Why Calipari Made a Terrible Career Move...

(originally written two days after Cal left...figured I would add as a post....



Ok...we have all had a few days as Tiger fans to digest what has transpired with the University of Memphis basketball program. John Calipari is gone. It happens...its a business. If you polled people around the country, I would say that about 80% of people thought this was a good career move. Naturally, those percentages would be much lower in the greater Memphis area. However, after thinking about it more and more, I have would be in the minority. This was not a good move.

You see, Calipari wants to be grouped in with the elite coaches of College Basketball. Names like Rupp, Wooden, Smith, Olson and more recently, Krzyzewski, Knight, Pitino, and Williams. He has a chance, some would say to put himself in that second class. Those are great coaches of our generation. But he HAD a chance to to be classed in the first group, which are the greatest coaches of all time. Now, naturally I would consider coach K and Knight to be in that group as well, but not Pitino and Williams. Here is why.

The first group of Coaches (including coach K and knight) put their respective teams on map. They WERE the team. They put their stamp on a school and now will forever be linked. When you think Adolph Rupp, you think Kentucky (42 years), When you think John Wooden you think UCLA basketball (27 years). Dean Smith...Carolina (39 years) Lute Olson..Arizona (25 years), Coach K..Duke (28 years and counting) Bobby Knight...Indiana (29 years)...These guys made these schools national powerhouses...and all of them remain that way today for the most part.


Cal left Memphis to be apart of the "history and tradition" of Kentucky. No doubt it is a great school with great history and tradition, but it was history and tradition made by other men. Now Cal will be on a list. A list that included the likes of Eddie Sutton, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith, and Billy Gillispie. These are all men that followed in the footsteps of Adolph Rupp. No one can argue the success of Pitino, but folks, they ain't gonna change "Rupp arena" to "Pitino Pavilion".

My point is this. What Cal is doing, has already been done. What he could have done, was build his own tradition, his own history, and put his stamp on the University of Memphis. He was well on is way. Unmatched winning streaks,6 conference championships, Elite 8's, Final Fours, and National Championship games. He built this team from obscurity to a National Power house in 9 years. Imagine what the University of Memphis would have been like if Cal had a number next to his name like those coaches two paragraphs up. Just imagine what it would have been like. Then...and only then would Memphis be a place where people would want to come to play basketball. He would have made Memphis into a team with a winning tradition...a history rich with Championships. That is how you transcend a school and a team...One word..."Loyalty." Dean Smith did it, John Wooden did it, Rupp did it, and Coach K is the only guy currently that IS DOING IT.

Now I am grateful...grateful for what he has done and his kind words after he left. I know it was a tough decision. However, I know it was the wrong decision if in fact he left to be a part of something bigger. I am not saying this as a Tiger fan, but as a sports fan. Nothing would be a better accomplishment then building something on your own and then passing it on. Realistically, he could have done the same thing at UMass, but he left and failed at the NBA. Oh by the way...when was the last time UMass was any good? About 15 years ago when a guy by the name of Calipari was there. He started something great here in Memphis, but he did not finish it. Hell, he was just getting started if you use those other guys as barometers. Thankfully, we have great people working on not making Memphis the next Umass.

Calipari said he finally made his decision to leave when he asked himself this question..."In 2-3 years will I be able to live with myself for not taking it?" He said he couldn't. Now...in 3 years he will have to ask himself..."What if I would have stayed and been my own Adolph Rupp?"

Memphis WAS your Kentucky John...you just didn't know it. But when the time comes to look back, I think you will regret leaving what would've been your ticket to being on the top of a list...instead you will be on the bottom of a list... playing in someone else's arena.

Brayden Daniel Stansbury

Another beautiful kid...Brayden Daniel Stansbury...everybody is healthy and happy. Congrats Mike, Dee, Collin, and Kaitlyn. Feel free to check out the Post Game/Birth Interview with the Father Mike... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6gEQ-Ae8pw&feature=channel_page

P90x...Ouch...and the new Little man is on his way.

So, you have seen the info-mercials, you have heard the testimonials, and now I can tell you after week 1, P90x is for real. Dhope and I have started a 90 day regiment of doing P90 along with a good healthy nutrition plan, to see if we can, in fact, get the results that they say. I know I am not some muscle bound freak, nor would I ever want to be, BUT I can tell you that a good workout, is just like a good relationship. The more you put into it while you do it, the worse you feel the day after its over! I mean seriously, I think my fingertips are sore. I'm not complaining, I think it is great. I have been blessed with hitting some goals that I set out personally already this year that has lead me to believe 09 will be the best yet, so why not try to be in the best shape of my life. What's another goal? Long way to go and granted...there is a chance (some people say a good one), that in two weeks I won't be able to spell P90x and will have fallen of the wagon. I hope not, but we shall see.

My sister in law, Deidra, has got a week or two left before she will be spitting out another perfect child. We still do not know his name because Mike and her are keeping it some kinda secret. That reminds me that Dhope's wife Michelle, is due about the same time. So keep both of them in your prayers for a smooth delivery.

The next game for the Stansbury Brother's coaching era is Monday. I will have more pictures and highlights of the game next week...but, I will warn you that we had 6 of the 10 players come to a hour long practice and that is it. I told Mike that we needed more practice, he vetoed it...so I take away my previous guarantee of actually scoring and would say the odds of the Lakeland Elementary Tigers scoring a basket have shot up to 10-1. We will do what we can. Either way...we will just blame it on Mike.
H
"Do your best...forget the rest." (Tony Horton, P90x creator)

Stansbury Brothers Coaching Debut...lets just say we got work to do.

Thank God 6 year olds are cute. Mike asked me to help coach Collins 1st grade basketball team this year and we are having a blast doing it. The only problem is, we are not having much success. At my first practice last Saturday, Mike had the kids practicing dribbling and shooting, and not a whole lot of much else. We worked on fundamentals. You know...the easy stuff. Not knowing how the league was going to be, I just assumed that was what every coach was doing. That was until last night. Final Score...Lakeland Elementary Red Team 24 ... your Lakeland Elementary Blue team 1. yes 1. And yes...we were the blue team. My brother and I looked at each other in disbeleif when the game was 11-0 in the first few minutes. That was when we realized we need to turn up the heat a little. I am actually excited about this. Not because I think we are going to win or be a cinderella story, but because this is what it is all about. Watching Collin play a game with kids his age and seeing him compete like my brother and I did at that age is fun. What is more fun is the fact that I get a front row seat to watch him develop. I am glad we got crushed 24-1. This way we get to watch them improve and develop skills that they never had before, and I get to help develop that.

It seems like 10 minutes ago that I was holding Collin in my arms in disbelief that I was an Uncle and my brother was a father. Now he is 6 and showing signs to have much more talent than his Dad or his uncle. I will say that until I become a father, the greatest thing God has granted me so far in life, is being an Uncle.