john calipari

When Coach John Calipari arrived at the University of Kentucky, he hit the ground running. He brought with him a monster recruiting class, sure.

UK coach John Calipari is a big Cincinnati Reds fan. And Lexington is about an hour and some change from the Queen City. So when you're Coach Cal, and you can get sweet seats--or should I say "suite"--you go.

If every member of Big Blue Nation tuned into ESPN's new series "All Access Kentucky" on Wednesday night, it's possible it could have generated viewership numbers that would have made it, at least, a Top 25 program were it to have aired on a network.

Yesterday was a very big Wednesday for Big Blue Nation. As expected, UK freshman sensation Nerlens Noel was cleared to play by the NCAA, meaning a full complement of top-flight rookies will take the floor for the 2012-2013 season. But that's not all.

It's called the Wildcat Coal Lodge. It sounds like a nice retreat in Eastern Kentucky where you might get away for the weekend...except that it's the palatial new digs of the University of Kentucky Wildcats.

Over the weekend, Rupp Arena played host to the UK Alumni Charity Basketball Game. If you missed it, you can click here for some highlights.

This has been circulating throughout Facebook. That's how I found it. But UK coach John Calipari has released the video of his speech to the team after the Wildcats won the National Championship nearly two months ago.

Okay, enough already! And I'm talking to and about myself just as much as anyone who has written about the dissolution of the Kentucky/Indiana basketball series. The topic has been comprehensively covered, ad nauseum.  Time to move on.

Today Coach John Calipari arrived at Kroger in Wesleyan Plaza with the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Trophy in hand! Hundreds turned out to view the trophy, ask Coach Cal questions and relish the thrill of Kentucky's winning season.

The throngs are already gathering at the Wesleyan Park Plaza Kroger. Is it the president? Is it the pope? No, it's UK Coach John Calipari and his staff with the NCAA Championship Trophy.

Well, that didn't take long. I was in Wal-mart last night and overheard a man and a woman talking about Kentucky's victory in the championship game when the conversation segued into speculation about whether or not Coach John Calipari was going to stick around.

I was planning on saving this for the weekend, but why put off until tomorrow what you can do today. And, besides, I just saw Gregg Doyel's blog on CBSSports.com yesterday and couldn't wait to weigh in. It's more of an opinion piece, but it's actually an opinion I've developed over the course of this college basketball season.