Damn Dude Where You Been?

I have been on the sidelines. Been a crazy but very good year and a few months since I have posted. I figured out to much golf and blogging were impacting my earning potential so I corrected that. Lots and lots of family stuff. Lost my grandfather (who is the reason I love sports so much), my uncle Wally who was a great role model who died too young and been helping my family help my grandmothers adjust to getting older. Good charecter building! How much and how often I write is up in the air but here I go!

Albert Puljos

First of all let me say that I love Albert as a St Louis player, love what he brought to the St Louis organization and think he is a guy who in general epitomizes character if you know his background.

Albert gave it his all during his time in St Louis! He played hurt, he changed positions, and he served as a coach on the field and a mentor to the younger players. He put the time in outside of what is required to make himself one of the all time greats the history of baseball and a lock for a first ballot Hall of Famer. Much like Ted Williams once stated, “I am not a natural hitter and I am a great hitter because of the work I put in.” Albert is much the same as Ted.

As a St Louis fan I will miss Albert and I wish him the best of luck in the future. If he truly plans to play baseball for ten more years then a shift to the American League is the right move for him because he can become a DH and not have to play in the field. This could extend his career to that ten year point and allow him to break several career MLB records.

Of course I am not a person who thinks that Albert has been using PED’s or HGH but in today’s sports environment anything and everything is possible in that arena. Probably not even worth mentioning but I know that argument is out there. Same with the questions about his age and I would not be surprised if he is not a few years older then he claims or maybe even knows.

The most important thing I want to convey is that they have always been the St. Louis Cardinals and not the Puljos Cardinals. The franchise existed quite well before Puljos arrived and I predict will do quite well now that he is gone!

I had the good fortune of being in St Louis for game seven of the World Series and watched the game at Mike Shannon’s deck bar. The people who I stood with and watched the game all had the same opinion that I had about St Louis re-signing Albert. If they want to sign him for 6 years with some option years after that and pay him $30 million that would be acceptable but a ten year contract was just out of the question no matter what the cost. St Louis fans are some of the best in baseball and they know and understand the impact of a ten year contract in the $225 million range would have had on the franchise. Not worth it!

It is proven that most of the contracts to aging players are never worth the investment and in the case of Puljos and the Angels my guess is that if they win one or two World Series with Albert over the next ten years then the investment is maybe worth it. I would agree with the Angels on that point and Albert would truly be a hero to that franchise because he would be bringing the team their first World Series title. He would be revered by that franchise even after his career is over and could forever be the face of that franchise if he is able to help the team accomplish that feat.

The mistake, in my opinion, that Albert made was he will never be the face of the St Louis franchise for what many call the best baseball city and the best baseball fans in America (yes Yankee fans and Red Sox fans you are also in that discussion).

Albert will NEVER be mentioned in the same breath in the city of St Louis as Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Ozzie Smith and That Man called Stan are today. In my opinion that is more sad for Albert then it is for the St Louis fan base.

You see Albert will never be revered and celebrated by the St Louis fan base like such greats as Ted Williams, Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Yogi Berra, Johnny Bench, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks are by the franchises they played for in their careers because they played for the same teams (except Ruth of course but that was no fault of his own). He will be respected and he will be well thought of but he will not be like That Man, Gibson, Ozzie or Lou Brock are today.

Albert missed the boat and he will regret that decision some day, not from a financial perspective, but from an it means to be a true legend for a franchise. I know the game is different today then it was when some the greats I mentioned played and for sure some of those guys given the opportunity would have moved to another franchise but they are and continue to be the face of those franchises and they will forever be revered by their cities in a way that Albert and many other players like him will never know.

Good luck Albert! Thanks for your contribution. I will continue to wear my Musial # 6 gear for the rest of my life time as will many other St Louis fans. In twenty five years when you are attending a St Louis game and you see people with Musial, Gibson, Brock and Smith jerseys remember that could have been you!

How Many Banners Should UK Basketball Have

At the current count there are seven. Should there be more?

- 1966 – If Pat Riley is not sick with the flu then I say that it is worth ten points. Hang another.
- 1975 – Had the Louisville player, who was 28 for 28 on the season at the free throw line, not missed the front end of a one in one then UK plays Louisville vs UCLA and a retiring coach Wooden. Hang another.
- 1984 – No way this team should have lost period. Total fluke. Hang another.
- 1992 – In one or Ricky P’s only down moments as UK coach, putting to much emphasis on not fouling and not putting Timberlake guarding the inbounder and not fronting Lattener well you know the rest. This team overachieved. They could have beaten IU next game and they could have handled KU in the championship. Hard call. Odds are no!
- 1994 – Lost to a great Michigan team in OT in the final four. I think Michigan wins that game 7 out of 10 times.
- 1995 – As much talent as 96 team. Should have beaten UNC in regional championship and won it all. Hang another.
- 1997 – Team overachieved to get to championship game. Could have won the game if Ricky P plays Anderson in OT. I say no.
- 1999 – If not for a Bogans high ankle sprain add another.
- 2003 – Great team who ran into a bad second round match up. Team could have but losing in 2nd round tells me they could have lost at any time.
- 2010 – One of the most talented teams in UK History. Hard call on this one. They should have made it to final four at least.
- 2011 – They run into a hot UCONN team that in my opinion they should have beaten. Bad adjustments in game. Beat UCONN as they should have and hang another.
- 2012 – If Cal does not win this one then the critics will be chirping and they should. Best team he has had (2010 was more talented). The tournament is tough, tough, touch to win and if he gets his first one there will be multiples.

So in my opinion, figuring maybe they won one or two they maybe should not have I say they should have 11 or 12 NCAA championship banners hanging.

IU vs Kentucky

Taking a while for this to settle in (obviously). Not that Kentucky lost but the over the top behavior of the a portion of the IU fan base before, during and after the game all the way down to those We’re Back T Shirts.

Before the game there was some very crazy stuff people had posted on Twitter about Cal, Kentucky in general and of course the University of Kentucky. Of course it is Twitter and 95% of the people who use this Social Media outlet use it for the purpose of showing their lack of intelligence and the fact that they can hide behind what they say and have no accountability. The usual shit was posted, Cal is a cheater, everyone in Kentucky is an in bred hillbilly, etc, etc.

During the game one texted me at the start of the game and his comment was that is was very hostile in Assembly Hall. Pumped up is good but hostile is tough and taking things a little too far IU fans. One of them said that he had some words with one guy and that is was close to coming to blows and finally one texted me when the game ended and said I fear for my life at this point.

On that Monday I talked to my third buddy who was at the game and said the students were out of control and the main source of the bad behavior. He even said they had a guy come and shake their hand and thank them from coming to the game so that is a positive sign.

So why the bad behavior or what I consider over the top behavior?

1. IU has not been relevant in basketball since Mike Davis took them to the Final Four.

2. In the 90’s Knights teams started to not be what they had been (I say Knights teams because he had become bigger then the program).

3. From Davis to Sampson to Dakich to Crean

4. Since Crean has been at IU they are under 500 overall and in the Big 10 (of course better this year)

5. IU is 5 and 16 in the last 21 games against UK

Take #1, #2 and #4 and #5 and you have a young student fan base who has no idea what it is to have your University when a big game at home against a #1 team. Act like you been there before right? Well most of them had not!

So I think I at least understand why there were some fans over the top. Next year at Rupp I will guarantee you the type of behavior displayed by IU fans will not be what the UK faithful does, win or lose.

Random

- Never gets old, St Louis Cardinals, World Series Champions!

- Guy just said during Vandy and Harvard game that Vandy was coming off a shocker win over UK. Disagree. I was not shocked or surprised. Most experienced team in college basketball (Vandy) and they were ranked top ten to star the year. I like Tommy Amaker and glad he is getting a second chance.

- Totally ditched that I did not go to Honda Classic this year but I did trade off six days of golf at Hilton Head in June.

- Wow! WKU Toppers got hosed in football this year! They finished strong this year! I am not one that has an issue with the bowl games but I think their could be a better system in place to select teams especially when a 6 and 7 UCLA gets in a bowl because they played in their conference championship game. Making up for it in basketball late in the season.

- Bob Knight = Total JackAss

- Digger Phelps = Total JackOff

- Hey haters. Coach Cal led effort to raise over $400,000 for Tornado relief.

- I like that with Navy joining the Big East I will get to see them play live more often but wish they would have stayed independent. Even though it is the Big East this is a big step up for a service academy school.

- Check out, “It Might Get Loud”. Pretty good music show about guitar playing with Jimmy Page, Jack White and The Edge.

January 23rd, 2011

Dude, Where’s My Car???

Someone stole our 1995 Honda Civic right off the Repair Shops lot last Tuesday night… We have used this ship for fourteen years and have never had any issues… They still had the key inside the building so it looks to be a professional job (believe it or not the 1995 Honda Civic has ranked second on the list of cars most stolen in the US the last two years) and is in a chop shop somewhere (there was glass all over the ground where they broke the window…

I am trying very hard to have a sense of humor about all of this… The car was priceless to us because we bought it new, had it serviced like clock work and planned on driving it several more years… By having this type of vehicle it helped the value of our other vehicles because we did not have to drive them as much… Really sucks!!!

Hoping to come to an agreement with the owner of the Repair facility since the car was in there possession when it happened… Know the laws so you can to protect yourself…


More Comments from the Masses:

I left the spelling alone…

UK should be proud. They are a welfare program that does pretty good. If you live in Louisville you pay 2 seperate income taxes to help fund programs in Lexington and around the state. So when your next paycheck comes you can say you are part owner of UK. We pay our players better than any NCAA basketball team in the country at U of L light. BTW what I said is all factual.


My comment: I do not think he gets it but he thinks he does…


UK wants a football stadium expansion.... HHHMMMMMM I wonder if they are going to ask for anymore welfare from the good people of LOUISVILLE to build it? Maybe they could ask the KKK for donations? God knows if your a UK fan you are a member.


My comment: Like the new chicken bucket a new or improved football stadium at UK and the new basketball arena that the city of Lexington is likely to build will be paid for mostly with bonds and money from the athletic fund (Rupp is owned by the city of Lexington)… Also did not know that being a UK fan made me also a member of the KKK… Must have missed that somewhere along the way… I would like to think he is joking about this but I am confident he is serious…



So if a man and a woman get divorced in Kentucky are they still considered brother and sister?


My comment: Always someone throws this one out there…


well since ky is the leading state for incest,this will be a special day for ky fans,and nine months from today a whole new breed of ky fans........


My comment: Again another common comment… Shows a very high level of intelligence, not…



they forgot to point out that calipari was leading the charge. i seem to recall the cameras catching calipari telling one of our players that he was going to kick their a** after the game. go cards they are ours this year.What a joke, Ky is a bunch of thugs and they make out like Louisville is the problem. Louisville didn't have any other confrontations the rest of the year and Cousins and his thug punk pals were in trouble every other game.Cousins throws the first (and the second and the third swing) and the Cards are just suppose to put up with their punk as%&#. Give me a break. Ky hasn't been relevant outside of Lexington in years. I can't see that changing anytime soon with the present AD and coaching staff at Ky.


My comment: Hmmmm… If the irrelevant team has beaten the chickens the last two years than what does that make them??? Or the fact the UK is 18 and 10 against the chickens and has been in five final fours and has three championship game appearances to chickens two final four appearances and one championship game appearance since the regular season series started back means again, using his analogy, that the chickens are below the Cats…



Props to UK, mad props( as they say in the hood) for beating also ran LSU today. Honestly Kentucky has become as irrelevant as LSU in college hoops. They had their a$$ kicked this year by the varsity, Uconn won by thirty, UNC toyed with the 'Cats, even the JV(Georgia) drilled UK by double digits. The program hasn't won a national championship in a generation, or been to a final four. The Lexington school switches coaches like the Raiders do. UK has always been corrupt(Eddie Sutton, 50's point shaving scandal), but now they have the king of the cheaters, Calipari is the only coach to have two final fours vacated by the Ncaa for cheating. Yeah you have alot to be proud of these days if you're a Kentucky hoops fan! LOL!

My Comment: Again… Kelvin Sampson, Jim Harrick, Bruce Peral and Todd Bozemen who have been banned or suspended for cheating at some point… Where is Cal’s ban??? As for the cheating comments those are easy targets and for sure UK is guilty but if you go look at the back story for the 50’s stuff they did not LOSE games only made sure they stayed inside the spread, no excuse but the men who did this all became very reputable people and paid dearly for that mistake…



SEC bball what a laugh- back to the Maravich rupp days- bet if barkey had to do it over again he would never go to an sec school . Who is the only KY coach who didnt cheat or was a sleezebag- anser: Rick P. that kind of cheating is something irrelevant to the game . A Rupp the woody hayes of bball. E. Sutton lol Tubby lllllooll. and ur current coach . Chaney should have beaten him to death and ask derrick rose his own player about him . Rose is great DESPITE him . LOSERS. osu is 8 deep and u finally figure out who sullinger is maybe ull know who thomas is in a few weeks and matta is class and a great recruiter even at xavier. assure u that program will never have a tough of scandal and even though a mich guy (we are young and improving ast least in bball no more 1 on 1 Harris) have to respect classy guys like matta and Lighty plus OSU educated their bball players- look at kellogg and jackson articulate as anyone doing college sports on TV. and even oden went back for his degree. This is their year also see purdue as a possible final 4 team if they start using JuJuan more in the last 5 minutes- he is a beast as is Sullinger both will be top notch NBA players- neither wall or ET are really NBA franchise playrs though ET singlehandly got that team pretty far lst year. This year everyone handles the bll even Duiebler plays defense and u pick up poison. even if dukie have refs in their pockets and an easy regional anyone can take them out. Syracuse is nice but far more holes than osu and i think purdue is better. Big 10 is tough MSU might actuall be a middle of the pack team.



My Comment: Again I would like to say I just made this up but this is an actual comment… The biggest thing I have seen what Cal has done with Brandon Knight this year, Wall and Cousins last year and with Jorts this year and say this guy can develop talent… UK has many articulate graduates and I am guessing that reading between the lines here is an OSU fan and bet he would not want to discuss anything about his football team… As for the only coach who did not cheat that is false!!! I do not remember Joe B, Rick or Tubby ever having any sanctions laid upon the program and the 50’s incident was a PLAYER issue not a Coach issue so that would mean, if you are keeping score one of five of six coaches have had no sanctions leveled against them in their tenures…



Stanford Band

Where has you sense of humor gone??? The Stanford band was barred from playing at halftime of the Orange Bowl because of some past ‘fun’ they have had with pop culture… The fear was something directed towards Lebron and company like the list of things they have done in the past… Really good stuff… This came from Yahoo Sports…

• Once mocked the kidnapping of Cal alum Patty Hearst in Berkeley;• Commemorated the anniversary of UCLA alum Jayne Mansfield's (falsely rumored) decapitation in a car accident by playing "Another Saturday Night and I Ain't Got No Body" at the Rose Bowl;• Was banned from Oregon for 11 years for making fun of the pending extinction of the state's spotted owl during a conservation fight;• Received a lifetime ban from Notre Dame in 1997 for playing with a conductor in a nun's habit and a wooden crucifix as a baton during a show titled "These Irish, Why Must They Fight?" which featured jokes about the 19th century Irish Potato Famine and reportedly prompted a fan to charge the field screaming "You're all going to hell!";• Had members skip rehearsal to play outside the O.J. Simpson murder trial;• Employed five members of the dance team, the Stanford Dollies, to mock polygamy at BYU.

UK Football

It is very simple… This was a very disappointing season for UK… UK should have gone 7 and 5 or 8 and 4 during the regular season and been in a much better bowl than they ended up in this year…

The coaching was horrible throughout the year and the coaching in the bowl game this year was the worst coaching job of the year…

- Cobb hardly ever touched the ball…

- Newton obviously cannot throw the ball down the field even to a 6 foot 6 inch receiver (I do not think he ever threw a ball in his direction)…

- Special teams, as they were all year, were atrocious!!! Blocked punt and fake punt that was pitiful!!!

- The defense actually played well in the first half for once and then was awful in the 2nd half…

Joker’s tenure could be a short one unless he can improve the record next year and win more than six games… No bowl next year means he must go to a bowl the next or he will be out!!!

I still say that a pro style offense is never going to work at UK… Have to have a gimmick because UK players in general are always going be a little smaller and a little slower than the rest of the SEC…



UK Vs. Georgia

This was one of the games I thought UK would lose… Georgia is tough at home, has some good inside players and a new point guard… UGA always plays UK tough so again myself and really no one else is surprised…

I still think UK will lose to Vandy on the road and somewhere in there schedule is two other losses just not sure where they will come from… The lack of depth will hurt this team and hamper them in the SEC and NCAA tournaments…

At this point in the year I think Cal has a done a very good coaching job considering all the new players he has on the team… He needs at this point to get something out of Vargas and Stacey Poole and continue to press Jones so he gets better…



UK Vs LSU

Wow that was over quick…



UK Vs Bama

Another game that I was extremely concerned about. Bama has a coach… A really good coach who I think can do some great things their if they can hold on to him… Just like the coaches at Auburn…

Problem in this game is the youngsters just do not realize you have show up big on the road because you are going to take that SEC road teams best shot they will give all year… UK just went to sleep from the after about the first five minutes of the game to about eleven minutes to go in the 2nd half…

Allot of this looks to have to do with Brandon Knight… He did not even show up until about the eleven-minute mark when Kentucky was down twenty… He started leading the team, made some shots and got some help from the other disappearing act known as Darius Miller… Once they both picked it up things started to flow on both ends of the floor…

I thought Coach Cal did a great coaching job in the 2nd half by recognizing that Jorts was just not getting it done on offense and he put his unit in who can score… The run UK made was tremendous but a little problem with spacing at the end of the game cost UK a chance to win… You hear the commentators and coaches talk allot about spacing and if you watch Lamb and Knight at the end of the game you see what bad spacing can do…

Am I concerned??? I thought this team would lose four or five games in the conference… If the lose to South Carolina than the concern meter will be pegging the area of concern… They have to show up…



Football Playoff

Another NCAA hypocrisy…

Yes I am for a playoff but it has to be done in a way that protects the other bowls…

You have to do something that leaves the regular season very meaningful and you also have to have guidelines in place that if you are not a conference champion you are not eligible for a playoff (Yes that means only one SEC, Big 10, Pac 10, ACC, Big East and Big 12 teams get in)… This give you six schools and than two at large picks from the other conferences or independents…

A playoff this year would have included Va Tech, UCONN, Oklahoma, Auburn, Wisconsin, Oregon, TCU and Nevada… I am an SEC fans but I do not buy the argument that an LSU or any other team belong in a playoff this year because they are not a conference champ!!!

This year you would have had:

Game 1:UCONN (8) at Oregon (1)
Game 2: Oklahoma (5) at Wisconsin (4)
Game 3: Nevada (7) at Auburn (2)
Game 4: Va Tech (6) at TCU (3)


Second Round

Game 5: Game 1 winners Vs Game 2 winner (BCS Bowl)
Game 6: Game 3 Winner Vs Game 4 winner (BCS Bowl)
Game 7: Game 2 loser Vs Game 2 loser (BCS Bowl)
Game 8: Game 3 Loser Vs Game 4 loser (BCS Bowl)

Final

Game 5 Winner Vs Game 6 Winner



Random

- A Jets player who was mouthing about Tom Brady and the Patriots and calls them cheaters needs to look in the mirror… He has nine kids by six different women in six different states and is named in five other paternity suits… What a fantastic role model!!!

- The Kanter ruling is just a crying shame…

- Bears and Packers have never met for a Conference Championship before in their long history of playing each other… What a stage and what a game that will be!!!

- I am for anyone as long as it is not the Jets…… or the Cowboys!!!

- Man do I miss college football already…

- Congrats to Mark Pruitt for wining the Bowl Game Pick’em and to Sam Nation for winning the college football regular season Pick’em… If you are keeping score my wife beat me in Regular Season pick’em but I got revenge on her in the bowl games as we finished #1 and #2 at the bottom of the pile…

- Watched UK recruit play against Duke recruit on Friday night… They both looked very good on the court…

- KSR did a poll of who is UK’s best rival in basketball and IU did not even make the list… My how times have changed… That to me was/is UK’s greatest non conference rival in basketball with Chickens next…

- Coach Cal called T Jones a selfish Mother expletive during the game… I have no issue with that… During a game I was at a few weeks ago Cal met Jones at half court during a timeout and just looked at him and screamed…

- I loved Cal looking at Vargas also during the Bama game after he screwed up three times in about fifteen seconds to set the expletive down…

- What UK will do as the season progresses will be interesting… I think they will and should get better… Lack of bench players will hurt… No predictions at this point…

12.31.2010 Happy New Year

Above are some Great Photos from KSR that prove a few points and one of Big Cuz retaliating to the thugs last year…


Red Sox Vs Yankees

In my opinion the UK and U of L basketball game is not Red Sox Vs Yankees, Cardinals Vs Cubs, Bama Vs Auburn or Army Vs Navy as many fans on both sides believe… Not even close!!! If you want to hear some fans hate on each other find the Paul Finebaum show out of Birmingham as Bama and Auburn fans make UK and U of L fans look soft…

For me UK is playing another non conference opponent in basketball and Louisville is playing their biggest game of the year based on the chatter I hear from their fan base… Don’t get me wrong there are for sure UK fans who feel this is the biggest game of the year…

In my opinion the football game is an opposite mindset… UK because of the conference they play in for football makes the U of L game HUGE and for U of L because of the conference they play in it is just a non conference game…

I said it last year and I will say it again… It would not matter to me if these two teams ever played each other in basketball again… After the shit that the coach that came after Eddie pulled last year (street/thug ball and not even have his players come out for introductions) that put the icing on the cake for me (of course the Marvin Stone thing also)… I cannot imagine what it is like for that guy (the coach that came after Eddie) to go to the place where he had his greatest success as a coach and literally be hated more and more each year by the fan base!!! Has to be pure hell for the guy and that is a crying shame but he only has himself and his ego to blame…

Maybe it is not all U of L fans but I have to tell you it is a large portion of them in my opionion that have an elitest attitude and look down their noses at UK fans when it at the end of the day U of L fans mixture is no different than UK’s… What I mean is that with both fan bases and really with fan bases of any schools you have a minority who are lumped in as the majority (the complete rabid, idiotic, without reason crazies)…

People in Louisville in general look down at the rest of the Commonwealth and I was always told that was the case but after living here 16 years I see it and hear it allot but it does not bother me because I love the Commonwealth and I love living in it’s largest city and all the city has to offer… I do not let it bother me because I have as much or more culture than the majority of the native Louisvillians I know… Does not mean I am better than them but I also know that I am not below them as they sometime wish you to believe…

Despite what they think U of L fans are no different that UK’s fan base… Just come with me to work one day and I will introduce you to the guy in one of the buildings who wears a U of L sweatshirt or T shirt and a hat every day he has worked the last eight years (in the summer he wears Jorts and in the winter he wears Mom Jeans)… Any and every conversation I have ever heard him engaged in the breakroom is nothing but UK sucks, blah, blah, blah… I will then take you to two other buildings and show you two other guys who could be his twin brother…

Bottom line is both fan bases have their share of charecters… Like Auburn fans and Bama fans they in general do not like each other and sometimes it gets very personal… Does not need to be that way but unfourtunatly today that is the way it is and you can blame the Coach that Came After Eddie (or Denny in their case) for where the classlessness of the rivalry today…

In general for me I have to say that college basketball does not mean what it used to… I watch UK play on TV and attend five to six UK games per year… Of course I want them to win every game not just this one game and the only time I watch U of L play is on the day they play UK… I guess you could call me a UK elitest!!!

I do like the attending the Final Four, no matter what teams are there, but I am not nearly as big a basketball fan or junkie as I used to be… I have very little interest in watching other teams play on TV (allot of that has to do with the aounnouncers) but last year I did start watching Patriot League Games (that is Navy’s conference) when they were on TV…

I am just a college football junkie and of course love baseball in the summer…

The point to me is whether U of L fans want to admit it or not you are all from the great Commonwealth of Kentucky and you are all a bunch of Rednecks!!! Just see the comments below (love the spelling in the first one):

Comment 1:

Good luck you redneck cats fans. Make sure your bring some money to spend in my city. You wiskey chuggin, sister loving hicks should have a good time and pay for some new roads for me. Bring your best flannel button up with your holy overalls too. Trust me...we can spot a kitty cat fan a mile away and we have been ready for you since last year. I am glad we LOUSIVILLE have the best coach in the country and we dont have to worry about the freshman leaving every year. We can actuly coach them up and prepair them for their futures insted of haveing MASSIVE turn over every year!!!! Good luck kitty cats on even getting to the turnament!!! If you loose your best players every year you will NEVER EVER go far in the turnament with that lack of experence!!!!! Coach CAL.....you will get skeeted on for the new year!!! HA

My comment: Guy has some serious flashes of ignorance… Spelling is marginal at best and he misspells the city he lives in also… He is not a redneck though… LMAO!!!

Comment 2:

It's gonna be a sad new year's Eve in Lexington. Who cares about a bunch of pig farmers anyway? Your players are overrated and selfish and your program was founded on bad sportsmanship & Racism. How bad do you rednecks miss john wall? Id rather lose with players who are proud to wear our Jersey then win with super freshman only concerned with their NBA stock. That said get ready to leave birdtown with an L.

My comment: Regardless of the outcome of the game by midnight I will have forgotten about the game… I would take five new guys every year if they were as good as the ones last year and be in the mix Vs not having a chance when the tourney starts… As for turning them over every year I see TJ going pro after this year but I think the rest stays…

Comment 3:

Nick Chapman (The Flash) 22 - Male - Louisville, Kentucky... (guy was crazy enough to have his real name and address visible)… Comment: What's the difference between the Holocaust and Kentucky winning it all?.....Hitler

My Comment: This guy is out of control and demonstrates all that is wrong with people posting their thoughts on message boards…

Here is another display of class: KSR reported that on a U of L site they were rating what would be the best signs at the game this year and they were leaning towards, ‘Hey Calipari, how is your mother???”

This game and the fans have become ridiculous as you can see with the comments above… Do UK fans post these types of things on U of L sites or after an internet story about U of L??? I have no idea because the last thing I take time to do is go to one of their sites…

I only wish that the people of the Commonwealth could celebrate these games as the teams from Army and Navy do when the compete against each other but ignorance will not ever allow that to happen…

U of L is not the benchmark for UK and UK is not the benchmark for U of L whether you believe it or not!!!

UK and U of L Stats (pulled from KSR)

You know when these teams started playing on a regular basis I thought that the style that U of L traditionally played would have an edge over UK… Of course the 86 Rex Chapman breakout game at Freedom Hall was a huge turning point… UK has literally dominated the series since the 1983 NCAA tournament game (which was as fine a basketball game as was ever played)… Check out the stats below that were posted on KSR:

Games at Rupp Arena:

Kentucky 10, Louisville 4

Largest UK Win: 1999 (76-46) Largest UL Win: 2008 (89-75) Average Score: Kentucky 76, Louisville 68

Games at Freedom Hall

Kentucky 7, Louisville 6

Largest UK Win: 1986 (85-51) Largest UL Win: 1988 (97-75) Average Score: Kentucky 74, Louisville 71

Largest Margins of Victory 34: Kentucky 85, Louisville 51 (1986)

30: Kentucky 76, Louisville 46 (1999)

23: Kentucky 89, Louisville 66 (1995)

22: Louisville 97, Kentucky 75 (1988)

20: 3 instances (2001, 1996, 1992) *All UK Wins

Wow… In seven games that have been decided by 20 or more points UK owns six of those victories… Interesting…


My thoughts on Message Boards

I am of the opinion that only sites like KSR should have comments because they invite comments…

Yahoo, CBS Sports and on line Newspapers need to get rid of comments on a sports article or summary for a game or another team because it is just a place where complete idiots make random and absolutely insane comments… I would support comments however if someone is forced to use their real names with a real address in order to post (like you have to if you send a letter to the editor of a newspaper)…

The comments are funny at times but they are also a great representation of what is truly wrong with people in this country whether they are commenting on something political or something sports related… Just a sad statement of our blame everyone else for your problems society…

The standard comment is your team sucks, your team cheats, your coach blows and your fans suck, etc, etc…


Random

- My New Years Resolutions as related to sports are to stop reading the post at the end of articles on any site except KSR, to lay off of Joker and give him four years (three now) with no negative thoughts or comments and go to more pro baseball games…
- By now I would think most U of L fans thought the coach that came after Eddie (or Denny for them) would have won at least one National Championship… I am not sure how much longer he coaches (not sure after his activities last year how he survived) but I am not sure a championship happens…
- I have created a monster with my three year old niece… Any time she sees a Redbird she calls it a Chickenhead… Chickenheads are Cardinals with teeth only…
- The celebration penalty against K State against the Cuse is very very questionable call… Next year with a rule change they call that penalty the TD is nullified…
- HBO Real Sports took two pop shots at Coach Cal during their end of year broadcast… Both were unjustified and both were incorrectly stated… Kelvin Sampson + NCAA Violations = banned from coaching… Jim Harrick + NCAA violations = banned from coaching… Coach Cal + NO NCAA violations = coaching in NCAA… Do your homework people and you will find PLAYER violations NOT coaching violations at UMASS and Memphis caused wins to be vacated… I have written the show and recommended they do a story next season and let Cal tell his side of the story instead of just slamming him for something they have not done their homework on…
- I saw a comment somewhere that said something to the effect they hope Urban Myers wife and kids have cable TV… Great comment but I understand why Urban is getting out…
- I was at the game where they honored Joe B Hall… Very nice production and Jack Givens did a great job…
- This just in… Colin Cowherd Sucks and he is one ugly mother!!! I have totally sworn off terrestrial radio and my life is much better for it… As for TV sports shows I do like PTI and watch it when I can…
- I am supposed to believe that Cam Newton’s father did not get some cash for his son to go to Auburn??? I cannot imagine that the Auburn season will be vacated because of a PLAYER issue later this year but at this point who knows…
- FREE ENES, Please!!!

12/16/2010

Pictures

- Pylon from the Army Navy Game...
- Pitching Great Bob Fellar...
- At the top pitching great Satchel Paige...

UK Football

I have said it… Other people continue to say it…….. “Kentucky cannot recruit the same level of athletes or talent that the other SEC schools recruit because the Commonwealth does not produce near the division one talent as other states (meaning they do not have a significant enough recruiting base)… UK does not have a large enough recruiting base and because high school football is not the same level here as it is in other states and surrounding states it hampers the UK program…”

I see it and understand it but I look at Bama, Auburn, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Ms State, Maryland, West Virginia, Tennessee and Virginia Tech and see schools that have winning programs with a very similar in state population and very similar competition for recruits…

Without a doubt with Bama, Auburn, Arkansas, Tennessee and Va Tech pump allot of money into their programs that Kentucky does not do in football and without a doubt the state of Alabama produces allot better football talent because high school football is stronger in Alabama than it is in the Commonwealth of Kentucky… With WVA I am not as sure about the money but high school football is also very strong in that area and they have a much larger recruiting base…

So truly what is it???

I look at schools like Navy and Air Force and say well how do they maintain the high level of play they have demonstrated the last ten years???

I know Navy and Air Force do not play in the SEC but they do play some quality opponents and they are in general not as talented as many of their opponents… I look at ACC schools as some of the other examples and although the ACC is not the SEC I particular pay close attention to Virginia Tech (funny BTI on KSR made a similar comparison) who fields a national contender in allot of years and rarely falls below an eight win season… I cannot find one reason why UK should not compare themselves to this school (Va Tech) and expect similar results…

Facilities. What UK has to do regardless of what they do with coaches, schemes, etc… it is time to spend some damn money to get Commonwealth Stadium upgraded, build a recruiting room, upgrade Nutter and some of the other practice facilities to get things on a similar level of the schools they are recruiting against… Facilities go along way and if you have nicer facilities you should be able to attract better people for your football program… Football pays for all the non-revenue sports and the non-revenue sports are prospering at UK right now…

Coaching… Rich Brooks was a stopgap!!! Rich was needed to come in and clean things up, get some discipline in the program and get the program to a competitive level… He basically got the job because no one else wanted the UK Job much to the chagrin of Mitch Barnhart who wanted to hire his own man and bypassed Guy Morris who has just finished the magic number 7 and 5 (note that Brooks never surpassed Guy Mo in wins in the regular season)…

Brooks (as I predicted) was never a guy that was going to get UK over the seven win hump or finish in the top of the SEC based on his record at Oregon and proved that during his tenure (he was 13 and 19 in the SEC during his last four years and if you look at his record at Oregon, throwing out his first five years there, it was nothing much to brag about and under .500)… Rich did what we he was asked to come in and do and I am glad for what he was able to accomplish… Joker was named coach in waiting because Rich knew he was leaving soon and did not want to impact recruiting in a negative way because UK is behind the eight ball in that arena any way… These are not slams on Brooksy but I believe are the facts…

Joker may yet prove everyone wrong but based on what I have seen in year one of Operation Win I have my doubts but I am not going to beat them to death… As for hiring Joker, yes that was the right thing to do at this point to keep continuity in the program…

So my point is if UK is truly at a large disadvantage in recruiting because of the lack of talent in the Commonwealth than what should they do???

I am of the opinion that running the current offensive scheme (a pro style set) is not going to consistently work at UK… Using the theory or fact (whichever you choose) that Kentucky ‘cannot’ recruit or attract the same level of talent that the other SEC school attract means you have to do something different in order to bridge the talent gap (on offense and defense)… Whether you buy the UK cannot recruit thing or not it is a fact that it is difficult for UK to have equal talent on both sides of the ball in the same year (proven to be true the last five years)…

So what you do is you either run an offense like Mumme used or run one or what Navy, Army or Air Force run on offense (each is called the triple option but each Service Academy runs a different version of this offense)…

Yes for sure Hal was a train wreck but he had the right idea on offense and look at the success that his long-time OC Mike Leach (who was with him all the way back to Iowa Wesleyan) had with this type of offense including a National Championship at Oklahoma as their OC and a consistent and exciting top 20 team at Texas Tech as their head coach… Also look at the success Kansas had for a few years running this same offense (their coach was QB coach at Okalahoma for the National Championship season and was OC for their other Championship runs)…

At Navy they run the Flexbone that utilizes a speedy undersized fullback (sound familiar), very fast and undersized half- backs (something Joker said on his show last night UK has) and slot backs and a leader at QB who can make very quick decisions on offense… The splits amongst the offensive line is a little wider and helps creates gaps and angles for the running game… It is also a very intelligent offense that requires a QB to read the defense and go to the line with the ability to check to different sets if needed and read the defense at the snap to determine, hand it off, keep it or pitch it… You have to be able to throw the ball 10 to 15 times a game to keep a needed balance and to keep the defense on their toes… Very exciting offense to watch!!!

At Army they run allot of the same thing as the Flexbone but what they do is closer to the Wing T (allot like today’s Wildcat offenses)… Army’s QB has to do allot of reads at the line of scrimmage and after the ball is snapped but they utilize allot more miss-direction and before the snap motion of their slots and half-backs… Army does not pass as much but you can throw out of this offense as well…

At Air Force they are allot closer to what Navy runs but they also utilize formations that put their Quarterback in a shotgun formation that they both run and pass out of on occasion… Some of their sets are more towards a true spread offense like Meyer ran at Utah and at Florida with Tebow (his spread is more like a triple option attack)…

All of these offensives help mask one of UK’s biggest issues which is size on the offensive line and put an emphasis on speed and discipline (not behavioral discipline but football discipline)… You can continue to recruit speed (Joker has indicated that is what he wants to do) and athletes and speed will go along way at the skill positions but when you have undersized linemen you need to do something non traditional…

Defensively UK has similar issues… Their line is undersized and it makes it difficult to match up with the other SEC teams year in and year out … So what you do is recruit speed and your base defense is either a 3 4 4, 3 3 5 or a nickel package (of course you run them all but one is your base)… This keeps speed on the field and in a year where you have a better secondary or depth at secondary than linebackers you run a 3 4 4 vs. the 3 3 5 as your base defense… Again these defenses utilize speed…

In any of these schemes you have to have extremely disciplined football players… Watch Navy, Army and Air Force play… You very rarely see these teams get penalized or miss assignments on either side of the ball because they are so well coached and drilled to execute the schemes…

In my opinion this is also what Vanderbilt, Duke and Indiana need to do in order to be competitive in their conferences… This is of course utilizing the theory that these schools cannot recruit either… I for one hope Vandy and Indiana (IU did not) do this because if they do in three years you will have a great comparison or benchmark for UK football against two programs with similar conditions in recruiting, etc… Only way I will ever be proven right or proven wrong…

I am just not buying that UK can only be a .500 football team almost every year and that they cannot once every three or four years win 8 or 9 games and on occasion be in a position to challenge for an SEC title… The last time UK did these two things was 1977 and 1978 and what kind of offense did they run???

People want to see aggressive and I am not always sure being aggressive on defense will work… A defense that has speed, a great scheme, players who execute these schemes and are good tacklers (watch Navy, Air Force, Army or Boise State tackle) can be a very good defense year in and year out in the SEC…

If UK wants to step up the level of football they play they need to upgrade facilities and they need change schemes in my opinion…


More Comments from the Masses

People love to hate on Calipari here we go… Remember I do not correct the spelling, etc… on these… Some of these are in reference to Cal's mother who recently passed away...

“Better go ahead and order your Duke back to back t-shirts now boy. Duke is about to pass the Cayuts as the best team of all time. You can’t live on all those titles you won back in black and white TV days. Plus, UK racked up a lot of those titles when blacks were not allowed to play and guys were wearing nut hugger shorts. UK was also famous for beating up on teams like the YMCA and bought their players with $50 handshakes. Suck it!!!”

My comment: I thought people that went to Duke were supposed to be really smart!!! Obviously not this one… Duke, like UK, did not have African Americans until after 1966 (UK beat an all white Duke team in the 1966 Final Four and I wish UK would have lost that game)… When UK beat Duke in the 1978 championship game Duke had one African American who started, and UK had two and Duke had one African American on the bench and UK had five… Today Duke starts three white guys and UK starts one… So my guess is that makes Duke racist (LMAO)!!!

Some additional info:

1965-66 Teams: UK – No African AmericansDUKE – No African Americans

1977-78 Teams: UK - Seven whites and six African AmericansDUKE – Nine White and three African Americans

1991-92 Teams: UK – Five whites, eight African Americans, One HispanicDUKE – Seven whites, five African Americans

2010 –11 Teams: UK – Three whites, One Hispanic, Six African AmericansDUKE – Six whites, Six African Americans

calapari is terrible...wake up sec with the exception of florida and vandy[copy duke and north carolina] recruit a mixture of whites...the fans want to see at least 2 or 3 white starters..they demand it.....look how empty the arenas are at bama,auburn and ole miss.that is for a reason..calapari cannot win anything big for the same reason....why does the lakers keep winning [pau gasol].heat won in 06 because of jwill......list goes on and on.

My comment: And Kentucky is racist… OK sure… Rupp Arena is filled to the rafters for every game…

Kentucky cheaters----stfu---youy bunch of loudmouth trash talkers just see what you want--- the facts are you are a young teaam with no chance to win it all this year and you will get rolled in the touurney this year jsut like last year----Thats right last year you bunch of pathetic losers were chanting championship like everyone was supposed to just give it to you and you CHOKED--HAHAHAHHAHAHHA----fact-----your coach is a proven CHEATER AND LIAR-----PROVEN CHEATER AND LIAR---you turdballs suck and you can all watch while someone else lifts the trophy --------you guys have no shot-----and we all know the countdown is on for coach cheaters next probation----it will be soon----count oin it losers COUNT ON IT----

My comment: Wow… All I can say is Wow!!!

Coach Cal will bring Kentucky a good well-deserved sanction =] We will all see him fall. And we will laugh.

My comment: Unfourtunatly this is what charges allot of people is other people failing…

You azzes talking day in -day out and still you think we care kentucky wildcats forever biches! pussie-cats growing strong -- that is what we do and it gets better and this is not a mak-a-believe --> it is live ------------> ggggooo wildcats

My comment: In the sake of fairness… Yes UK has them too…

Huskies will win and show the world what the sham system Calipari is promoting at UK is all about.

My comment: You lost…

Bring in a bunch of talented freshmen, watch them get picked by every equally talented team, send em to the NBA draft. Repeat.

My comment: This is the landscape… Duke will have one this year and that will change people’s minds… NBA is trying to do away with this rule (I hope they do so kids that want to go straight to the pros can go)…

Every once in awhile UK will win something big, but a few years later those victories will be wiped out.

My comment: Again someone else motivated by someone’s potential failure…

haa haa haa look at all the crybabies we won you lost sux to be you! yeah no hansbros no m.jordans 6 to 7 thousand students no taxpayers money just a 4 time national champ, olympic gold ,world champ !! and you punks hate us why because we win you loose you dont like it try to stop them oh thats right you cant !! you know why cause your loosers !!! haahaahaahaahaahaahaahahha etc. etc. K IS THE MAN !!!

My comment: Wow!!!

U of K is like all of the big colleges. They "HIRE" a bunch of pampered-fanny tall morons to perform while the school makes millions and tolerates the goons until the NBA gets them.

My comment: We go from racist university to now one who has a bunch of goons!!! Plus now we are paying players…

Go Duke. Screw cheatucky

My comment: My favorite type of comment… Where I have respect for the other top notch programs this is a classic your team sucks my team is great post…

The Worst Comments Ever

“The Wildkitties played as lifless in the 1st half as Calapari’s mother…”

My comment: This comment came from a U of L fan who was smart enough and kind enough to have his name available on Yahoo… Later that day his name, address and telephone number was posted on Kentucky Sports Radio along with his comment… To be honest I would not believe anyone would make sure a comment until I saw the next one...

Satan is boning calipari's mom tonight huh?Hee Haw,Just saying!!

My comment: Came from a Louisville fan who lives in PRP who was also smart enough to have his Yahoo account where you could get his real name and phone number… It all ended up on KSR…

wrong Calipari

My comment: Wow

Couldnt buy or talk your way out of this one..........God is the ultimate NCAA infraction committee.
My comment: Wow

Tiger Comments

Wow!!! These are off the charts… Tiger of course did all this to himself but none of the comments are justified… For sure Tiger really messed up and is paying a heavy price for that pain but I still do not wish any ill will upon him because as you can see he is getting punished enough… Just like Ricky P if you continue to make bad decisions in your life bad things will happen… Tiger has owned his and it is unfortunate that people have these types of takes… As Don Henley sang, “People love it when you lose” and that is sad but that is the society we live in…


Did anyone seen Elin and the kids in the crowd. Oh, that’s right. cheatah double bogeyed that hole.

Tigger has ZERO wins in 2010; he can't even win his "made for TV, silly season event".What a loser.

well maybe woods should learn to douch.. so there is no poopdick..lol.. anyway... only Yahoo would show Tiger instead of the winner.. congrats Yahoo... you really show your not racis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! show the winner fools... yahoo like woods is second rate. ..

Serves him right!!! Loser that he is and always will be!!!!

I am so happy that the DOG Woods blew it and has still not won. He does not deserve to ever win another game. I wish he would retire or be kicked out of the game and never heard from again...He is a total dog!!!!!

Tiger is a complete LOSER .

Lee Westwood = winner and number one golfer in the world.Tiger Woods = ... hold on while I recover from laughter....

Graeme McDowell, 2010 major winner and great golfer.Tiger Woods, 2010 winner at nothing and great choker.

Great he is a piece of TRASH !!!!!! I wish he would never win again .... go to your new $54m pad with ur whores !!!!

TigDaChoker is one ugly ape

AYU and Friends have just named Graeme McDowell as MAN OF THE YEAR,due to his GLORIOUS VICTORY over TiggyNiggy



Army Vs Navy

This is one of the oldest and most passionate rivalries in sports… A rivalry that all of other teams could learn from in the sporting world today… A rivalry where the two teams competes but have a great deal of respect for each other and their fans…

I love Navy football and I love that Air Force has a good team also and I especially glad to see Army on their way back… These teams all do it the right way with hard-nosed and very disciplined football…

If you missed this year’s edition of Army Vs Navy you missed a really competitive football game where one play (a fourteen point swing) changed the entire game in the 3rd quarter. You missed a Navy team who is known for running the ball pass their way to victory.

This year all three service academies are going to bowls and that is reason enough the blow structure in place (even with a four to six team playoff)…


Random

- UK will go as far as TJ and BK can take them...

- Congrats to Randell Cobb being named First Team All American… One incentive to coming back next year would be that he would be a Playboy Pre-Season All American and get a visit to the mansion…

- Mike Hartline royally screwed up!!! About all I can say about that one…

- Cam Newton was the best offensive player in college football and deserves the Heisman trophy but my guess is he will eventually have to give it back. His dad has all but admitted shopping his son around to the highest bidder and how would Auburn not have been the highest bidder???

- The SMU 30 for 30 was another good program in that series…

- Metrodome collapse is fitting for the Minnesota franchise with all their strife this year… They want a new stadium or they may end up in LA... NFL = General Hospital...

- South Carolina beats Bama, Tennessee, Florida and Georgia in the same year and loses to Kentucky… Who could have predicted that one!!!

- Joker wasted little time in making coaching changes for UK football… UK will get a new backfield coach on both sides of the ball and will get a co-offensive defensive coordinator (means this new coach and Brown will also be position coaches)…

- Hate to see highly recruited running back Donald Russell leave the UK football program… He was very talented but apparently was very high maintenance and any time you mom is quoted as saying you should play more, whether she is right or not, is never a good sign…

- Went to a Titans game and we were sitting right behind the Jacksonville bench… I watched the kicker on the sideline (he was usually right in front of us) and he never sat down… He was walking, stretching and kicking into a net constantly the entire game… Those dudes really do earn their keep or at least he did (FYI, he still missed two)…

- For me I loathe Tennessee football, Tennessee basketball and UNC basketball… That is not enough however for me to go on their fan sites and post some hideous comments, etc… UK fans also do the same I am sure (I do not out and look) and I am sorry there is just no reason or place for these things…

- Always the refs cost UK the games!!! Please!!! UK made only two FG’s the last ten minutes against UNC… There are allot of UK fans (like with any fan base) that are just whiny bitches!!!

- I found it funny that Ian Poulter’s made a comment to Tiger Woods on the putting green at his charity tournament when he told him, “Pipe down #2”…

- Mike and Mike in the morning = AWFUL!!! Just do not get it!!!

- Pitt football the last five years 35 and 25… UK football the last five years 33 and 27… Any questions???

- Pitching great Bob Fellar passed away... Bob had a high leg kick thing like the great Satchel Paige did... I have a PS2 baseball game where when you build a player you can give him that wind up as a pitcher...

- The Orange Team from down south lost to Oakland... Not sure if it was the Raiders or the A's... They play the Chicago Cubs next...

11.28.2010

UK Football

I was OK with Papaw Brooks ‘building’ for a few years during and after probation but three of the last four years (this year counts as one) UK has underachieved PERIOD and someone needs to be held accountable!!! If that is the product UK is going to put on the field year in and year out (since the 1960’s I might add) than just disband football and all the non-revenue sports it supports and just be a basketball school period (men’s and women’s)…

UK is 15 & 25 against the SEC in the last five years in football and 12 and 23 when you throw out Vandy (3 and 2 against Vandy is also PATHETIC)… That would get any other coach in the SEC or any other conference fired, PERIOD!!! WTF!!! Bunch of Bullshit!!! If that is the best you can do than YOU DO NOT DESERVE TO BE IN THE SEC IN FOOTBALL!!!

Spend some damn money on getting the facilities upgraded and then bring in an experienced head coach or DISBAND the damn program!!! Does not have to be high paid coach but a coach with experience as a head coach at a lower level like Dooley at The Orange Team down south would work (that guy is going to do a good job at UT)… Gotta go into it telling the fans to COMPETE IN THE SEC IT IS GOING TO COST MORE MONEY FROM THE FANS because it IS so they need to understand!!!

No way UK or any 6 and 6 teams deserves a bowl game!!! Very pitiful year for the Operation Win crew whatever that BS was Joker tried to sale the fan base…

Prove me wrong Joker, Prove me wrong!!! I dare you to prove me wrong!!!

A TDC to Remember

In the 21 years the TDC golf tournament has been held there have been some unique situations… We have had injuries, a no show or two (I am guilty of one of those via an administrative error), near arrests, substitution players for said injuries and even once had a sub because one of our players was best man at a Caribbean island wedding… This year we had a first…

With Thanksgiving Day you never know what type of weather conditions you are going to get at the golf course… We have played through some very cold conditions, some very wet conditions (with some light rain), light sleet and snow and even a couple of times where it was actually warm enough for short sleeves… It is interesting to note that the temperature at tee off and the highs for the day are almost the same for the 21 years we have played…

The talk this year prior to the tournament was weather and the surgically repaired defending champs (both were coming off major surgeries)… It looked like it was going to be a bit warmer than usual, was going to rain on Wednesday all day and than have thunderstorms on Thursday… Possible contingency plans were put in place that included all of the following possibilities:

1. Go to one of the par threes and the winner would be a closest to the pin shot
2. Have a chip off around one of the greens (possibly even a multiple spot chip shot from nine different locations with a putt included and low score wins)
3. A 100 yard dash relay race
4. A three legged race
5, A Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament

In the end weather was not the issue (it did rain all day Wednesday and all day on Thursday)… We arrived at Audubon at 8:00 AM and waited around until 9:00 AM and no one ever showed up to open the golf course for us… At that point we had no contingencies in place for a no show… As luck would have it Craig’s neighbor had opened up The Players Club on this day and he said come on over… We convoyed right on over and prepared to play…

Once we finally teed off it was raining very hard and the course in general was a muddy, watery mess (I have never played golf in this type of conditions)… It was as wet as I had ever seen a golf course in my life!!! We discussed playing only six holes but decided that as long as there was no lighting we would play nine (good call)…

The event kicked off with another successful hitting of the ceremonial gold golf balls (successful means we did not lose either ball once again) and than off we went…

The weather did not seem to impact the scores as four of the six teams shot a 40 in those conditions… I cannot speak for the other teams but I know with my team we could have easily shot three to four strokes better if we would have only made putts and made some better chip shots… The wetness did not seem to impact our drives or approach shots to the greens and I was surprised in general how far the ball traveled in such wet conditions (there was not allot of wind in general)…

As always the tournament was very competitive event… Kevin and Paul secured the first three skins on #3 (a par five) with a par… According to Kevin the drive they had to use was not even passed the women’s tee on the hole so to make a par was quite an accomplishment and the other five teams should be completely embarrassed that they did not make a par on that hole…

The next five holes were a push with pars and again I cannot speak for the other teams but I know that Bolin and I missed a great birdie opportunity on hole number fifteen from just inside 15 feet and it is unfortunate that neither one of us even scarred the hole on our putt attempts (we missed an earlier birdie putt from about the same distance on #11)…

The tournament victory was secured on hole #17 when Scott and Craig teamed up to get to the green in three and Craig drained an eight foot putt to secure the championship... The final hole was a push and the skin money for this hole was donated to the course for letting us get out and play and continue our tradition… Congrats again to the victors and congrats to Craig for becoming a multiple championship winner…

Now moving forward we had two items to make some decisions… Do we move back to Players Club??? The advantages there are we can have breakfast catered to the course, there is no threat from Robo Cops (the tournament participants are the only ones who will understand that one), we have eighteen holes to choose from (I like playing the back nine at Players), we can start on the back nine and not interfere with other people who may be playing that day and they are an alcohol friendly facility…

The other is what to do with the trophies that have been retired… My vote is we move back to the Players Club and that we purchase two large shadow boxes that are capable of holding six trophies… We would place one of those shadow boxes at Gene’s Restaurant and the other at the Players Club (or an alternate location)…

Best line of this years TDC that I heard??? My partner Steve Bolin forgot his rain jacket and I had an extra so here is Mr. Indiana Hoosier wearing a UK jacket… About three quarters of the way through the event he said, “Man I know why this UK Jacket is so waterproof and keeping me dry… It keeps UK Fans dry from all the crying you all do…” Pretty good one…



Pro Football

I have not had a favorite team or watched allot of pro football since the mid 80’s… I like the playoffs and the Super Bowl each year but the regular season just literally bores me to tears… If I did not have a fantasy football team each year I would probably not pay any attention at all…

Pro football is just completely high drama to me and has turned almost into reality type TV show or a Soap Opera which is why I think so many more people follow the sport and why I do not (of course this is media driven)…

Brett Favre, Brad Childress, Vince Young, Jeff Fisher, Jerry Jones, Chad Ocho Cinco, TO, Mike Vick (although is a good story at this point) and Al Davis, just to name a few are all the things that I see wrong with Pro Football in my eyes… At this point I would rather watch paint dry than watch a pro football game, read a story about Pro Football or watch a program about pro football… Yuck, Yuck, Yuck…

Of course TV coverage and the internet has allot to do with the coverage and drama that is presented with today’s NFL and the fact that there are allot of Americans that this type of drama appeals to makes it must see TV… Again, YUCK, YUCK, YUCK…



Boise State and TCU

Look in a one game situation any team can win… Villanova basketball in 85, Jets in 69, Utah in the Sugar Bowl and Boise a few years back in the Fiesta are some of the greatest examples of this in sports…

Facts are facts and although some of this is my opinion I think most reasonable college football fans will admit that if Boise State or TCU played an SEC schedule that they would finish with more than one loss (Of course Nevada took care of Boise)… Probably would be the same if they played in the Big 12 or the Pac 10 but in my opinion they could possibly run the table in ACC and I believe with little they would go undefeated against a Big East schedule this year but or course anything could happen in a one game situation…

So the question is if two teams like Boise and TCU end up undefeated will they get or deserve a shot??? Not this year for Boise… I personally do not believe that either team deserve a shot unless Auburn and or Oregon end up with a loss than they could be in… I believe that a one loss SEC team (although I think if South Carolina beats Auburn than both Auburn and LSU are out this year), a one loss Big 12 Team (there will be not be one this year) or a one loss ACC team (there will be one this year) or a one loss Pac 10 or Big 10 deserves a shot over an undefeated Boise State or TCU type team (this is why a small playoff is needed)…

Put it this way if you think Boise or TCU deserve a shot this year as an undefeated team than that means you think an undefeated Akron, Marshall, Western Kentucky, Alabama-Birmingham, Troy State, New Mexico, Louisiana-Monroe, Navy, Wyoming, or Army deserve a shot if they go undefeated… Look I am a Navy fan and if they ever go undefeated they do not deserve a shot at a National Championship…

Please do not use the NCAA Basketball tournament argument... Name me a small school that has won the NCAA Championship since the tournament expanded to 64 teams??? Please do not use the argument that the big schools will not play these two schools in football in a home and home situation… Look if you are an SEC Team or Big 10 team why would you schedule either one of these teams when you already have a difficult schedule already...

There are two options I see…

Option 1... On the second weekend in December this year you have the following seeded match ups:

Big East Winner(8) at Oregon(1)
At Large (6) at TCU(3)

ACC winner(5) at Big Ten Winner (4)
Nebraska(7) if they win the Big 12 at Auburn, if they win the SEC Championship Game(2)

No conference can have more than two participants in the eight team tournament…

From there the four winners move to the next round and the four losers also move New Years Day bowl games (The Rose, Sugar, Fiesta and Orange would be the bowls)… The two winners from the winners bracket than play a National Championship Game ten days later at a Neutral site (I say the same site every year)…

The other option is the Big 12, Big 10, SEC, ACC, PAC 10 and Big East break away from the NCAA, form their own Football League and form there own playoff format… The other schools would than do the same (the smaller schools)… This is the format I prefer because it would create three leagues with playoffs (besides D2 and D3)…

Either way I think it is a great idea to leave all the other bowl games in place… It is a great thing that 64 teams get extra practice and play extra games and it is also great for the fans and the cities who host these other bowls…

Regardless there is going to be some change in this format in the next few years… The one thing that I know for sure is the Federal Government needs to stay the HELL OUT OF THIS PERIOD!!!


Random

- The Big East conference for football is awful this year!!! I am not sure they deserve an automatic BCS bid…

- I have decided that not only is Colin Cowherd a complete turd but so is Skip Bayless… These type of journalist are just as bad as the people who post the idiotic negative banter on opposing teams message boards… Saying something negative or taking a negative just to get people fired up is irresponsible…

- Way to early to tell much about UK Basketball… What I think to this point is UK does not look like they are very good unless both Knight and Jones are on the floor… I do think there is allot of room for improvement with this team but without Kanter I am not sure they can make a deep run in the tournament but the names Carmelo Anthony and Syracuse come to mind… Jones is for sure the type of player Anthony was in college and there are some shooters on this team also…

- The recent drama in the NCAA with Cam Newton has an NFL feel to it for sure... I am not naïve enough to think that the Cam situation (if it is true) does not happen more than just this instance… Happens all the time within the rules and outside the rules in all college athletics…

- The Miami Heat… WOW… No one expected this… Could they be cursed??? Could Lebron have cursed himself??? Will be interesting to see how all this plays out the next six years…

- At the end of the first quarter I wrote… Looks like Auburn was/is a pretender… Hell UK almost beat them… Wrong……….. If Auburn beats South Carolina than they will play for the National Championship… BTW how did UK play with Auburn??? Auburn go pass happy for a while in the second half…

- I turned off the Boise and Nevada game at half time because I thought it was over… Thought the Bama Auburn game was over in the 1st quarter but when Mark Ingram fumbled in the 2nd quarter you could feel the momentum shift…

- Bama fans have to be crying the blues… I know I am disappointed but as a Bama fan outsider I thought their defense was a step or two below last year…

- Look SEC fans love him or hate him (I am not a fan) it is good for Pearl to be coaching for the Orange Team down south… It is good for the SEC that this school has a good basketball team each year…

11.13.2010

Something I Like to See

This is your top four schools for graduating Student Athletes:

1. Notre Dame-99%

2. Duke-97% and Northwestern-97%

4. Navy-96% and Boston College-96%

Another reason I like Navy Athletics is look at where they rank in graduation rates for all D1 sports… Pretty impressive… This is also why I respect the Duke and Notre Dame programs because of what their kids do in the classroom…

Really gets into the argument over the one and dones in college basketball and whether or not you want your school to recruit these types of kids (who are going to only stay one year)… I DO NOT like that Kentucky had so many one and done’s last year but I think at the end of the day most schools would have taken those kids (although UNC said no to John Wall and Duke said no on Bledsoe)…

In the long haul I would like to see Kentucky recruiting kids who are going to stay around four years in most cases but I realize you are going to have to mix in some one or two year players and cannot restrict your recruiting in that way I guess…

Although the Bledsoe thing is over I hold Kentucky accountable for allowing the recruitment of Bledsoe and Orton who proved to be not very good in the classroom… I DO NOT want to see that type of trend continue at Kentucky… This year with the signing of Brandon Knight and even last year with John Wall (who proved to be a good student) encourages me that this is not the case… UK should have taken a pass on Bledsoe and Orton in my opinion… Cal did nothing wrong in recruiting these players and it is up the University to say no!!! A coach is there to win and he is going to recruit the best players he can with the Universities stamp of approval…

Q and A from KSR With My Answers

1) Which player is the most IMPORTANT for this UK Basketball team?a. Brandon Knightb. Enes Kanterc. Darius Millerd. Deandre Liggins

Kanter… With Kanter this is a Final Four type team… Without him they are Sweet 16 or with some luck Elite Eight…

2) Can this team make the Final Four WITHOUT Enes Kanter?a. Yesb. No

No… Next year but this year no…

3) Who will go down as the FAN FAVORITE of this year’s team?a. Josh Harrellsonb. Brandon Knightc. Terrence Jonesd. Jarrod Polson

Knight because he can do it all…

4) Are the constant negative stories concerning the UK program lower your opinion of Coach Cal?a. Yesb. No

People migrate to negative… Look at a UK story on Yahoo and compare the amount of comments to any other school… Cal has a bad rap… He does allot of great things for the community and the commonwealth outside of basketball and he if he was guilty of anything he would be banned from coaching (like Kelvin Sampson)…

5) What is the MOST LIKELY final outcome of this season?a. 1st or 2nd round Exitb. Sweet 16c. Elite 8d. Final 4e. National Championship

Sweet 16…

6) What Joker Phillips the right hire for the progression of the UK football program?a. Yesb. Noc. Too Early to Tell

Yes… Will it work or not is the question…

7) What is MOST IMPORTANT for the Kentucky football program?a. Making Bowlsb. Beating Louisville on a Regular Basisc. Beating Tennessee on a Regular Basisd. Competitive in the SEC

Making Bowls and winning eight or nine games every three years or so…

8) What has been the BIGGEST ROADBLOCK to Kentucky becoming a consistent football power?a. Talent Gap in SECb. Basketball Schoolc. Lack of Huge Coaching Hired. General Attitude of Fans/Playerse. Destiny

Talent pool across the state is thin. Facilities need upgraded, fans that do not understand football and talent gap going up against Bama, Florida, UT, etc… are all factors. Yes UK has beaten every other school in the SEC the last five years (except UT, Bama and Florida) but they are 9 and 23 combined against Teams other than Vandy since 2006 in the SEC…

9) What is your general attitude of the football program for the next 5 years?a. Positiveb. Negativec. Indifferent

Positive… I am an eternal optimist… They need to spend some money on facilities and I am not sure that money is there… Many people did not renew season tickets this year and if prices go up they are going to drive more people out…

10) Are fans justified to boo their team during poor performances?a. Yesb. No
Fans can boo officiating and they can boo a bad play call (a quick slant on 3rd and 20 or pitch play inside the 10 yard line but do not boo players…

Enes Kanter

No surprise to me that he was ruled ineligible… Tough decision for the kid but he was only going to be a one year player anyway… He would have been a great one and could have possibly led UK to the Final Four (he has that much talent based on what I have seen)… He is Dirk Nowitzski with an inside game and will excel in the NBA…

As for the people bashing on UK and Coach Cal over this… You are all IDIOTS!!! This was a no brainer to take a chance on this kid… The worst thing that happens is he cannot play and you move forward and that is what UK will do… Same with the appeal process… You appeal it and the worst thing that happens is they (The NCAA) says no…

As for the people who thinks this is some kind of conspiracy against UK you are also wrong… The decision would have been the same had he gone to Washington but it would just have not gotten as much press coverage… There are also some who question why you would waste a scholarship on this kid who had a slim chance of ever playing and I still say UK lost nothing by taking this chance…

UK has the #1 recruiting class coming in next year and as for the one and dones I do not see any of the freshmen leaving UK after one year this year so HATE on that HATERS!!!

Comments From the Masses

Don't pretend that Enes was planning on staying 4 years to get an education. It was reported last year that Wall, Cousins and the rest of the freshman class bound for the draft stopped going to class in the 2nd semester last year and focused 100% on basketball.

My comment: Daniel Orton stopped going to class after the tournament was over... All the other guys finished... Stop spewing @#$%!!!

The bad thing is the way Calipari recruits they may always have good teams but neverbwin a National Championship because most of these kids are "one and done" so they never mature to win a National title which usually comes with experience.

My comment: He has not won one yet… Since 1998 (UK’s last title year) Nine teams have won National Championships so that means that including Kentucky around 300 other D1 schools have not won an NCAA Championship…

To all you jerks who tried to compare Jim Calhoun to this idiot. I tried telling you Calipari is the biggest cheater in the game but you didn't believe me. Well, here's more proof! The guy is a scumbag! In addition, North Carolina's football program was caught and it's just a matter of time before their basketball program is exposed as well.

My comment: Another Idiot… Calipari or the University is not implicated in any way shape or form… Kanter just like every other player has to be cleared by the NCAA and in this case he was not… No harm done on taking a chance on this talented player…

Get this article off the web page. no one outside of the state of kentucky much cares about uk or their illustrious coach. let the uk people deal with this issue on their own. they should be used to it by now. it will only get worse in "big blow" country.

My Comment: Of all the Sports articles posted on Yahoo today the article about Kanter had the most comments and 90 percent were people from other schools bashing UK… No one cares???

It's not cheating unless you get caught!! Cal got caught this time... (like the time before that, and the one before that)

My Comment: Another idiot… No one cheated…

You cant get them all through Crimiapri LOL Atleast he got caught cheating before the season started. There is nothing that this guy will not do.

My Comment: Another Idiot… No one cheated…

By the way, with Wall and Cousins tearing up the NBA, how is it Kentucky did NOT win the national championship last season?

My comment: Of the 300 plus schools in D1 only nine have won championships since 1998… You tell me??? Hardest thing to do is win that tournament…

Good, hopefully this will take the cats and Calamari down a notch. Can't wait until the whole program is given the death penalty by the NCAA for all of Calamari's cheating.

My Comment: When is that going to happen???

kentucky is a scummy deal. Can't win the big one in modern times. They bring these punks to campus and they don't graduate. Yuk!

My comment: Since 1998 (UK’s last title year) Nine teams have won National Championships so that means that including Kentucky around 300 other D1 schools have not won an NCAA Championship… Since 1995 11 teams (including UK) have won the NCAA Tournament… That means since 1995 300 plus D1 schools in basketball have not…

UK Football

I am thinking about changing my blog name to the “Life of a UK Football Fan” or “Wait until next year” but the Cubs fan have the market cornered on that one…

Expectations… Is it wrong to have a higher expectation??? Should UK fans just be satisfied with a competitive team that is 6 and 6 or 7 and 5 at best??? Should we not expect that every three or four years UK has an experienced team that can win 8 or more games??? Should we expect them to compete year in and year out for an SEC football title??? What is the right set of expectations to have???

I think this year’s team could have gone 8 and 4 and I have no doubt that the 2007 and 2009 should have both gone 8 and 4… That is all I ask just throw me a bone every couple of years and win eight regular season games…

Ugh… This year has been frustrating… Easy year to go 8 and 4 with the way the schedule set up… Will Joker make any changes at the end of the year??? Can UK beat Vandy and UT to get to 7 and 5??? Will UK get over the hump next year???

I am going to do a study this winter and do some real analysis of programs like WVA, Va Tech, UNC, NC State, Boise State, Pitt, Rutgers and Maryland to see how UK football stacks up against these schools and whether or not UK being in the SEC for football is just to tough to overcome… Put it this way if UK were in the Big East or ACC they would compete for the conference titles as they stand today!!! If UK played Boise State’s schedule this year they would easily finish 10 and 2 or 9 and 3…

As for whether or not Joker was the right guy for UK??? He was!!! Although I am disappointed about this year to this point a three game winning streak at the end of the year will go along way for next year… Give the man three years to prove what he can do and prove me and the critics wrong…

The university also needs to step up and spend some money on facilities and that will only come thorough donations or raises in season ticket prices…



Random

- The Cam Newton thing is going to get ugly…

- I think that if Boise State or TCU played in the Big East they could go undefeated this year… That conference is bad!!! Good thing for U of L because there road back to the top of that conference will be an easy and short one…

- Bama will still play a major role in what happens with the National Championship picture… I say they beat Auburn (knocks Auburn out of National Championship Game) and than Auburn will lose to Florida in the SEC Championship Game… I thought Bama would win out and the defeat to LSU was a shocker to me…

- I heard a Bama fan say on the radio the other day that there were allot of high school teams in Bama who could beat Oregon… That is a bit over the top…

- I think TCU is better than Boise State although I know Boise State beat them last year… If Boise State played in the SEC they are a two loss team right now and I think TCU would be at one or two losses also if they played in the SEC... I hope that TCU or Boise gets a shot at Oregon or an undefeated Auburn in the Championship Game…

- Colin Cowherd recently called John Wall (on consecutive days), selfish, all about himself, not a team guy and he will never win a championship… All because he did the “Dougie Dance” during his opening night (Mr. Selfish did set a Rookie Record for assists in game by his third game)… Why Cowherd would spew such a DEAD WRONG characterization of Wall is beyond me… This guy was the ultimate team player and a model student during his only year at UK… I have banned myself from listening to Cowherd… Check this months Sporting News and you will find a different profile of John…

- The Heat are the best five and five team in the NBA… Not really where they thought they would be… Pat Riley put this team together maybe he should be coaching the team also…

- Love the rebuttal by Cleveland fans on the Lebron commercial… Check the link below…

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshh9O4Wu59OJfq5T5FK