8 minutes ago, futurecoach said:

It is time for us all to jump on the Pope bandwagon. No reason to be mad at him, if this doesn’t work out it is all on Mitch. Pope deserves our full support and hopefully Mitch found the next coaching legend. 

For sure!

Go Cats.

6 hours ago, futurecoach said:

It is time for us all to jump on the Pope bandwagon. No reason to be mad at him, if this doesn’t work out it is all on Mitch. Pope deserves our full support and hopefully Mitch found the next coaching legend. 

Completely agree, give him a chance, lots of people keep harping on the fact he hasn’t won a NCAA tournament game in his career, well, that’s 1 less than what Cal won during the same time frame so go to work Coach Pope!!!

7 hours ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

while Pope may not have the cache that Cal has but he is a better in game coach in today's games and in his offensive sets.

I feel like you could replace "Pope" with a lot of names in this instance.

Pope had no problem beating Kansas something Cal couldn't do!

9 hours ago, Jumper_Dad said:

That's what you can't get past? That it took an extra year for beer sales...really?

SMH!

Yes.

Shows that Barnhart cared more about his personal morals/values than doing what is best for the athletic program.

1 hour ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

Completely agree, give him a chance, lots of people keep harping on the fact he hasn’t won a NCAA tournament game in his career, well, that’s 1 less than what Cal won during the same time frame so go to work Coach Pope!!!

Not career. He's been coaching Division 1 since 2015-2016. 

But the same time frame as his tenure at BYU.

I realize I need to eat crow from my post yesterday saying Mark Pope should be in the 30-40th choice to be the UK Head Coach.  I am man enough to put that aside and be his biggest supporter.  I read a fantastic tweet from Seth Davis from last night, let me repeat it:

Quote:

The year before he was hired at Duke, Coach K went 9-17 at Army

Roy Williams was the 3rd assistant at UNC when he was hired by Kansas

Tom Izzo never been a head coach when he was hired at Mich State.

Jay Wright never won a tourney game at Hofstra

Lastly, on a "sign" perspective....I woke up today and asked for a sign to tell me as a BBN loyalist what I should do.....got in my car and what started playing "Faith" by George Michael....

I am ready....whose with me!  GO BIG BLUE!!!!!

 

 

 

8 minutes ago, MJAlltheWay24 said:

Yes.

Shows that Barnhart cared more about his personal morals/values than doing what is best for the athletic program.

The amount of money made from alcohol either way isn't a game changer for UK athletics. There are worse things than having an AD with morals. 

Do you work UK games too, or just Reds/Bengals?

4 minutes ago, Jumper_Dad said:

The amount of money made from alcohol either way isn't a game changer for UK athletics. There are worse things than having an AD with morals. 

Do you work UK games too, or just Reds/Bengals?

I did work a couple of games this past year.

His morals didn't stop from allowing it in the suites for the big donors of the program. Just the common fans.

1 hour ago, MaddenCurse44 said:

Pope had no problem beating Kansas something Cal couldn't do!

Just a couple of years ago, Cal beat Kansas at Kansas by like 30….

 

 

I admit I was mad about the hire last night but everyone seems to be jumping on the Pope Express this morning so why not? It’s not the end of the world so what do we got to lose?

 

I have a hunch this may just get Reed to come back….his family and Pope are pretty close….

Another thing on Pope, the dude has basketball in his blood.  The guy super smart was going to Med School to be a Doctor!!!  After a few years at Med School, said you no what I miss basketball too much and want to get into coaching!  This guy is going to put every ounce into this program.

Plus in my mind I just (it's a feeling I get) think he is going to care more about hanging Final Four/Championship banners in Rupp then recruiting 1st round NBA draft picks.  I just feel like he is going to build a team that is built to WIN in college for his beloved UK Wildcats.  I realize I am bias b/c I can't stand NBA and could care less that Cal has 50+ UK players playing or played in the NBA, what I care about is the fact that he had all that NBA talent and we hung 1 Championship banner in Rupp in 15 years!

I can't compare what he has done at Utah Valley and BYU and think its going to hinder his ability to succeed at UK.  It's like The Field of Dreams, if he builds it, People will Come!!!  When People show up, so will their $$$$.  I love the fact that he will have all those Old School Mid 1990s players around the program when BBN was created!!!! 

Kool - Aid has been drunk baby!!!!

3 minutes ago, MJAlltheWay24 said:

I did work a couple of games this past year.

His morals didn't stop from allowing it in the suites for the big donors of the program. Just the common fans.

So it was best for you, for them to sell alcohol. 

Maybe allowing in the the suites was a test run before going stadium wide. 

Either way, he relented and allowed it...even if it wasn't as fast as you'd have preferred. 

Just got wind of a leaked video of the Board of Trustees meeting hiring Pope....Reed Sheppard showed up to show his support.

 

6 minutes ago, FrankNicodemus said:

Another thing on Pope, the dude has basketball in his blood.  The guy super smart was going to Med School to be a Doctor!!!  After a few years at Med School, said you no what I miss basketball too much and want to get into coaching!  This guy is going to put every ounce into this program.

Plus in my mind I just (it's a feeling I get) think he is going to care more about hanging Final Four/Championship banners in Rupp then recruiting 1st round NBA draft picks.  I just feel like he is going to build a team that is built to WIN in college for his beloved UK Wildcats.  I realize I am bias b/c I can't stand NBA and could care less that Cal has 50+ UK players playing or played in the NBA, what I care about is the fact that he had all that NBA talent and we hung 1 Championship banner in Rupp in 15 years!

I can't compare what he has done at Utah Valley and BYU and think its going to hinder his ability to succeed at UK.  It's like The Field of Dreams, if he builds it, People will Come!!!  When People show up, so will their $$$$.  I love the fact that he will have all those Old School Mid 1990s players around the program when BBN was created!!!! 

Kool - Aid has been drunk baby!!!!

I'm riding with you. Told myself that I only had until midnight to be negative about it.

And according to Matt Jones, the money is already coming. 2 donors have pledged $4million to NIL to help build Pope's Program.

2 minutes ago, Jumper_Dad said:

So it was best for you, for them to sell alcohol. 

Maybe allowing in the the suites was a test run before going stadium wide. 

Either way, he relented and allowed it...even if it wasn't as fast as you'd have preferred. 

Best for the athletic program. For me personally, I just wanted to say I worked a UK game.

The amount of money a school like Kentucky can make on alcohol sales at football games is through the roof. I very much witness it at UC with a much smaller venue. We are talking millions.

So yeah, it didn't sit well with me that his personal morals were more important than the betterment of the athletic program. He relented because he probably didn't have a choice if he didn't.