John Clay's Sidelines

Josh Harrellson talked to the media today before practice, and yes, the beard is back.

Click here to see this video on YouTube.

Bruce Pearl

Speaking to the Knoxville Quarterback Club today, Tennessee basketball coach Bruce Pearl told the audience he misses the Vols’ former football coach.

After all, said Pearl, he needs someone take the heat off of him.

From Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News-Sentinel:

After thanking the UT fans for their support and issuing an apology, stating he “brought embarrassment to our university and I’m humiliated and embarrassed by it,” Pearl asked the cameras be turned off.

“I’ve made mistakes, I clearly did, but what I was hoping for was that some other dumbass would get on the front page and take me off the hook,” Pearl said. “I miss Lane Kiffin.”

The room roared in laughter, as Pearl continued his presentation, a few minutes later making light of the suspension of four UT players after a well-documented New Year’s Day traffic stop last January.

Later, when Pearl was told his comments had gotten out, he replied, “Well, I’ve got to be me.”

(Hat tip KSR)

Before practice today, DeAndre Liggins talks about what went wrong during that Maui final loss to UConn.

Side note: No Calipari video today. The coach was en route back from Charlotte and did not arrive in time before practice to speak to the media. If you have not heard, his mother passed away Sunday after a battle with cancer.

Click here to see this video on YouTube.

Before we got the UK basketball players for interviews today, we talked to UK volleyball coach Craig Skinner about his program’s sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. Kentucky plays at Purdue on Friday night.

The ACC-Big 10 challenge highlights this week’s action. We get Virginia vs. Tubby Smith’s Minnesota tonight. North Carolina-Illinois is the headliner on Tuesday. Michigan State-Duke is a powerhouse game Wednesday night. UCLA-Kansas would be a good game Thursday except for the fact that UCLA is still not yet back to being UCLA.

(AP photo/Ed Reinke)

Bad enough that ex-UK receiver Steve Johnson dropped a game-winning pass Sunday in Buffalo’s eventual 19-16 overtime loss to Pittsburgh. Now Johnson has gotten himself into some Twitter trouble.

From the New York Daily News:

We feel for Steve Johnson. He has toiled in obscurity in Buffalo this year, quietly going about his business, making catches and scoring touchdowns. But both the “quietly” part and the “catching touchdowns” part came to a halt Sunday when Johnson dropped a potential game-winning touchdown pass in OT in what later became a 16-13 Steelers victory.

Of course, we all know whose fault that was. It’s God’s fault, and all of Twitter-dom knows it now, too.

“I praise you 24/7!!! And this how you do me!!!,” Johnson – at least we think it was him – tweeted. “You expect me to learn from this???How??? I’ll never forget this!! Ever!! Thx Tho.”

Two things we must point out to Steve: God has been a Steelers fan for quite some time now (See: six Super Bowl victories) and, well, you don’t want to poke the bear, if you know what we mean.

If you are listening to ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt Show, he promised he will talk about it during the program.

The New York Times and the Buffalo News each have stories about Johnson’s tweet.

This from John Calipari’s twitter feed this morning:

UKCoachCalipari John Calipari

UKCoachCalipari John Calipari
As most of you know, my mom, Donna, has been battling cancer for several months. On Sunday, she lost her brave fight.

UKCoachCalipari John Calipari

On behalf of my dad, my two sisters, Ellen & all of our family…
6 minutes ago

UKCoachCalipari John Calipari
…we want to thank the Big Blue Nation for all their prayers, cards, letters & support shared w/my mom during these days.
5 minutes ago

UKCoachCalipari John Calipari
Your warmth uplifted her and all of us.
5 minutes ago

UKCoachCalipari John Calipari
We hope you will all respect our privacy during this period & know that we are grateful for being part of the Big Blue family.
4 minutes ago

God Bless & thank you – Coach Cal & Family.
3 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Turnovers didn’t get Kentucky beat in Maui. Neither did a lack of offensive punch.

The factor that hurt the Cats’ most in that 84-67 lost to UConn in the Maui Invitational Tournament was poor defense.

The Huskies averaged 1.253 points per possession, the ninth-best showing against Kentucky in the past seven seasons. It was the highest PPP by an opponent against UK in John Calipari’s 43 games as coach.

Here’s the chart:

Bleed Blue Kentucky and the Denton Record-Chronicle report that UK has withdrawn its scholarship offer to commitment Blake Terry, a middle linebacker out of Denton, Texas.

Terry committed to UK on June 22, but got a call from UK assistant Larry Brinson on Sunday night saying he was no longer being offered.

Excerpt from the Denton paper:

“I’m just a little upset,” Terry said. “If you make a commitment somewhere and they pull it basically they weren’t committed to you as much as you are to them. I know, being a good athlete, something is bound to come through. God has blessed me somehow. I have bigger things to worry about now and playing for my team right now.

“I was committed. I didn’t talk to anyone but them. I let everyone know my options were closed. I was solid. But I guess they weren’t as solid as me. I have to move on and pray about it and see what comes my way.”

Steve e-mails:

It is fitting that Stevie Johnson drops a game-winning pass in overtime on the same weekend that UK loses to Tennessee again, making similar mistakes.