Camp Cal includes trip to the movies

During the semester break, Kentucky Coach John Calipari is scheduling more than one practice per day. But it’s not all work-work-work for the Cats.
On Sunday evening, Calipari gave the players a choice: another practice or go see the movie Invictus. The players chose the movie.
After the players posed for pictures, signed autographs and, according to Mark Krebs, “pretty much bought out the snack shop,” the Cats watched Invictus, which tells the story of how a rugby team played a part in Nelson Mandella’s effort to re-unite South Africa.
UK Coach John Calipari said he hoped the players got two messages: 1) Mandella’s inspiring story of going from 27 years of imprisonment by the country’s apartheid government to being elected president, and 2) seeing that an athlete can be doing something that has a much larger purpose than simply playing well.
In case the players did not get the messages, Calipari said he spoke to the team for 45 minutes about the movie before Monday’s practice.
Not that Kentucky is spending a lot of time away from basketball. The team is practicing twice or three times a day.
The good news is that the practices are running shorter than the scheduled two hours each.
“They’re getting it done,” Calipari said, “and they’re doing it with great enthusiasm.”
The UK coach said he encourages the movie excursions and tries to use non-sports techniques in an effort to get the players think about others.