John Clay's Sidelines

News and notes from the colleges:

• Looks like UCLA may be losing star point guard Jordan Farmar. After playing well at tryouts and pre-draft camp, Farmar is likely to leave his name in the June 28 NBA draft. [Los Angeles Times]

• Cincinnati basketball switching from Nike to adidas. [Cincinnati Post]

• College football has adopted rule change that starts clock after a change of possession, in hopes of speeding up those long, long games. [Tennessean]

• Bruce Pearl says two, maybe three freshmen could start for his basketball Vols next season. [Tennessean]

• Memphis’ Darius Washington wants to prove his draft critics wrong. [Commercial-Appeal]

• Rajon Rondo still 26th in one mock NBA draft. [nbadraft.net]

• Tennessee-California and Arkansas-Southern Cal will form an ESPN doubleheader on Sept. 2. [viewfromrockytop]

• Michael Wallace says Ole Miss baseball coach Mike Bianco should turn down LSU and stay in Oxford. [Clarion-Ledger]

• Younes Idrissi will not be back on the Georgia basketball team. [GeorgiaDogs.com]

• Alabama wonders if it has seen the last of its baseball coach, Jim Wells. [Huntsville Times]

• Kevin Scarbinsky wonders the same thing. [Birmingham News]

Leftovers from "Roger Clemens Night" at Applebee’s Park:

• The announced crowd of 9,222? The 9,000 part, ok. But 222? On a night when No. 22 was pitching. Of course.

• Then again, the Astros have set Clemens’ first outing for the parent club is June 22. Coincidence? We think not.

• Clemens’ two youngest  children served as batboys. Kacy is 11. Kody is 10. Kory Clemens, 18, sat in a suite with mother, Debbie.

• Two of Clemens’ sisters, Brenda Pavlovich and Janet Johnson, were also on hand.

• The Houston Chronicle reported that Roy Lee, Clemens’ uncle, and the brother of his deceased mother Bess, drove in from Carlisle, Ohio for the game.

• One of the night’s neatest moments came when fans applauded Lake County’s Johnny Drennen after the first-year player homered off Clemens in the first inning.

• So how did Clemens’ look from a pitching standpoint? Pretty sharp for someone who had not faced a batter since the U.S. was eliminated from the World Baseball Classic on March 17.
• He threw 4 1/3 innings that night, allowing six hits and two runs. He threw 73 pitches.At Applebee’s on Tuesday, Clemens threw 62 pitches. He faced 13 batters in three innings. He threw eight first-pitch strikes. He had seven swinging strikes.
• He reached a full count just once, then prompted the Lake County batter to fly out to the warning track in center.
• He did throw 40 strikes, not 41. Hitting Lake County’s Marshall Szabo counts as a ball, of course.
• Lake County fouled off 13 pitches, including the foul tip by Fornasiere that was caught by catcher Jeff Mackor for the final out in the third.

• Clemens will throw on the side Thursday. He is scheduled to pitch for Corpus Christi, Houston’s AA affiliate, on Sunday.

• Knocking elbows in the confined main press box at Applebee’s were representatives of the Houston Chronicle, New York Times, New York Post, Boston Globe, Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati Post, ESPN.com. And oh yes, a couple from the Herald-Leader. Most everyone else was located in the press tent down the right-field line.

• Clemens told the Boston Globe last night that his final two choices were the Astros and Red Sox.

• As a pre-game gift, Astros senior vice president Jay Lucas sent Clemens a DVD copy of “Major League: Back to the Minors.”

• The Clemens return could effect the Major League team up I-75. The same night Roger got it rocking again, the Reds pulled within a game of the first-place Cardinals. Plus, Houston just put star pitcher Roy Oswalt on the disabled list. “I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think I could help,” said Clemens.

• Roger wore a Texas Longhorns cap and an orange shirt to the post-game press conference. The shirt was a lighter shade, more akin to Tennessee orange.
• "Chris Burke would be happy,” said Clemens of the Astros’ outfielder, a Louisville native who played his college ball at Tennessee.

• The promotion that prompted son Koby to inform his famous father that a strike out in the top of the third “gets everyone in the stadium free washer fluid,” was sponsored by Advanced Auto Parts.

• Son Koby did work out with his father, but skipped the grueling abdominal work his father utilizes. “He’s the abs power freak,” said the son.

• Ken Griffey Jr. and Sr. and Tim Raines Jr. and Sr. are the only father-son combinations to play in a major league game.

• -Koby Clemens was on ESPN’s “Mike & Mike” radio show this morning.

• Roger: “I want to thank the organization for somewhat of a circus atmosphere.”

• Clemens was asked what advice he would give to parents with children in youth sports.
• "Sit back and enjoy it," said Clemens. "Don’t forget how hard the game is. It’s a hard game for us much less a 10-year-old or a 12-year-old. . . . On the ride home, turn off the radio, and talk to him about his at-bats and the plays in the field. Use that 15 minutes on the drive home to talk about the game."
• One more piece of advice from Clemens: "It doesn’t take talent to hustle."

Live blogging from Applebee’s Park on the night that Roger Clemens pitches for the Lexington Legends:

• Postgame — Clemens said he was happy with his performance. He said he could have gone two or three more innings, but is not ready to push it. He and son Koby said the most fun was getting to play with each other.
  • Clemens wore a Texas Longhorns hat to the post-game press conference.
  • "It really hit me when the national anthem was being played," said Koby.
  • Koby on his Dad’s performance: "He was throwing the cheese by them like usual."
  • Clemens is to stick around three more days before heading back to Texas. "I think Koby will be the happiest person to get me out of here," said the father.
  • Clemens on what he wants out of his next start, for Round Rock: "Everything just needs to get sharper."

• 8:18 p.m. — I’m shutting it down, too. For awhile. Have to drop anchor and write for the dead-tree version. Will be back later with post-game notes. If not before.

• 8:15 p.m. — As Mark Maloney just pointed out, Clemens will leave the Legends with an ERA of 3. Clemens had an ERA of 1.87 last year in the National League. "Just shows how tough this league is," joked Mark. I think he was joking.

• 8:13 p.m. — On the night, Clemens allowed three hits and one run in three innings. He struck out six without walking a batter. He threw 62 pitches, 41 for strikes. He departed with Lexington leading 5-1.

• 8:09 p.m. — The Rocket is done. He gave up a hit and hit a batter in the third inning but did not allow a run. He struck out his final batter when Matt Fornasiere fouled into the catcher’s mit. After that pitch, Clemens tipped his hat and pointed to the Lake County dugout. He then removed his cap and waved to the crowd who gave him a standing ovation. A moment later, Clemens came back out of the dugout for a curtain call.

• 8:02 p.m. — Ooops, Clemens plunks batter Marshall Szabo, who has to have the trainer come out and attend to him at first base. The hit batter came on Clemens’ 52nd pitch.

• 7:57 p.m. — Juan Valdes, not the coffee guy, hits a ball off Clemens up the middle that is flagged down by second baseman Eric King. Alas, King can’t make the play. Basehit.

• 7:54 p.m. — The report in the press box is that the home run by Drennen came on a Clemens’ splitter that hung. Thus far, the Rocket has topped out at 92 miles per hour.

• 7:52 p.m. — Tommy Manzella cranks a three-run homer to give Lexington a 5-1 lead. If only Clemens could take this offense with him to Houston.

• 7:47 p.m. — Legends’ catcher Jeff Mackor was just hit by a pitch. You know what that means. Clemens is obligated to hit a Lake County batter, preferably the catcher.

• 7:45 p.m. — In his first trip to the plate, Koby Clemens flies out to center.

• 7:41 p.m. — Clemens breezes through the second inning 1-2-3. He strikes out two. His pitch count for the inning is 17 and 38 for the night thus far. Legends lead 2-1. Of the 38 pitches, six have yielded swinging strikes.

• 7:39 p.m. — A Clemens pitch comes close to hitting Lake County’s Fernando Pacheco in the right knee. This draws a cheer from the crowd.

• 7:30 p.m. — By the off chance you might actually be interested in the game itself, Lexington has just taken a 2-1 lead, thereby getting its starting pitcher off the hook. For now.

• 7:25 p.m. — At this rate, Clemens’ stint would be limited to three innings.

• 7:18 p.m. — After a double by Matt Fornasiere, Clemens strikes out Mike Conroy to end the inning. He threw 21 pitches, giving up two hits and one run, with those two Ks. Of the 21 pitches, 14 were strikes.

• 7:14 p.m. — With two out, Lake County’s Johnny Drennen drives a home run to right field off the Rocket. Drennen gets a big ovation and much applause when he touches home plate.

• 7:11 p.m. — Clemens strikes out the first batter looking on four pitches.

• 7:07 p.m. — After a stirring singing of the national by 8-year-old Brandon Stewart, Clemens knelt and autographed a ball for the member of the Little League Reds who had accompanied him to the pitcher’s mound.

• 7:03 p.m. — Clemens’ introduction as the Legends take the field brings a standing ovation.

• 6:59 p.m. — Elton John is playing on the public address system. Yes, "Rocket Man." ("Gonna be a long, long time . . .")

• 6:58 p.m. — It’s not the packed park that grabs your attention. It’s the left and right field lines. Both are packed wall-to-wall with standing room onlys. Waiting.

• 6:55 p.m. — Coming in from the bullpen after his warmups, Clemens stopped and shook the hand of each member of the Southwest Little League Reds that will go out with the Legends when the home team takes the field. How cool is that?

• 6:49 p.m. — Clemens name was just announced with the Legends starting lineup to a brief boost of applause.

• 6:45 p.m. — J.R. Towles has to be kicking himself. Towles is the regular Legends catcher. He would be catching a Hall of Famer tonight. Would be. Towles was suspended three-games for his reaction to being fined for arriving late for meeting. The club also said that Towles had not been treating an injury as instructed. Jeff Mackor was brought in from high-A Salem to catch Clemens.

• 6:43 p.m. — Lost in the circus is that the Legends are actually in the middle of a pennant race. With 13 games remaining, counting tonight, Lexington as a game and a half lead in the race for the first-half pennant.

• 6:35 p.m. — A huge mass of humans have assembled on the grass down the right-field foul line to watch No. 22 warm up in the Legends’ bullpen. He is doing so with a Legend imitating a stance at the plate. Meanwhile, out at second base, the Legends ground crew is painting the team logo and the No. 22 into the dirt.

Will be attempting to blog from Applebee’s Park during Roger Clemens’ 60-65 pitches tonight.

Despite being eliminated from the NCAA Baseball Tournament last night, Kentucky has turned itself into a noticeable force in NCAA Baseball. Now comes the next step. Keeping the coach who made that happen.

Even before Kentucky lost 7-4 to the College of Charleston at Cliff Hagan Stadium, reports out of Baton Rouge pegged Cats’ leader John Cohen as a candidate for the now open and prestigious LSU job, one Smoke Laval vacated yesterday via forced resignation.

Alabama head coach Jim Wells, Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco, Cal St-Fullerton coach George Horton and Cohen are all mentioned as candidates. There are even reports that former LSU coach Skip Bertman, now the school’s athletics director, might return to the dugout.

Cohen has to be considered a hot candidate. He doesn’t turn 40 until September. He took a reeling Kentucky program and turned it into an NCAA Regional host and SEC co-champ in just three seasons. He is also a smart, vibrant personality who is dedicated to the position. His recruiting isn’t bad, either.

Mitch Barnhart made a terrific hire. But hiring good people who become successful means other schools want to hire them, as well. Barnhart and Cohen both say the two sides have been talking about a new contract since the final stretch of the regular season, but nothing has been finalized.

• Don’t count out a return by Bertman. [Shreveport Times]
• Bertman could put uniform back on. [Baton Rouge Advocate]
• Ole Miss expects call about Bianco, former LSU assistant. [Jackson Clarion-Ledger]
• Laval couldn’t escape Bertman’s shadow. [Baton Rouge Advocate]

An imperfect 10:

1) UK plays host to NCAA baseball regional

As Monty Python used to say, "And now for something completely different." The host Cats would seem to have the advantage. Their a power-built club playing in a small park. My nephew, a freshman on the Miami of Ohio baseball team, informs me that Ball State is also a club built for power playing in a smallish park. The MAC is no pushover, either. Last year’s MAC champ, Miami, was knocked out by eventual NCAA champ Texas. Could come down to pitching. That is if they play today. The skies are threatening over Lexington this morning, and the forecast predicts a stormy Friday.

2) What becomes a Legend’s Legend most

We live in a news-now time. Wednesday was proof. No sooner had word leaked out on radio, TV and internet about Roger Clemens appearance next Tuesday in a Lexington Legends uniform, than a traffic jam formed on Broadway as patrons rushed to Applebee’s Park in search of tickets. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime shot to catch a glimpse of an icon at work.

3) Brandon Webb’s scoreless streak

He is not yet Roger Clemens, but Brandon Webb is headed in that direction. The Ashland native and former Paul Blazer High School star has stretched his scoreless innings streak to 25 innings for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He’s also 8-0, with a 2.01 ERA, best in the majors.

4) Horse racing dissed

Cincinnati Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty, writing in his blog, "Barbaro’s ugly breaks in the Preakness won’t set horse racing back the
way Ruffian’s broken leg did in 1975. That’s only because racing had
lots of fans to lose in 1975. Now, racing’s as relevant as boxing and
track and field."

5) E-mail of the day

One of my more faithful e-mailers shot me this after my column Wednesday criticizing a push by college basketball coaches to expand the NCAA Tournament, "One of only five articles in the past year that I agreed with. One of us is in trouble."

6) Dixie Chicks new CD

They’re not albums anymore, remember? Doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree with what Natalie Maines said about the president — "Just so you know, we’re ashamed our president is from Texas," the Chicks’ lead singer told a London audience back in 2002 — or if you backed your Ford F-150 over a stack of the Chicks’ earlier work, you have to admire Maines’ pugnacity. She doesn’t back down. "Not Ready to Make Nice," makes that clear. And loud. Personal fav: "Lubbock or Leave It."

7) Mark Cuban’s Mavericks

Of what little I watch of the NBA playoffs, the site of a courtside Mark Cuban yelling at officials remains a bit jarring. You just don’t expect an owner to act like that. Or dress like that, either, with a t-shirt and jeans, or some other casual attire. Actually, though, it makes me want to root for the Mavs. If I watched. And if I did watch, I’d probably pull for the Suns and their crusade to rightfully return hoops to the run-and-gun.

Reds woeful defense

If Edwin Encarnacion handled this post, it would bounce into left field.

9) Dan Werner gets Florida treatment this weekend

The 6-7 forward from New Jersey continues his informational tour. He visited UK a couple of weeks back, and could still end up at his originally planned destination of North Carolina State. Werner has also visited Notre Dame and Pittsburgh is believed to be in his mix.

10) Ten reasons why you should watch the NCAA Baseball Tournament

SI on Campus  gives its 10.

As you probably guessed, Roger Clemens’ declaration yesterday he is returning to the Houston Astros has shaken the baseball world from Houston to, well, Lexington, where the Rocket makes his first start next Tuesday for the Legends.

The decision particularly reverberates around the NL Central. St. Louis leads the division, but is considered vulnerable. Cincinnati is starting to return to reality. Houston is now in position to make a second-half run after Clemens takes the hill for the Astronomicals, probably June 22.

Some morning-after reaction:

• The Legends aren’t the only thrilled minor league team. The Round Rock Express are also ecstatic about an upcoming Rocket start. [Austin American-Statesman]
• Jayson Stark says there is no precedent, so it will be all new to the Astros. [espn.com]
• "Here we go again," says Roger. [Houston Chronicle]
• His Astro teammates are tickled. [Houston Chronicle]
• Richard Justice just hopes Rocket’s teammates hold up their end of the multi-million dollar bargain. [Houston Chronicle]
• John Donovan says that at 43, Clemens is attempting something few players have ever tried. [cnnsi.com]
• Clemens leaned toward Astros all along, but didn’t mind listening to other offers. [New York Times]
• Rangers, Red Sox and Yankees all losers. [Fox Sports]

Kudos for UK baseball coach John Cohen keep on coming.

His amazing Cats have now skyrocketed to No. 4 in the latest Collegiate Baseball poll after sweeping Mississippi State last weekend. Senior pitcher Matt Robinson was named SEC Pitcher of the Week after giving up just one hit in a 7 1/3-inning emergency relief appearance on Friday. First baseman Ryan Strieby set a school-record for RBI with 74 after his grand slam homer helped beat Belmont 7-2 on Monday.

And down in Gainesville, the Gators lament their lost season while Cohen, a former Florida assistant, keeps on trucking. [Florida.scout.com]

Sorry, but this was too good to pass up. Thanks to The House Rock Built, we now know it’s ok to root for the other team. Or do we?