Shortly after John Calipari went to Kentucky, former Memphis assistant John Robic went on the radio in Memphis and talked about how Calipari had "more help" at his new school and "everything you need to win a national title."
Those comments, of course, upset a number of people in Memphis since they came just days after some of the most influential people in this city had offered Calipari $5 million a year, practically unlimited private plane time, stock options, a seat on the board of directors of a major company and essentially whatever else he might have wanted to get him to stay.
More help? Seriously? To the people who had poured significant money into the Memphis program over the years and were prepared to do even more, the "more help" comment seemed like revisionist history at best.
Now, Robic has seemingly done it again. He told Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal that Kentucky's No. 1-ranked recruiting class is a tribute to the allure of Kentucky.
"What we have seen here already is that it's a different deal; its Kentucky," Robic said. "It's a match between a talented coach and a place like this. Coach (Rick) Pitino was that and coach (Tubby) Smith was that; it's what Kentucky should be.
"At UMass we had to offer 50 guys and hope a few of them took it. We even had to do some of that early on at Memphis. But here if you offer 20 then 21 will accept because you might offer one by mistake. We have to be careful and now we know better what style fits the system best."
Let's be very, very clear. The recruiting class John Calipari got to Kentucky this year is essentially the same recruiting class that would have been at Memphis had he stayed. In fact, Memphis' recruiting class would have actually been better because it would have included Xavier Henry, who is now at Kansas.
If Calipari had gone to Arizona, that recruiting class would have gone to Arizona. If Calipari had gone to Virginia Commonwealth, that recruiting class would have gone to Virginia Commonwealth.
Kentucky just happened to be the school that got it. There was nothing inherent about Kentucky - besides the fact that it hired John Calipari - to make it happen.
Source
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Dukes dreams big
“God created rocks,” said Spencer native and musician Cameron Dukes. “We can make a hospital with it or beat someone over the head with it.” Dukes said he uses this analogy to explain his view on music. He explained that music itself isn’t a bad thing. It can be molded for good or molded to promote badness. Once he began to realize the power of music, Dukes, who currently resides in Midwest City, made a decision to always let his music be a positive influence.
This musician didn’t always subscribe to this train of thought, however. An avid music-lover, Dukes recorded his first album when he was 11 years old. The next few years were a series of talent shows and shows with various singing groups in the local area. After graduating from high school, Dukes decided to create his own recording company. He had begun producing records for four artists when a decision he made flipped his view of music upside-down.
“I got saved. And I started working on gospel music after that,” Dukes said. This was in 2000. Since that day, Dukes has been committed to performing solo gospel songs.
This change in music style didn’t slow down his career, however. In 2004, Dukes received a distribution deal on his first CD, titled “Cam Just Listen.” The CD went nationwide. His second CD, released in 2007, is titled “Cam, the platform.” This CD also went nationwide.
Dukes writes and produces over 80 percent of his content under his company Doulos Records. When not making music, he travels the nation and world performing. Dukes has been to Texas, Kansas, California, Canada, Africa, Arizona, Michigan and Virginia. Dukes said his Virginia performance was especially impacting on him because he sang at a memorial service for students killed by a student shooter at Virginia Tech.
For a time, Dukes became interested in starting a jingle company. It was during this period that he composed the Internet-famous Mr. Spriggs BBQ song, a well-known commercial for a Midwest City restaurant. Although this was more of a fun side project for Dukes, he has had opportunities to spread his music through the experience.
“Somebody called from Canada--a DJ. He said he wanted to be the first to play it on the radio,” said Dukes. The DJ told him that several dance clubs in the area were playing the song already. Dukes agreed to let the DJ release the barbecue jingle on the radio as long as the DJ agreed to play his other music as well.
This isn’t the first mainstream media to pick up Dukes tunes, though. He said that 103.5 FM and 1140 AM play his music.
“There’s a lot of stations across the nation actually playing my music as well,” he said.
BET Gospel also plays his music video on their television station.
Performing is not the only thing that Dukes foresees in his future. He is in the beginning stages of creating a Christian record label in Oklahoma. He said he wants to feature many of the talented local artists. Right now, Dukes is primarily working on creating connections to help him get started.
Although Dukes said he is living his dream, it is often a surreal experience. He credits most of his success to prayer. He also studied diligently to learn the ins and outs of the music industry. Dukes remembers spending days at the library, studying marketing books.
As for his music talent, Dukes gives the credit elsewhere.
“It’s all a gift from God.”
Source
This musician didn’t always subscribe to this train of thought, however. An avid music-lover, Dukes recorded his first album when he was 11 years old. The next few years were a series of talent shows and shows with various singing groups in the local area. After graduating from high school, Dukes decided to create his own recording company. He had begun producing records for four artists when a decision he made flipped his view of music upside-down.
“I got saved. And I started working on gospel music after that,” Dukes said. This was in 2000. Since that day, Dukes has been committed to performing solo gospel songs.
This change in music style didn’t slow down his career, however. In 2004, Dukes received a distribution deal on his first CD, titled “Cam Just Listen.” The CD went nationwide. His second CD, released in 2007, is titled “Cam, the platform.” This CD also went nationwide.
Dukes writes and produces over 80 percent of his content under his company Doulos Records. When not making music, he travels the nation and world performing. Dukes has been to Texas, Kansas, California, Canada, Africa, Arizona, Michigan and Virginia. Dukes said his Virginia performance was especially impacting on him because he sang at a memorial service for students killed by a student shooter at Virginia Tech.
For a time, Dukes became interested in starting a jingle company. It was during this period that he composed the Internet-famous Mr. Spriggs BBQ song, a well-known commercial for a Midwest City restaurant. Although this was more of a fun side project for Dukes, he has had opportunities to spread his music through the experience.
“Somebody called from Canada--a DJ. He said he wanted to be the first to play it on the radio,” said Dukes. The DJ told him that several dance clubs in the area were playing the song already. Dukes agreed to let the DJ release the barbecue jingle on the radio as long as the DJ agreed to play his other music as well.
This isn’t the first mainstream media to pick up Dukes tunes, though. He said that 103.5 FM and 1140 AM play his music.
“There’s a lot of stations across the nation actually playing my music as well,” he said.
BET Gospel also plays his music video on their television station.
Performing is not the only thing that Dukes foresees in his future. He is in the beginning stages of creating a Christian record label in Oklahoma. He said he wants to feature many of the talented local artists. Right now, Dukes is primarily working on creating connections to help him get started.
Although Dukes said he is living his dream, it is often a surreal experience. He credits most of his success to prayer. He also studied diligently to learn the ins and outs of the music industry. Dukes remembers spending days at the library, studying marketing books.
As for his music talent, Dukes gives the credit elsewhere.
“It’s all a gift from God.”
Source
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