John Clay's Sidelines

(AP photo)

A few late afternoon notes:

- Jay Bruce has hit 12 homers this month. He went three-for-four last night in Cincinnati’s much-needed 7-3 win over Milwaukee. He’s hitting .346 for the month. And remember, Bruce is just 24.

Some have asked why Bruce isn’t hitting clean-up. Jim Day of the Reds’ TV team tweets that Bruce is career 4-for-31 in the No. 4 spot, with one homer and two runs batted in. Day does admit that’s a small sample size.

- Just called up, 29-year-old Chad Reinke will make his Reds’ debut tonight against the Brewers. It will be his sixth major league game, and fifth start. He has not pitched in the majors since 2009 with Oakland.

- Great to be back from furlough, and back on twitter where someone with seven followers can call you “clueless.”

Continue reading ‘Jay Bruce and a few late afternoon notes’

LeBron James (AP photo)

When it comes to this year’s NBA Finals, which tip tonight at 9 on ABC, there is a difference between which team many think will win and which team many want to win.

I’m in that boat.

I’ll be rooting for Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks to give Mark Cuban something else to crow about.

I’ll be rooting against the LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh triumvirate.

But I think Miami will win, probably in six games.

What say you?

Continue reading ‘Heat or Mavs? Who you want to win, and who will win?’

Ok, being off last week, I admit I haven’t been paying the closest attention. But can anyone explain what exactly John Calipari means by these “Radio Silence” tweets? First thought the Kentucky basketball coach was lashing back at his critics, or at least three of his critics — thus the “triumvirate” comment — over something. But now Cal has tweeted that he’s talking about twitter. And what does this have to do with “radio” silence? Color me confused.

Continue reading ‘What in the world is John Calipari tweeting about?’

T.C. Drake

I’m back from furlough, by the way. So in UK news, former tight end T.C. Drake is still recovering from a serious motorcyle accident in Bardstown. Top basketball prospect Andre Drummond denies that he will reclassify for the Class of 2011. In surprising news, former UK guard Derrick Jasper will join former UK coach Billy Gillispie’s staff at Texas Tech. This is the same Jasper who transferred from UK when Gillispie was coach. And John Calipari lashes back at his critics with a late night tweet.

Click on the continue line to get today’s Big Blue Links.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Drummond to stay in 2012; Jasper to join Gillispie’

Urban Meyer (AP photo)

The SEC Spring Meetings get underway in Destin, with Mike Slive pushing an agenda that addresses the hot-button issue of oversigning in football. That’s the practice where schools sign more than the allotted 25 scholarships for football, then massage the numbers via gray-shirting, etc., when the scholarship deadline arrives. Administrators are for restrictions. Coaches are against it.

Meanwhile, with Jim Tressel out at Ohio State, does that mean ex-Florida coach Urban Meyer, a former Ohio State assistant, might be in? On the basketball front, former Tennessee signee Kevin Ware has picked Louisville over Georgia. And the NCAA announced its pairings for its baseball tournament.

Click on the continue line for today’s SEC links:

Continue reading ‘SEC: Destin meetings start; Ware picks U of L over Dogs’

The blog will be shut down this week, as I am on furlough.

I will be back with more posts starting next week.

Have a great week.

Brandon Fisher

The final pre-furlough Media Approval Rating subject is WKYT-TV’s Brandon Fisher. The station’s weekend sports anchor, Brandon is from Columbia, Tennessee, south of Nashville. He has worked in Knoxville, Nashville and Jackson, Tennessee before coming to Lexington.

What say you on Brandon Fisher, approve or disapprove?

Click on the continue line to vote:

Continue reading ‘Media Approval Ratings: Brandon Fisher’

Linda Gonzalez, the sister of former Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez, is not happy that her husband brother is no longer a big-time coach, and she’s very happy to point fingers — at sportswriters. In fact, on her blog, Gonzalez lists “AMERICA’S TOP TEN WORST, LEAST CREDIBLE, MOST CONFLICTED SPORTWRITERS ( DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME AND KEEP FROM CHILDREN)” and proceeds to rip each of the 10. Pete Thamel is No. 1on her list. Pat Forde is No. 2. She even has Dick “Hoops” Weiss on her list of 10 worst, and I thought everybody loved Hoops. The subtitle of her blog reads: “Right Back At Ya.” Wow, considering Bobby, and now Linda, combativeness must be a family gene.

Continue reading ‘Bobby Gonzalez’s sister hates 10 sportswriters (at least)’

Brent Carney

We missed a day on the Media Approval Ratings, but promised we’ll get the last two in before the blog takes a break next week. (My furlough is approaching.) Anyway, today we present WLEX-TV’s weekend sports anchor Brent Carney. Carney went to Saint Louis University and worked in Tennessee before hopping on board with LEX-18. He’s a Titans and Cardinals fan.

What say you on Brent, approve or disapprove?

Click the continue line to vote.

Continue reading ‘Media Approval Ratings: Brent Carney’

Here is the Enes Kanter interview from the NBA pre-draft combine yesterday in Chicago. Kanter said he came to Chicago because “I’m not scared of anybody.” He also talks about why he decided not to go back to Turkey and stay at Kentucky, after being ruled ineligible by the NCAA. He said John Calipari helped him with his all-around game after being made into a post-up player in Turkey. He also says he learned English in six or seven months, and “it wasn’t that hard.” He said he’ll worry about a lockout if it comes, and does not want to return to Turkey. Asked if there are hard feelings about what happened there, Kanter said, “A little bit.”

Click on continue line to see the video.

Continue reading ‘Video: Enes Kanter says “I’m not afraid of anybody”’