March 22nd: On this day...

... way back in 1998, Jamal Magloire tried murdering little Jimmy Wojonarkwodhybxcbzski, or whatever his fantabulous name is, by pulling some Jason Bourne style crap during a scrum. Magloire openly admitted to "60 Minutes" after the game he tried to snap the little man from Mordor/Middle Earth into pieces, causing celebrations around the globe.

In addition to this main story, the Comeback Cats were 17 down to Duke four minutes into the 2nd half, but turned the tables down the stretch to earn UK's 13th Final Four berth. Wayne Turner, Scott Padgett, and Cameron Mills will live in Kentucky lore the rest of the lives partly due to their involvement in this one game. This humiliating comeback helped wipe away some of the "diarrhea-like" feel from 1992. Kentucky ended the game on a 32-13 run to win 86-84 in a masterful coaching job by a man who loved to spend his free time in a bathtub as a child. Go figure.

2009 Season Never Ends Calendar

T-minus 7 and counting...

With the win tonight against LSU, North Carolina gets its 1,980th win.

Only 7 wins separate the good guys from the bad guys.

Bat Cats shut down Commodorks 3-1

Junior James Paxton pitched 6 2/3 innings of two hit ball and struck out ten to lead Kentucky to an important series opening win yesterday vs. Vandy. Paxton is putting himself in position to be a very high draft pick next year with the breakthrough performances he has had over the past two seasons. In five starts, Paxton is 4-0 with 2.95 ERA. Kentucky improves to 14-4 on the year, 2-2 in the SEC, and stays undefeated at home.

RECAP

You don't know Dick

My bad, dawg.

Arizona, a 12th seed, and thought by some (cough, Dick) to not even be worthy of an NCAA nod, just upset number 5 seed, Utah.

Dick, I guess you could say you missed this one?

Poll Dancing for the Readers!

For all of the loyal readers, here are your props. We respect you and your opinions only because we try and get hits for this site, and nothing else. Having said that, here are our readers' opinions!

Poll #1 - Four games remaining, how many do the Cats win? Answer: 0.
5% correct, 95% wrong. I'm sure the 5% voted after the fact.

Poll #2 - Pat Patterson _______. Answer: TBD
53% - the majority says he goes. A fanbase divided. Not surprising is it?

Poll #3 - Cats = NCAA Tourney team. Answer: False
63% say false. Can the 37% please explain themselves?

Poll #4 - What seed will the Cats get? Answer: #4 in NIT
43% say #2 NIT seed. Leading me to believe, the readers would have chosen a crappier seed had it been an option. I take full blame for this poll, as I was too optimistic for UK. Apologies.

Poll #5 - Will the Cats still be alive Friday afternoon of the SEC Tournament? Answer: Who cares.
55% believed they would not. Technically they were alive at 1:59pm, but they were out by 2:05pm.

Poll #6 - Will the 2009-10 Cats still have PG problems? Answers: TBD, most likely.
61% say yes. Fair enough. Definitely no confidence from anyone.

Poll #7 - I am most looking forward to _____________. Answer: Reese's peanut butter Easter eggs
40% agreed. These are my favorite readers. Please step forward. Football season was a close second with 31%. While 1 lone voter is having the time of his/her life because the NIT is currently in season. Whoever you are, wherever you are, you are a sick human being--or a Louisville fan.

Good day.

UK commit Ridge Wilson continues to impress

This bad mofo This fine, young gentleman is not only a force on the gridiron, he's a man-child on the hardwood too. UK linebacker commitment Ridge Wilson helped lead his Louisville Central (18-14) basketball team into the Sweet 16 semifinals as they upset Louisville Eastern (31-3) 71-65 in Rupp Arena this afternoon. Wilson finished with a double-double and multiple key defensive plays down the stretch to send Eastern back to Beirut Louisville. Central will play West Jessamine in the first Sweet 16 semifinal Saturday morning.

The Big Question

Dude, you're not doing it right. The "L" is supposed to go on your forehead.

The debate for today is whether or not you pull for UofL during March Madness.

The case for:
A Kentucky school is a Kentucky school, and you are happy that the state of Kentucky has representation. What is good for a Kentucky school is good for the state. Plus, UofL has a great style of basketball that is fun to watch. Since UK is not in it, you might as well pull for the other KY school.

The case against:
What is good for UofL is bad for UofK. As UofL gets better and better, more and more recruits are going to be interested in them versus us. Since UK and UofL fish from the same in-state talent pool, the better UofL does, the more likely we lose the recruiting war. Plus...Rick Pitino.


My opinion? I hope UofL crashes and burns. I hope they embarrass themselves. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a big Pitino-hater. In fact, I am very grateful to Pitino for where he took us in the '90's. However, with every win and every success, the recruiting edge tips to the red. UK has enough problems right now. It doesn't need the additional challenge of losing recruits to the in-state rival.

In other words, GO Morehead State!!!

What say you? Let us know in the comments section, and maybe we can get a poll going to vote on.

March 20th: On this date...

... in 1946, Ralph Beard led Kentucky to a 46-45 win over Rhode Island in the NIT Championship game. This was Rupp's first NIT Championship, at the time considered the most prestigious tournament in all the land. The win concluded a 28-2 season, and was the beginning point of the most successful four year run in Kentucky basketball history. A run all its own until the 1990s.

2009 Season Never Ends Calendar

Konner Tucker

Nothing new to report, just came across something that made me smile. When asked to describe Konner Tucker, the new JUCO recruit, Billy Gillispie said the new addition was,

tough, gritty.

I wonder if this was preceded multiple times by the adverb "really" or "very". Just bustin' your balls Billy, calm down.

March 19th: On this date...

... in 1966, Texas Western took down Kentucky in the NCAA Championship game, 72-65, leading many to peg this as the Civil Rights game in college basketball. While many believe this was a huge upset, Texas Western came into the game #3 in the nation with a 27-1 record. Many blamed the Kentucky loss on tired legs. Two days earlier they had beaten Duke in an up-and-down affair 83-79. The Cats shot an uncharacteristically bad 27-70 from the field.

Here's a great article on the game if you get bored. One not portraying Kentucky and Rupp as completely racist, which is rare.

2009 Season Never Ends Calendar

Gillispie starts building his case

Jerry Tipton writes in this morning's LHL that Gillispie believes that inexperience is the Cats "only reason" they didn't make the tournament.

Sounds like he is starting to build his defense for staying. It also sounds like he isn't open to changing his ways.

At least someone is loving the coaching change.

Hey folks. It's me again. The BCG-lover. I'll try to stick with the easier stuff this time. Stuff we can all agree on. Don't count on that lasting for long though. In my next post, I plan to debate Chevy's dominance over Ford, whether it is democrats or republicans that are ruining the country, and how the new Battlestar Galactica is sooooo much cooler than the old Battlestar Galactica. Stay Tuned.

A few news story to pass along...

Tubby is enjoying the change in scenery.

We came within 2 points of playing another NIT game at home.

Gillispie helps out an old friend and signs a little-known juco point guard for 2009.

Millions of Cards fans watched the UK/UNLV game. They must be envious of our NIT nod.

And, to make sure there is at least some comedy in this post, I leave you with this...

Westward Bound

Kentucky will go west to Omaha, Nebraska next Monday to face #1 Creighton in the second round of the 2009 NIT. The Blue Jays defeated Bowling Green Wednesday night 73-71 to set up a date with the Cats. The win moved Creighton's record to 27-7, having one of the best records on the outside of the NCAA Tournament. They were co-champions of the Missouri Valley Conference regular season, but failed to get a bid after a poor showing in the semifinal round of their conference tournament. They have won 11 of the last 12 games.

Go Cats.

Forbes has UK #2

Forbes has compiled a list of most valuable college basketball programs and Kentucky has come in second yet again. Not saying it's bad, especially if the only one in front of you is Michael Jordan North Carolina, but goes on to point out UK doesn't even make money on its concessions, parking, etc. If and when a new arena is built for the Wildcats, these "new" sources of income will launch Kentucky "into a financial stratosphere all their own."

Suck on that, your Air-ness.

Konner Tucker Commits to UK

Per Jody Demling at Courier-Journal and Mark Maggard at True Blue Kentucky. He is the junior college point guard from Jacksonville, Texas. Is he the answer? Hard to tell. But he was at the game last night and was cheering when we scored, so he must be a great fit and the answer. Do new recruits come with earplugs? As long as he can dribble in a straight line and isn't scared to shoot, I'd say it's an upgrade. Of course if he doesn't practice well, we may never know (i.e. Kevin Galloway)

March 18th: On this date...

... in 1978, Kyle Macy and his socks hit seven consecutive free throws down the stretch to clinch a victory over Michigan State 52-49. Kentucky trailed most of the game, but made a run to take the lead when freshman Magic Johnson got into foul trouble. Magic was held to only six points on the night, while #1 seed UK was led by Macy's 18, Goose Givens' 14, and Mike Phillips 10. The win clinched a Final Four appearance for the Cats in St. Louis, where something extremely neat happened!

2009 Season Never Ends Calendar

Are Office Pools Legit?

This picture answers the long debated question. Hey, if he's doing it, why shouldn't I? In a completely unrelated story, I'm doubting he actually put any money on it. OK -- I'm guessing we're back at square one.

Deadspin

The Coz says, "SEND IT IN LANKY FELLA!"

The first 25 minutes of this game was easily the best and most relaxed UK had looked in two months, possibly the year. The players (dare I say) were smiling while they were on the court. It was a fun game to watch on TV and would have been awesome to be in attendance. To be in a Kentucky crowd where the crowd chants as the shot clock is about to expire, whodathunkit?!?!?

I'm floored they couldn't get the HD cameras there, though. I mean, the NIT tilt between Penn St. and George Mason was in HD for goodness sake. All in all, a good night to be a UK fan. It was the most unique setting ever for a basketball game and it was the loudest crowd ever in the history of the world (until UNLV came back). Good night or good morning.

RECAP

BOX SCORE

The Beginning of the End?

Will this be the last game coached by Billy Gillispie or will this simply be a stepping stone for the coach going forward? I think some of the excitement surrounding this game could be for the event inside Memorial, while some of the excitement is for the circus possibly awaiting a storied program. Should be a great atmosphere. I'm guessing you will be reading a bunch of "loudest I've ever heard it" and "most unique experience in the history of the world" type of stories tomorrow morning. Enjoy.

Go Cats.

Football Fix

If you are looking for some football news in this basketball infused state, here's a few links.

Paul Gable of Football.com has an extensive article on one Morgan Newton (see above). He is one of the highest rated QB's in the nation for 2009 and is a part of UK's best recruiting class in years. If you're looking for the Morgan Newton biography, this is as close as you're gonna get.

Rob Gidel of KSR previews the tight end position for UK football 2009. He also has links for his QB, RB, and WR previews.