Moonage Webdream

I’m a Kentucky basketball fan.  Kinda got that way by default since I live here, attended UK, and have been employed by them in the past.  However, once bitten, it’s hard not to love the Cats.

I was not a Tubby fan.  His style was just a huge letdown from the frenetic pace of the Pitino days.  That, and he just didn’t win enough.  He had some good seasons, and did inherit a championship team.  But, over time, his teams became known more for off-court drama than on-court excitement.  Along came Billy Ball.  Now things are getting fun again.  Last season Billy lost a few games at the beginning of the season that had some people, not me, doubting his ability.  I however, credited his problems with four years of a lack of recruiting.  He just didn’t have the talent, depth, or experience to succeed.  When they lost to Gardner Webb, everyone was shocked.  No matter how much they progressed as the season went along, everyone pointed to the Gardner Webb game as to how bad they were.

This season kind of started the same.  They lost to VMI.  Now, I for one had my doubts going into that game.  VMI had a rep for putting points up in bunches.  Sure enough, they did.  Kentucky lost.  A lot of people immediately began comparing that to the Gardner Webb game of last year.  Only difference is, after the first third of the season is over, VMI is 9-2 and beating lots of people.  They’re just not that bad of a team.  Kentucky then lost of North Carolina.  Now, that’s a sin within Kentucky.  However, losing to the #1 team in the country is nothing to be ashamed of.  They eventually lost to Miami as well.  I don’t think anyone thinks Miami is on the same level as Gardner Webb either.  Along the way, they beat West Virginia.  Now, I never was convinced Ohio State, was worthy of a top 20 ranking, but West Virginia absolutely demolished Ohio State.  So, I’d call the West Virginia game a quality win.

Bottom line, I think this year’s edition is going to surprise some people.  Maybe not people who follow the game, but definitely those that don’t consider them a top 25 team at this time.  They’re definitely better than the #15 team in the country.

Technorati Tags: basketball, gardner webb, kentucky, miami, north carolina, ohio-state, west-virginia

Barack Obama promised to fix all things that appeared wrong in the world during his campaign.  During said campaign, he had this to offer:

During a Nov. 16 “60 Minutes” interview, Obama elaborated on his plans: “Eight teams. That would be three rounds to determine a national champion. I don’t know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. So, I’m going to throw my weight around a little bit. I think it’s the right thing to do.”

Livescience decided to jump into the fray with an article delving into the mysterious computer underpinnings of the BCS.  Their article leaves you as clueless as you were before.  I’m going to clue you in a little better.  From Fox.  Here’s the selection criteria as they stand now:

Bowl Championship Series

Automatic Qualification, At-Large Eligibility and Selection Procedures, 2007-2010 Games

Automatic Qualification

1. The top two teams in the final BCS Standings shall play in the National Championship Game.

2. The champions of the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern conferences will have automatic berths in one of the participating bowls after the 2008 through 2013 regular seasons.

3. The champion of Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference, the Sun Belt Conference or the Western Athletic Conference will earn an automatic berth in a BCS bowl game if either:

  A. Such team is ranked in the top 12 of the final BCS Standings, or,
  B. Such team is ranked in the top 16 of the final BCS Standings and its ranking in the final BCS Standings is higher than that of a champion of a conference that has an annual automatic berth in one of the BCS bowls.

No more than one such team from Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference, the Sun Belt Conference, and the Western Athletic Conference shall earn an automatic berth in any year. (Note: a second team may be eligible for at-large eligibility as noted below.) If two or more teams from those conferences satisfy the provisions for an automatic berth, then the team with the highest finish in the final BCS Standings will receive the automatic berth, and the remaining team or teams will be considered for at-large selection if it meets the criteria.

4. Notre Dame will have an automatic berth if it is in the top eight of the final BCS Standings.

5. If any of the 10 slots remain open after application of provisions 1 through 4, and an at-large team from a conference with an annual automatic berth for its champion is ranked No. 3 in the final BCS Standings, that team will become an automatic qualifier, provided that no at-large team from the same conference qualifies for the national championship game.

6. If any of the 10 slots remain open after application of provisions 1 through 5, and if no team qualifies under paragraph No. 5 and an at-large team from a conference with an annual automatic berth for its champion is ranked No. 4 in the final BCS Standings, that team will become an automatic qualifier provided that no at-large team from the same conference qualifies for the national championship game.

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 At-Large Eligibility

If there are fewer than 10 automatic qualifiers, then the bowls will select at-large participants to fill the remaining berths. An at-large team is any Football Bowl Subdivision team that is bowl-eligible and meets the following requirements:

  A. Has won at least nine regular-season games, and
  B. Is among the top 14 teams in the final BCS Standings.

No more than two teams from a conference may be selected, regardless of whether they are automatic qualifiers or at-large selections, unless two non-champions from the same conference are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the final BCS Standings.

If fewer than 10 teams are eligible for selection, then the Bowls can select as an at-large team any Football Bowl Subdivision team that is bowl-eligible, has won at least nine regular-season games and is among the top 18 teams in the final BCS Standings subject to the two-team limit noted above and also subject to the following: (1) if any conference has two or more teams in the top 14, then two of those teams must be selected and (2) from the teams ranked 15-18, a bowl can select only a team from a conference that has fewer than two teams in the top 14.

If expansion of the pool to 18 teams does not result in 10 teams eligible for selection, then the pool shall be expanded by blocks of 4 teams until 10 eligible teams are available subject to the two-team limit noted above and also subject to the following: (1) if any conference has two or more teams in the top 14, then two of those teams must be selected and (2) from the teams ranked 15 or lower, a bowl can select only a team from a conference that has fewer than two teams in the top 14.

Relative to the two preceding paragraphs, all teams ranked in the top 14, other than those from conferences which have already had two teams selected, must be included in the bowl selections.

Note: in order to participate in a BCS Bowl game, a team (i) must be eligible for post-season play under the rules of the NCAA and, if it not an independent, under the rules of its conference and (ii) must not have imposed sanctions upon itself prohibiting participation in a post-season game for infractions of the rules of the NCAA or the rules of its conference.

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 Team-Selection Procedures

 The bowls will select their participants from two pools: (1) automatic qualifiers, all of which must be selected, and, (2) at-large teams, if fewer than 10 teams qualify automatically. The following sequence will be used when establishing pairings:

1. The top two teams in the final BCS Standings will be placed in the National Championship Game (”NCG”).

2. Unless they qualify to play in the NCG, the champions of selected conferences are contractually committed to host selected games:

  Atlantic Coast Conference-Orange Bowl
  Big Ten Conference-Rose Bowl
  Big 12 Conference-Fiesta Bowl
  Pac-10 Conference-Rose Bowl
  Southeastern Conference-Sugar Bowl

3. If a bowl loses a host team to the NCG, then such bowl shall select a replacement team from among the automatic-qualifying teams and the at-large teams before any other selections are made. If two bowls lose host teams to the NCG, each bowl will get a replacement pick before any other selections are made. In such case, the bowl losing the No. 1 team gets the first replacement pick, and the bowl losing the No. 2 team gets the second replacement pick. If the Rose Bowl loses both the Big Ten and Pac-10 champions to the NCG, it will receive two replacement picks.

A bowl choosing a replacement team may not select any of the following:

  A. A team in the NCG;
  B. The host team for another BCS Bowl;
  C. When two bowls lose host teams, then the bowl losing the number one team may not select a replacement team from the same conference as the number two team, unless the bowl losing the number two team consents.

4. After steps No. 1, 2 and 3 have been completed, any bowl with an unfilled slot shall select a team from the automatic qualifiers and/or at-large teams in the following order:

  A. The bowl played on the date nearest to the National Championship Game (for 2009, Fiesta Bowl) will pick first;
  B. The bowl played on the date second-nearest to the National Championship Game (for 2009, Sugar Bowl) will pick second;
  C. The bowl hosting the game that is played in the time slot immediately after the Rose Bowl game (for 2009, Orange Bowl) will pick third.

The rotation noted in paragraphs A, B and C is as follows:
  January 2007 games: Sugar, Orange, Fiesta
  January 2008 games: Orange, Fiesta, Sugar
  January 2009 games: Fiesta, Sugar, Orange
  January 2010 games: Orange, Fiesta, Sugar

All teams earning automatic berths must be selected.

5. After completion of the selection process as described in Paragraph Nos. 1-4, the conferences and Notre Dame may, but are not required to, adjust the pairings taking into consideration the following:

  A. whether the same team will be playing in the same bowl game for two consecutive years;
  B. whether two teams that played against one another in the regular season will be paired against one another in a bowl game;
  C. whether the same two teams will play against each other in a bowl game for two consecutive years; and
  D. whether alternative pairings may have greater or lesser appeal to college football fans as measured by expected ticket sales for the bowls and by expected television interest, and the consequent financial impact on Fox and the bowls.

The pairings may not be altered by removing the Big 10 Champion or Pac-10 champion from the Rose Bowl.

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 Tie-Breaking Procedure

 The following steps will be used to resolve any ties in the standings after the computation is carried out to full decimal points:

1. Look to head-to-head result;

2. If the tie is not resolved by paragraph No. 1, then evaluate results against the highest-ranked common opponent in the BCS standings;

3. If the tie is not resolved by paragraph Nos. 1-2, then calculate tied teams’ place in BCS Standings using all six computer providers (i.e., do not throw out the high and low computer rankings) and the Harris and Coaches polls;

4. If the tie is not resolved by paragraph Nos. 1-3, then draw.

  BCS Standings

 The Harris Interactive College Football Poll, USA Today Coaches Poll and computer rankings each comprise one-third of the BCS Standings. To derive the three percentages, each team is assigned an inverse point total (25 for No. 1, 24 for No. 2, etc.)

The two poll percentages are calculated by dividing each team’s point total by a maximum 2850 possible points (Harris) and 1525 possible points (USA Today). The computer rankings percentage is calculated by dropping the highest and lowest ranking for each team and then dividing the remaining total by 100 (the maximum possible points).

The BCS Average is calculated by averaging the percentage totals of the Harris Interactive Poll, USA Today Poll, and computer rankings. The teams’ BCS Averages are ranked to produce the BCS Standings.

The six computer ranking providers are Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey, Jeff Sagarin and Peter Wolfe. Each computer ranking provider accounts for schedule strength within its formula.

The BCS Standings are used for:

   * Determining the two teams that qualify to play in the BCS National Championship Game;

   * Determining any other automatic qualifiers; and,

   * Establishing the pool of eligible teams for at-large selection.

The BCS Standings are released eight times each season, including the final Standings on selection Sunday. The National Football Foundation compiles and releases the Standings each week.

Harris Interactive College Football Poll

 To provide the initial pool of potential panelists for the Harris Poll before the 2005 regular season, each Conference submitted the names of 30 qualified individuals; Harris Interactive randomly selected 10 panelists from among the names submitted by each Conference. Notre Dame submitted a list of six qualified individuals, from which Harris randomly selected three. Army and Navy together submitted a list of three qualified individuals from which Harris selected one.

When a person leaves the panel, the conference that originally nominated the individual nominates three others to take the spot, one of whom is randomly selected.

The first Harris poll is released on the last Sunday in September each season.

Standards for Future BCS Automatic Qualification

 The champions of the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern Conferences will have annual automatic qualification for a BCS game after the regular seasons of 2008 through 2013, based on mathematical standards of performance during the 2004-2007 regular seasons.

The 2006-2009 regular seasons will be evaluated under the same standards to determine if other conferences will have annual automatic qualification for the games after the 2012 and 2013 regular seasons. The champions of no more than seven conferences will have annual automatic berths.

If the BCS continues under the same or similar format, conferences will be evaluated on their performances during the 2010-2013 regular seasons to determine which conferences will have automatic qualification for the bowls that will conclude the 2014-2017 regular seasons.

The evaluation data includes the following for each conference (1) the ranking of the highest-ranked team in the final BCS standings each year, (2) the final regular-season rankings of all conference teams in the computer rankings used by the BCS each year and (3) the number of teams in the top 25 of the final BCS standings each year.

Conference agreements with bowls will continue. The Pac-10 and Big Ten champions will host the Rose Bowl if their teams are not in the BCS national championship game. Likewise, the Southeastern Conference champion will host the Sugar Bowl, ACC champion will host the Orange Bowl and Big 12 champion will host the Fiesta Bowl.

Now, here’s the problem this year.  According to the BCS rules above, the top two teams play in the NCG ( that’s National Championship Game ).  However, the top two SEC teams play in the Sugar Bowl.  Now, the BCS takes into consideration a bowl, in this case the Sugar, losing a member.  But, in this case, there is the possibility that the Sugar would have TWO teams qualifying for the NCG.  At this time, Alabama is #1, Florida is #2 (AP).  There is nothing in the BCS rules that prohibit the NCG from taking both selections of the Sugar.  However, that’s never happened.  Probably because the Sugar Bowl would throw a hissy fit if it lost both their stars.  And, given the opportunity of having Florida playing in Miami as opposed to New Orleans, I can see the NCG drooling at the prospect of an in-state team.  In addition, I can see Alabama, at #1, NOT wanting to play Florida in Florida.  I can see them going to the Sugar hoping that Florida loses in Miami.  Bottom line, what I do NOT see happening at all is the two best teams playing each other for the championship, again.

Well, let me check that with a couple of caveats.  First of all, I will be seeing the two best teams line up against each other.  It will happen this weekend.  After that game, one team will no longer be in the running for the NCG anyway, it’s just that unforgiving.  The other contenders, Texas and Oklahoma, don’t really count in my opinion.  Texas didn’t even win their conference.  Oklahoma lost to Texas.  Texas’s season is over.  If Oklahoma beats Missouri this weekend, then Texas is out.  If Missouri beats Oklahoma, then Oklahoma, as well as Missouri, are out.  Texas Tech, with the same record as Oklahoma and Texas, is already out.  That would leave the second best team in the league, Texas, going to the NCG.

So, given some odd circumstances, I can easily Alabama passing on playing in Miami and playing it safe in New Orleans as well as Texas, who didn’t win their division, but is higher ranked than Missouri, going as well.  That would leave the #1 and #2 BCS ranked teams not playing in the championship game.  Man, I’d love that!  Given those circumstances, if Florida did get invited, that would leave the #4 team the prohibitive favorite.

Sure, this is all FUBAR.  But, making special exemptions for Notre Dame and the Rose Bowl in the BCS rules in the first place was FUBAR.

Be a man, Obama.  Fulfill one campaign promise.  Fix the damn NCAA football championship mess!

Technorati Tags: Alabama, barack obama, BCS, bcs bowl game, bowl-championship-series, final bcs standings, florida, miami, missouri, national championship game, New-Orleans, notre dame, oklahoma, rose bowl, selection procedures, sugar bowl, texas, texas tech

This year I have watched very little pro football.  Last year I didn’t either.  Last year it was because my Sundays were occupied by a very active four year old.  This year, it’s because there’s no reason to.  This has been the dullest NFL season ever.

Now, my season pretty much ended the second week.  That’s when I came to the conclusion the Bengals were not coming to play this year.  By midseason, it was obvious.  They hadn’t won a game.  Now, since that time they’ve gone 1-1-1.  ( Yeah, they somehow managed a tie.  No one wins in a tie. )  That makes their season to date 1-9-1.  Managing one win in an entire season should mean you suck beyond belief.  That all the millions in salary and years of training have somehow completely vanished.  However, as unbelievably pathetic as the Bengals are, they are ahead of the Lions and Chiefs.  The Chiefs have lost more games, and believe it or not, the Lions have won less.  However, the true claim to how bad this season is belongs to the NFC West, here is how they stand right now:

Arizona, by virture of basically winning one particular game, is the only team above .500.  They’re going to the playoffs if they manage to fight off the 3-8 49′ers.

Think that’s pathetic, the NFC North is even worse:

Sure, we’ve got a three-way race.  But, it’s very possible the division winner could have a losing record.  To say none of the teams from either division deserve to representing the best of the NFL at the end of the season is a farce.

Now, the season appears to the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans so far.  They’ve had great seasons.  However, so far, they are the only two in the entire NFL that really can make a claim.  Dallas is pretty good at 8-4, but to me that’s just upper-average.

Sure, a lot of people will be hanging on the edge of their seats since most divisions will go to the final week or two to see who makes the playoffs with 8-8 records ( or worse ).  But, to me that’s just rewarding mediocre and worse play.  I’m tired of mediocre play.

Someone pointed out on Foxsports that it’s not so much that these teams are losing with incredible predictability, it’s that by the end of the first quarter, it appears they are giving up.  The Lions lost to the Titans yesterday.  The highlights looked like an elementary school game.  I’m dead serious.  The Titans were running through holes untouched.  Sure, the Titans are good right now, but the Lions players are supposed to be professionals as well.  What I saw from yesterday was not professional.  It was pathetic.  You could tell those guys are just going through the motions.  I don’t blame that on a coach, an owner, or anyone other than the player taking a dive.  I’m sure they’re down right now.  But, from watching their effort, they deserve to be.  What’s really bugging me is about half of the NFL appears to be in the same boat. 

Now, some may say I’m being too critical.  But, when teams don’t come to play, you don’t see a good game.  You don’t see hard hits, miraculous catches, or that extra lunge to get that one yard that could change the game.  In a lot of NFL games, it is that one big play that often will change the outcome.  Six teams right now don’t seem to care enough to make set up that one big play by putting it all on the line.  What that translates to is the team with most good players will win.  What that means is I can look at the schedule and tell who’s going to win.  What that means is there is no reason to watch the game since the final score will look as exciting on the internet and consume less time than watching the game to see who wins.  Bottom line, there is no reason to watch.  So, for about two months, I haven’t.  I’m quite sure I’m not the only one that hasn’t either.  A lot of fans have been cheated this year.

For a long time, I’ve complained that the NFL is out of control.  That the players are over-paid and because of that become distracted by fame and wealth and less concerned with performance.  Some keep focused and become hall of famers, but most simply take their paycheck while they can.  I think it has gotten to the point where that balance is horribly out of sync.  The NFL needs to grow some gonads, face the music, and renegotiate how they pay these athletes.  Reward results, not simply being there.  The Lions, Chiefs, Bengals, and a few other entire teams are simply being there.  If they played a little hungrier, I know the Bengals would be a lot better.  They have talent in most key positions.  They are just not hungry enough.  Two and three years ago basically the same players were winning a lot more.  Something happened.  Most are blaming it on Marvin Lewis.  I’m not.  I’m blaming it on the players.  They are not desperate, they are not hungry, they are not willing to put their bodies on the line for the sake of the team.  Because of that, they are not getting interceptions like they were, they are not stopping drives, they are not scoring touchdowns on catches that put their bodies in jeapordy.  In simple terms, they are just showing up to get a paycheck.

That simply needs to end.  The players win by simply making it to the NFL.  That needs to change.  Ditch the salary concept.  Make it a competitive sport again.

Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona cardinals, bengals, chicago bears, chiefs, detroit lions, green bay packers, lions, minnesota vikings, new york giants, nfc west, nfl, nfl season, pro football, salary, san francisco, san francisco 49ers, seattle, seattle seahawks, st louis rams, tennessee titans

Well, if you’re a Bengal fan, almost any year.  However, the clue here is it’s Monday night.  Dallas has scored more points in the first half of their game than the Bengals have all year.

And they’re losing.

Technorati Tags: bengals, Cincinnati, cowboys, Dallas, eagles, football, nfl, philadelphia

I haven’t found much reason to watch the Olympics this year.  Oh sure, you had some guy swim faster than all the other guys eight times ( technically seven, he had a lot of help in a relay ).  But, really, how many times can you watch someone swim a straight line and get all excited?  I kinda burned out on that in 1972 I think it was.  Then of course, you had another guy run real fast.  It was over in literally the blink of an eye.  That was cool I guess.  I blinked, it was over, I missed it.  Finally, however, I got something I can get excited about:

Talita Rocha of Brazil adjusts her swimsuit during her women’s beach volleyball bronze medal match against China at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 21,

That folks, was not written by me.  That truly is a Reuters release.  Now, I really kinda started feeling kinda guilty over enjoying this incredibly demeaning article about the obviously talented Talita Rocha.  So, I figured I’d do her just and post more of her.  It didn’t take long.  AP ( don’t sue me! ) had a second “story” about her today as well:

Brazil’s Talita Antunes holds the ball during the bronze medal women’s beach volleyball match against China at the Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008. China won 21-19, 21-17.(AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

( Talita goes by either Antunes or Rocha. )

Technorati Tags: antunes, AP, associated press, beach, brazil, olympics, reuters, rocha, talita, volleyball

This is so amazingly cool.  I’ll just steal some of the original story since I can’t do it any better….

….video of 11-year-old Brad Warnick, joined on the mound by mother Irene and 8-year-old sister Ashley, who thought they were just representing the USS Midway Museum in San Diego in honor of their fathers service in the Navy. BUT…..dressed in full Padres catching gear behind the plate was Petty Officer 1st Class Rick Warnick, their father & husband. Petty Officer Warnick is part of the crew currently deployed on the USS Nimitz, scheduled to return next month. Warnick was flown home early to surprise his family on the field through cooperative efforts of the USS Midway Museum and the Navy. This video is what it’s all about.

Technorati Tags: baseball, navy, padres, rick warrick, san diego

Travis Ford is coaching Massachusetts right now.  They are playing in the National Invitation Tournament.  Last night, they were down by 22 with a little over fourteen minutes to play.  No problem for Travis’s boys, they beat Syracuse.  This is part of what Tavis had to say post-game:

That was the worst half of basketball we’ve played all year. But being down 19 wasn’t a problem. The way we play, 19 points wasn’t a problem.”

Now, to some people, me probably included, being down by nineteen pretty much means you’re getting whipped.  You’re out of your league that day.  The opposition has your number.  It doesn’t matter what you do, they’re just better.

Apparently some people just think a little differently.  To some people, like Travis Ford, nineteen points is no biggie.  He has a reason to think that way.  On February 15, 1994, Kentucky went to Louisiana and promptly found itself getting whipped much, much, worse than Syracuse was thumping Mass.  With fifteen minutes left in the game Kentucky was down by 31 points and looking completely shell-shocked and hopeless.  Then, something happened, I still don’t know what it was.  For some reason, Kentucky turned on.  They went absolutely postal on LSU and wound up outscoring LSU 62-27 in the half.  And, even won the game.  By the time it was over, it wasn’t even close.  The point guard on that team?  You guessed it, Travis Ford.

So, if I had been watching the game, and had seen UMass down by 19, I wouldn’t have thought twice about them coming back.  Nineteen points just isn’t that big a hill to climb for someone like Travis Ford.  And, given that mentality, give him a couple of more years at UMass and I don’t think nineteen point deficits will be something they’ll have to worry about.  You guys have a real leader at UMass, a winner.

Technorati Tags: comeback, kentucky, lsu, massachusetts, syracuse, travis ford

Most seasons, the regular season and SEC tournament are just a preamble to Kentucky going to the NCAA tournament.  This year has been a tough ride.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t make it at this point.  However, it’s what has gotten in their way that is pretty remarkable to me.  Here’s what it apparently takes to get in their way:

• The previous coach doesn’t recruit anyone for three years.
• The previous coach, realizing he hasn’t recruited anyone for three years, abandons ship.
• New coach comes in with no time to recruit, but nabs two star recruits.
• Star recruit #1, Alex Legion, has his mother tell him Jesus thinks he should be playing somewhere else, and leaves.
• Star recruit #2, Patrick Patterson, is having a fantastic season, breaks his foot.  Out for season.
• Expected star guard Jodie Meeks stays injured pretty much the entire season.
• With an almost completely depleted line-up, lose to two nobodies.

Given all that, they finish the season 18-11 and 12-4 in the SEC.  Those are odds-on bubble numbers.  The only thing that could go wrong at this point is to lose the first game of the SEC tournament and have a bunch no-chance teams win their tournaments getting automatic bids and squeezing out the number of at-large teams.  So, guess what happens?

• Kentucky draws the last game of the second round of the tournament.  This guarantees a late-night finish with little rest for the next day’s game.  Worst thing that could happen is to have the game before them go into overtime, pushing UK’s game even later.  So, what happens?  The game before them goes into overtime. 
• It gets even better.  A tornado strikes the arena.  This pushes the end of the first game till about 11:30pm.  They debate and debate and finally decide to postpone the last game until early the next day.  Which creates an almost unheard of scenario of having to win TWO GAMES IN ONE DAY.  When trying to predict the worst case scenario for Kentucky getting into the tournament, I can assure you, not one single person thought of having a tornado strike the arena.  No problem you say, the Cats are well-conditioned and have beaten Georgia twice already.
• Toss in not getting back to their hotel until 2am and having to play at noon.
• Toss in completely eliminating the sixth man by not allowing ticket holders into the game.
• The only thing that could be worse would be for that game to go into overtime.  So, guess what.  It goes into overtime.  Now, at this point, you can pretty much conclude whoever wins this game is going to get creamed at 8pm.  It didn’t matter.
• Toss in a miraculous three pointer at the buzzer to lose it.
• Now, all that’s left is a bunch of upsets in league tournaments.  Like, let’s say, Clemson beating Duke or Arkansas beating Tennessee.

That folks, is probably what it takes to keep Kentucky out of the tournament.

Technorati Tags: alex legion, arkansas, clemson, jesus, jodie meeks, kentucky, ncaa, patrick patterson, sec, tornado, wildcats

The University of Kentucky basketball team got a new basketball coach this year.  Some people I think expected an overnight miracle, which Billy Gillispie has never done the first year.  What he has done is greatly improve the second year.  However, Gillispie  don’t think ever had the talent his first year anywhere, or the pressure to win.  Kentucky got off to a fairly horrendous start, losing to also-rans like San Diego and Gardner-Webb, a LOT of people started asserting that ditching Tubby Smith was a mistake.  I never fell into that boat.  Tubby’s recruiting was horrid and UK’s performance had deteriorated steadily under his leadership to the point UK was barely breaking .500 in the SEC.  That’s just not acceptable.  So, after tripping all over themselves the first sixteen games of the season, the players I think finally figured out what Billy-ball was all about and started beating the expected.  Then, they actually beat a couple of unexpecteds.  Now, going into the final couple of weeks of the season, they are in a very unexpected place to be.  This Sunday, they’ll play the former #1 team in the country for a shot at first place in the SEC. Now, as goofy as it sounds now, they actually have beaten the former #1 team in the nation this season already this season.  So, a victory’s not 100% unexpected.  However, this game is in Knoxville, so that’s the caveat I’m holding onto.  However, back to the point, this time the last two seasons UK was completely out of that picture and hoping for some miracle in the SEC playoffs, which never happened.  Kentucky’s not back where they should be yet, but they are hustling and playing hard.  With that and the recruiting Billy’s done so far, the Big Blue will be a load of fun to watch again very soon I think.

Technorati Tags: basketball, billy-gillispie, kentucky, ncaa, wildcats

Yesterday during the Kentucky - Arkansas game, with the 30 seconds left and the game on the line, CBS cut away to the Duke game.  Now, it’s bad enough to cut away from the game everyone here wanted to see.  But, to suddenly be watching Duke?  After I imagine several thousand irate phone calls, they cut back to the UK game with about 10 seconds left and the game basically over.  I doubt too many people here hung around to watch the Duke game 

Technorati Tags: arkansas, CBS, Duke, kentucky