I've spent my entire life detesting the writing of sportswriter Billy Reed, a shameless Rick Pitino jock sniffer. Which makes my discovery of his political blog a little confusing for me. He appears to be one of those crazy liberals, who knew?
Anyway, he righteously slams nutjob Stan Lee in one of his recent posts, though I'm a little baffled by some of his tangents on facial hair. But hey, that goes with the territory sometimes in blogtopia.
Well, I'm off to Chicago for the YearlyKos Convention to get my ass kissed by Hillary/ Obama/ Edwards/ Pelosi etc... Should be a lot of fun. And I am coming in town just as my Cubbies have taken over first place with a walk-off win last night. In honor of the lovable losers (the Cubs, not the Democrats), I present to you the happenin' 1969 Hey, Hey, Holy Mackerel song from that promising but ultimately crushing season.
Oh, and Kerry Wood is back!
I don't think I'll have any computer access up there, so I'll probably be gone until Sunday.
But if you've stopped by, go sign the Horne petition!
Yes, the Billy Clyde era is quickly approaching. I wouldn't know, however, because it is still Cubs season and we are still in the hunt, thanks to Carlos "Hannibal" Zambrano's resurgence in the post-kick-Michael-Barrett's-ass period of the season. Soriano and Ramirez are scorching the ball, and Carlos "nice Marmot(l)" is the most pleasant surprise of the season, as he is most definitely throwing rocks. You have to love any player that allows you to make a gratuitous Lebowski reference
Speaking of Lebowski, the annual Louisvlle Lebowski Fest is this weekend. For those who are quite justifiably obsessed with this film (the greatest ever, mind you), you absolutely must check it out. You might even get to see Liam throw a strike and shake his belly, as I did last year.
Ever since I was 5 years old, I wanted a baby blue early-80's Atlanta Braves Dale Murphy jersey. Now I've got it.
Thanks Mark!
I guess writing a blog in Kentucky pretty much obligates me to talk about basketball at some point. At the risk of running off the couple hundred regulars I'll confess a couple things: first, I never thought Tubby would get run out before Alberto Gonzales, and second I'm not really a huge Cat fan.
I'm not an anti-Cat fan like a lot of Cat fans tend to be anti-Cardinal fans. I am, however, a Tubby Smith fan and I do watch Cat games when I have the chance. While I'm not a "blue blood" there's not many places I like watching games more than in Rupp Arena. I can remember watching the Cats/Vols game in Rupp a couple years back (actually several years now that I think about it) and hearing fans boo Tubby and Saul - and UK was winning. I never understood the pent up angst and rage and the somewhat dysfunctional scoffing at the fact that Tubby's son was the starting guard. Saul wasn't Steve Nash, but by his senior season he was shooting 35% from 3 point range, and had a 2-1 assist/turnover margin. I guess being a UL fan through the waning years of the Crum era gave me a different perspective on expectations.
Anyway, Tubby had a recruiting problem without a doubt. But a number of schools, and "top shelf" head coaches do. Think Pitino felt silly after the Telfair debacle? If not he should have. Five years into Pitino's reign and with the exception of the '05 Final Four run, UL is only now showing the faintest glimmer of all around talent - and I'm not expecting it will stay that way for long. College basketball isn't like it was in the days of Rupp. The up tempo style is the rage, it's the way kids want to play and any college team with television time can land good recruits. The field is thinned out. I'm not really looking for an argument from Cat fans, I'm just saying that Tubby's out and the two big recruits are likely gone as well. Take Morris off the roster and Cat fans are going to have a couple of tough years ahead. I wonder if in the end they'll still feel that's really what they wanted.
Since I don't have any other megaphone to gripe from, I'll use this blog to gripe about Florida's number 2 ranking in the ESPN poll. Florida won because LSU gave them the ball on turnovers - five times, including the dropped kickoff that gave the Gators a safety to start the second half. Kentucky played Florida tough, and the game would have been tighter had Florida not got the benefit of a one yard gain on every ball spot during the entire game. Honestly, when playing at home the Gators should have categories for (1) "Pass Yards" (2) "Rush Yards" (3) "Positive Yards on Ball Placement following a Florida offensive play" and (4) The Positive Yield of a Negative Ball Placement following an opponent's offensive play."
Oh, and Auburn was never good enough to be number 2 in the first place. Here's the thing, I'm generally a U of L fan, though I have been following the Cats this season because they're much better than their record reflects. So it's not with any blind allegiance to Kentucky that I say that Florida is overrated. It reminds me a lot of their basketball team really.
My letter to ESPN - it speaks for itself:
I would like to know what Ben Becker meant when discussing the Louisville (ranked #12) win over Miami (ranked #17) when he said "what does this say about Miami losing to a team like Louisville."
There's no reasonable explanation, anyone watching could discern he was obviously being derogatory towards Louisville and its fans. Despite being a 4.5 point favorite, dominating on defense, scoring 21 straight, unanswered points with the second string quarterback (Hunter Cantwell, who could start at any number of Div. 1-A schools), and ultimately winning 31-7 (with Miami not scoring after the first quarter) Becker acted as if Louisville was some unranked, second tier program with no expectations and no future. He acted as if the outcome of the game could not possibly have anything to do with Louisville being a better team.
From a network that is dedicated to nothing but sports this shows a complete lack of research and knowledge about the current state of college football. That ESPN would hire, much less put in front of a national audience, an individual so obviously ignorant of Louisville's recent on-field success is an embarrassment to your network. And it's an insult to the Louisville fans that have watched and supported our team as it marched onto a national stage adn proved itself week in and week out.
I won't waste my time running down Louisville's list of credentials. You're a sports network, so you can do it yourself. Suffice it to say, Becker is unworthy of carrying the ESPN mantle that so many more informed and cognizant commentators before him have borne.
ESPN should be ashamed of having a clown like that in its studios.
If anyone can find an email for this jackass please post it in the comments.
I heard a rumor about some George Bush comments in regards to Michael Bush made to a congress critter from Kentucky. I'm still trying to verify it, but if true it's pretty funny.
The nitwit, formerly of the Courier-Journal doesn't have Kentucky or Louisville in his power 16 lineup (through Dec. 7). The dude better not cross the border down around Whitley County, else he's liable to get strung up for dissing the Cats.
Illinois v. UNC 
What could be better than an epic National Championship with the nation's two top teams? How about when that same game is going to determine a key issue in the relationship of any young couple in Kentucky, namely which one of the participants knows more about college basketball.
You see, it all comes down to Monday and in the BlueGrassRoots Online Bracket Contest it's a two-"man" race...Stephen's "Where's Virginia" entry (with 102 points so far) and Lori's "Almost a Perfect Season" entry (with 109 total points). Lori's picked the Fightin' Illini and if they win she'll finish in first with 141 points (Stephen will be stuck in 4th w/ 102). If the Tarheels win, Stephen will finish in first with 134 points (Lori in 6th with 109).
The thing is..Lori knows Stephen and Stephen knows Lori and if they (can stand to) watch the game together on Monday they'll be pulling each other in totally different directions because they're more at stake for the two of them than just a measly NCAA championship...there's an entire year of "I told you so's", "I think I know's", and XO's for the winner...or at least that's what I'm counting on...Go HEELS!!!
p.s. - For the record as a UVa / UK fan, I cringed typing the last two words of this post, but there are some things that are more important than basketball (at least when you don't really care about the teams), and getting one-up on your girlfriend for a year is definitely one of them.
Way to go Joe!!! This is what I've been waiting for...14 points...17 minutes. I guess you had the jersey before, but welcome to "the family." Honestly I've been singing Crawford's praises all year long (he's my favorite Cat...taking over the reins for the inimitable Antwain Barbour). I even defended his decision to transfer and then not transfer and then whatever...
That being said, I was ecstatic about his performance yesterday and think it's a sign of great things to come from this guy. At the very least, his 2.5 minute / 10 point spurt just when it looked like Kentucky was going to give this game away at the beginning of the second half gave the team some badly-needed energy and was the most fun I've had watching UK all year long...
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