John Clay's Sidelines

(AP photo/James Crisp)

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

Paul Kuharsky of espn.com: “Jacob Tamme is not Dallas Clark, but six catches for 64 yards and a touchdown is a pretty good tight end contribution. (He’s the 27th player to catch his first-career touchdown from Peyton Manning.) . . . Said Manning of Tamme: “It was nice to see a guy that had a calm, cool look to him the entire night. That is encouraging to see.”

Phillip B. Wilson of the Indianapolis Star: “Tamme, who entered with six career catches for 47 yards in his two-plus seasons, had six catches for 64 yards. Both were personal bests, and that TD was the first score of his NFL career. “That’s kind of the neat thing about being a part of this team,” Tamme said. “Whether you’re on the second team, third team, fourth team, you feel like you can go out there and make a play.”

Herald-Leader photo gallery from Kentucky-Pikeville basketball.

Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader: “John Calipari tried to see a 97-66 exhibition victory over Pikeville College on Monday night as the metaphorical glass as half full. And if his team had tried that hard in the game, the Kentucky coach might have been happier with the result. “We really had no fight or viciousness to our game,” he said.  ”We didn’t really rebound. We couldn’t make a three. ”Other than that, I thought we showed some good signs.”

Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader: “The prospect of facing FCS opponent Charleston Southern wouldn’t appear to bring UK out of the doldrums. CSU is 2-6 on the year, 0-4 in the Big South, and was smashed 66-7 by Hawaii in its only matchup with an FBS program. Despite all that, assistant head coach David Turner said Kentucky better be prepared to take the Buccaneers seriously.”

Michael Grant of the Courier-Journal: “UK ripped Pikeville College 97-66 in an exhibition game at Rupp Arena on Monday night before a crowd of 21,127. Coach John Calipari is attempting to build a contender on the fly with several new additions for the second consecutive season. The most high-profile newcomer, Brandon Knight, played as well as advertised.”

Video of Pikeville coach Kelly Wells’ post-game comments.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Tamme shines for Colts; UK’s uneven exhibition’

Big Blue Links:

• Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports writes that UK target Anthony Davis has quickly become a hot commodity.
• Adonis Thomas shines in AAU play, reports Dan Wolken of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
• Chane Behanan has experienced good and bad in his rapid ascent, writes Chad Bishop of the Bowling Green News. (Hat tip to Spam’s Wildcat Page.)
• Brandon Marcell of the NW Arkansas News ranks Joker Phillips 10th out of 12 for his SEC Media Days performance.
• But Joel Barker of Bleacher Report ranked Phillips as giving the best performance at Hoover.
• Brandon Ashley gets an offer from UK for 2012, reports Zagsblog.
• Lawyers in case see Karen Sypher two different ways, reports Andrew Wolfson and Jayson Riley of the Courier-Journal.
• Jacob Tamme’s golf scramble raises big bucks for a good cause, writes Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• Patrick Patterson will join Eric Bledsoe at UK’s pro camp, says UK athletics.
• Kirk Hinrich looking forward to playing with John Wall, reports Michael Lee of the Washington Post.
• NCAA coaches set bad example for players, writes Eric Crawford of the Courier-Journal.
• Bleed Blue Kentucky breaks down the Cats quarterbacks heading into fall drills.

Eric Bledsoe (H-L photo/John Clay)

Don’t forget, doing two liveblogs today. The first will be from the UK women’s game at Memorial Coliseum. The second will be from UK men’s opener tonight at Rupp.

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader reports that John Calipari is focusing his lasers on progress for tonight’s opener.
• Tipton’s notes leads with the return of speedball Eric Bledsoe.
• Jennifer Smith of the H-L previews this morning’s opener — that’s right, morning opener — for the Kentucky women.
• Chip Cosby of the H-L writes on playmaking linebacker Sam Maxwell.
• Fabian Lyon of the Miami Herald reports that Brandon Knight is visiting Florida today.
• Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal writes on the Kentucky-Morehead matchup.
• James Pennington of the Kentucky Kernel addresses the official start of the John Calipari Era.
• B.W. Jones of the Kernel reports that equal-opportunity Rich Brooks says both Mike Hartline and Morgan Newton will play Saturday.
• Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches writes on the UK women’s early-bird special.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Brandon Knight visiting Florida today’

John Lucas

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

• WKYT reports that Billy Gillispie has checked into the John Lucas Aftercare Program in Houston for alcohol rehabilitation.
• Here’s info on the John Lucas Aftercare Program.
• Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader writes on the “Wildcat” formation.
• Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal writes on the “Wildcat” formation.
• Ashlee Clark and Karla Ward of the H-L report that ex-UK basketball player Derrick Miller has also been charged in ticket scam.
• Gary Parrish of CBS Sportsline comments on the ticket scam, and reports on Gillispie.
• B.W. Jones of the Kentucky Kernel writes on UK kicker Lones Seiber.

Continue reading ‘BBL: WKYT reports Billy Gillispie checks into rehab’