Greetings again this week to my reader pride. I noted the article in the Courier on February 14 about the electronic correspondence by a class at Trinity with a class in Poitiers, France about the stereotypes that each country has about the other. I found some of the French observations to be valid. They remarked that Americans are egocentric, overweight, obsessed with celebrities, and “all about war” to name a few. I don’t think Americans are “obsessed about war,” but I do think we have gone overboard worrying about safety. It seems every business must adopt every safety precaution that is dreamed up or risk a lawsuit. But I digress. The students were then to discuss the validity of the stereotypes. Some were valid. We are the most obese nation and the media devotes an insane amount of resources to all things celebrity. What I found glaringly absent from the article was any mention whatsoever about our opinions of the French. As with many others these days, the article only dealt with US faults and shortcomings. For all our faults, I will take our country over France six days of the week and twice on Sunday.

My beloved Cats continue to struggle on the road and cannot close out games even at home. I think the players are caught in between playing hard but pacing themselves and being aggressive but staying out of foul trouble due to the lack of a bench. This is strictly the coach’s fault for being undermanned. He should have known that when you recruit players who are only interested in getting to the NBA, they will jump ship even as a long shot. He also should have known Kanter was problematic from the start. Calipari remains committed to the dribble drive with all Michael Jordan type players even though no one has ever won a championship with this style of play. To win in college, you must have role players who can fill a certain niche against varying opponent style. I’m sorry, but even Michael Jordan couldn’t stop Shaq inside. You have to have a wide body inside to win. The sad thing is we could be in the same shape next year. Bear with me here. Just as Orton and Bledsoe left last year, we could lose all three prominent freshmen this year plus senior Harrelson. Poole will, in all likelihood, transfer. With five new players coming in that would leave just ten players once again next year including Vargas, Hood, and Paulson and not a legit center. At this point, you are right back where you are now.
Food for thought.

See you next week, Doc.