On Wednesday, John Calipari and the Kentucky men’s basketball team are taking a break from frenzied preparations for the 2012-13 season – which begins on Friday in Brooklyn against Maryland – but it won’t be your average night off.The Wildcats will host a telethon to benefit the victims of Superstorm Sandy just a day before they travel to the Northeast, the area affected by the catastrophic storm.”I know we have a game on Friday and I know we open our season with two extremely difficult opponents, but I would be cheating this position if I didn’t take advantage of the help we can provide,” Calipari wrote in a post on his website. “We, as a fan base, would be cheating ourselves if we didn’t use the power of the Big Blue Nation.”And so from 7-9 p.m. ET, the Cats will take to television to aid in the relief effort. WKYT will air the first hour, while CWKYT will televise it from 8-9 p.m. ET. During those two hours, members of the team will take phone calls and accept donations. People in the Lexington area wishing to make a donation can call 859.299.5455 and those outside the Lexington area can call toll free at 855.257.2700. Phone banks will be open from 6-9 p.m. ET.The campaign, which Coach Cal is calling #BBNCares, won’t end with the telethon though. To donate outside telethon hours, call the Red Cross at 859.253.1331 or 800.RED.CROSS. Donations are also being accepted at all Central Bank locations.In addition, a 24-hour online auction will be held beginning at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday, the specifics of which Calipari announced on Tuesday night.

• Thirty pieces of the 2012 national championship floor will be up for auction. Each is 18 inches wide by 12 inches tall and will be signed by Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Calipari. The top 30 bids will get the 30 pieces.
• In the same format, two tickets to the Kentucky Derby Barnstable Brown Party will be auctioned. The top bid at 6 p.m. ET Thursday will win the tickets.
• A Harley-Davidson motorcycle signed by Calipari will also be auctioned, but final details on how that will work have not yet been announced.

Cat Scratches will be in attendance for the telethon, so make sure to stay tuned for coverage of the event here and on Twitter. In closing, I’ll leave you with the final words from Calipari’s challenge to help.”If we are able to do something and raise a ton of money for these people and these victims, we have to do it,” Calipari wrote. “It’s not an option. What we are doing here is bigger than just basketball games. We have a chance to make a difference in people’s lives, and I hope you will help me do that Wednesday.”