NCAA gave Louisville the hammer

In this basketball crazy state, there are three kinds of collegiate fans:

1. Kentucky fans that hate Little Brother Louisville.

2. Louisville fans that hate Big Brother Kentucky

3. Basketball fans that enjoy bragging to their out of state friends about having two of the top programs in the nation right here in our Bluegrass state.

Other states that have two Division I programs in the state are the same, just change the names.

So for fans who fit in the #1 category above, last week’s announcements from the NCAA regarding the findings against the University of Louisville have kept you smiling – even laughing out loud – all week long.

For those who fall in the last two categories, (I’m a #3 fan myself), it’s been a long week.

In considering other actions the NCAA has taken in other cases – or actions it hasn’t taken at all – its punishments of removing a Final Four appearance and a Championship banner from the Louisville records was not only over the top, it was impossible to actually do.

You just can’t rewrite history – Louisville won that title in 2013 and made it all the way to the Final Four in 2012.

I remember watching them both.

Still, barring the outcome of an appeal, the banners will likely come down from the rafters of the Yum Center.

What Louisville did, regardless of who knew or didn’t know, shouldn’t have happened. Rick Pitino says he didn’t know about the parties in Minardi Hall, and I believe him. He’s too smart and been around too long to let that go on knowing the dangers of such activities in regards to penalties.

Pitino will, and maybe should, sit out for the five ACC game suspension he’s been handed – get that over with.

As for the loss of games from the records, including the two banners – if the NCAA appeals process fails to produce the reversal of that decision, I won’t be surprised to see UL take the issue to a court of law and make the NCAA justify its decision.

Fair is fair, and the NCAA’s decisions in this case was not consistent with other decisions and if you don’t have consistency in these matters – then that’s not fair!

Summer – finally

As I mentioned last week – we are now officially in and enjoying the best season of the year for outdoor enthusiasts – summer.

Although most of us have been enjoying the outdoor activities for a couple of months now, the summer season arrived officially on Tuesday of this week, just over a half-hour before midnight.

Now, my annual warning – get out and enjoy it while you can. Before we know it, we’ll be celebrating the 4th of July, then comes Labor Day, and then it’s over.

Whether it be golf, tennis, softball or boating – get it in now, while you can.

Let’s take it outside!