Erin Andrews- Just as perfect in person.Ugh.

Last night I went to Lexington to attend Coach Cal's Women's Clinic. It is a night set up just for women to meet the coach, the players and learn all about the "DRIBBLE DRIVE" and be schooled in all things UK basketball. In case you are not from KY, let me just tell you that people here are nuts for UK basketball. It is much like a religion and has a major following. Coach Cal is probably the number one celebrity in our state and I got to meet him!  I had a FABULOUS time. My friend Ginny and I went with her (my new) friend Cassie. We arrived to this:

But, while we waited in this lovely line which was directly across from Wildcat Lodge (aka where the players live) we got to see these guys headed home from practice.



I totally needed my sunglasses!



We did not wait long. Soon enough we were into Memorial Coliseum where we were given colored wristbands that would separate us into groups and some swag (swag: FREE Tshirt, and bag of random goodies). We then got into another line for food. Rafferty's provided the food for the evening. (I might or might not have had lunch at Rafferty's yesterday too.) It was a good thing I did eat lunch, because I am pretty sure the women in front of us were hungry and the girls serving food were afraid they were going to run out. I think I was served aprox. 4 pieces of pasta. Owell. I was not really that concerned about it. I was ready to get going and see what the evening had in store for us.

I might have gotten a little too excited about my FREE Tshirt.

After we ate we headed inside and noticed that Coach Cal was posing for pics, so we immediately went down to the court to join him. We all had our pictures made with him and I got  an autographed basketball.  I was pretty pleased with the event so far and we had only been there about 20 minutes. After my meet and greet with Coach Cal, we  Cassie and Ginny spotted Matt Jones across the court. I had no idea who he was until they informed me that he was the guy from KSR. KSR is Kentucky Sports Radio, one of the many sports blogs that my husband reads religiously. Once I had that all figured out we walked over and asked for a photo. I thought it would be funny and might impress Mr. Snyder.



Me & Coach Cal.
aka My new Facebook profile pic!



My photo opp with Matt Jones.

Cassie & Matt Jones

Once everyone arrived, Coach Cal  greeted us all and welcomed us to the event. He then introduced his guest of the evening, Erin Andrews. Now, I must say I have always envied this woman. She is BEAUTIFUL, knowledgeable about all thing sports, welcomed in locker rooms and the dream girl of most red blooded American men. In person she is no different. She was so funny, personable and DISGUSTINGLY GORGEOUS. Really, just take a look at some of these pictures.

See what I mean!

Erin (we are on a first name basis now) was the MC for the UK player's fashion show. The players modeled the new uniforms, warm ups and practice gear. They were quite the models and most of them loved the attention from the hundreds of screaming women. They danced and posed. It was quite entertaining. Josh Harrellson might have gotten a little to into it as he ripped off his tear away pants and danced around, but let me tell you it was a hit with the over 40 club and made for a good laugh for the rest of the team. It even earned him a pic and a tweet from Erin Andrews.

After the striptease fashion show we broke up into our groups. We had 4 sessions. One with the strength and conditioning coaches where we learned all about how the players work out and get gameday ready. This session took place in the practice gym, so not only did we get to hear the coaches and see them demonstrate these exercises but we got to tour the facilities too. It was very interesting and neat to see where they spend their day to day. Our next session was a Q&A with Erin Andrews. She was very open and down to Earth. She answered everything from how she got her job to inquires about her spray tan on Dancing With The Stars. We sat front row so I got to ask a question and get this picture taken for the mister!

I am pretty sure this picture will be placed over my picture on his desk!

After Erin's Q&A we had a photo session with Coach Cal. They took a "team" photos where we were posed with Coach Cal like an official team photo. He also took this time to sign more autographs and meet everyone. Once this session was wrapping up his family came in. They were just sitting around talking while we were all being moved to the next session. While they were chatting I approached them and asked if I could pretend I was part of the fam for a quick photo! They all laughed and agreed! I posed for the shot and told them I might make it my Christmas Card. Coach Cal told me he needed to send it to his daughter Erin and tell her she had been replaced! ha! It was pretty funny if I do so say myself!



Merry Christmas from The Caliparis.



After my Calipari family reunion our last session was with the assistant coaches. They introduced themselves and talked about their backgrounds and allowed questions. This took place in the media room. It was neat to see that room and get to know a little bit about the assistants. Many people asked recruiting questions and they answered them all. It was interesting and I might have learned a few things.

Are you kidding? Of course I had to take a quick pose at the media wall.

The last stop was back in the gym where the guys showed us all about the "Dribble Drive" and Coach Cal explained offensive and defensive terms and what they look like in a game. It was interesting and it was a good thing I video taped it so I can watch it again to get the full understanding. He used lots of basketball lingo and I might need Stuart's help translating. ha!

It all wrapped up at about 9:00 and I could not have been happier with the event. It was a good night with LOTS of laughs, I learned a few things and got to rub elbows with some fun, famous folks. It was such a good idea and I am so glad we went. 

Here are a few more pictures from the evening.

YES, Erin showed Coach Cal a few moves!

GO CATS!!