JPP's Kentucky Post Game Report

[I4Vols]

It’s weird. I never notice anybody that likes him doing games. Maybe his goofy act attracts female viewers that don’t really care about the game. Same type of viewers that will be more interested in the commercials than the Chiefs versus Tom Brady in a few hours.

The wife can't take it either
but she knows her sports really well

 

[onevol74]

Why all the Vitale hate? He has an amazing energy for an 80 year old man, and a love of the game that few can equal. Yeah he fawns all over UK, because they are UK... One of the winningest programs in college basketball history. I grew up in KY, and went to UT because I was sick of hearing about Big Blue basketball by the time I was 15. That does not diminish the success of their program. Beating them is ALWAYS a great thing, like someone else said, I don't care if they are 0-12. I hope the next Dick Vitale will fawn all over UT basketball in the same way. And one other thing, when he is covering a UT game, you know we are in the conversation. That's a really good thing.

He totally distracts from the game. He never talks about what is going on on the court and is a total distraction. I blew a fuse when they went to a split screen after UT took the lead. A very poor production on the part of ESPN.

 

[Col_Cathcart]

It’s weird. I never notice anybody that likes him doing games. Maybe his goofy act attracts female viewers that don’t really care about the game. Same type of viewers that will be more interested in the commercials than the Chiefs versus Tom Brady in a few hours.

Dicky V doesn’t strike me as a big draw for the fairer sex.

 

[Volbackhomefromtx]

I'm going to violate posting rules by posting a long post. Beating UK in Lexington at basketball is one of my favorite things in all of sports. I was born in Louisville, Kentucky and always say a person has no choice over where they are born. But I've been a crazy UT fan as long as I can remember and which started with watching UT beat Texas A&M in the Gator Bowl in 1957. But this is a basketball story.

The story I have to tell is when I was working in Eastern Kentucky after graduation from UT in 1977 at a governmental agency in a small town that was all about UK basketball. They even had a sign at the city limits indicating the small town was the home of a former UK All-American. This was the game where Ernie and Bernie beat UK at Memorial Coliseum (looked it up January 12, 1977) or probably best known in Kentucky basketball lore as Tennessee cheats. Bert Bertelkamp was a freshman on that team and I suspected he has talked about this game on air before but I have not heard it. Anyway, there was this unbelieveably obnoxious UK fan (definition?) who wasn't even a UK grad; he graduated from nearby Morehead State. Anyway, he bet me $5 that UK would dismantle UT. I took the bet not really thinking UT could win. He said that he was going to have a victory party at his house to watch the game and was not going to listen to it on the radio. Back then, basketball games were not telecast on TV live.

I refused to listen to the local Lexington station but listened to Knoxville 99.1 whose reception was good but not great where I was. Actually Kentucky had a great radio announcer, Cawood Ledford, but no one can top John Ward. The game was a barn burner and UT won 71-67 in OT. (I remembered it was OT but didn't remember the score). Anyway, the "Tennessee cheats" name was used by UK fans, including Joe B. Hall (B is for bluster buffoon whatever B you want to use) on national TV the next morning. It seems that in the heat of battle as I remember, Ernie Grunfeld stepped up to the free throw line for freshman Reggie Johnson, who would become one of the legends of UT basketball himself, and calmly sank two free throws. Grunfeld was a 90% free throw shooter if I remember correctly. The refs didn't call it, Joe B. Hall didn't catch it, no one on the UK bench caught it, no one in the Memorial Stadium crowd caught it, so none of us listening on the radio knew what had happened. When UT won that game, I'm sure people could have heard me yelling at the top of my lungs all over the county.

The next morning I knew that my work acquaintance would be livid over UK losing, not to mention the rant that Joe B. Hall was stirring up on national TV. I decided to go in early that day and sit in my cubicle. As a young guy, they game me the cubicle at the back end of the office in the far corner. To get there, you had to deliberately walk there. I decided to dress up in orange and go to work. Back before a branding battle between UT and Texas, some UT fans wore Cowboy hats. I had worn this one while at UT that somehow had been used on an occasion or two as a large beer cup. I digress. I wore the Orange UT Cowboy hat, a white shirt with an orange tie, white pants, and an orange UT blazer, orange socks, and white tennis shoes.

I heard this guy walk in to the front of the office. He had one of those voices that carried forever. And using a old reference many may not know, his use of language was saltier that the "Nixon tapes" from Watergate. He told the receptionist that he hoped I didn't come to work that day. Her response was that she thought that I was already in the office because she saw my car parked down the street.

He made his way back to my cubicle and I could hear him coming. When he looked in and saw me sitting there, he let out with the longest tirade of insults that I've ever heard in my life. It had to have gone on for 5 minutes. I sat there and looked at him with a smile on my face and did not say one word. The longer I smiled, the louder his voice got, and the more crude the language. A couple of people walked up to him and told him he should stop embarrassing himself.

Later, I heard Stu Aberdeen say that Grunfeld grew up in the Queens playing street ball where you do what you have to do to win. He said Grunfeld didn't do what he did maliciously but it was in the heat of battle. Maybe. Maybe not.

This is my all-time favorite UT moment for a game that I did not attend.

 

[vavolfan6]

I have a hard time believing that any true Tennessee basketball fan would have such a flippant attitude about beating Kentucky in Rupp Arena. They aren't just any old "5-12 team".

Damn!! Its called sarcasm lol! I was sarcasticly ripping Kentucky by referring to them as a 5-12! Any UK fan who read it would be red hot!

But, yes, Of course I'm pumped about neating Kentucky. If I knew most the board couldn't appreciate sarcasm I wouldn't have posted

 

[cobbwebb0710]

It was 1976 and 1977 when TN last won back-to-back games in Lexington. 1976 was at Memorial and 1977 was at Rupp. This is the first time that TN has EVER won back-to-back at Rupp.

It may be the first but it sure as he!! ain’t gonna be the last!
We’re coming for your seat at the table big blue and the deacon is bout to relegate you to the 2nd pew!
GBO!!

 

[DC_Vol]

It was 1976 and 1977 when TN last won back-to-back games in Lexington. 1976 was at Memorial and 1977 was at Rupp. This is the first time that TN has EVER won back-to-back at Rupp.

Let’s make it back to back to back.

 

[JelloPuddinPup]

I'm going to violate posting rules by posting a long post. Beating UK in Lexington at basketball is one of my favorite things in all of sports. I was born in Louisville, Kentucky and always say a person has no choice over where they are born. But I've been a crazy UT fan as long as I can remember and which started with watching UT beat Texas A&M in the Gator Bowl in 1957. But this is a basketball story.

The story I have to tell is when I was working in Eastern Kentucky after graduation from UT in 1977 at a governmental agency in a small town that was all about UK basketball. They even had a sign at the city limits indicating the small town was the home of a former UK All-American. This was the game where Ernie and Bernie beat UK at Memorial Coliseum (looked it up January 12, 1977) or probably best known in Kentucky basketball lore as Tennessee cheats. Bert Bertelkamp was a freshman on that team and I suspected he has talked about this game on air before but I have not heard it. Anyway, there was this unbelieveably obnoxious UK fan (definition?) who wasn't even a UK grad; he graduated from nearby Morehead State. Anyway, he bet me $5 that UK would dismantle UT. I took the bet not really thinking UT could win. He said that he was going to have a victory party at his house to watch the game and was not going to listen to it on the radio. Back then, basketball games were not telecast on TV live.

I refused to listen to the local Lexington station but listened to Knoxville 99.1 whose reception was good but not great where I was. Actually Kentucky had a great radio announcer, Cawood Ledford, but no one can top John Ward. The game was a barn burner and UT won 71-67 in OT. (I remembered it was OT but didn't remember the score). Anyway, the "Tennessee cheats" name was used by UK fans, including Joe B. Hall (B is for bluster buffoon whatever B you want to use) on national TV the next morning. It seems that in the heat of battle as I remember, Ernie Grunfeld stepped up to the free throw line for freshman Reggie Johnson, who would become one of the legends of UT basketball himself, and calmly sank two free throws. Grunfeld was a 90% free throw shooter if I remember correctly. The refs didn't call it, Joe B. Hall didn't catch it, no one on the UK bench caught it, no one in the Memorial Stadium crowd caught it, so none of us listening on the radio knew what had happened. When UT won that game, I'm sure people could have heard me yelling at the top of my lungs all over the county.

The next morning I knew that my work acquaintance would be livid over UK losing, not to mention the rant that Joe B. Hall was stirring up on national TV. I decided to go in early that day and sit in my cubicle. As a young guy, they game me the cubicle at the back end of the office in the far corner. To get there, you had to deliberately walk there. I decided to dress up in orange and go to work. Back before a branding battle between UT and Texas, some UT fans wore Cowboy hats. I had worn this one while at UT that somehow had been used on an occasion or two as a large beer cup. I digress. I wore the Orange UT Cowboy hat, a white shirt with an orange tie, white pants, and an orange UT blazer, orange socks, and white tennis shoes.

I heard this guy walk in to the front of the office. He had one of those voices that carried forever. And using a old reference many may not know, his use of language was saltier that the "Nixon tapes" from Watergate. He told the receptionist that he hoped I didn't come to work that day. Her response was that she thought that I was already in the office because she saw my car parked down the street.

He made his way back to my cubicle and I could hear him coming. When he looked in and saw me sitting there, he let out with the longest tirade of insults that I've ever heard in my life. It had to have gone on for 5 minutes. I sat there and looked at him with a smile on my face and did not say one word. The longer I smiled, the louder his voice got, and the more crude the language. A couple of people walked up to him and told him he should stop embarrassing himself.

Later, I heard Stu Aberdeen say that Grunfeld grew up in the Queens playing street ball where you do what you have to do to win. He said Grunfeld didn't do what he did maliciously but it was in the heat of battle. Maybe. Maybe not.

This is my all-time favorite UT moment for a game that I did not attend.

But did he pay up?

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

2 minor corrections. 1/12/1977 game was at Rupp, not Memorial. And Grunfeld was an 80% free throw shooter rather than 90%. Reggie was actually hitting around 75% of his so it’s not as big a deal as the sore losers wanted to make it out to be. It is however funny to see KY fans EVER complain about SEC officiating.

 

[Roustabout]