John Clay's Sidelines

Kenny Payne

Daily randoms for Monday:

One DUI arrest may not be enough to earn UK assistant basketball coach Rod Strickland a pink slip, but four is definitely red-flag territory. Rumor mill was already churning that John Calipari was seeking a way to hire Kenny Payne, the ex-Louisville star who was on Ernie Kent’s staff at Oregon. Kent was fired, so Payne is a free agent. Strickland being pulled over at 3 a.m., coupled with his past arrests for similar transgressions, may give Calipari reason to engineer a staff switch.

Here is Payne’s bio.

Only hearts of stone were not touched by Phil Mickelson’s Masters win on Sunday. The Phil smile. The Phil-Amy hug off the 18th green. Amy and the kids. Phil strikes me as something of a goofball, which is just fine. I’ve rooted for Mickelson ever since the golf/national media claimed he would never win a major. Hate that “never” talk. Annoys me almost as much as the “gets it” crowd. Think this is Mickelson’s third green jacket, if I’m not mistaken. And Phil won it his way, too, making incredible shots that if he had missed would have been widely criticized.

What struck me about Tiger was the same old Tiger in his post-round interview on Sunday. He said he only came to win. That’s all he cares about. OK, so he does care about some other things. But would have felt better about the Woods weekend if he had thanked the fans for their support, said he was happy to do so well after a long layoff, etc. It’s all-or-nothing for Tiger, which I guess makes him great. Doesn’t mean he’s a great guy.

Interesting note from New York Daily News about how Amy Mickelson walked right past Tiger to hug Anthony Kim.

Taped the Reds and watched the young Mike Leake pitch in and out of trouble. Liked his California attitude. Didn’t get rattled, even when he faced a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the first. Got out of it without a scratch. Of course, Leake is the first Red to go from draft to big leagues without a day of Minor League baseball, and the 21st since the draft began in 1965.

If Leake proves real deal, the Reds should have a sturdy rotation. Aaron Harang threw the ball better on Saturday, giving up four hits, not walking a batter, though the long ball ruined his day. So you have Harang, Arroyo, Cuteo, Bailey and Leake. And Chapman hit 101 miles per hour at Toledo on Sunday. And Volquez could be back sometime this season from Tommy John surgery.

Most encouraging sign from Saturday’s scrimmage may have been Jonathan George’s 73-yard touchdown run. The Cats could use a home run hitter. But troubled by the defensive performance. This could be another year where everyone focuses on the quarterback, but the key will be the other side of the ball. Steve Brown has his work cut out for him. Think just five starters are back. That’s a lot of holes to fill.

Made the mistake Saturday of reaching Keeneland a couple of hours after noon for Blue Grass Stakes Day and nearly had to park at the airport. And I had a media parking pass, which did me no good. Parked near Shuttle Stop 3, not far from the Keene Barn. Who says horse racing is dead. It’s not dead, just poorly managed. Keeneland is continuing proof that less is more. The sport needs less races, not more. But it does need more horses in those races. The small fields Saturday were alarming. But the crowd was overflow.

One thing should have mentioned in Sunday’s column. At 40-1, Stately Victor was the longest shot to win the Blue Grass. But that topped Dust Commander, who won the Blue Grass at 35-1 in 1970. Then Dust Commander won the Kentucky Derby.

If I’m Dan Mongiardo, who is running against Jack Conway for Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, I try and demand equal time the next three weeks. Conway has a Derby horse in Stately Victory. Mongiardo doesn’t.

Get well wishes to Elbert Couch, Tim’s dad, who is recovering at home after suffering a stroke. One of my favorite Elbert memories was when Tim was a freshman at UK and Bill Curry closed practice. You would catch Elbert and a Couch relative from here in town parked in an adjoining driveway, standing on top of a car, peering over the top of the fence to try and see what was happening. What they saw was Tim trying to run the option under Elliot Uzelac.