Louisville basketball: The 10 most hated opposing players
By Alan Thomas
Patrick Sparks – Kentucky
He traveled.
Twice.
Do I really need to say anything else about him?
Oh yeah, and his haircut was horrendous. He looked like one of those deep backwoods characters straight out of “Deliverance”.
In what was one of the most controversial endings to a Louisville game ever, Patrick ****ing Sparks received a pass in the corner and shuffled his feet before officials calling a foul on Louisville on a three-point shot, giving him 3 free-throws with a one-point deficit and 0.6 seconds on the clock. He sank all three, of course. It was an atrocious no-call.
The game had gone down to the wire between #14 Louisville and #11 Kentucky. It was back-and-forth the whole way.
Louisville had done a great job of trapping Sparks prior to the final inbound. The Cats had fed Sparks in the short corner, and after sensing the trap coming, Sparks appeared to move both feet before calling a timeout. The referee did not notice his feet sliding, therefore rewarding UK with the timeout.
Watch the video for yourself. You’ll see it…and this guy gets a hero’s glory for sinking the freebies that he didn’t even earn? Not today. Not here.
Sometimes the hatred of a single player can be the result of one single moment. This was Louisville’s win. I hate the ref that didn’t call either traveling violation, but not quite as much as I hate Patrick Sparks.