Kentucky Sports Radio

Not one, but two Lexington Kentucky Sports Radio spies emailed me this weekend that two current UK players were out in Lexington and were seen singing and dancing to this song below at the top of their lungs to a pack of onlookers. Now assuming this is true (which I will), I love it because (a) the notion of two UK basketball players singing this song cracks me up AND it is a twosome that you might not think would be Jesse McCartney fans and (b) I kinda like this song too and was at a party last night where more than one late 20s age male was singing this at the top of their lungs as well (one even had it as his ring tone….which is a bit much). So here is the question: which two were they? Everyone gets two guesses in the comments section. First one to get it correct gets a signed “Fear the Woo” shirt. Have at it…..

Oh yeah, and here is the (great) video

Lance Stephenson was “Born Ready”.  At least, that’s what the documentary about his life wants you to think.  The shooting guard from New York is ranked toward the top of the 2009 class and is, without a doubt, an impact player as soon as he suits up.  But, he comes with a little bit of an ego.  I wrote these thoughts back on June 14 and I stand even more firm in my opinion today than I did that afternoon.  Since that day of “is he interested, is he not interested”, Stephenson has said that he was going to play in Europe, that he would consider the Army and told people on the same day that his top 3 were Kansas, Memphis and Tennessee and then Kansas, UCLA and USC.  Dude has some issues.

Well, fresh off the heels of my Thad Matta story convincing Trae Golden to back out of his commitment to Ohio State University, Stephenson is now the one fulfilling the Beisner prophecy.  Seth Davis sees Stephenson’s issues and doesnt like it.  The coaches of Team USA have experienced it and they ae trying to decide if he is worth it.  So, the question remains - even though Lexington seems to be the most unlikely of destinations for Stephenson at this point - is the kid worth the baggage that he brings?  Is he a player that you get on campus and then hope to mold or is he a guy you red flag and stay away from?

Discuss below.  I’m off to get a quote on the damage my car suffered at the hands of my grandfather’s parking job last night.

Its the Fourth of July and I am still not spending much time at the computer, but a piece of news did show up on my radar. Georgia guard Trae Golden, a top ranked player from the class of 2010 has decommitted from Ohio State. You may remember Golden as one of the first players to put Kentucky as his leader early in the Gillispie era. Golden is now back on the market and you have to think that Kentucky will be one of his top choices. This story shows (a) how fickle early commitments like this are and (b) how a true STUD in the Class of 2010 (which could shape up to be some kind of class) is now back on the Cats’ radar.

Hope you all are having as much fun as I am….

Not too far away…..

Cats got another commitment this week, and this one may be the best yet. WR Anthony Kendrick from Texas committed to the Cats yesterday. He is a big, fast receiver who should make an impact in college early. From the Scout.com rankings, he is considered the BEST player that Kentucky has gotten a commitment from yet and he is nationally ranked at his position. While there have been some legitimate concerns raised about this rash of early unheralded commits (which we will discuss later), this one is most certainly legit.

Have a great Fourth folks!

Just a quick recap of yesterday’s post about coaches I would start a program with, and specifically the bashing of Pete Carroll that ensued.  I was amazed at how Pete Carroll was compared to Mack Brown, so lets do a little comparison:

Pete Carroll: 7 seasons, 6 BCS Bowls (5-1 in those games), 2 NATIONAL TITLES, 6 straight conference titles, 3 Heisman trophy winners, 76-14 overall record (84.4 win pct.)

Mack Brown: 10 seasons, 2 BCS Bowls (2-0 in those games), 1 NATIONAL TITLE, 4 conference titles, 1 Heisman trophy winner, 103-25 overall record (80.4 win pct.)

Where is the argument?  And if we got into recruiting rankings, Carroll wins again over ANY head coach in the country.  I didnt pick Carroll because of anything BUT results.  The guy wins, the guy recruits, the guy motivates.  Case closed.

1. Here is a quick recap of the recruits UK now has committed from the football class of 2009.  Right now, the stud of the group is 3-star QB Brian Adams, who is the 64th best QB in the country.  The rest of the guys are currently 1-star guys, and mainly cover needs on the offensive side of the ball.     

2. Billy Donovan took the NABC’s request not to accept commitments from 10th graders or younger and said “shove it” by taking a commitment from Doc River’s son, who is a 9th grader.  And good for him.  Until the NABC actually sets a rule and doesn’t just ask nicely, I say recruit whoever you want.  If other coaches are going to do it, its a bad idea to play the “good guy” and follow the NABC’s request.  You will miss out greatly.     

3. This Brett Favre crap is getting really old.  And I dont care if its true or not, I am just getting tired of hearing about him coming back.  I was “lucky” enough to interview Favre a couple weeks back, and I could’ve told you then he was coming back.  This whole “I know I can do it physically, its just mentally do I want to go through a season” excuse never works.  You know he is coming back and you know Aaron Rodgers is going to cry and Brian Brohm is going to cry until experiecing a freak eye injury or something.   

4. How is it humanly possible to foul a baseball off your FACE???  Michael Barrett has your answer. 

Played like dog today and put up an 87 at Quail Chase….dont tell anyone. A guy in my group threw up a 70 today, marking his best round ever as a golfer. Last time I played Bobby Perry shot 78 from the tips at Valhalla and proclaimed it the “best I have ever played.” The lesson here….if you want to play better than you ever have in your life, play in a group against me for money. Couple of things….

— The Jules story is absurd. Saw the police and made a turn at 45 mph into a hotel parking lot? And then allegedly poured a Rum and Coke into his floorboard….good gosh Jules. As those of you have been around here may know, I have a history with Jules (have to be a REALLY old school podcast guy to know that story) that is one of my better stories of college life. I nevertheless like Jules and pull for him….but he does some ridiculous things.

— UK is trying to get Matthew Pilgrim eligible for this year by petitioning the NCAA on a “hardship” claim. No idea what the claim is or whether it will be successful, but we shall see. I saw Marc Maggard compared Pilgrim to Jamal Mashburn on a thread on TCP….someone got into the Fourth of July drinks a little soon.

— I really like Jon Hood….a lot. Talked to a former UK player yesterday about him and he recently saw him play saying, “he is exactly what UK needs….good shooter, can score and plays smart. I think he will be a UK star.” I agree FWIW.

— The “faceless” people at Wimbledon creep me out….but I am fascinated by them.

The weekend now officially begins and I am ready. There will still be posts on here for those of you looking and I head off Sunday to the Lebron James Academy. Have a great Fourth….

OK, so, during the dragging, sweaty, uncomfortable months of summer, we flippantly mentioned that we would be profiling every player on the team. It will only be fun and worthwhile, we decided, if we were both informative AND funny. Well, it would be really fun if we were drunk the entire time, but that’s neither here nor there. Thus, for these ten weeks leading up to the UL game, we will have at least one profile a day. We hope you enjoy these as much as we enjoyed the idea of doing them, but not the actual task. Oh, and we see the egregious “that’s what she said” in the headline.

We’d also like to use this italicized space to apologize to the families of the players whose last names end in ‘A’ or ‘B’ because these early ones might suck a little.

That’s him there on the left, #72. Finding action shots of lineman is not easy.

Boring, Obligatory Vitals

Height–6′5”

Weight–285

40–N/A

Year–Junior

Position–Offensive Guard

Hometown–Magnolia, KY (Elizabethtown)

Unfair comparison to NFL-er: Speedy Duncan, of course. I mean, seriously, ‘Zipp’ and ‘Speedy?’ That’s a match made in ‘Short and Insufficient Profile’ heaven.

Most interesting fact from his media guide bio: Caught a TD pass in a JV game his freshman year.

Something we made up about him: Thinks ’Speedy’ is a silly first name. 

Items of legitimate interest: Duncan moved from tight end to O-line last spring, and has been hugely successful. Very athletic, Zipp was a major cog to our successful running game from a year ago. He also guarded Woodson’s blind side, starting 10 games at left guard. Pleasant surprise, as last year was the first time he had played on the offensive line in his career.

Outlook for 2008, based on light research by our minions: Your opening day starter, Duncan will be opening holes for the speedy Wildcat backs. He’ll also be pulling and cut-blocking—whatever else offensive guards do, he’ll be doing those things quite well.

Take a trip with me, won’t you?

Let’s go back to 2007, January 31. JaJuan Spillman is driving around with his buddy—blunted. They get in a wreck, and thusly, arrested. Spillman’s attorney, however, was able to get the DUI charge dropped for lack of proof, and Spillman left court only getting a possession charge. Though the cop said that he smelt “burnt marijuana,” there was not sufficient proof indicating that he had smoked in the last 36 hours. Spillman walked out, only having to pay a $100 fine and attend one drug class. Kragthorpe suspended him and the mattered was said to have been resolved internally.

His reformation was almost complete, until today, when he hit a minor speed bump. Spillman, again, was pulled over and charged with driving under the influence and possessing of some bud. Not only that, but JaJuan was also carrying a gun. Can’t blame him, though. I know when I drive around smoking bowl after bowl I get pretty paranoid. I always have my gat.

Assuming that he will be kicked off the team, and judging by Kragthorpe’s track record—he will, this will mark the 22nd defection since the program’s reins were handed over by Bobby Petrino. Now, looking south at Arkansas’ woes, you have to ask yourself what, if anything, does this man do by way of discipline? This whole “Petrino” thing is becoming quite an epidemic.

(edit: If you read the comments from the first linked article, you will find that someone by the name of “ddh1969″ is truly prophetic. He wrote: “I’m tired of the ‘oh, it’s just weed’ crap too. rules are rules and they need to be obeyed. Bottom line. Just weed…what next…it was just a handgun?” Uhhh…yeah, DDH. In fact, that’s exactly what’s next.)

OK, so, during the dragging, sweaty, uncomfortable months of summer, we flippantly mentioned that we would be profiling every player on the team. It will only be fun and worthwhile, we decided, if we were both informative AND funny. Well, it would be really fun if we were drunk the entire time, but that’s neither here nor there. Thus, for these ten weeks leading up to the UL game, we will have at least one profile a day. We hope you enjoy these as much as we enjoyed the idea of doing them, but not the actual task. Oh, and we see the egregious “that’s what she said” in the headline.

We’d also like to use this italicized space to apologize to the families of the players whose last names end in ‘A’ or ‘B’ because these early ones might suck a little.

Cover it!

Boring, Obligatory Vitals

Height–6′2”

Weight–215

40–4.7

Year–Sophomore

Position–Linebacker

Hometown–Cut Off, LA (John Curtis Christian)

Unfair comparison to NFL-er: Ex-Falcon great Bobby Hebert calls Cut Off his home. Also, Trishelle from The Real World is from there—but she never played football.

Most interesting fact from his media guide bio: His dad and two brothers played football at Nicholls State. Man, I bet they thought they had this one in the bag.

Something we made up about him: You cannot tell a lot about him from his shoes.

Items of legitimate interest: Had two tackles on special teams in 10 games of action as a true freshman. First team All-State his senior year in Louisiana, winning state his junior and senior year. Chose the Cats over offers from Tulane and LA Monroe.

Outlook for 2008, based on light research by our minions: Again, seems to be a talented defender. Described as a fast, blitzing linebacker, Dufrene will probably see the majority of his action come on special teams this season. Also an outstanding long snapper. Another guy waiting his turn.

Here’s his high school highlight video for your viewing pleasure: he’s #80: