagined. Losses to high profile teams like North Carolina, Louisville and others are bearable. Those defeats at the hands of San Diego, Gardner Webb and Virginia Military Institute — aren’t.

When Billy Gillispie arrived at UK two years ago, he was smiling and grateful for the opportunity to coach the Cats. Now, Gillispie spends more time barking at officials, defending himself or his team at news conferences and snapping at any reporter who may have a question that isn’t favorable in his mind.

Will the real Billy Gillispie, please show up? Maybe he already has.

In Lexington, the only thing that matters is winning. Gillispie knows and acknowledges this. Execution of that philosophy, as of late, as been non-existent, thanks to a current four-game losing streak. If it weren’t for a sweep of Tennessee, the Cats would have crashed and burned down the stretch with a six-game losing streak.

Not just losses, bad losses: a 13-point drubbing in Nashville, 18-point trashing in Columbia, S.C., and embarrassments at home against Georgia and on the road against Florida.

The ways the Cats have finished have made the almost upset of Louisville, Jodie Meeks’ 54-point explosion on Tennessee and winning 16 of 18 games from December to January forgettable.

Sometimes the losses are the players fault — which were quickly pointed out — and other times, they are the coaches. When they were Gillispie’s, he was quick to admit fault and just as quick to move on.

With two players with the caliber of Meeks and sophomore Patrick Patterson, it takes effort to collapse the way the Cats have. The frequent lapses in play should have been cleared up by now.

Newcomers Kevin Galloway, Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins are talented and have shown as much at various points in the season. But their lack of development is alarming, with Galloway mostly riding the pine during the beginning of the season, Liggins glued to the bench currently and Miller having an erratic spot in the rotation as well.

In addition, the regression of veterans Perry Stevenson and Ramon Harris is puzzling. Stevenson looked to be a strong compliment to Patterson at the end of last season and the beginning of this year. He doesn’t seem that way now.

The way this team has finished and the multiple controversies the Cats and Gillispie seem to find themselves in week after week has ruffled feathers across the Commonwealth and frankly – is embarrassing.

The rumblings are on message boards, in the hallways of schools and workplaces across the state and on streets from Paducah to Pikeville. No one is happy with these results. Not with the losses, the play of the team, the coaching of Gillispie or even his handling of the adversity.

To put it bluntly, a lot of people want Gillispie fired. But he shouldn’t be.

Yes, Gillispie shouldn’t berate any reporter, whether it is Jeannine Edwards of ESPN or beloved Tom Leach. Yes, the team has collapsed and it is Gillispie’s job as head coach to stop the bleeding and prepare his team. Yes, it is Gillispie who is in charge of player development.

If Gillispie handled news conferences, interviews and questions about his coaching ability with a little more class, he probably wouldn’t have a seat engulfed in flames. Maybe a seat that’s sparking at the seams, but not on fire.

UK Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart has mostly been quiet on the current situation of the basketball team, serving as No. 1 cheerleader for the players. A wise decision, because a vote of confidence is usually a sure-fire pink slip. This team doesn’t need any more drama.

This season, or maybe the last two, hasn’t been the best for UK. But a quick switch at the head coaching position isn’t in order. There isn’t much left for the Cats to accomplish — an SEC Tournament championship is hardly possible.

So the best thing for everyone to do is to take a deep breath and exhale. Then look up prices for plane tickets.

I hear New York is beautiful in the spring.

It all started with one bad question (that really wasn’t that bad at all) asked by one ESPN sideline reporter during a game in which UK shouldn’t have been struggling like they were.

Then it moved into boos, another loss and a cry for toughness.

And now, the UK men’s basketball team stands just seconds away from total implosion with a coach the fan base is leery of, a team that struggles to maintain any consistency and a wicked cocktail of everything that can destroy a team.

This is way past 2002’s Team Turmoil.

After a honeymoon season in which UK head coach Billy Gillispie managed to sneak into the NCAA tournament, the expectations skyrocketed for the Cats this season. It was win, and win now. Star recruits like DeAndre Liggins and Darius Miller would partner with Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson to perch the Cats at the top of the Southeastern Conference.

It even looked that way for a while, with the Tennessee trashing and a five-game winning streak. That was three losses ago.

Now, you have popular CatsPause.com quoting Patterson that the UK locker room erupted with a verbal no-holds-barred brawl after losing to Mississippi State on Tuesday. UK spokesman John Hayden denied the claim, but whether the story is true or false isn’t the real issue.

It’s the fact that there’s a chance for the story to even exist.

Point the finger at whomever you want. Maybe it’s Gillispie’s fault because of the bipolar way he jerks a player out for one missed shot, or the hot-and-cold treatment he seems to give everyone — fans, players and the media. Gillispie is a demanding coach and often times, he rubs people the wrong way.

Or the blame could be placed right at the feet of anyone who steps foot in those Rupp Arena seats — the fans that boo Michael Porter or even the entire team, like what happened at halftime on Tuesday. Those fans that have turned Rupp Arena into a folklore shell of the one-time home court advantage it once held.

There is intense pressure on UK basketball that very few other teams ever experience. If at least an SEC crown isn’t won, the fan base considers the team in a rebuilding year, which should only take half a season, at best, if you listen to those same fans.

Quite frankly, it’s a system that has been inherently wrong for a number of years and won’t be fixed until a lot of people who wear blue and white start getting real with themselves. You can’t win a championship, not even at the conference level, every year. Deal with it.

Sure, Gillispie could handle things a little better. More transparency would be nice, because the more someone faces the music and explains things; the chances of stories of a team meltdown significantly decline.

The story Patterson gave sounds like an over-hyped players’ meeting. This happens in every sport, usually during the start of a losing streak or bad time. Those types of meetings are necessary. In other circles and with other teams, this is accepted. In the world of UK, this is evidence that everything has gone to hell.

Maybe UK loses to Florida next Tuesday. That might be time to panic. Until then, step away from the keyboard or talk radio show. Breathe a little. Gillispie isn’t going to radically make the changes you want.

Nor is he going to change his style.

And he shouldn’t.

Let’s not forget about Patrick Patterson.

You wouldn’t think you could, when the sophomore forward consistently turns in a double-double, although not always in the same way he did during Wednesday night’s 73-64 win against Auburn.

How could you forget a player that had 21 points and 18 rebounds? But people forgot about Patterson. Sometime during Jodie Meeks’ explosion in the past week, people forgot how such an explosion could even occur — the constant double and triple teams Patterson faces in the post, the sagging defenses, the special attention opposing coaches have to give him.

In the past week, Meeks has gotten all the attention, which is well deserved, and has been put into everyone’s National Player of the Year discussion. On Wednesday, Meeks again delivered with 31 points, including 5-of-8 from behind the arc.

But that kind of production has become expected from Meeks. People knew that if healthy, the junior would be a huge scoring machine. This year, it has finally shown. But in college basketball, no one player can carry a team by themselves. Good teams have a superstar player (Meeks fits that bill), but there has to be someone else.

The Cats are lucky enough to have two superstar players. Everyone forgot about the other. On the road, Meeks has dominated in almost every game. At home, Patterson has been King of the Bluegrass.

No one works harder than Patterson in the post. The Tigers pushed, elbowed and muscled Patterson all night long, treatment he has to be used to by now, and yet Patterson turned in a huge night. Everyone knows Patterson is going to touch the ball almost every possession down the court. Almost every possession, Patterson still puts the ball in the hoop. The term both UK head coach Billy Gillispie and opposing players like to use to describe Patterson is flattering to the sophomore — “beast.”

“That man’s a beast,” Auburn guard Rasheem Barrett said. “Plain as day, he’s a beast. You can double and triple team him and he still scores.”

Nothing against Meeks, but Patterson is the reason UK is still undefeated in conference play. His defense has limited the opponent’s lead post player since Southeastern Conference play opened. His rebounding — Patterson’s 18 rebounds were almost half of UK’s total — both on the offensive and defensive glass gives UK a major edge.

There is not a better example of this than Patterson’s play in the Auburn win. Sure, Meeks was lights-out again, but when Auburn took the lead or when UK couldn’t pull away, the Cats looked to Patterson for rebounding, defense and points.

“Tonight was the best I’ve seen Pat play all year,” Gillispie said. “Bless his heart. He has a hurt finger, and it doesn’t affect him one bit. Yeah, ‘beast’ is a good word for it.”

Jodie, your scoring ability may be impressive, but UK’s return to national prominence relies on one man and one man only.

Patrick Patterson.

If any of Billy Gillispie’s peers in the SEC have votes in the USA Today coaches poll, you just gave UK some great motivation. I’m not kidding.

One week after the absolute trashing of Tennessee, who has beat such teams as Marquette and Georgetown this season, in Knoxville and then easily dismantling Georgia at home, UK goes from no votes to…. 12?

Really, 12?

You already have Jodie Meeks trying to show everyone how much of a superstar he really is (and he is, especially if he drops a few more 40, 50 point games. We could be speaking about the best UK player, ever). Patrick Patterson COMMANDS sagging defense and double, triple teams.

Do you really want to give these guys anymore reason to go off?

Well you did.

Here’s the thing, in Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology (which is usually almost 100 percent right, down to the seeds every year) has UK as a six seed. That would put them somewhere between the 21st and 24th best team in the nation. Right now, the AP has them as the 28th best. The coaches? 34th.

Gentlemen of the SEC, be prepared. Your fellow coaches just starved a hungry, hungry monster.

And the double-headed dragon of Patterson and Meeks has you in their sights.

It was February 12, 2008.  It was a cold night in Nashville, Tennessee, especially inside Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gym for the visiting Kentucky basketball team.  The Cats entered the game riding a five game winning streak and left with wounded pride.  The Commodores came into the game looking for blood after the Cats had given them their first loss of the season in January.  With ten minutes gone by, the Cats were already down 17 points.  By halftime, the game was no longer in doubt, as Vanderbilt led 41-11.  The second half saw Kentucky score more frequently, yet the final margin of victory was the only thing in doubt.  The game ended with Vanderbilt winning by 41 points and Kentucky.  As a true Cat fan, I made myself watch the entire game, taking in the scene, as gruesome as it may have been.  My reasoning was that this team would hopefully remember that night and come back the next time they played Vanderbilt and exact their revenge.

That time has come, as Vandy will be in Rupp Arena on Saturday in the conference opener for both teams.  Now, it is Kentucky’s time to embarrass the Commodores.  To do so, the Cats will have to jump on the Dores early and shoot the ball well.  Kentucky must challenge the tenacity of Vanderbilt very early in the game and see if these young guys can react to it.  This time, there is no Shan Foster or Ross Neltner to lead the charge for Vandy.  In fact, Vanderbilt doesn’t have a senior on the roster.  For seven of the Commodores, it will be the first time they will step into Rupp Arena as a player.

Vanderbilt has relied heavily on their defense this year.  The Dores lead the SEC in scoring defense, allowing just 58.4 points per game this year.  They have forced their opponents to shoot an average of 36% from the field for the year, ranking them fourth in the country.

To beat the Commodores, Kentucky will have to focus on a few key points.  First, the Cats must limit their turnovers and force Vanderbilt into giving the ball up.  Kentucky has struggled this season with turnovers, including 21 against Louisville on Sunday.  In Vandy’s first 11 games, they averaged 16 turnovers a game.  In their last three, they have only turned it over 9 times a game.

Next, the Cats must control the boards if they want to win on Saturday.  In their 11 wins, Vanderbilt has a +9.5 rebounding margin.  In their three losses, the Commodores were outrebounded by an average of 8 boards a game.  It’s pretty obvious that attacking the boards will be crucial to winning this game.

Finally, Kentucky must have a third scorer emerge beside Patterson and Meeks.  Vandy plays real good defense and will most likely double team Patterson when he touches the ball and probably do the same to Meeks.  The Cats need a third threat to step up and force the Dores to limit their double teams on Patterson and Meeks.  I look for someone like Perry Stevenson or Josh Harrellson to step into that role.  With Patterson getting the main focus, these guys can slip away from the basket and get points from 15 foot jumpshots.  In doing so, the interior defense will be forced to play honest and Patterson will be able to have another big game.

If the Cats can focus on thes three keys to the game, they will be able to serve Vandy that cold dish of revenge on Saturday.

LOUISVILLE — UK needs a third scoring option.

Or the Cats need to learn how to handle the ball in order to stop committing so many turnovers. Maybe tougher defense would be the solution.

But honestly, none of that may be the solution. This UK squad is an absolute enigma.

No one can have the final say on a UK team that has only played two road games —one a blowout loss to North Carolina in the second game of the season, and the other being Sunday’s three-point loss to Louisville. What judgment could be made on a team that committed 21 turnovers but came within seconds of forcing overtime in a game they had no business being in?

Let’s say junior guard Michael Porter is the answer. Porter played 33 minutes of error-free basketball, never turning the ball over once. As a point guard, coaches expect more than one assist. Porter only had one Sunday, but has anyone really expected Porter to be able to lead UK this season anyway?

Or maybe Perry Stevenson and Ramon Harris should increase their scoring, like they did to finish last season. Stevenson had seven points and six rebounds. Harris has been plagued by various injuries. But a third option means Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks don’t score in the 20s every game. UK’s offense just isn’t designed for three people to get 20 points unless it’s a blowout.

“Sometimes when you have several guys playing well we know what guys are suppose to do what,” Gillispie said. “But we need to expand that to seven or eight guys. It’s not that they don’t know what to do, it’s just they have to expand.”

But does Gillispie want more production from his bench? Of course, it’s just not the magic answer.

“If you have two getting 22, 24 then I’ll take six or eight from the rest,” Gillispie said. “Instead of developing one guy and not the rest.”

Limiting turnovers would be a good start. But despite 21 turnovers, UK almost knocked off the No. 18 Cardinals at home. UK is going to turn the ball over this year. That seemingly is the biggest fact of Gillispie’s second year. Not because Gillispie can’t teach ball-handling skills, but because what experience do the Cats have? And despite the excessive turnovers, UK still wins or at least puts itself in position to win.

Maybe it’s the defense? Louisville shot plenty of open 3-pointers, and Gillispie pointed to his team’s lack of transition defense as part of the reason for the loss. But overall, UK plays defense. The Cats are third in the nation in blocked shots per game. Darius Miller, Porter and Harris are seen as defensive stoppers.

Simply put, there is no magic potion for this team. Not the words anyone wants to hear going into Southeastern Conference play, but it’s the truth. This squad is good enough to play with top-25 teams — that much has been shown. They have one of, if not the best, one-two punches in the nation. And the play of UK’s support players — Porter, Stevenson, etc. — has been exactly what should be expected.

Anyone who says they have the key to UK should be met with the same hesitance as working on mortgages with IndyMac.

Sunday’s loss comes down to one fact: The UK-UofL matchup is unlike any other in college basketball. There is no special meaning to UK’s fourth loss of the season. The Cats were just beat by a team that played better with a career night from a hot-and-cold opposing point guard. After the game, Gillispie made the point that it wasn’t just one player that lit up the Cats. It was a team effort. Louisville head coach Rick Pitino praised the Cats in the loss, saying he liked the way UK plays basketball under Gillispie.

“They know what to do. They take high-percentage shots. The key to playing Kentucky is to pressure the ball,” Pitino said. “If you don’t, all of your guys will foul out.”

UK has the same team effort that the Cardinals used to beat them. The Cats have the pieces in place. All that waits is for all that to finally click and make sense. When it does, UK will be a top-25 team again. Until it does, they’ll stay an enigma.

What a way to lose a rivalry game.  That’s all I can say about yesterday’s game.  It just goes to show that the game takes a full 40 minutes of effort and I think our guys proved that.  With less than a minute remaining, U of L had thought the game was over and began talking to the crowd and celebrating.  Francisco Garcia was playing cheerleader, a good role for him I might add, and T-Wont was puckering up those gigantic lips for a little yapping with the fans.  Someone forgot to tell the Cats it was over though.  With a little assistance from Earl Clark (how is that guy a future lottery pick?) (maybe a scratch off at best) the Cats scratched their way to four points in 10 seconds to tie the game.  Then the most obsurd of things happened.  Edgar Sosa actually made a big shot!  Even as he was taking the shot I figured the game was going into overtime because, after all, it was Sosa taking that shot. 

I firmly believe that had Sosa’s heave not gone in, Kentucky would have probably pulled out the win.  The main reason was because the Cats had all of the momentum.  Louisville thought the game was over and it showed in the last minute.  It takes a lot for these guys to get in the right mindset to play at such a high level and the Cards had slipped out of that mindset a little early.  I don’t think they would have regained it if the game had gone to overtime.  Add to that the fact that Earl Clark had fouled out and the Cats would have had even more of an advantage. 

The killer for the Cats yesterday, as it has been all season, was turnovers.  21 turnovers against anybody will normally get you beat.  Shockingly, Michael Porter accounted for none of them, thus solidifying his place in the starting lineup for now.  It seemed like Jodie Meeks was trying to hard to make things happen early in the game and it showed when he was a walking turnover in the first couple of minutes.  He settled down a little later in the game and led all scorers with 28 points, including 7 in the last minute or so. 

Patrick Patterson had yet another solid game, scoring 22 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.  I cant help to think how much better this team would be if there was a third threat offensively.  It would take a lot of pressure off of Patrick and Jodie, but could also get the other guys better shots.  There are several guys on this team that could step into that role but none have been consistent enough thus far.  Perry Stevenson would be the most obvious because defending two big guys really is tough to do but he hasn’t returned to his end of the season form from a year ago.  I still think Darius Miller can be the third guy but he has no confidence in himself right now.  Finally, any of the three lead guards, Porter, Liggins, or Galloway could fill this role but none have played two games at the same level as of yet.

And in my reflections, I had one reoccurring theme — disappointment.

Can me a fair weather fan. Call me a Louisville fan. Call me whatever you want. But as we walk down memory lane, think of the present, not the optimisic future that many UK teams possess. We’re talking about the past/present. Oh and, on a technical basis, UK’s Music City Bowl win over Florida State isn’t included. It was played on Dec. 31, 2007. Sorry.

Just think, despite a great conference run, the basketball team was bounced out of the NCAA tournament quickly and for the first time in a long time, no one was quite sure the Cats would even make the tournament. Patrick Patterson’s injury worries the Big Blue Nation.

After storming out to another quick and forceful start, the baseball team falls apart in conference play. They stumble in the SEC tournament and miss out on another regional. The program building coach jets for alma mater and SEC foe Mississippi State. Many top recruits sign pro contracts instead of coming to Lexington, but a good class is still landed.

Women’s basketball semi-salvages a piss-poor season with a deep NIT run fueled by the opporunity to host week in and week out. But with only a few recruits, two of which are transfers and must sit out, there isn’t much hope for the next season.

And the softball and tennis teams struggle as always.

When fall starts, the football team stumbles mightily at the end with a 2-6 record and zero wins of note. Injuries and woeful offense make fans uneasy. On the basketball front, it’s clear UK is a two-man show and VMI decides to add itself to the list of recent Cat killers.

And the marquee win? A decent West Virginia team. The key loss, a five-pointer to a ranked Miami team that is respectable. The ugly? North Carolina, without it’s best player, showing UK has much farther it has to go until it’s elite again.

Oh and the volleyball team chokes away a share of the SEC crown and once again exits quickly out of the NCAA tournament.

Look at all that. Disappointing. It’s safe to say I’m ready to see 2008 end, as UK athletics is a shell of what we all thought it to be.

That’s why Mitch Barnhart is correct in his plan to return UK to prominence in all sports, as soon as possible.

2009 will probably be a good start. A win over East Carolina on Jan. 2 is the perfect time to start.

Hello everyone,

You’ve probably wondered where I’ve been and why I randomly re-appeared on Friday to introduce the SEC Power Poll All-SEC team. There’s been numerous reasons why I have had lessen my role, posting-wise, in the last 3 months, but never fear. Kenny is here.

And I’m here to pose a really tough question: Has UK turned a corner?

Seemingly, yes. Turnovers aren’t popping up by the minute, as they were early in the season. Jodie Meeks is becoming an absolute scoring monster and Patrick Patterson is doing his normal thing, quietly getting a double-double most night.

Blowout wins over a depleted Indiana squad, trashing an overmatched Appalachian State. In fact, the Cats have won 8 out of their last 9, their lone blemish a close loss to a ranked Miami squad. So that team that lost to VMI and was mocked by North Carolina, is it still around?

Most of you would say no.

And most of you would be wrong, as of now.

Want evidence? Look at the past two second halves UK has played. There were sloppy, turnover prone and basically the same bad team that started the season. Why is this? Because of a few reasons, all of with you probably already know.

First, while Michael Porter has turned into a solid, decent point guard, he is the Mike Hartline of the basketball team. In essence, he doesn’t create anything on his own, but he’ll get everyone in place, run the place to perfect execution and UK will come up with zero points on the board. Throw whatever stat you want at me, just watch a game. Porter doesn’t create anything.

Second, DeAndre Liggins and Kevin Galloway try to create too much. They are the opposite of Porter, making quick, sometimes sloppy passes that turn into fast breaks for the other team. They are too raw, push UK at too frantic a pace and turnovers abound.

As much as I hate to say it, this UK team wil not be tested again until they face Ricky P and the Cardinals on Jan. 4. And until then, there is no way to say they have turned a corner. They may be peeking around it, after two dominate first halves. But until UK puts in a full 40 minutes, finishing the way they started… I’m not convinced this isn’t the VMI team just beating up on inferior talent — like they should be.

Oh and no, my name isn’t the Grinch. Happy Holidays.