John Clay's Sidelines

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• Rumble at Rupp to attract big-name targets, says H-L staff report.
• UK dodgeball has turned into a hit, writes Paul Jones of the Kernel.
• Key stats of UK-LSU, from Herald-Leader.
• Woodson has LSU memories, writes Scott Hotard of The Advocate.
• Miles says Lee and Jefferson can handle it, reports Les East of The Advocate.
• Jefferson addition is lethal, reports Glenn Guilbeau of Shreveport Times.
• LSU wants to avoid 2007 repeat, reports Luke Johnson of Times-Picayune.
• UK still searching for offensive breakout, says my H-L story.
• Phillips has a fond memory of Tiger Stadium, writes H-L’s Mark Story.
• UK coach trying mind games to help team, reports C-J’s Kyle Tucker.
• Matt May of Cats Pause gives a UK-LSU scouting report.
• Cats ready for Death Valley encounter, writes Kernel’s Cody Porter.
• Billy Joe Murphy won’t back down, writes Keith Taylor of Winchester Sun.
• UK fall sports off to a great start, reports Guy Ramsey of Cat Scratches.

(H-L photo/Pablo Alcala)

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

• ESPN’s Andy Katz thinks DeAndre Liggins will withdraw from draft.
• DraftExpress hears Kentucky’s combine was a big disappointment.
• Those comments rubbed some the wrong way, reports All Ky Hoops.
• Joseph Uchebo hasn’t heard from Kentucky, reports Nation of Blue.
• Derrick Locke taken in the UFL draft, reports the Herald-Leader.
• But Locke insists he will be playing on Sundays, reports Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball, Anthony Hickey, signs with LSU, reports the H-L.
• Andre Woodson turns his attention to coaching, writes Matt May of the Cats Pause.
• Commonwealth Stadium will get its new scoreboards, reports WLEX.
• Kentucky men’s tennis to play host to NCAA regional, reports the H-L.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Katz thinks Liggins will return; Combine disappoints?’

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Friday:

Birmingham Schools call board meeting this afternoon to discuss Bledsoe case, reports Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News.

John Calipari believes that Enes Kanter is an amateur, but can’t guarantee that NCAA will agree, reports Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader.

Sadly, Florida’s arrests are overshadowing Meyer’s victories, blogs Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel.

Florida says high number of football arrests should not define the program, reports Steve Wieberg of USA Today.

Mark Schlereth will be doing his first college game as analyst for ESPN, reports Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post.

Recent road success should help in The Swamp, writes Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader.

Same questions, different outcomes for Tim Tebow and Andre Woodson, writes Mark Story of the H-L.

Urban Meyer’s confidence in his offense is rising, writes Edward Aschoff of the Gainesville Sun.

Calipari warms up for another candid year, writes Eric Crawford of the Courier-Journal.

Broken hand a minor setback for Danny Trevathan, reports Brett Dawson of the C-J.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Eric Bledsoe case takes next (final?) step today’

Ex-UK quarterback Andre Woodson was a visitor at football practice today. Here he is talking with current quarterback Mike Hartline after the workout.

(Photo by John Clay)

Big Blue Links for Monday:

• Fox41 in Louisville on the start of the Karen Sypher trial today.
• Rick Bozich of the Courier-Journal writes on Andre Woodson trying a new path to the NFL.
• No easy answers in athlete-agent interactions, reports Brett Dawson of the C-J.
• Kentucky and Louisville basketball on trail of many of the same players, reports Jody Demling of the C-J.
• Mobile Press-Register ranks the top 120 high school football players in the Southeast.
• Frank Burlison of the Long Beach Press-Telegram writes on top prospect Tony Wroten.
• Matt May of the Cats Pause on a potential breakout star for UK football.
• Wildcat Blue Blog wonders if Quincy Miller and Tony Wroten could both end up at Louisville.
• Brett Carney of WLEX reports that UK football is building muscle and leadership in summer workouts.
• Kentucky no longer on Quinn Cook’s list, reports Zagsblog. (Hat tip Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• A 6-foot-9 forward from Chicago, Anthony Davis will visit Kentucky, reports Zagsblog.

• Daniel Orton struggles in his summer league debut, says a Herald-Leader staff report.

• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel on Orton being ejected in his first Summer League game.

• Orton must push the reset button, writes Tania Ganguli of the Orlando Sentinel.

• Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman was in Orlando to watch the Orton meltdown.

• Despite his son being tossed in first game, Larry Orton is excited about Daniel’s future, writes Alan Cutler of WLEX.

(AP photo)

• Ex-U of L quarterback Dave Ragone could be coaching ex-UK quarterback Andre Woodson in the UFL, writes Rick Bozich of the Courier-Journal.

• Bluegrass State Basketball on U.S. U-17 team’s romp over China.

• Quincy Miller could end up being his class’ No. 1 prospect, says Draft Express. (Hat tip to Spam’s Wildcat Page.)

• Kentucky Sports Network on Joker Phillips and Operation Win.

• Added: John Middleton of the Harlan Daily Enterprise says UK may regret hiring Calipari.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Orton gets the hook; Anthony Davis to visit Kentucky’

Andre Woodson (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• Birmingham school superintendent will investigate Eric Bledsoe’s transcript, reports Jeff Sentell of the Birmingham News.
• Antoine Walker ordered to trial over casino debt, reports Ken Ritter of the AP.
• Andre Woodson to play in the United Football League, reports the Elizabethtown News-Enterprise.
• Jason Kidd sees a bright future for John Wall, blogs Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader.
• Isaiah Thomas says he was sure Terrence Jones was coming to Washington, reports Luke Winn of SI.com.
• Patrick Patterson works to impress the Pacers, reports Cliff Brunt of AP.
• Patterson thinks he can make an impact, reports Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star.
• John Calipari talked to Tom Izzo about the NBA, reports Alan Cutler of WLEX.
• Jarrod Polson believes he can help Kentucky in the long run, writes Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• DeMarcus Cousins talks about draft with the Sacramento Kings: (Hat tip to Cat Scratches.)

Continue reading ‘BBL: Birmingham schools will investigate Bledsoe’

News that the Washington Redskins have cut Andre Woodson from their practice squad after signing quarterback Richard Bartel off Jacksonville’s practice squad.

Doesn’t look good for the former UK quarterback, who could have been promoted to the active roster. Instead, the Redskins decided to sign Bartel and cut Andre.

As Gary Fitzgerald of Redskins.com reports, Washington had been carrying just two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster.

(Photo Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer)

North Carolina State quarterback Russell Wilson broke Andre Woodson’s NCAA record for consecutive passes without an interception.

This from Ken Tysiac of the Charlotte Observer:

N.C.State quarterback Russell Wilson broke a national record in the third quarter on Saturday night.

Wilson’s 13-yard pass to James Washington late in the third quarter gave him 326 consecutive passes without an interception dating back to a game against Clemson on Sept 13 of last year.

The crowd gave a hearty cheer as the video boards at Carter-Finley Stadium announced that Wilson had set the record.

Andre Woodson of Kentucky set the previous Division I-A/Football Bowl Subdivision record of 325 passes without an interception in 2006-07.

N.C. State defeated Gardner-Webb 45-14.

Net surfing for UK news:

• New: Bleacher Report gives stats to back up why UK should be ranked.
• Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog digs up a link saying Mark Coury is headed to Cornell.
• Joe Hickman of KY3 News reports that UK is still recruiting Trae Golden.
• Herald-Leader’s Chip Cosby writes on the new titles for key offensive staff members.
• Herald-Leader’s Jerry Tipton reports that freshman Darius Miller shed some frustrations at Tennessee.
• Tipton also reports that Billy Gillispie is a-ok with Patrick Patterson’s scoring dip.
• Herald-Leader columnist Mark Story wants to know where all the big scorers have gone.
• In the Kentucky Kernel, Bobby Reagan writes that Jodie Meeks was not always a big-time scorer.
• H-L reports has that starters star in road win for UK women’s team.
• In the Tuscaloosa News, Christopher Walsh reports that cold-shooting doomed Bama in loss to UK.
• C-J columnist Eric Crawford writes that UK football is up, U of L football down.
• Dick Gabriel on the Jodie Meeks’ eruption zone.
• Dick Vitale jumps on the Jodie Meeks’ bandwagon.
• AP reports that the New York Giants have signed Andre Woodson again.
• The Cat Scratches blog talks to Jeremy Jarmon about his NFL draft research experiences.
• Had overlooked this earlier, but Jeff Goodman gives love to Jodie Meeks, duds to Tennessee.