As an aside, I grew up a huge UK basketball fan. Deep down, I still am, but oddly, since the Calipari era started I have grown to care less and less about the Cats. Post-Pitino they struggled to really stay in the national spotlight until Cal cam along. Now, they get more air time than probably the next 5 college basketball programs in the nation and I've just grown more detached from the program.

Why? Because its 8 or 9 new faces every year. It isn't a team that is invested in the Kentucky brand like the teams under Pitino, Smith, and dare I say Gillespie. They come and soak in the spotlight and are gone before I even get to really know them. I'm not bashing Cal and the great things he's done, this is just what the NBA draft rules have done to college basketball and in my opinion its unfortunate.

Point being, in that case the hunt to gain national adoration meant losing a lot about what made the program great (to me).

The coolest thing this team has is that it we've seen it gel over the last 5 or 6 years, we've seen them grow, and a number of these guys will be here for more years to come (surprisingly thanks to Castellini). Do they deserve all the credit in the world for how far they've come and how good they are? Hell yes. But the coolest thing for me is the guys like Votto who are quietly awesome. I for one love the overall modest nature of this club, and the example they set for the fans. We don't have to go yelling in the streets about how good the Reds are. If someone asks, we tell them, otherwise we just soak it in.