Big Blue Links for Thursday:
- Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader writes that UK learned valuable lessons at South Carolina.
- Preview of tonight’s Kentucky-LSU women’s game in Baton Rouge.
- My thoughts and notes from Kentucky’s tumble on Tuesday night.
- The Fayetteville Observer reports that C.J. Leslie has sat behind the N.C. State bench for two straight games. (Hat tip to Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)
- Chris Stirewalt of the Washington Examiner says UK fans are debating the Obama factor.
- Gregg Doyel of CBS Sportsline says UK basketball was still the biggest winner of the week.
- AP report says Rick Barnes told Calipari that being No. 1 is like being “under attack.”
- Ryan Clark of the Kentucky Enquirer says shame on Kentucky fans.
- The State gives five reasons why South Carolina beat Kentucky.
- Seth Emerson of The State writes that the sports world is ga-ga for Devan Downey.
- Ron Morris of The State says that greatness is a label for much later.
- Jay Drew of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that Obama spoke, but UK didn’t listen.
- Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal writes that effort is UK’s catchword now.
- Dawson reports on the uncomfirmed reports that DeMarcus Cousins and a South Carolina fan had a post-game altercation.
- Metz Camfield of the Kentucky Kernel writes that UK needs more from Patrick Patterson.
- Nick Craddock of the Kernel reports on UK’s Crystal Riley preparing to face her old team at LSU.
- B.W. Jones of the Kernel reports that UK pitcher James Paxton is appealing his case.
- The Los Angeles Times doesn’t believe South Carolina should have been fined for fans’ storming the floor.
- Jeff Goodman of Foxsports.com says Tuesday win had special meaning for Downey and Horn.
- Tom Leach says that Tuesday night was a learning experience for UK.
- Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger says fan criticism will not help Cats.
- Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches writes on the UK softball team.
- Keith Taylor of the Winchester Sun writes that UK should learn a lesson from loss.
The year (1997) the Cats lost to Arizona in the tourney final, Arizona was picked 25th in the preseason polls. The number one ranking obviously doesn’t mean a lot to the coaches because they are aware of all of those intangibles that affect their team throughout the season. I hopefully think this will prove just what kind of coach the Cats have.
Arizona was pre-season 25, but they had improved to a 4 seed in the tourney. I think ‘Nova is still the lowest seed to win it all (#8?).
Some are saying that President Obama is at fault for UK’s loss. Last night, however, he blamed President Bush for UK’s loss noting that Calipari and Pres. Obama inherited a UK team that last played under Billy G. Pres. Obama will, however, take responsibility for future UK games under his watch. Also, Pres. Obama’s poll numbers have been dropping lately. He speaks to UK on Tuesday, and now I understand that UK’s poll numbers might be dropping. Coincidence? Discuss amongst yourselves. (Not trying to make a political statement-it is just a joke folks.)
My response to the LA Times article on the USC fine:
Of course the fine was appropriate. Why? Because EVERY school in the SEC voted to approve the rule, even So. Car. Funny thing is, UK always seems to be the team that is beaten when this happens in the SEC.
Also consider that Downey, the So. Car. star of the game, has admitted to urging students to come out on the floor despite the cops already holding yellow tape in the way. Thus, at least one player has admitted to encouraging the behavior being fined. Assuming Downey is part of the So. Car. program, So. Car. can’t claim total innocence.
I remember one time when Auburn was ranked #1 and UK was ranked in the top 10, and Auburn fans stormed the Court after winning a close game. Auburn was the favorite, higher ranked team at home, and they still acted like they had won a championship rather than one regular season game.
UK fans (basketball-football is a different story) never do this. We know what it is like to win a big game. Still, I understand why So. Car. fans did it. I just don’t think it is ever appropriate, at least until the other team has cleared the court/field.
Yes I agree it is the President’s fault UK lost to South Carolina Tuesday. If President Lincoln had allowed South Carolina to secede we would still have an undefeated team.