I remember watching 60 Minutes 15 years or so ago. The story was about mob lawyers. They asked one guy about the largest fee he had ever been offered. He said that somebody offered him a million bucks." Did you take it?" he was asked.
" Hell no," he responded. " You take that kind of fee you better win the case. Otherwise they will kill you. I got a family to consider."
John Calipari just signed the most obscene contract in the history of an obscene business. Kentucky will pay him @ 32 million over 8 years. Memphis had said that they would match any offer that Kentucky put on the table to keep him coaching the Tigers. Obviously, at some point, the bidding got too rich for the Tigers boosters' blood and they had to fold 'em.
Hell, at that the bidding could have gotten too rich for a member of OPEC.
About all I have to say to the Kentucky faithful is, ask George Steinbrenner how easy it is to buy a title. And those are the pros. Calipari specializes in guys that are "one and done" mercinaries who play for a year or two and then jump to the NBA. Is he going to still recruit those kind of guys to Kentucky? And speaking of "those guys" is he still going to try to keep the Memphis pipeline going to Lexington? Lots of luck.
And granted, the SEC was pretty horrible this year. But still, there's stiffer competition night in and night out there than in the Atlantic 10 and Conference USA.
Kentucky pulled the trigger on Billy Gillespie in 2 years. How long do you think it will take for the muttering to start over in the fishbowl that is Kentucky basketball if he Calipari doesn't start winning big out of the chute? Not very long, I predict. Not very long.
There's a reason the mob lawyer refused that big fee. Life is a lot more fun if you aren't constantly having to watch your back.
1 comment:
We'll see.--The Zenmaster.
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