John Clay's Sidelines

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• Ridge Wilson closes his mouth and gets his shot to start, writes Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader.
• Pressure defense remains the UK women’s identity, reports Jennifer Smith of the H-L.
• UK freshman Jennifer O’Neill has to grow up fast, writes Mark Story of the H-L.
• Kentucky football trying to avoid an SEC West sweep, reports C. Ray Hall of the Courier-Journal.
• Locke is out, but Cobb is Kentucky’s key, writes Brad Locke of the NE Mississippi Daily News.
• Mississippi State center J.C. Brignone is the Bulldogs’ anchor, writes Brandon Marcello of the Clarion-Ledger.
• Brandon Knight says Cats will be crazy if they have Enes Kanter, reports Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• Kentucky’s cricket club finds its passion, writes Cassidy Herrington of the Kentucky Kernel.
• Injured Amber Smith hopes to give UK leadership, reports Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches.
• Bleed Blue Kentucky previews the Kentucky-Mississippi State matchup.

(AP photo)

SEC links for Friday:

• Jeremiah Masoli-Cameron Newton showdown looming, writes Evan Woodbery of the Mobile Press-Register.
• Auburn’s offensive line clearing the way for big numbers, reports Charles Bennett of the Anniston Star.
• It has been awhile since Bo Jackson was this excited, writes Chris Low of espn.com.
• Chris Rainey will play for Florida against Georgia, reports Tyler Jett of Florida Today.
• Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun says Florida offense won’t drastically change this week.
• What if Mark Richt doesn’t beat Florida? asks Mark Bradley of the AJC.
• Florida-Georgia will still have big affect on East, reports Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald.
• Alshon Jeffery now among best receivers in nation, writes Travis Haney of Charleston Post and Courier.
• LSU’s defense is looking to get better, writes Scott Rabalais of The Advocate.
• Alabama basketball trying to get its Swedish-born freshman adjusted, writes Chase Goodbread of the Tuscaloosa News.

Jennifer O:Neill (H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Twelve random notes at 12:

1. Sorry, but John Wall’s debut became so lopsided I switched over to the World Series. Wall had 14 points and nine assists, but the Wizards were crushed 112-83 by the Orlando Magic. He made just six of 19 shots, and it wasn’t hard to see what sort of defense he will face. Foes will give him the outside shot. Now it’s up to him to make that shot. It’s a long season, I know. But for Wall, as far as winning, it could be a very long season.
2. Touted UK Hoops freshmen Jennifer O’Neill sported a black eye on Media Day. She got it in practice. I think that’s a good sign.
3. BTW, Matthew Mitchell was great at Media Day. And he didn’t even dance.
4. No Derrick Locke is not good news for UK on Saturday at Starkville. I was not optimistic about the Cats’ chances against back-to-back Bulldogs, and less so now.
5. I looked all day for a picture of Eric Bledsoe and his blue tuxedo, with no luck. It was part of the Los Angeles Clippers rookie hazing. EB played one minute and took one missed shot in the Clips’ opening loss to Portland on Wednesday night.
6. NCAA Board of Directors wants to take a look at banning July basketball recruiting before actually doing away with July basketball recruiting. Hopefully this is just a step in the right direction, which would be to ban July basketball recruiting.
7. Today was amnesty day for fast guys named Chris, says Dr. Saturday.
8. Just a hunch, but I’m going to guess that we will hear something on #freeenes next week. Just a hunch.
9. Tweet from Late Show head writer Eric Stangel: BREAKING: After his 1 strike in 14 pitch effort, the NY Mets have signed Derek Holland to a 4 yr $32 million contract.
10. If you read this blog you know I have a love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with ESPN radio’s Colin Cowherd, but I find myself enjoying Scott Van Pelt’s show that follows.
11. I wish someone would hold a Rally to Restore Sanity for Sports Fans.
12. Received this nice e-mail about Thursday’s column:

I’d like to offer you my sincere thanks for the article you wrote in this morning’s Herald-Leader. Was a teammate of Artie’s at Covington Catholic, and in the years passing since his death, my thoughts often go to him when reading about DUI arrests or seeing reports on the news about them. People – especially young people – don’t take the time to think about the possible repercussions to their actions.

Over the course of each school year, Covington Catholic offers several weekends in which their seniors can go on a “Christian Awakening Retreat”. In the last 12 years, I’ve helped run many of those retreats, and in running the retreats, the facilitators are asked to speak about certain experiences in their lives that have influenced the way that they live. Between participating faculty, alumni, and myself, I think Artie’s name is brought up on at least two or three of those retreats each year. Artie died almost twelve years ago, but I can assure you that he has not been forgotten in the Covington Catholic community. I’m glad to hear he is remembered elsewhere too.

Reigning SEC Player of the Year Victoria Dunlap talks about expectations going into this season.

At UK Women’s Basketball Media Day this afternoon, it just had to happen.

You knew someone had to ask coach Matthew Mitchell about doing the “Dougie” at Big Blue Madness.

Mitchell explained how it came to be that he did the dance, to much acclaim, and YouTube views.

Thanks to Oregon Live which sent along this video of Kyle Wiltjer, squashing internet rumors by re-affirming his commitment to play basketball at Kentucky.

(AP photo)

TNT will have John Wall’s NBA debut tonight when the Washington Wizards open the year in Orlando against the Magic.

Tipoff is 8 p.m.

• Michael Lee of the Washington Post on the start of the year, with Wall the Wizards’ centerpiece.
• Lee also writes on what Wall’s rookie season might be like.
• Washington Wizards site poses the question: Is John Wall the real deal?
• Gilbert Arenas will miss the team’s first two games, says CBS Sports.
• Before the opener, John Wall was at a Caps game, reports DC Sports Bog.
• Daniel Orton hasn’t been asked for pointers on how to stop Wall, writes Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel.
• And now a John Wall practice dunk:

This morning for the print product, wrote column on UK football coach Joker Phillips and his approach to the recent DUI charge of wide receiver Matt Roark.

In the column, I said that UK’s disciplinary policy on such matters was left up to the individual coach.

UK sports information director Tony Neely informed me this morning that the athletic department does have an across-the-board policy in dealing with DUIs that calls for a suspension of 10 percent of an athlete’s season. In the case of football, that would be one game.

It is then up to the discretion of the coach if he or she wants to add to the penalty, said Neely.

As I said in the column, I’m not criticizing Phillips handling of the Matt Roark situation. It is Joker’s first time handling such a situation as a head coach, and we’ll see how it goes. Plus, UK football has been fortunate enough to avoid this sort of issue of late. But I did want to point out the seriousness of the matter, as illustrated by what happened with the death of football player Artie Steinmetz and his friend Scott Brock back in 1998.

(AP photo/Jim Mone)

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

• DeMarcus Cousins’ late-game calm helps Kings win opener, reports Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
• Kentucky seventh in SEC in graduation rates, writes Chris Low of espn.com.
• UK touts dramatic improvement in those grad rates, reports Jerry Tipton of the H-L.
• My Thursday column saying that in dealing with DUIs, UK’s Joker Phillips should remember the late Artie Steinmetz.
• Young basketball Cats adjust to growing process, writes Tipton of the Herald-Leader.
• Receivers back at practice, but Locke is questionable, reports Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader.
• Starting isn’t lip service to linebacker Ridge Wilson, says Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal.
• B.W. Jones of the Kernel writes that Wilson is trying to do better than just good enough.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Cousins’ debut, UK grad rate and dealing with DUIs’

SEC links for Thursday:

• Chicken curse is what South Carolina wants to break in a scrambled SEC East, writes Mike Strange of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun reports that Chris Rainey is one step closer to playing at Florida.
• Florida’s play-calling is not as predictable as fans think, says Rachel George of the Orlando Sentinel.
• Arkansas defensive tackle arrested for marijuana possession, reports Robbie Neiswanger of the Arkansas News.
• Ealey looks to build on his five-TD game against Kentucky, reports David Paschall of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
• But Tim Tucker of the AJC reports that Ealey’s knee could keep him out of starting lineup.
• Alabama preparing for its second season, writes Chase Goodbread of the Tuscaloosa News.
• Auburn takes its turn at handling No. 1, blogs Chris Low for espn.com.
• Parrish Alford of the NE Mississippi Daily news reports that Ole Miss has a tough first step toward running the table.
• Vanderbilt’s Roy Skinner was an old-school coach, writes Joe Biddle of the Tennessean.