... in 1997, the man who enjoyed taking a bath replaced (the newly departed) Rick Pitino as the head basketball coach of your University of Kentucky Wildcats. Orlando "Tubby" Smith formally accepted the offer for his dream job, leaving SEC foe Georgia. As critical as I was during Tubby's last few years, the decision to hire him was the perfect choice. No one can deny this if for no other reason than he won the National Title in year one. You can say all you want about Pitino's players, yada-yada-yada, but we also had the best team in 1997 with Rick and didn't win it all. Nothing is guaranteed, and even most irrational UK fans should know that. Obviously, its much easier for me to say this after experiencing the last 166 weeks of Kentucky basketball under John Calipari, but whatdoyado. Orlando was the first African-American basketball coach for the University and it was a seminal moment in our program's history. His first team went 35-4, won the SEC with a 14-2 record, and won the SEC Tourney by 30. Whether or not you're a Tubby guy or not, the man can coach and will forever be a part of UK lore. His day in Rupp, or wherever we are, will come and it will be well deserved. No man or his family should have to go through some of the things they went though during their time here. Time heals all wounds and that is especially true for Tubby Smith. Also last year (May 12, 2011), we learned Tubby had been diagnosed and beat prostate cancer. Cheers!
Big Blue Booyah on Tom Leach
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