John Clay's Sidelines

Video of Eric Bledsoe talking to media today at Calipari Pro Camp:

Patrick Patterson and Eric Bledsoe were the guests of honor at the final day of the Calipari Pro Camp at Memorial Coliseum.

Here is video of Patterson talking to media:

Big Blue Links for Saturday:

• Marquis Teague found leadership qualities in Germany, writes Kyle Neddenriep of the Indianapolis Star.
• Joker Phillips is done schmoozing, and is ready to start coaching, writes Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader.
• My column on John Wall’s return to Lexington for the Calipari Pro Camp.
• Courier-Journal gives a slo-mo replay of Week 1 of the Karen Sypher trial.
• Optimism abounds for Kentucky football, writes Brett Dawson of the C-J.
• Wah Wah Jones is still going strong at 84, blogs Steve Moss of WKYT.
• John Wall says fans should not put too much pressure on Brandon Knight, reports WLEX’s Mary Jo Perino.
• Derrick Locke is tired of talking, and ready to put on the pads, writes Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• Rick Pitino trial means nothing in recruiting, but it should, blogs Ryan Clark of the Kentucky Enquirer.
• A Day in the life of DeMarcus Cousins:

(Hat tip to Bluegrass State Basketball.)

SEC links for Saturday:

• ESPN’s Rick Reilly tries to take up for ex-Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin.
• Tennessee says it will not release Bryce Brown from his scholarship, reports Austin Ward of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• No, synthetic turf is not coming back to Neyland Stadium, writes Mike Strange of the News-Sentinel.
• Cooperation is the key to solving the agent issue, writes Pat Forde of espn.com.
• Georgia opens camp with a long to-do list, writes Tim Tucker of the AJC.
• Florida basketball will play Ohio State next season, blogs Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun.

Continue reading ‘SEC: Rick Reilly tries to defend Lane Kiffin’

Lexington’s own Austin Kearns could end up with a world championship ring.

The Cleveland Indians have traded the former Lafayette High School star to the New York Yankees tonight.

Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Paul Hoynes has the story.

Indians’ manager Manny Acta told Hoynes: “”I’ve got a soft spot for this guy,” said manager Manny Acta. “He played for me in Washington and he came to camp this spring for the first time without a guaranteed job. He made the club and he carried this club for about a month or so when Grady Sizemore got hurt and some of our other older guys weren’t performing. I’m glad he’s getting a chance to go to a contender at this stage of his career and maybe win a ring.”

Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger has the Yankee angle on the Kearns trade.

(AP photo)

Travis K. Kircher is doing an excellent blog on the Karen Sypher trial for Fox 41 in Louisville.

Excerpt from Kircher’s blog on today’s proceedings, which included the bizarre testimony from Dana Kolter, Sypher’s former attorney who testified that he had sex with his client before she became his client, and even showed a picture of a sexual encounter.

An excerpt:

Kolter said they engaged in sexual relations in his office. He also admitted to taking photographs of this encounter. Four of these photographs were submitted for the court to view. The first three were of Karen Sypher sitting in a desk chair – dressed normally and smiling – and appeared to show no sexual activity. The other photograph was difficult to make out, but allegedly portrayed Sypher and Kolter engaging in sexual relations, though only the back of Sypher’s head could clearly be seen.

Kolter said Sypher was aware that the pictures were being taken.

Kircher details go on to give great detail of Kolter’s testimony.

Here is also trial coverage from Brett Barrouquere of the AP.

Courier-Journal video of Kolter leaving courthouse:

Here’s how I got my job at the Herald-Leader. It was the Lexington Herald at the time, and the sports editor, Mike Johnson, had told me to give him a call when the school year ended at UK. I did. It just so happened, I did on the very day that Steve Aschburner, then the UK beat writer, had informed Mike that he was departing for another job (believe it was the Milwaukee Sentinel).

Mike then hired me for the summer to fill Steve’s spot, while the Herald searched for a UK beat writer. After my 90-day stint, the Herald then hired me full-time at Thanksgiving.

Anyway, Steve Aschburner is now writing for NBA.com, where he has filed this terrific story on the death of Melvin Turpin.

An excerpt:

Inevitably, in moving from the unnerving news of Turpin’s death, you think back to the highlights of his life, the man-child days as a four-year starter at Kentucky and his rapid bounces through the NBA. And that’s where the guilt creeps in, because when Melvin Turpin was battling a personal demon that would end the best professional dreams of his life, the basketball world — coaches, executives, teammates, rivals, media and fans — laughed, ridiculed, hollered, benched, fined and waived.

Turpin had a weight problem. And people thought it was funny.

That’s why thoughts and prayers to his family and friends seem kind of late now, surely too little. Restraint and compassion, in even tiny doses at the right time, might have helped. But it rarely was there for the big guy.

Hat tip to Mary Jo Perino.

The current issue of Sports Illustrated — the “Where are they now” issue with Stan Musial gracing the cover — includes a story from Seth Davis on the battle between Kentucky and Louisville over hot hoops prospect Quincy Miller.

Davis gets into the whole scenario, of how Rick Pitino’s hiring of Tim Fuller got the Cardinals in on Miller, thanks to Fuller’s friendship with Brian Clifton.

He also talks about how Clifton’s protege John Wall played for John Calipari at Kentucky, but that Clifton and Calipari have no relationship.

Writes Davis: “The Cliftons and Calipari were never close to begin with, and one person involved in Miller’s recruiting says, ‘That relationship is over.’”

Meanwhile, Miller tells Davis that it’s great being recruited by Pitino and Calipari because, “they’re always going after each other.”

Gary Parrish of CBS Sports has been following the Karen Sypher trail from afar and writes a piece on how it might affect Rick Pitino’s future at Louisville.

He believes that all things considered, despite the personal embarrassment, the Louisville coach has come out of it pretty well.

Jokes aside, I tend to agree.

A Parrish excerpt:

My point is that even if Pitino hauls in what would be a remarkable class all things considered, it’ll likely still be trumped by the class Calipari assembles at UK — a class that already includes Mike Gilchrist (ranked No. 1 in the Class of 2011 by MaxPreps.com) and Marquis Teague (ranked No. 11 in the Class of 2011 by MaxPreps.com), and could ultimately feature at least two other consensus top 10 prospects.

Fair or not, that’s an issue for Pitino because he’ll forever be compared to Calipari. But who cares about that right now? All that’s important at the moment is that Pitino is finished testifying, and it seems like he’s going to, against all odds, come out of this mess OK. Most men would be divorced after such a public affair, but Pitino’s marriage remains intact. Most coaches would be fired after such a public embarrassment, but Pitino’s job is secure.

Video from last night’s newscast on WHAS-11 in Louisville. And by the way, the “blank” referred to rhymes with snore: