Another Shrimp on the Barbie?

This past week George Bush lost another key ally in his war on the environment. Australian Prime Minister John Howard was ousted from his position in a landslide election. Howard had been a huge Bush supporter in the effort to render the planet unlivable by the year 2050. Australia and the United States are the only industrialized nations not to sign the Kyoto Treaty, which aims to reduce carbon emissions to 1990 levels. Howard's Labor Party opponent pledged to sign the treaty and won the support of a large number of Aussie's by doing so. Once Rudd takes office and signs the treaty, the United States will be the only industrialized nation left to sign. The United States is currently responsible for 25% of the planet's carbon emissions.

Lots 'o News

There have been several newsworthy events since we last spoke. The Tennessee football game sort of left me in the doldrums, so I haven't really felt like posting. Also, the deviant world of textbooks is heating up, so posts may be fewer and far between.

1. Winston Guy (pictured above) gave the Wildcats a huge verbal commitment. Guy, a Lexington native, had been committed to Arkansas, but had been wavering on his decision. The departure of Houston Nutt in Fayetteville led Guy to give the Wildcats the nod this week.
2. There was a big high school basketball match up this weekend, featuring future Wildcat Darius Miller against Scotty Hopson. Hopson is rated as a top ten player in the nation by most recruiting services. Miller overwhelmingly won the battle, posting 41 points to Hopson's 17.
3. Louisville's journey to Las Vegas turned out to be less than successful. The Cardinal's ducked a possible showdown with North Carolina by dropping a game to the Stormin' Mormons of BYU. Following the loss, pictures surfaced of the Cardinal players enjoying themselves at a Vegas nightclub. When asked about the events, Louisville coach Rick Pitino stated, "I was a little disappointed in the pictures. Juan looked like he had spilled a drink on his shirt. Palacios will have to learn that he'll never be able to manage multiple relationships at one time with those type of sloppy partying habits. Other than that, I thought he looked good. The pictures of the Louisville cheerleader were better though."
4. ESPN decided to start a rumor that Coach Rich Brooks was going to retire after this season. Brooks later responded by stating he planned on being the longest tenured coach in Wildcat football history. Bill Curry responded by staring blankly in the distance with his headset on.
5. After the Kentucky loss to Tennessee, reports came out the Tennessee was stealing Kentucky's signals. When asked if this was true, Vols Coach Fulmer responded by eating an entire turkey, bones and all.
6. UK walk on Kerry Benson has left the basketball team.
7. Jodie Meeks may be out for the year. Ramon Harris returned to play last night, and Fulmer just ate another turkey.
8. It looks like Kentucky is likely headed to the Music City Bowl for the second straight year. The opponent would either be Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, or Florida State.

That is all for now. North Carolina is looming.

What's hoppin' in Hoptown

As the early signing period for college basketball comes to a conclusion, the most interesting story in the state of Kentucky may not be about who did sign, but rather who didn't. Namely, Scotty Hopson, the most highly touted high school player in the state of Kentucky. Scotty verbally committed to Mississippi State well before Billy Clyde came to town. He is currently ranked as the ninth best player in the nation in the class of 2008.

Hopson's UK recruitment was a typical Tubby Smith affair, as the Hopkinsville native made his decision before UK got around to showing him any interest. In addition, Coach Smith even had Ravi Moss (also from Hopkinsville) advising him to recruit Hopson. Kentucky native Rick Stansbury sold Scotty on Mississippi State before Kentucky ever got involved.

This week the early signing period finally gave Hopson the opportunity to make his commitment to Mississippi State official. He didn't pull the trigger. Rumors swirled all week about when, where, and whether Scotty would sign. It never happened.

Today, a newspaper in Hopkinsville ran a story stating that Hopson would not sign and that he was considering other schools. The schools mentioned in the article were Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Louisville, Kentucky, and Mississippi State.

More to come.

USC Trojan Tuesday

The president of the University of Southern California challenged coach Tim Floyd to find a bigger distraction for the class of 2008 than O.J. Mayo was for the class of 2007. Many thought it couldn't be done, but Tim 'Tool Time' Floyd knocked it out the park when he signed rapper 'lil Romeo to play basketball for the Trojans. On Monday, 'Lil Romeo signed his letter of intent at a posh Beverly Hills hotel, accompanied by his music mogul father Master P.

In other Trojan news, former Southern California recruit Leonard Washington, may or may not be almost, maybe, but not quite qualified to play basketball. Kentucky has flirted with Washington ever since he was released from his letter of intent to play for USC. USC released Washington when he failed to qualify for the class of 2007.

Washington is a interior player in the mold of Chuck Hayes. If he becomes qualified, Leonard could definitely be a welcome addition to the 2008 class. According to sources, Washington has narrowed his list to Kentucky and USC.

Given that Washington is an academic question mark, it will be very important that he places himself in an environment where he can succeed, both academically and athletically. In my opinion, living in Los Angeles and playing on a team a with rapper/movie star could be just what the doctor ordered.

Americans can rest easy now. One of the world's greatest criminals will face indictment, as the Federal Grand Jury wrapped up their investigation into Barry Bond's lies under oath concerning the use of performance enhancing drugs. The investigation, which covered a mere 4 years and cost taxpayers a piddly millions of dollars, should quickly pay dividends, as the evil Bonds will likely retire from baseball and finally end his reign of terror over America.

Bonds had began to wonder if he may evade any serious consequences when players like Rick Ankiel and Paul Byrd were leaked as names of interest in a seperate, but just as illegal, online pharmaceutical bust implicating those two players (among others) in large purchases of performance enhancers.

But, unfortunatly for Bonds, he has three things going against him that makes him far more important to federal prosecutors than those two. One, he holds two prestigious home run records while the other two barely hold spots on a major league team. Two, he's reportedly a very mean person. And thirdly, he's black.

I'm sorry, I know this is 2007, and racism is so 1960s, but it sure looks to me like Bonds draws a lot more criticism than white boys Byrd and Ankiel, who casual fans don't even know about. Split hairs and tell me those two didn't perjure themselves and I'll come back with the fact that they bought tens of thousands of dollars worth of drugs off the internet with bogus prescriptions from quacks and have yet to face the kind of criticism Bonds gets. Unless buying prescription drugs illegally off the internet is o.k., in which case I stand corrected.

Look, I don't like Bonds. First, he plays for the Giants. If they are ever on t.v., it's way past my bedtime, so I don't really follow them. Second, I've read articles about his wife-cheating, girlfriend threatening, and income tax fudging to know he's not someone I'd like to hang out with. So, my opinion is not born of some fan-boy Bonds lover. It's just that I understand quite a bit more about steroids and HGH than most reporters.

No, really, I do. See, those drugs are everywhere in sports. Everywhere. Steroids are in even more places than just professional sports. Ever been to the Johnson Center? There's fellas there on the gas. College sports? Yeah, they're there too. But reporters act like the sports world is some kind of collection of heroes who, despite any off-field problems, play their game with a purity and sportsmanship not seen since the Yalies challenged Princeton to a rowing competition. Or something like that.

Folks, that's just not based in reality. Sportswriters need to accept the fact that athletes playing for millions of dollars will dabble in performance boosting substances. Should it be legal? No, I don't think so. But let's not act like it's a crime against the sport when Bonds is indicted. Hell, I bet a hundred of his home runs were hit off of pitchers who did steroids or HGH. ALL of sports has problems with this stuff.

And enough already with baseball catching so much more crap than the others. The Patriots are eyeing the first undefeated N.F.L. season in over 30 years and people are wondering if their record will be tainted because their coach had the other team's coaches videotaped to try and figure out their playcalling. But they're not wondering if it'll be tainted because their all-pro safety missed 4 games earlier in the year for testing positive for steroids? Why aren't his career accomplishments questioned? Why don't we put an asterisk on his football from one of his Super Bowls?

Here's another one- "baseball should test like the Olympics, blah blah". Well, that's actually a good idea because it's pretty stringent testing. However, it's not going to keep 'roids and HGH out of sports because there is still 'roids and HGH in the Olympics! Ever heard of Marion Jones? C'mon people. Just test them the best you can and deal with it.

Bill Curry admitted on Mike and Mike in the Morning that he took Deca one summer (Giambi's first steroid love). Mike Golic on the same show said he tried some once. Gaylor Perry threw spitballs and Ty Cobb sharpened his spikes. Defensive linemen spray their jerseys with Crisco and defensive backs spray their hands with Stick-Um. Players on second base steal signs from the catcher and basketball players grab shorts when blocking out for a rebound. People in sports do stuff to get an edge. That's just the way it is.

But hey, we got the worst of them all now and you can put your kids to bed tonight knowing that bad ole Barry got busted and can't hurt them.

Doom and Gloom - Or Not!

Today is the beginning of the early signing period for college basketball, and there seems to be the typical doom and gloom going on in the Big Blue Nation. Yes, we did lose out on a recruit to Florida State. But..................... We need to put things in perspective. How quickly we forget the past ten years. Today, the first day of the signing period, Kentucky inked a 4 star player and a 5 star player (DeAndre did sign). Compared to recent history, this is an unbelievable success. Almost every high caliber prospect Kentucky has signed in the past couple of years has waited until the last second of the spring signing period to sign. This is a vast improvement, and one that we should enjoy.

Don't worry Cat fans. Billy Clyde is on our side!

Singleton Decision

As we expected, Chris Singleton committed to Florida State this afternoon, proving that money still talks in college basketball. Singleton discussed his thought process during the announcement. "What it finally came down to," Singleton said, "Was Florida State's willingness to match contributions up to $3000.00 in my Roth IRA. Kentucky's benefit package just wasn't that great. After you got beyond the bigger arena, the better coach, the bigger fan base (>100), being on TV every game, the obvious amount of playing time, the 30 million dollar practice facility, and the free put-put at the Old Testament Miniature Golf Course, Kentucky just didn't stack up with the Seminoles. Coach Bowden is a legend, and I can't wait to play for him."

In other news, DeAndre Liggins is rumored to be signing a letter of intent in the coming days.

One in the Bag!

Darius Miller of Mason County has signed his letter of intent to play for the University of Kentucky. Kentucky's other 2008 commitment, DeAndre Liggins, is not expected to sign during the fall signing period. There are questions about Liggins' eligibility right now, although his commitment to the Cats is firm.

Signing Day is Here!

Recruiting: The fall basketball signing period for high school seniors begins today. This is always a crazy day in the world of recruiting. For Kentucky, its an even bigger day. Chris Singleton makes his college choice known today. He has a press conference scheduled at 2:45. Chris is deciding between the University of Kentucky and Florida State. Most analysts predict Florida State will be his destination, which will leave UK in a pickle regarding a big man in the class of 2008. Gillispie was phenomenal with his last minute signings of Patrick Patterson and Alex Legion for the 2007 class, but there simply aren't many quality uncommitted big men left in this years class.

Injury Update: Jodie Meeks will be out three to four weeks with a groin injury. That is not good news for an already beleaguered Kentucky squad.

Criminal Update: Former Kentucky player Rekalin Sims was arrested this week and charged with assault and robbery. The crime was reportedly a group effort, with Rekalin driving the get-away car. Rekalin is (was) playing for the Fresno State Outlaws in his eighth and final season of college basketball. When asked about the situation, Rekalin told reporters that his back was really slowing him down, and that is probably why the cops were able to catch up with him.

Kentucky Bowl Predictions

What Bowl Will It Be?

Now that Kentucky has punched its ticket for a bowl game, the scenarios of what bowl it will be can be narrowed down a little. If the Cats want to go to a New Years Day Bowl, the path is simple. We just need to beat Georgia (at Georgia) and then beat Tennessee at home. If this happens, which is doubtful, the Big Blue Nation will most likely be spending New Years Day in Florida - either playing in the Capital One (Citrus) Bowl in Orlando or the Outback Bowl in Tampa.

If the Cats go 1-1, the Peach Bowl seems the likely destination. In my opinion, this would be the ideal scenario. The Cats playing in Catlanta on New Year's Eve in the comfortable confines of the Georgia Dome.

If the Cats lay an egg, we're likely going to Graceland and the Liberty Bowl. Most Kentucky fans would probably rather go to the Music City Bowl again. Unfortunately, the Liberty Bowl gets to pick before the Music City Bowl this year.

Compared to previous years, it will be a nice scenario to watch unfold.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Good: The good is Chris Singleton. Chris is the forward out of Georgia who Kentucky desperately needs to help out on the interior next year. Chris is set to make his announcement Wednesday, picking between Kentucky and Florida State.

The Bad: The bad is Pierre Jordan, who is pictured above. Pierre is not a bad player, nor is he a great one. Today, Pierre committed to Florida State to play basketball.

The Ugly: The ugly is that Pierre's father is Chris Singleton's AAU coach. Chris also happens to live with his AAU coach. ------I don't think Singleton is going to commit Kentucky.

On a football note, we had a great time in Nashville. The Cats won their seventh game and became official for a bowl game. MY Old KY Gnome met a gnome cowgirl in the Music City, and we haven't seen him since (hence, no pictures).

On a basketball note, we were undefeated over the weekend.

Good Friday

Last night, the Louisville Cardinal Kragthorpe's lost out on a chance for respectability by dropping a close one with West Virginia. Luckily, Da Crew still has their back.

Former UK Football coach Guy Morris has been told he will not be returning as the coach of Baylor next season. After leaving Kentucky, Morris has led Baylor to 5 losing seasons.

On Saturday, I will be taking My Old Kentucky Gnome to Music City to cheer on the Cats as they take on Vanderbilt. My Kentucky Gnome is rather excited about the trip, as he has never met any country music gnomes before.

In recruiting news, Billy Clyde travelled to Georgia yesterday to meet with Chris Singleton. Singleton is set to announce his decision next week, choosing between the Cats and Florida State. Big man Garrett Stutz, who attended Big Blue Madness, has decided to attend Wichita State. After a brief courtship, Kentucky decided not offer Stutz a scholarship, citing that he was kind of funny looking.

Happy Birthday Billy Clyde

Gardner-Webb Coach Uri Splunkovich

Last night is Lexington, KY, Billy Clyde Gillispie celebrated his 48th birthday with 20,000 of his closest friends. It was a surprise party of sorts, as Kentucky was spanked by Uri 'The Spanker' Splunkovich and his Gardner-Webb Runnin' Ruskies. After the game, a celebratory mob of Gardner-Webb loyalists surrounded Memorial Hall, mounted it's shingled roof, and pulled the famed steeple to the ground. The crowd roared as Uri declared 'VICTORY'!

Despite the obvious carnage surrounding Memorial Hall, the Big Blue Nations greets this morning new challenges and a red behind. Who's fault was this? How did it happen? Should we have put Richie in? Everyone seems to be pointing a finger. In truth, there were many factors that led to last night's embarrassment on national television. Below we will examine why, how, who, when, where, and whoops:

1. Senior Leadership - Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley have to be able to lead this team. When the game is on the line (or we need to mount a comeback), the combined basketball IQ of the two seniors seems to go from average to remedial. On offense, these two guys can redefine ugly play. I'm not sure what the answer to this problem is. It may be graduation.
2. Talent (Parity) - Am I saying Gardner-Webb had more talent than Kentucky? No, I am not. However, Kentucky has less than they should. When the talent level of two opposing teams moves closer to equal, the more upsets like last night will occur. There were only three players on the court last night that should have been wearing a Kentucky uniform: Patrick Patterson, Alex Legion, and Jodie Meeks. The blame on this goes to Tubby Smith.
3. Coaching - We were outcoached last night. I truly believe Billy Clyde is one of the best coaches in the country. Last night, however, Uri got the best of him.
4. Fatigue - Two practices and two games in two days is TOO much. What was Billy Clyde thinking?

Now for the good news. The basketball team get two weeks off to practice and improve. Lord knows we need it.

KY Back to Blue

Commonwealth Back to Blue

On Tuesday, voters of the Commonwealth of Kentucky overwhelmingly decided to give Governor Fletcher the boot from Frankfort. The outcome of the election may have been more about getting rid of Ernie Fletcher than electing Bert Beshear. Either way, Kentucky is about to experience some severe repercussions for its voting ways. Here are some things to expect over the next four years as Steve Beshear and Dr. Dan Mongiardo put the knife to the commonwealth.

1. Taxes - Beshear and Mongiardo have promised to tax the living hell out of Kentuckians. After filling the coffers, Governor Beshear plans to challenge the governors of the surrounding states to a big game of Texas Hold'em. Paul Patton is in charge of roundin' up some women for the event.
2. 10 Commandments - The 10 Commandments will be removed from all public and private buildings. They are not allowed to be hung in private homes or churches unless they are accompanied by other historical documents.
3. Creationism Museum - The Creationism Museum in northern Kentucky will be immediately closed. Beshear claims there is too much science involved with the museum. Plus, everyone knows Kentuckians don't do well with science.
4. Homeland Security - Don't be surprised when you hear the boom. With the Republicans out of office, Kentucky will be attacked by an Al Qaeda cell from Indiana within moments of Beshear being sworn in to office.
5. Victory or Defeat - Don't be surprised when Beshear pulls our troops out of West Virginia. He doesn't support democracy or victory.
6. Embolden the Enemy - Absolutely every action committed by Beshear will embolden the enemy. Just by reading this, you have emboldened them that much more.
7. Terrorist Alert Level - Beshear plans to revamp the terrorist alert level by making the threat level correspond with a specific poker chip.
8. Abortion - Abortion clinics will be allowed to do business in Kentucky, but only on bodies of water and at racetracks.
9. Homosexuality - Gay and lesbian couples will receive all benefits that a husband and wife receive. However, they will be segregated from the mainstream population. The will have their own businesses, neighborhoods, public transportation, and websites. For instance, straight couples can buy and sell on Craig's List, but will gay couples will buy and sell on Senator Craig's List.
10. Guns - Governor Beshear supports the right to bear arms. However, citizens can only wear their bear arms to Halloween parties or between the hours 6-8 p.m.

Lexington's Finest

The UK Football Wildcats received some good news this week on the recruiting front. One of Lexington's top high school seniors, Winston Guy of Lexington Catholic, has decommitted from Arkansas. Guy, who has been noticeably present at several UK Football games this year, has decided the trouble currently brewing in Fayetteville is a little too much. Guy is rated as a 3 star defensive back and would be a great addition to the Wildcats recruiting class. He has not named a new school as a favorite for his services, but Winston did dress up as Stevie Johnson of the Wildcats for Halloween. That has to be a good sign.

One of the other top prospects out of Lexington, Henry Clay's Aaron Boyd, is rated as a 4 star wide receiver. Boyd is currently looking at the Wildcats, along with Florida, LSU, Tennessee, and Louisville. Boyd would be the Wildcats highest rated recruit if he committed to Kentucky. He also happens to be the brother of former Wildcat quarterback Shane Boyd.

First Impressions

Billy's boys took to the court for the first time last night. I was fortunate enough to have some lower level seats for the game. Overall, I was impressed with the performance. First of all, the post-Tubby offense was pleasant. There was a definite improvement in ball movement. The well publicized Bradley and Crawford dribbling expositions were not on display, which was a relief. Before the season started, concerned Wildcat fans kept asking if the team would be more up-tempo than the teams of the past ten years. Billy Clyde always seemed to dance around that question. Well, Gillispie showed that a potent offense doesn't have to run and gun. The Cats took good shots, moved the ball, put up 99 points, and won by 35. Granted, we were supposed to win by a similar margin, but it is a hell of a lot better than beating Athletes in Action on a last second 3 point shot.

Best performances:
1st - Jodie Meeks (obviously). This kid may be the real deal. NBA - let's hope not for a few more years.
2nd - Patrick Patterson - Didn't start and had over 20 point and 9 rebounds. As a freshman, this kid is far better than Randolph Morris. I only wish I could see him play with Randolph this year.
3rd - Joe Crawford - He didn't sulk about not starting and had a solid game.

Biggest disappointment - Alex Legion - I really expect this kid to score a bunch of points as a Wildcat, but it didn't happen last night.

Biggest not too surprised - Ramon Harris and Mark Coury - Maybe Billy Clyde was trying to make a statement with these two starting. When the regular season rolls around, I don't see it.

Overall - I give the team and the coach an A.