UK basketball angst goes from simmer to boil. A little humility might help. | Opinion

I am a pro at making macaroni and cheese. I place a pot of water on the stove and turn the heat to high. When I start to see the bubbles rumbling and jumping, I know the pot is about ready to pour that blue box of noodles in. What I am observing with the UK men’s basketball team and John Calipari reminds me of a pot that is about to go from simmering to a rolling boil.

As a casual listener to Kentucky Sports Radio, the most fitting description heard of the current situation resembles Cal and fans trapped in a loveless marriage, staying together for the kids (next year’s recruiting class). While this example is fanciful, it is eerily accurate since neither party will walk away from the table. In other words, fans are stuck with Cal and vice versa.

Message boards are humming with replacement options and calls for Barnhart to hit the road alongside his coach. The thundering chatter picks up after every loss and will only grow louder as the season moves into fierce SEC competition. Like the sweet smell of copper after it rains, Cal can count on the intensifying groan following every loss.

Why does it seem to reverberate now of all times? It could be that the fog and excuses of Covid are wearing thin. Nothing seemed right during the fever dream of a pandemic and Kentucky basketball was no exception. Slack was freely given, fans had other problems to concern themselves with - life and death mostly. Jump ahead to a missed NCAA tournament followed up by an early embarrassing exit, people started to tire of the excuses.

The common theme continuing to pierce through the absurd comments is that Calipari cannot coach. I’m not qualified to comment or have proximity knowledge to know if Cal can teach x’s and o’s to young men. What I do know is that his product is an indication of extremely poor execution. Can he recruit, yes. Can he yell at his players like they stole the last piece of food off his plate, yes. Does he hold the record for excuses given to buy more time, probably.

The fact that Calipari will not show an ounce of humility and ownership is what really stokes fans’ outrage. If UK’s coach used plain language and spoke to the media and fans with the mentality of a genuinely concerned and meek individual, the water would simmer and fires would calm down. People absolutely give the benefit of patience if there is a sense of ownership over a problem.

Comically everyone knows Cal will not take this approach, thus driving the impassioned fanbase even crazier. This could be considered the infinity loop of Kentucky fandom outrage and there is not a thing that can be done about it. We’ve boarded the ship and we are out to sea with a narcissist captain who is dead set on proving his naysayers wrong. The boat might sink, but the captain will not apologize.

There are several lessons to take away from this saga, a few most likely being discussed in the hidden corridors of UK’s campus as I type. What stands out is the lack of realistic options at this point. The keys to the handcuffs are officially lost and Kentucky fans are stuck with their coach. There is not a person out there who does not want Cal to figure it out and start winning, but past practices should prepare everyone for a more ominous outcome.

Jim Jackson resides in Franklin County. He can be reached by email at jackson.m.jim@gmail.com