John Clay's Sidelines

(AP photo)

Was Friday night the Reds’ Hal King moment?

Hal King was a backup catcher on the 1973 edition of the Cincinnati Reds. On July 1 of that season, the Reds trailed the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers by 10 games when the two teams hooked up for the first game of a doubleheader at Riverfront Stadium. Behind ace Don Sutton, the Dodgers led 3-1 going into the night. With two on and two out, Reds’ skipper Sparky Anderson sent up King as a pinch-hitter. King was hitting .180 at the time. He would hit all of 24 homers in his eight-year career. But none was bigger than the homer he hit that day, a three-run blast that gave Cincinnati a 4-3 win. And momentum. The Reds beat the Dodgers in the second game of the DH. They went on to win the division title.

Brandon Phillips is not Hal King. Phillips is an All-Star and potential Hall of Famer who hit his ninth homer of the year on Friday night. It was the 121st of his career. Yet few have been or will be bigger. With the sub-.500 Reds trailing St. Louis 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth, Phillips hit a two-run shot over the left-field fence to give the home team a one-run victory.

And hopefully momentum. Hal King-type momentum.

Click the continue line for a look at the Reds’ last 20 one-run games this season.

Continue reading ‘Was Brandon Phillips’ homer the Reds’ Hal King moment?’

Big Blue Links for Saturday:

• Nerlens Noel, MVP of the Peach Jam, thinks about his future
• Kentucky basketball target is pulled out of AAU game by his mother
• Shabazz Muhammad scores 42 points in Under Armour championship game
• Arkansas prospect Archie Goodwin likes Kentucky and Memphis
• UK hoops coach Matthew Mitchell was recruiting in Tennessee on Thursday
• Ex-UK safety Matt Lentz signs contract with baseball’s Cincinnati Reds
• North Carolina’s Leslie McDonald tears ACL
• Louisville basketball without Ware and Blackshear for summer practice
• A CoachCal.com profile of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
• Does Kentucky have any incentive to invest more in its football program?

SEC links for Saturday:

• It’s almost Jadeveon Clowney’s time at South Carolina
• Arkansas dismisses offensive lineman after his DUI
• Georgia football steals two top recruits from Florida’s grasp
• NCAA asks LSU not to discuss investigation into Willie Lyles
• Who will start at quarterback is still the big question at Auburn
• Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham gives some updates
• UT’s Derek Dooley is satisfied with recruit limitations
• Embattled Georgia Tech athletic director says he has not talked to Tennessee
• Vols don’t need to look too far for a good AD candidate
• Contract approved for new LSU women’s basketball coach Nikki Caldwell

Update: ESPN now claims Feldman was never suspended.

Our friends over at the monolith that is the  World Wide Leader has embroiled itself into quite the sticky wicket. No, we’re not talking about Chris Berman’s bombastic commentary during the meaningless Home Run Derby. No, we’re not talking about the consistently vapid and self-congratulatory ESPYs.

Instead, we’re talking about ESPN’s decision to indefinitely suspend college football writer Bruce Feldman for participating in the autobiography of former Texas Tech head coach (and former Kentucky assistant) Mike Leach, even though the WWL had given Feldman permission to participate on the project.

Sports By Brooks broke the story of Feldman’s suspension. At issue is Leach’s claims in the book that ESPN hyped the story of his controversial interaction with Red Raider player Adam Jones because Jones is the son of ESPN football analyst Craig James. Even though ESPN approved Feldman’s participation in the book, the WWL did not like what the book had to say. So Feldman was told he cannot write for ESPN, tweet for ESPN, appear on television for ESPN, appear on radio for ESPN or ESPN podcasts.

Continue reading ‘Mike Leach book at center of outrage over ESPN reaction’

(H-L photo/Charles Bertram)

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• Calipari is not concerned about Kentucky’s lack of commitments for 2012
• WKYT to air classic football and basketball games
• Perry Ellis is drawing constant attention from Kentucky staff
• Brandon Ashley says Calipari has been after him as hard as any coach
• Cats, coaches abuzz about next football season
• Joker Phillips asking his veterans to help teach his younger players
• Commonwealth Stadium scoreboard work begins
• Kentucky must wake up and pay attention to improve on defense
• UK-UNC could be the most anticipated basketball game since . . .
• When it comes to UK basketball, does fairness matter to the media?
• A breakdown of Kentucky’s non-conference basketball schedule

South Carolina's new football uniforms (AP photo)

SEC links for Friday:

• NCAA visits Baton Rouge to have a chat with LSU about Willie Lyles, reports Glenn Guilbeau of the Shreveport Times. “LSU defensive line coach Brick Haley was with Lyles at Clear Springs High in League City, Texas, in the spring of 2010, according to a Foxsports.com report. Linebacker Trevon Randle of Clear Springs High signed with LSU last February,” writes Guilbeau.
• Gene Chizik pushed the wrong button at the wrong time with the NCAA, says Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News. The Auburn coach asked the NCAA why it had not announced it was finished with its investigation into the school’s football program. The NCAA said it wasn’t finished.
• Joe Medley of the Anniston Star writes that Chizik’s comments strain the relationship between Auburn and the NCAA. Medley says it was “off-field gaffe to rival any Les Miles on-field fumble.”
• Arkansas had the most selections on this year’s coaches’ pre-season All-SEC teams, says Mr. SEC. There were 14 Razorbacks chosen. Kentucky was next-to-last with three. Tennessee was last with just two picks.

Continue reading ‘SEC: NCAA pays Baton Rouge a visit to talk about Lyles’

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Kentucky basketball released on Thursday a slate of 15 non-conference games for next hoops season, but one matchup towers over the rest.

The Cats will play North Carolina on Saturday, Dec. 3, at Rupp Arena in what figures to be a collision of the two teams expected to be atop the pre-season polls for 2011-12. With veterans Tyler Zeller, John Henson and Harrison Barnes returning, the Tar Heels are all but assumed to be No. 1 in the rankings. With a freshman quartet rated the best in the country joining holdovers Terrence Jones, Darius Miller and Doron Lamb, Kentucky is expected to be No. 2, if not 1-B to Carolina’s 1-A.

North Carolina defeated UK in Chapel Hill last December 75-73. The Cats knocked off the Tar Heels 76-69 in the East Region final in Newark, New Jersey last March. UK’s media release did not contain game times or television details.

After exhibition games against Transylvania (Nov. 2) and Morehouse (Nov. 7), John Calipari’s third Kentucky team will open the regular season against Marist on Nov. 11 In the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament. It will play Kansas in the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 15 before traveling to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on March 19-20 to continue play in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off. Penn State will be the opponent on the 19^th. Either Old Dominion or South Florida will be the opponent on the 20^th. Continue reading ‘UNC highlights UK’s non-conference basketball slate’

This from Zagsblog at Peach Jam:

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

• Appearing on Larry Glover Live, Gary Parrish doesn’t apologize
• ESPN looks at Kentucky’s ability to offer pay-for-play to its athletes
• Thursday Night Lights energize Kentucky football workouts
• Morgan Newton and Mister Cobble are UK football’s bounce-back candidates
• LaRod King ready for expectations as UK’s go-to wide receiver
• Tom Leach has video interviews from yesterday’s UK football media opp
• Denver basketball prospect Chris Thomas likes Kentucky
• Tony Woods could still conceivably end up at UK, says his coach
• Devontre Parnell picks U of L over UK; third Louisville commit in three days
• Steve Pardue’s arrival only helps UK’s recruiting in talent-rich Georgia
• Inside the mind of new UK defensive coordinator Rick Minter
• UK football may be in lead for four-star quarterback from Memphis
• The questions surrounding Kentucky basketball this summer

SEC links for Thursday:

• New York Times reports that NCAA has told Auburn that it is still under investigation
• Football’s underbelly sure to bring questions at SEC Football Media Days
• Florida basketball signee Brad Beal picks up Gatorade Player of the Year award
• North Carolina is open to playing South Carolina in basketball
• Jeff Schultz asks if it’s good that Georgia’s strength coach prompts players to quit?
• Arkansas’ Knile Davis may actually be the SEC’s best running back
• Is Alabama deep enough on the offensive side of the football?
• Cameron Newton is in an endless summer
• Janzen Jackson has a lot of things to do to stay on Tennessee football team
• Georgia defensive end Derrick Lott is involved in a scooter accident
• Vanderbilt has seven weeks to get new football field ready for opener
• Tennessee opens playing surface study site
• The new Longhorn Network has Texas A&M re-thinking its options
• Why those pre-season watch lists are long and useless
• Auburn’s football season tickets are sold out