In a perfect world, Kentucky would be playing in the Final Four this weekend. The same could be said for the 64 other teams that came up short of reaching the biggest stage in college basketball.
The world isn’t perfect and despite the advances in technology in the modern era, it will never be. There’s no such thing as perfection no matter how hard you try to make sure mistakes are minimal, there will always be imperfect decisions.
Earlier this week, a small segment and small-minded group of Kentucky basketball fans decided to play the blame game and point fingers at referee John Higgins following a 75-73 loss to North Carolina in the South Region finals in Memphis last Sunday.
Did Higgins miss a few calls? Sure he did. No official is perfect. Did Kentucky miss some field goals? Sure it did. No player is perfect. Did the Wildcats blow a five-point lead down the stretch? They sure did. Did North Carolina go on a 12-0 run late and hit a last-second 3-pointer to beat the Wildcats? The Tar Heels did just that and received a ticket to this weekend’s Final Four in the process.
No one takes winning, or losing for that matter, more serious than the diehard Kentucky basketball fan. That passion for the Wildcats has been there for decades and was instilled by late coach Adolph Rupp. Last Sunday’s loss to the Tar Heels was apparently one hard pill to swallow for some who thought calling Higgins’ place of business, not to mention his home and apparently left death threats, would somehow make them feel better.
There is nothing wrong with being a diehard fan to the core. However, crossing the line by harassing a referee is another matter and makes the entire state of Kentucky look bad. One bad apple can ruin the rest of the apples in a bushel and the end result can be messy if the rotten apple isn’t discarded.
After Michael Jordan didn’t make the varsity basketball team as a sophomore in high school, I’m sure he was disappointed and angry, but I’m sure he didn’t point fingers and blame the coach. As the coach would find out later, he made a very serious mistake, but who is to say Jordan wouldn’t have experienced such a rewarding career if he hadn’t dealt with disappointment at an early age?
Jordan didn’t give up on his dream. He tried harder the following year and the rest is history. His silence was golden and his determination overcame the desire to play the blame game and feel sorry for himself at the time.
Kentucky coach John Calipari addressed Big Bluer Nation on his twitter account Wednesday ahead of his trip to the Final Four. The Kentucky coach urged fans to handle the team’s loss to North Carolina with class.
“I always brag that we have the classiest fans in the country,” he said. “Let’s make sure we remain that way even after a tough loss.”
Calipari is correct. It’s time to move on and look ahead to next year, but at the same time not forget that we are all part of the human race. College basketball is played by humans, coached by humans and officiated by humans, all of whom aren’t perfect by the way.
There’s no such thing as perfection and some things just aren’t meant to be.
Keith Taylor is a senior sports writer for KyForward, where he primarily covers University of Kentucky sports. Reach him at keith.taylor@kyforward.com or @keithtaylor21 on Twitter