Tribute time for Kentucky’s basketball team? Yes.

Winningest college basketball program in America is still Kentucky.

Nice run, fellas. Last six thunder runs were breath-taking gorgeous, good as it gets. Crowd following to Dallas was confirmation. But for a Kevin Ollie coaching gem UConn would be doing the what if routine today.

Shining moments? I could be the one human on Planet Basketball to say today let’s skip the if-onlys and just say lots of Moms went to bed happy 29 nights this winter. Never mind the other 11. And yes, the last one was tough.

So, from the throng of fair-minded and reasonable Kentuckians in Big Blue Nation, along with the constituency John Calipari calls crazy, thank you.

But let’s be real too. Whatever love affair there was it came late. Well after the odious bunker talk: “it’s us against the world, guys.”

From Big Blue Madness in, we all knew the drill. Win, win, beat UofL, sell some tee-shirts, let Cal do the talking, win s’more, then get the hell out of here for the NBA.

Tribute:

We live our lives by intervals, don’t we?

Moments of joy, days of contentment, seasons of wellness.

Grow certain we are wise and know enough,

In the end, one at a time, it’s how we handled intervals

Who we left smiling all.

Kentucky players handled the intervals well.

Thanks, guys. See you on television.

HARRISON HEROICS

“It’s going to be a great story,” Aaron Harrison said a month ago in Columbia, South Carolina, moments after the lowest point in Kentucky’s winter of discontent. The Wildcats seemed to shrug their shoulders after having had surrendered to Frank Martin’s Gamecocks. Nobody was happy, in particular citizenry of Big Blue Nation who pay their taxes in love, devotion in tee-shirts, face paint and expect in return more than they were getting.

Still, 19-year-old Harrison’s calm assessment then, and dramatics to follow, reminded me of a line from the movie Tombstone. Glassy-eyed Doc Holiday looks into Johnny Ringo’s face and remarks: “I dunno darlin’, there’s just something about im…”

There’s just something about young Harrison. In a month’s time his “It’s going to be a great story,” premonition, prophesy, whatever, became precisely that. In consecutive games his 3-pointers at the end to send Louisville, Michigan and Wisconsin to land of Wait’ll next year!

√ Seven words in Columbia, South Carolina five weeks ago morphed into Clark Kent stepping into and out of a phone box. Kentucky’s transitional run to the pinnacle of Planet Basketball has been, well, “a great story.”

√ Fascinating too: The sweet innocence of youth, a teenager able to steel up, have nerve to step up to a game-decider shot not once, but three times. All while under the collective hot breath of a gazillion screaming human beings and television audience pouring down on him.

Imagine: 10 … 9 … 8 … 7 … 6 seconds. What would you have done?

Kentucky hoops, 2013-14, been a great story down the stretch. An ebb-and-flow drama with heroes and villains, ups, downs all wrapped into, “we’ll be back for the final seconds after these commercial messages” big finish.

Apparently, one teenager knew how it would be all the time. Maybe he wrote the script Still, no Hollywood producer would buy it.

All of which takes me back to Tombstone.

“I dunno, darlin’, there’s just something about ‘im,” this Aaron Harrison.

CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

Clamoring continues to pay college players (term student-athlete is passe`). … form a players union! … and, NCAA should dole out its billions in television revenue to the workers.

Gee, isn’t that socialism?

On one hand, for television’s talking heads – be careful what you wish for.

Before Charles Barkley could say “what’s in your wallet?” college administrators would hire a Pay Scale Board and team of arbitrators.

Hypothetical test case: Should Breanna Stewart at UConn be paid same or more than Julius Randle at Kentucky? Must be a hearing, arguments, decisions, appeals and, where money is involved, discontent all round.

Be careful what you wish for.

On the other hand, amid the noise for justice for players, all is quiet on the ball coach front. Highest paid coach in college hoops 2013-14, according to USA Today, is Mike Krzyzewski at Duke. Bilas’s old boss.

Coach K raked in $9,682,032, according to the newspaper. Next is Rick Pitino at Louisville, $5,758,338 a year. John Calipari at Kentucky, Bill Self of Kansas and Billy Donovan of Florida are in the 4-5 million dollars-a-year club.

Ball coach pay has soared right alongside corporate NCAA’s warehouse of money. While Bilas and others rant about pay-for-play in college, where’s clamor for a cap on coach pay?

Footnote: Looking ahead, status quo. Recruiting experts say Krzyzewski has the number one recruiting class for 2014-15, Calipari’s next wave of players at Kentucky is second.

READERS (RIGHT) WRITE

“Richard Pitino’s Minnesota team won the NIT … with Tubby Smith’s players, right? All those UK fans for all those years who said Tubby Smith won the (1998) NCAA Tournament with Rick Pitino’s players … what goes around comes around.”

PARTING SHOT

Arrangements for the UK team’s homecoming celebration on Tuesday, included an athletic department press release. Ironic and sad reminder how athletics at Kentucky are corporate captives..

To wit: “Other than IMG rightsholder, there may not be any live telecast, radio broadcast or internet streaming originating from inside Rupp Arena until 4:30 p.m. or the IMG/WKYT telecast has concluded, whichever is later.”

And so it goes.