Was John Calipari’s Ejection-Inducing Tirade Deliberate?

By the time I actually sat down in front of the Kentucky/South Carolina game, John Calipari was gone...and the talk of the Twitterverse.

A mere two minutes and twenty-six seconds into the game, John Calipari made it clear to official Doug Sirmons that he was unhappy with the physical play and the lack of attention being paid it by the refs.

He also said something that Sirmons did not like and received a technical foul.

ESPN analyst Myron Medcalf says that Calipari gave Sirmons a "compliment" that it takes 12 letters to spell.

But who knows?

Anyway, that technical set Calipari off.

OFF, I tell you!

Like "I will rip his head off if get within a foot of him" off.

Just like that, technical number two and a stroll through the tunnel to a South Carolina locker room...but not before Calipari buttoned his jacket over his yanked-out dress shirt.

My favorite part.

So there the 'Cats were, in the more than capable hands of associate head coach Kenny Payne who later said that he coached the defense and let sophomore point guard Tyler Ulis run the offense.

Result? Kentucky went medieval on the Gamecocks to the tune of 89-62. And, at times, it honestly wasn't THAT close.

So, I'm sitting here while all this is transpiring and wondering (and admittedly feeling silly for doing so) if that little meltdown was calculated.

John Calipari has unusual and borderline sneaky motivational tactics that he employs all the time. Did he believe this would fire up a Wildcats outfit that hadn't exactly set the world on fire in previous road games?

We really won't ever know.

But I'm not the only one speculating about something so outlandish. Sporting News writer Michael DeCourcy knocked out a blog about this possibility before the game even finished.

Again, who knows?

Only one man.

The man who went ballistic in Columbia, South Carolina before a sold-out crowd.

The man who is always slyly poking and prodding his players.

And, of course, the man who felt it necessary to button his suit coat over his yanked-out dress shirt.

Yep, let's watch it again.