Program note: Some time off

Posted on May 25, 2013 8:45 pm by John Clay

A program note, I’ll be off all next week.

So no blog posts for awhile.

Be back soon.

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Posted in Daily Randoms |

Kentucky football recruiting leads Friday morning notes

Posted on May 24, 2013 8:11 am by John Clay

Some Friday morning notes:

- ESPN has moved Kentucky football into its top 25 for recruiting the Class of 2014. Chris Low writes: “. . . to see the Wildcats sitting there at No. 23 at this point tells you all you need to know about the the job Mark Stoops and his staff have done in selling that program.”

- A Sea of Blue looks at Kentucky football recruiting in the Sunshine State. In case you haven’t noticed, Louisville’s Charlie Strong has done a better job of getting players out of Florida than has Kentucky in recent years.

- Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News reports on the salaries for SEC baseball coaches. Kentucky’s Gary Henderson is tied for ninth. Former UK coach John Cohen, now at Mississippi State, is second behind LSU’s Paul Mainieri.

- Speaking of Cohen, Mississippi State beat Texas A&M on Thursday night to advance to the semifinals of the SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover. MSU will play the winner of today’s Texas A&M-Vanderbilt game. Alabama plays LSU today with the winner meeting Arkansas in the other semifinal.

Continue reading →

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Posted in SEC |

Reds hand Matt Harvey his worst start (so far)

Posted on May 23, 2013 12:00 pm by John Clay

Cincinnati’s 7-4 win over the Mets on Wednesday afternoon gave the Reds a 7-2 record for their nine-game road trip with stops at Miami, Philadelphia and New York.

It was also the worst start of the year for Mets rookie phenom Matt Harvey, the 24-year-old right-hander and former North Carolina Tar Heel, who is 5-0 with a 1.93 ERA this season.

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Video: Frank Vogel explains himself

Posted on May 23, 2013 10:21 am by John Clay

Indiana coach Frank Vogel went on the Dan Patrick Show this morning to talk about his controversial coaching decisions at the end of the Pacers’ 103-102 overtime loss at Miami last night.

Hat tip to Jon Hale

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Ohio writer takes a look at Nerlens Noel

Posted on May 23, 2013 9:30 am by John Clay

Bob Finnan of the Northern Ohio News-Herald gives an interesting summation of Nerlens Noel, the former UK center that the Cleveand Cavaliers are considering taking with the No. 1 overall pick.

Finnan writes:

Noel is ranked No. 1 on most teams' draft boards. He's 6-foot-11 3/4, 206 pounds and is long. He has a 7-3 3/4 wingspan and a 9-2 standing reach. One can see why he led the NCAA in blocked shots at 4.4 per game.

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Posted in NBA, UK basketball | Tagged |

Tennessee’s “intolerable situation”

Posted on May 23, 2013 8:28 am by John Clay

There is an interesting snippet of information in this morning's Knoxville News-Sentinel concerning the athletic department scandal concerning a university employee allegedly having inappropriate relationships with school athletes.

Megan Boehnke of the News-Sentinel reports that vice chancellor Tim Rogers sent an e-mail to university president Jimmy Cheek referencing an “intolerable situation” before announcing his intent to retire on June 30.

Jenny Wright, former director of the Office of Student Judicial Affairs, who served under Rogers, resigned rather than participate in an investigation into her relationships with athletes.

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Frank Vogel’s late-game strategy taking a beating

Posted on May 23, 2013 8:00 am by John Clay

Former UK manager and current Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel is taking it on the chin this morning for his late-game decisions during Indiana's heart-breaking 103-102 loss to host Miami last night in the first round of the NBA Eastern Conference final.

Vogel, who was a manager on Rick Pitino's 1996 national title team at UK, took center Roy Hibbert out of the game on defense not once but twice in the final 10 seconds of overtime.

Both times, LeBron James drove to the basket and scored rather easily. James' first basket gave Miami a 101-99 lead with 10 seconds left on the clock. Then after Dwyane Wade was called for fouling Indiana's Paul George on a three-pointer, and George made all three shots for a 102-101 Pacers' lead with 2.2 seconds remaining, Vogel again removed Hibbert.

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Video: Steven Pearl pokes fun at father’s trouble

Posted on May 22, 2013 7:59 pm by John Clay

In a radio spot fro Calhoun’s BBQ in Knoxville, Bruce Pearl’s son Steven pokes fun at the reason his father was dismissed as the head basketball coach at Tennessee. Bruce Pearl was ultimately let go after lying to the NCAA about a BBQ held at his house. Pearl said he didn’t know where a picture of him with recruits was taken. Turns out, it was taken at Pearl’s home.

In the radio spot, Steven says his family knows “how to throw a barbecue” and “absolutely no photography.”

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Cavaliers say they are open to trading top pick

Posted on May 22, 2013 11:01 am by John Clay

noelvandygameJust because the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Draft Lottery last night, let’s not be so quick to assume former Kentucky center Nerlens Noel will end up with the Cavs.

In fact, according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Cleveland will consider trading the No. 1 overall pick.

An excerpt:

It happened, and now the real work begins for (GM Chris) Grant — what to do with the top selection in the June 27 NBA draft. An already-young roster paired with what is generally considered to be a weak draft means that questions already are being asked about whether the Cavaliers will trade the No. 1 pick. The top selection in the draft has only been traded once in the lottery era, in 1993.

“We’re open,” Grant said. “We’re going to look at all our options and make the decision based on what’s best for the franchise — short-term and long-term.”

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Posted in NBA, UK basketball | Tagged |

Reds notes as they go for sweep today

Posted on May 22, 2013 10:08 am by John Clay

A few quick Reds’ notes as Cincinnati goes for a sweep over the Mets in New York today at 1:10 p.m.

1. Reds starter Mike Leake pitched seven scoreless innings last night in Cincinnati’s 4-0 win. Leake has not given up a run in each of this last two starts, which stretches over 13.2 innings. He is now 4-2 with a 3.25 ERA on the year and has a 2.28 ERA over his last seven starts.

2. The Reds have now won nine of their last 11 games and are back up to .500 at 12-12 on the road. Mat Latos will try to push Cincinnati over .500 in road games as he makes the start against the Mets this afternoon.

3. Sam LeCure continues to be underrated and very effective. The Reds reliever pitched a scoreless eighth inning last night, lowering his ERA to 1.35. LeCure has allowed just one hit over 6.1 innings in his last six outings.

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