An Introduction to Bean

By Bean

Posted January 25, 2012, 12:07 pm

1 Comments

I suppose I should start off my first post on Kentucky Basketball Forum as an introduction to myself. My name is Jason Green, but please, call me Bean. I was born in 1977 and raised in western Kentucky by my parents, Lee & Judy Green. I am from the legendary Muhlenberg County (yes, the same one from the song) in Central City, KY. I will not bore you with the details of my childhood, just the part where I became a rabid Kentucky basketball fan. My earliest memories were from the Eddie Sutton years. Nothing much there to brag about except IREX! That's right, Rex Chapman, the guy who was cool enough to own an IROC and repaint it to say IREX! That's just cool. Then the rebirth came with Rick Pitino's arrival. The culmination came with not a win, but a loss. THE loss of my era. The year was 1992, and I remember the day like it was yesterday. My parents were getting ready for a dinner party at a friend’s house. I remember watching the other games with my Dad while he was waiting for Mom to finish getting ready. "Do we have a chance," I asked. "Well son, we've got a small chance, but I wouldn't count on the good guys winning this one" he said. Duke had the best team in the county, coming off a national championship over mighty UNLV the year prior. They boasted the best player in the country, hated Christian Laettner. He was loathed by every fan of every other team in the nation. But he was hated the most by Kentucky fans on this evening, and the hatred was about to get much worse. I remember watching the most beautiful game of basketball I have ever seen to this day. Four Kentucky boys taking it to the more hyped Blue Devils. Pelphrey with key rebounds and baskets. Feldhaus for three. Mashburn doing everything. And Sean Woods. Oh Sean Woods. Most definitely my favorite Cat of the bunch. I about did a double backflip off my parents couch when he hit that runner that Billy Packer termed "a terrible shot." I just would rather leave it at that. But I can't. I still to this day want to grab Rick Pitino by his throat and ask him what the (bleep) he was thinking for not guarding the in bounds passer. Why give him the free look? Even Ray Charles could see they were going to Laettner. And they don't even put Feldhaus or Pelphrey in front of Laettner???? They just let him catch it for free??? At least let him work for the shot. Or maybe Pitino was thinking "they'll call a foul for sure if we put a man in front. He's the golden child, and he always gets the call." And Pitino might be right. Earlier in the game Laettner clearly stomped on Aminu Timberlake's chest for no particular reason. And he was not tossed from the game. A techinical only. Laettner would later admit,in 2011, that he thought it was Farmer who he was stomping on. Farmer had shoved Laettner into the basket support on the previous possession. But Laettner's argument has serious flaws. The most obvious of which, is that Timberlake was a 6'5" black man. Farmer was a 5'10" white boy with the best moustache this side of Magnum PI. Sorry Christian, but your logic is flawed. Just admit it. You were pissed, and you stomped on my boy Aminu. You got lucky. And Pitino probably thought you would get lucky again and get the call. But as I have often said, you make decisions out of fear. You cannot put TWO men BEHIND Laettner out of FEAR that you MIGHT get called for the foul! We all know the rest. Grant Hill makes a perfect pass, unimpeded by a defender, to the perfect player to take the perfect last second shot. I remember calling my parents at that dinner party after Sean Woods’ miraculous shot, proclaiming victory. "Well there's still 2.1 seconds left," my Dad said. “No way they score,” I thought. The rest is history. That was the last time I remember crying after a loss. There was recently a book published by Gene Wojciechowski titled "The Last Great Game: Duke vs. Kentucky And The 2.1 Seconds That Changed Basketball." I'm about half way through it and it is a fascinating look at both programs and the road they traveled leading up to that game and that shot. I recommend it for any fan of Kentucky basketball. Anyway, I don't want to take up any more of your time than I already have. I hope you are as excited to be a part of Kentucky Basketball Forum as I am. Please follow along with us as we enjoy the rebirth of this great basketball power. Ultimately, I hope this season ends with Kentucky cutting down the nets and putting Kentucky basketball back atop the college basketball mountain. Win or lose there will be plenty to talk about.

Comments

Brian Long

Posted January 25, 2012, 1:54 am

Thanks for the introduction Bean. Nice post. You might want to break your posts up into multiple paragraphs next time. I remember every detail of that game. Christian Gaytner didn't miss a single shot.