Gary Parrish

True, they're generally considered the worst in college sports.

Why the University of KY is a better, more prestiged school,and the private schools are   alot better in Lexington. Plus I'm sure they'll get some horses. And if it came to a bidding war, well lets just say their's  more horse $ in Lexington alone to outbid Memphis

 candyman, i actually know for a fact you are wrong. Even if they win the title, we are still ahead. Not by much, but ahead. Try again next time.

WE WANT COACH CAL!

Sorry Memphis fans, as I would feel for you if we get him. Respect you all.

 very impressive homework, but i actually believe UNC took over the all time NCAA tourney win this past weekend

I feel for you my man.

I'm a Kentucky fan (from Lexington) and I live here in Memphis.

I've come to respect the Memphis program and certainly Cal since moving here in 2006.

I also know what it's like since this situation is almost identical to ours when Rick left for the Celtics.  He too was beloved and a God in Lexington and for the majority of the state of Kentucky.

I don't pretend to know how this thing is going to play out.  I can honestly see it going either way.  I do absolutely understand that either way it goes one program is going to feel deceived and disrespected and I hate that as a Kentucky fan and as a Memphian.

If I were Calipari, I would use the Kentucky offer to get a better contract to stay at Memphis. While there are good reasons to take the Kentucky job, there are also good reasons to stay at Memphis:

1) He has turned Memphis into a top program (shady or not). If you don't believe that, take a look at the recruiting class coming in next year. If you can get 2 to 3 of the top 5 best high schoolers in the country to come play for you, you have a top program (shady or not).

2) Memphis plays in a sh$%ty conference. While some of you see that as a negative, I see that as a positive. His team hasn't lost a conference game in two years and with the players coming in, I don't see that streak ending any time soon. He has a much better chance of breaking the all-time coaching wins record if he stays at Memphis. Not only that, but his teams will have a much easier time of getting that all important top 12 seed in the NCAA tournament, which should help him garner a few NCAA championships.

3) He has created a situation where he is becoming the face of Memphis University. He has created a situation where he has a chance at becoming a coaching legend in the same vein as John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, and Dean Smith. In the future, coaches will have to live up to the unfair standards set by him. In the future, thousands of bandwagon fans will be cheering the team on at the arena named in his honor. He gets to create the tradition instead of merely being a slave to it.

 Yes once in a life time... the third Kentucky coach in a ltitle over 3 years.  Once in a year's time, not life time.  :p

Also Im gonna add that if the rumors are true about he so called boosters trying to keep him there, which Memphis does has some nice boosters, but these guys are gonna look real bad if on one hand FedEx is cutting the benefits of employees while their CEO can go out and spend tens of millions of dollars on a college basketball coach.

Yes but he can be all that and more for an entire state, at the biggest stage in college basketball, if he thinks he is up to the challenge, if not he may stay in memphis.

Im a Memphis fan through and through, I also attend the school and my Dad graduated from here, so we have strong roots in Memphis. I'm going to speak on behalf of a lot of students and local fans: If he goes, he puts the rest of us up the creek without a paddle. If he leaves, Cousin's, Wall, Henry, Garcia, Dennis, Witherspoon, Sallie, and many if not all of his staff will go with him. What does this mean for us left behind? It leaves the program, the student body, the university, and the morale of the city of Memphis in shambles. The Memphis Tigers, the team, unites the city. It gives us something to be proud of. When a man from Frayser and woman from Germantown are both wearing blue and can get together and support the team that means that something is right. If he leaves, the team and the program will suffer, which in turn will make the city suffer. I'm not saying like riots or mass evacuations or anything like that, but its a morale and attitude thing. Attendance and ticket sales will drop, which equals less money for the program and the university, and we will be medocre at best for at least 3-4 years, if not longer. Like it or not, the city goes where the Tigers go. And if they go downhill, so will the city and its morale. What Calipari I think fails to realize sometimes is that he's not just a basketball coach, he's an ambassador for the city, he's someone for the kids to look up to, and he's a tremendous supporter of the university and the community. This issue of the Memphis fans not wanting him to leave isnt just about basketball, its about much more.

On the other hand, I've fully accepted that Calipari is going to leave at some point. If he's going to leave, at least leave when his contract is up or at least a better time when there could be a better transition for both schools.

I love Memphis, the university, the team and the city. We love Coach Cal, and we don't want him to go.