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
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
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...
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