The House of Blue

Really disappointed with this. I started a yearly tradition with my son that we go every year. Sucks no coverage and cant go watch.

Bummer. Usually make one or two. I prefer what I see with my own eyes.

I'm not passing judgment on their decision -- the coach has to do what he feels is best for his program, not fans and media -- but I never would have expected UK to go deeper into the bunker after the transition from Brooks to Joker. We always assumed that things would be even more open.

IMHO, now more than ever the program needs some goodwill and positive exposure.

I suppose the staff feels they really need to roll up their sleeves and get A LOT of work done during spring practice . Is it necessary to totally close off practices to the media to get that work done? Don't know, have to defer to the coaches on that. Obviously, it's not conducive to building fan interest/buzz.

Will be interested to see whether there is any promotion of the spring game this year. Things set up nicely for them to get more people out to Commonwealth, if UK is willing/able to put forth a little effort on that -- Blue/White Game is apparently going to be at 6:00 on the 21st (per Jen Smith at the LHL). That will be just after the ponies finish up at Keeneland and just after UK's much improved baseball team takes on LSU at Cliff Hagan Stadium. Could be fun for fans to slide over to Commonwealth for a little tailgating/football after a day at the track or the yard.

I hate this phrase but .. it is what it is. I don't think they owe it to anyone to open it up - fans or media - but it helps when they do. Joker actually allowed the media who could not get to the first two weeks of spring ball last year because of the Final Four run to come see one open practice when we all returned, but it wasn't like they had much open last year. And the fall is never open. My guess is they realize the most divisive issue for their team and fans last year was the quarterback situation and they don't want or need the distraction of inviting people in to pick apart and/or make a major deal of it in the spring.

Two things, it would be hard to get fewer people interested in the UKFB program but I think they are doing their best to make that happen. Fans stayed away in record numbers at the end of last year so I can see making sure there is complete black out for the spring. I can't wait for those ridiculous Joker only press conferences which are so devoid of real information that I stopped reading the reports last year. Second, the QB situation last year was a complete coaching failure by Joker and Sanders or whoever made the call and that pitiful mismanagement would have smelled as bad if they kept the whole team in a darkened room 24 hours a day. Unfortunately for Joker they still have to play the games in daylight where people can see them. The last two years would have gotten a lot of coaches fired.

Closing practice down really irritates me and I think alienates a lot of the die hard supporters of a struggling program. We have a lot of good coaches at UK now but we don't have a real head coach. Like it or not part of the job is presenting the program to the public and getting people involved. You can be withdrawn and tell everyone to screw off but only when you are winning. Let's see if there is any promotion of the spring game. I still have that ticket renewal on my desk for $1700 and I am trying to decide what to do with it. I was hoping to get a boost of optimism from spring ball to get me over the hump to renew but I guess that isn't going to happen.

Has it occurred to anyone that maybe, just maybe, we are possibly going to be worse than we were last year? And that CJP doesn't want anyone to see it just yet?
Or maybe we're going to be lots better than we were last season?
Who knows what the real reason is?
And a question............how many other D-1 teams close their spring practices off from the paying fanbase? I do not know, that's why I'm asking. Is this a common practice among D-1 schools, or is this out of the ordinary?

Maybe Joker is trying to be like the rest of the SEC. I dont know about every school but both Bama and Auburn close their spring practice till the actual spring game.

We will get the same coach speak as any other year during press conferences. This really is t that big of a deal and is just something for the LOD to grab o to and grip about.

Accept it and move on. Its only about what this team and coach produce against Louisville and SEC talent. Nobody will give a damn if we win and thats what its all about. Personally I didn't even know spring practice was open to begin with. Maybe this will spike interest and attendance for the Spring game.

The attendance for the spring game will be even smaller than GuyMo's 1st team which had to go up to Georgetown to play. Probably no instrument exists to even detect the low interest in this program at this point. So why the heck not shut the doors and throw up the tarps on the fences. Spring games are always awful with the biggest goal of getting through it with no injuries and featuring guys put up monster numbers who never do so come real games (see: Smith, Alphonso). But I always enjoyed the Saturday scrimmages, those were closer to real football with guys competing hard for depth chart positions.