Kentucky men's basketball Coach John Calipari was a guest on The Dan Patrick Show on radio Monday morning to promote his new book, but the conversation eventually turned to what it's like to coach his son.
Brad Calipari is a 6-0 freshman walk-on guard for the 9-1 Wildcats, who are ranked No. 6 in The Associated Press poll. Calipari has played a total of 33 minutes in 9 games, making 2 of 11 three-pointers and 2 of 5 free throws in garbage time for 8 points on the season.
Coach Calipari said that while he loves coaching his son, Brad Calipari is on his last chance with the Wildcats.
Calipari and his wife were not happy their son got a giant tattoo etched across his chest that reads, "Earned Not Given."
"The only problem is he got a tattoo, a tattoo across his chest. I mean, didn't ask us," Calipari told Patrick. "Who did I hear from right away? His mom. 'Why did you let him do it,' like I let him do that. 'Tell him to take that off.' I don't think you can take it off. Honey, I don't think tattoos come off. 'You mean he's gotta keep it?' So now, he has to wear a shirt over it."
Not only does Brad have to wear a T-shirt under his jersey to hide the tattoo, but his dad said a second tattoo would result in consequences.
"I called him in and said, 'Whoa whoa, another tattoo and you're not on this team. Are we speaking the same language now?' "
Patrick tried to goad his father into committing to getting a tattoo like his rival, Louisville Coach Rick Pitino, did in 2013. Pitino promised his 2012-2013 team that he would get a tattoo if it won the national championship, which it did. Pitino got an "L" with "NCAA champions, 35-5" under it.
Calipari didn't take the bait when asked whether he would get a tattoo like Pitino's if Kentucky won a championship.
"I don't like needles, so I can't," he said. "I would probably faint, and then I wouldn't know what they put on my body because I would be asleep. If they show me a needle, I'm out. All of a sudden, I wake up, I've got teardrops, I've got sideburns."
Black snow
There was a game delay between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills at New Era Field on Sunday, and it was not (directly, anyway) related to the snow coming down. Rather, it's how the grounds crew dealt with the snowfall that caused the delay.
Through the use of plows and blowers on the turf, the grounds crew inadvertently dug up large, black, rubber pellets all over the field that previously were embedded deeply to backfill the turf.
Instead of the field covered in snow white, it ended up pellet black. The rubber pellets covered the white sideline paint in front of both teams' benches, as well as large portions behind each end zone.
At the direction of referee Pete Morelli, groundskeepers used shovels and leaf blowers to remove the pellets from the field. A tractor was also called out to make another sweep of the field, while coaches from both teams used their feet to brush pellets off the sideline paint.
It caused a seven-minute delay to start the second half of the Steelers' 27-20 victory.
The Bills released a statement on the delay, which said, "The brush on one of the tractors used for snow removal on the field was too firm, which caused a build-up of the rubber pellets on the sidelines. Our field crew worked in conjunction with NFL officials to clear the sidelines to their specifications which caused a brief delay in the start of the season half."
SPORTS QUIZ
What two colleges did John Calipari play for in his collegiate career?
ANSWER
North Carolina-Wilmington (1978-1980) and Clarion (1980-1982)
Sports on 12/13/2016