I try to avoid talking about Kentucky whenever possible. At a very early age I picked up on the fact that UK fans seemed to be completely obsessed with Louisville, and while my dislike for the Blue is certainly strong, I'd hate to be confused with a person who would rather see another team lose than his own team win. Wildcat fans are the most overly sensitive group of people I've ever been around, so when you're around them it's best to avoid even the most seemingly harmless of ribbing unless you're prepared to ruin the night of the innocent bystanders surrounding you.

All that said, the last few days have been too much. Whether it's in person, on the phone or on the internet, all I've heard from UK fans - trying to ignore the fact that their season is an undeniable disaster the likes of which the previous administration never knew - for the last three days is that the Cards (Kentucky fans never say "Cardinals," I don't know why) are in disarray and Pitino didn't discipline a kid who broke curfew severely enough.

While I'm upset with the way Pitino handled the Caracter situation, if Gillispie had done the same thing with Ramel Bradley I wouldn't have read an entire article on the matter.

By now I think everyone in the Commonwealth has heard at least one Billy Gillispie story, and just about all of them involve something worse than not being in his bedroom by 9 p.m. Someone who's undoubtedly heard more than I have is eight-time Kentucky Sports Writer of the Year and former Sports Illustrated senior writer Billy Reed.

Reed may be the most respected voice when it comes to sports in the Bluegrass State, and he says it's no time to let Billy Clyde slide.

I didn't really have an opinion when Kentucky first hired Gillispie, but my father - who has a track record of being right when it comes to these sorts of things - used the words "absolute disaster" within five minutes of learning the news. I'm not saying this can't be fixed, but "Billy Clyde" certainly seems to be doing all he can to prove dad right.