A Kentucky-Louisville game stirs emotions. But Kentucky Coach John Calipari said Thursday he hopes the passion doesn’t overflow into nastiness when the teams play Friday.
“The passion and emotion of a tough, hard-nosed competition is one thing,” Calipari said. “But when it moves beyond that” it detracts from the game.
“This should be a vicious, clean, with everybody trying hard and trying to win,” Calipari said.
As he did on his radio call-in show earlier in the week, Calipari said he hoped there wouldn’t be a repeat of last season’s game in which the camera caught him exchanging harsh words with a U of L player and UK big man DeMarcus Cousins flirted with an ejection when he shot a forearm into the head area of a Louisville player.
“When the game’s over, I hope everybody says, ‘That’s basketball,’ ” Calipari said. “That was the ‘funnest’ game I’ve seen all year.”
Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald- Leader has covered Kentucky basketball since the 1981-82 season. That time includes five coaches, five Final Fours, four athletic directors, two interim athletic directors and many memories. Before coming to Lexington, Tipton worked eight years for the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch. He covered Marshall’s basketball team for two seasons before coming to the Herald-Leader.
