Kentucky Baseball Love

The Major League Baseball Draft is today and Kentucky LHP James Paxton expects to be picked at some point in the first round. Paxton boasts one of the most notorious uber-agents in the business in Scott Boras. This means that while some teams might be hesitant to draft him, the kid is about to get paid.

He is one of top prospects in all of college baseball as he throws massive heat and is a southpaw. This unique combination has team's foaming at the mouth. He has been projected anywhere from 3rd to 30th overall, but most mock draft have him going somewhere in between. Thanks to Mr. Paxton for keeping Kentucky baseball in the news.

His teammate, right-hander Chris Rusin is also slated to be picked today as well. He seems to be a possible third-round choice.

Eric Lindsey, at Cat Scratches, also found a nice piece from the Wall Street Journal raving about the University of Kentucky baseball program. They say over the last 10+ years, Kentucky rates as the third best baseball factory for pitching in MLB Drafts. Sending prominent big leaguers Brandon Webb, Joe Blanton, Scott Downs, now James Paxton and Chris Rusin. Not even mentioning the numerous Wildcats in the minor leagues currently.

Not bad for a school known for basketball, and more recently football. Having publicity like this doesn't hurt at all for our up-and-coming baseball program and helps cement the fact that the University is one step closer to world domination.

MLB Draft tonight at 6:00

June 9th: On this date...

... in 1969, Tom Payne, of Louisville, became the first African-American player to sign with Adolph Rupp and Kentucky. Academic issues kept Payne from playing as a freshman, but as a sophomore, his grades and play improved immensely. In 1971, he scored 30 points vs. Auburn to help clinch the SEC Championship for the Wildcats. However, with the possibility of playing the next year looking slim, he opted to declare hardship and declared for the 1971 NBA hardship draft. He was taken by Atlanta in the first round.

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June 8th: On this date...

... in 1978, former UK All-American Kevin Grevey helped lead the Washington Bullets to their first ever NBA Championship. Grevey averaged 15.5 ppg as a starter, alongside Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes. After having a solid season with the Bullets, an injury held Grevey back during the playoff run. He did tally six points in the deciding Game 7 victory over the favored SuperSonics, 105-99. Upon retirement, Grevey opened a popular restaurant in Washington D.C., appropriately named "Grevey's."

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June 7th: On this date...

... in 1989, Kentucky guard Sean Sutton decided to transfer after speaking to new head coach Rick Pitino. Sutton said the biggest reason for leaving was that he wanted to go to a place where he could "win a national championship." But then he decided to transfer to Oklahoma State, which blows that theory out of the water. Both father and son would ultimately end up in Stillwater to "lead" Oklahoma State to.....................well, not much of anything.

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Summer Bird. Oh....You hadn't heard?

Summer Bird, not Mine That Bird won the Belmont Stakes today. Calvin Borel's dream, or anyone else's of a Triple Crown, will have to wait for a few more decades.

Jerry Tipton Hates Your Team

"Hi. My name is Jerry. I hate your team."

Jerry Tipton is pissed off that he went to the NCAA hearings today and didn't find out any dirt on your coach or team. What I'm gathering from his commentary is that he feels like if something fishy is going on in your vicinity, you should know. Or possibly go on probation. He asked Len Elmore about it today just to get his fix:

As a former All-America player for Maryland and then a longtime college basketball commentator, Elmore knows the ways of big-time athletics.

"You can't tell me that coaches don't have control over situations that have a direct impact" on an incoming player and the program, he said. " ... I'd really be surprised if there wasn't at least some inkling. Coaches have intuition. They've been around. Many of them have been around a long, long time. They know what the proper path to recruiting and admission of a student-athlete would be all about. And they also probably would be able to smell something that wasn't right."

These are strong words from Tipton and Elmore. Having said that, if I decided to pull the wool over on the SAT officials, I could've had someone take the test for me, and if I got caught, I could throw all of the blame to the Head of Finance at the University of Kentucky.

In conclusion, Len Elmore and Jerry Tipton hate Finance professors.

Calipari Using Mind Games from China

Coach Cal (above) did attend the NCAA hearings today.

How dare he! We, as a nation, were led to believe the NCAA hearings today were going to pull the curtain back on John Calipari. A meeting so intense that one day might not cover it all. These allegations against Memphis were somehow passed onto Kentucky's lap by the liberal media looking for a story.

A story that might forever tarn...... Wait, what's that? Oh, the hearing is over already? It lasted under four hours? But Jerry Tipton went to the hearing looking for a story that could uproot the Kentucky basketball empire. Hmmm, let me think. Aha.

BBB has found an excerpt from a story due to come out in tomorrow's papers. Again, the following is 100% factual.

... Today is the day we've all been waiting for. A
chance to rid the world of one of the most notorious members of one of the most
pure sports in America: college basketball. His name is John
Calipari. A man who has played with NCAA fire one too many times. I
am here to tell you, after today, his time is over...

... From forcing an innocent kid, Marcus Camby, to meet with
the mafia and accept money -- to manipulating/kidnapping the moderator during
Derrick Rose's SAT test, Calipari and his tentacles have probably even reached
into your local community...

... John Calipari and his shadiness used sleazy mind games
through the telephone from China to corrupt the NCAA hearings today (Note: All members of the NCAA committee were wearing American flag pendants because they love America more than you). They had planned on going for days, weeks, even months, but this man forced the NCAA to end it only after four hours. After being told he HAD to attend the hearings, Mr. Calipari fled the country to hang out with his communist friends in China...

So there you go Big Blue Nation. Beware of the coming storm from our media friends across the country.

June 6th: On this date...

OOOOOOOOOOOOO K.

... in 1989, new Kentucky coach Rick Pitino hired his first assistant, one Herb Sendek from Providence. Sendek, 26, was first hired by Rick at Providence as a graduate assistant. The team and coaches would later become one of the most beloved team's in UK history. (I dare you to take a look at that team picture and not smile.) After Sendek left Kentucky, he would go on to coach Miami (OH), N.C. State, and Arizona State. Not a bad resume if you ask me, as he's been successful everywhere he has gone.

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And the hits keep on coming......

Say it aint so, Joe?

As if news wasn't bad enough for us lately, news hits that the relationship between Joe Bologna's and the University of Kentucky will cease to exist for the next three years. Apparently a gossipy waitress popped off about how the player's meals were always comped by the big guy.

And once Sandy Bell caught wind of this, GAME OVER. She said Joe knows better and he knew what he was doing. Kentucky players and coaches are no longer allowed to eat big breadsticks and olive oil. Of course, Scherbenske could always call-in a to-go order. Nobody knows who that is, right?

When BBB tried to reach Bologna for a comment, he said (while shaking a fist), "Yeah, and we woulda gotten away with it if it hadn't been for you meddling kids."

Kentucky fans. Getting in their own way since 1873!

Will Barton verbals to Memphis

Meh, doesn't look like we're missing out on much.

So says Evan Daniels of Scout.com. Big get for new Memphis coach Josh Pastner. Kentucky was said to be the leader for Barton, as recently as yesterday, but Beirut Memphis gets their man. I'm guessing they'll also get his brother Antonio, as the post says below. I knew Coach Cal shouldn't have gone to China. Or........maybe he called Will from Bejing and told him a shooting guard was found in Tiananmen Square? Our new coach always has an agenda.

Memphis Commercial Appeal

June 5th: On this date...

... in 2004, the Detroit Pistons and Tayshaun Prince snaked into Los Angeles and stole Game 1 of the 2004 NBA Finals. The Lakers had won three of the past four NBA titles and featured a roster chock full of NBA Hall-of-Famers: Karl Malone, Shaquille O'Neal, & Kobe Bryant. Not many people gave the Pistons a chance in the Series, but a big-time defensive effort shocked the Lakers 87-75. Kentucky great Tayshaun Prince got the assignment of guarding Kobe Bryant. Tayshaun's length, athleticism and craftiness frustrated Bryant each game, giving the Pistons a huge "ace-up-the-sleeve."

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Will Barton, Gimel Martinez and Alan Cutler -- Excuse Me, What?

WLEX throw two semi-stories at us tonight:

• Will Barton, Rivals #1 SG and #7 overall player in 2010, has Kentucky high on his list. This may be the first signing for Coach Cal in 2010. Will's brother Antonio also graduates next year and is a 3-star PG. They seems to be a package deal. They have multiple offers on the table, but have said Kentucky would be the ideal situation. Some think Cal will offer Antonio in the near future. Take that for what its worth.
• Alan Cutler also caught up with former UK great Gimel Martinez. Gimmy has apparently been kickin' it at Louisville father-son basketball camps and his kid has tons of Card gear. Gimmy seems to be growing tired of that act, so he's already signed up for Coach Cal's father-son deal so he can get his boy in blue a bit more.

No offense to Coach Cal, but I'd pay for the father-son camp just to hang out with Gimel for a week. We've got a tad more history. Not to mention see if he really wears some of the glasses above.

June 4th: On this date...

... in 2006, former UK-JV starter, Nazr Mohammed, started at center for the San Antonio Spurs when they beat Phoenix in five games to advance to the NBA Finals. His lines throughout the Western Conference Finals were: Game 1 (9p-7r-2b) Game 2 (11p-8r-2b) Game 3 (9p-4r) Game 4 (8p-8r) Game 5 (4p-2r). As you can see, it was Nazr's clutch play, not Tim Duncan's, that led the Spurs to the Finals. They went on to beat fellow Wildcat Tayshaun Prince and the Pistons to win the 2006 NBA Championship.

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June 3rd: On this date...

You're right. I couldn't resist either.

... in 1989, new Kentucky head coach Rick Pitino admitted Kenny "Sky" Walker was a very big influence in him taking the UK job. The New York Times reported then-current Knicks player "Sky" Walker had more influence than many realized in convincing Pitino to go to his alma-mater. Walker said, "I didn't try to make the bluegrass greener for him, I just laid out for him what he could expect if he came here. After some of the things I said, I think he started more seriously considering it." No word on whether "Sky" really wanted him to coach at Kentucky or if he was simply tired of playing for him in New York.

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Where Are They Now - All Grows'd Up Edition

Here are a few updates of our former baby kittens:

• Wesley Woodyard has juiced up from 218 lbs. to 230 lbs. He says he hasn't lost any of his speed and is ready to make plays wherever the Broncos put him. The addition of Braxton Kelley has eased the transition for them both. Nice writeup of the defensive stud.
• Keenan Burton is a heavy favorite to win a starting wide receiver's job in St. Louis.
• Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher can't wait to see Rafael Little this summer. He feels Little has a great chance to see some time this fall behind Chris Johnson and LenDale White.
• The wide-receiving corps in Buffalo will be crowded (addition of T.O.), but if Steve Johnson can hold a spot on the team, he could very well have a career year in the slot.

Go Cats.

Straight From The Horse's Mouth

The horse being one Jodie Meeks. He dropped some knowledge yesterday on his website, jodiemeeks.net. Is this foreshadowing that he's ready to move on from his college experience? Does writing on your own site try to further your own personal agenda? Do these questions even have right or wrong answers? Am I simply asking dumb questions because there's no news and I'm ready for basketball season to start?

Jodie lets us know who he has worked out for already. He gives a little insight from NBA scouts and coaches on where they think he'll get drafted. One of these "sharks" even tried to pollute Jodie's mind by saying he'd be a better pro player than a college player. That very well could be the case, but I bet these same NBA minds aren't worried about Kentucky's world domination plan.

In other news, Jodie had the third fastest sprint time at the NBA Combine.

Academic Issues

If there's one thing we are sure about with our current recruiting class, it's that Billy Clyde's recruits, Jon Hood and Daniel Orton, are in far better academic standing than our new guys. Not to say this won't be water under the bridge in a few weeks or months, I'm just stating the facts.

The latest rumors with our new guys being Derrick Rose actually took the SAT for both John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins to make up for his past transgressions. Ah, we kid because it's a slow news day.

Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports and Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog say both John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins are good to go academically. Both will enrolling in summer classes at UK soon, and the rest will hopefully be history. Can you imagine being in the same summer class as these guys? You might be able to squeeze into an entourage if you can keep these two in shape this summer.

June 2nd: On this date...

A-W-E-S-O-M-E

... in 1989, the man pictured above, Derrick Miller, decided to stay at the University following the coaching change. Rick Pitino met with the Kentucky players in Wildcat Lodge for about 40 minutes and told them to get outta Dodge if they wanted; but if they decided to stay, they would be a part of "the most exciting school in America today." Players like Sean Sutton, Reggie Hanson, Derrick Miller, and the Unforgettables would have to decide what to do within a few weeks. Sean Woods seemed to be the most positive of the bunch, saying, "Coach Pitino is a great guy, and I look forward to playing for him."

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Conan O'Brien Begins a New Era

Not sure about you, but I'm actually looking forward to tonight's debut of Conan O'Brien as The Tonight Show host. Jay Leno's act was old and tired and NBC needed a change bad. I'm not necessarily saying he'll be there for 20 years, but his writing suits my generation much more than Leno.

June 1st: On this date...

...in 1989, Rick Pitino promises Big Blue Nation "will win and we will win right away." The University held a press conference at Patterson Office Tower officially naming Pitino as the new men's basketball coach. The rebuilding would start immediately. Inheriting a roster consisting only of eight players and one returning starter, Pitino would try to recover from the worst season since 1926-27. Pitino said, "Sanctions and probation just make it tougher. But we will overcome all obstacles to make Kentucky basketball rich again." To make his point, he held up the "Kentucky's Shame" Sports Illustrated cover and vowed the next time the Cats would be on the cover, we would be "cutting down certain nets."

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