WELCOME HOME, RICK!

Welcome home, Rick! Home to the shining jewel of college basketball.

Of course, it wasn’t always that way. In fact when you arrived it was but a muddy stone buried deep beneath the musty air of our hallowed traditions. Probation had sucked the pride right out leaving us with mere memories of how things once were, and despair that we may never reach those lofty heights again.

But you saw more in us than we did ourselves. You told us to hang on to our tickets, that soon they’d be the hottest in the land. A basketball junkie, you’d lay awake at night listening to Caywood’s cultured cadence in his perfect calls of Kentucky basketball, the signal—alternating from clear to creaky and back as strong as the King James version of the dunk—the same one your kindred spirits all across the Commonwealth were thrilling to.

Perhaps it was this mystical bond that would have your destiny intertwine with ours for Lute turned us down, and others too. But you recognized in this tarnished gem, the essence of our heritage and your coming to lead us re-affirmed our belief in ourselves.

You showed us how to work with all you’ve got—and then some—to attain the peak of perfection. Every little inch of the program bore your fingerprints. From intense conditioning, strategizing, stat keeping and marketing, to confidence building, up tempo Rupp-like run & gun and suffocating defense, you created the most exciting time any fan base anywhere any era could possibly experience.

There were the Bambinos, the Unforgettables, the Untouchables. There were the Armani suits and one very plaid sportcoat. There were big wins, big records, as well as heartbreaking losses, but in the end it was the highest a program could hope to reach, especially following the depths to which we had sunk.

Yet it is easy now, looking down from the summit, to forget the pit from which we’ve climbed, and the man who lifted us out. So please forgive those still bearing the sting of a jilted lover, for it is only wounded pride. Instead listen to the heartfelt thanks of those who appreciate what you’ve done and, in another Kentucky school (which through our taxes we all help support), continue to do for the Commonwealth.

Go Cats, Go Cards, Go EVERYBODY!

Richard F. Dawahare 3/14/07