John Clay's Sidelines

(AP photo/Ed Reinke)

Bad enough that ex-UK receiver Steve Johnson dropped a game-winning pass Sunday in Buffalo’s eventual 19-16 overtime loss to Pittsburgh. Now Johnson has gotten himself into some Twitter trouble.

From the New York Daily News:

We feel for Steve Johnson. He has toiled in obscurity in Buffalo this year, quietly going about his business, making catches and scoring touchdowns. But both the “quietly” part and the “catching touchdowns” part came to a halt Sunday when Johnson dropped a potential game-winning touchdown pass in OT in what later became a 16-13 Steelers victory.

Of course, we all know whose fault that was. It’s God’s fault, and all of Twitter-dom knows it now, too.

“I praise you 24/7!!! And this how you do me!!!,” Johnson – at least we think it was him – tweeted. “You expect me to learn from this???How??? I’ll never forget this!! Ever!! Thx Tho.”

Two things we must point out to Steve: God has been a Steelers fan for quite some time now (See: six Super Bowl victories) and, well, you don’t want to poke the bear, if you know what we mean.

If you are listening to ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt Show, he promised he will talk about it during the program.

The New York Times and the Buffalo News each have stories about Johnson’s tweet.

Steve e-mails:

It is fitting that Stevie Johnson drops a game-winning pass in overtime on the same weekend that UK loses to Tennessee again, making similar mistakes.

(H-L photo/David Perry)

Herald-Leader photo gallery of UK fans visiting Pearl Harbor.

Big Blue Links:

Experience could mean sink or swim for Cats

“Obviously, Michigan State should win going away,” Calhoun said as a smiling (and wincing) Spartans Coach Tom Izzo sat nearby. “Tommy has one of the best teams I’ve seen in 20 or 30 years.” Calhoun did not mention experience – nor a favorite’s role – in a needling salute to Kentucky.
“John (Calipari) has got more talent than the Celtics,” the UConn coach said. “The rest of us scrap for the pieces.” (Jerry Tipton, Herald-Leader)

Kentucky to face Oklahoma today in Maui Invitational

The sky and the water are the brightest blue here in basketball paradise. The teams and coaches assembled for the Maui Invitational are first-rate, as usual. And yet University of Kentucky coach John Calipari sounded uncertain on Sunday whether his No. 12 Wildcats are in the right place at the right time. “If I’ve got a veteran team … this is a great tournament to go in,” Calipari said. “If you have a young team, it’s hard. I don’t know what we’ll look like. The hardest thing in this tournament is you’re going to learn, and does it knock you for a loop? We could be knocked for a loop.” (Brett Dawson, Courier-Journal)

Experience critical in challenging event

Kentucky comes in as arguably the youngest team (Oklahoma could give the Cats a run for their money in that area), which means Calipari is bound and determined to see what his inexperienced club can do under unique conditions. The Cats already survived a dangerous opener to the road trip, blowing out capable mid-major Portland on its home turf before jetting to the island. (Matt May, Cats Pause)

Dunlap leads No. 9 Cats past No. 12 Notre Dame 81-76

Maybe Kentucky just caught lightning in a bottle last season. Maybe it was all just a fluke. There were all sorts of conspiracy theories out there for how lowly Kentucky managed to advance to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight for the first time ever. The players for ninth-ranked UK heard all of the pre-season questions and went a long way toward answering them Sunday with an 81-76 win over No. 12 Notre Dame at Memorial Coliseum. (Jennifer Smith, Lexington Herald-Leader)

Continue reading ‘BBL: Kentucky ready for today’s Maui test’

(AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Received a tweet from @uglykidneil this morning, which read:

uglykidneil Neil Childress
@johnclayiv Good to see Tamme get the love. But @steviejohnson13 does it every week, and gets no love from local media! #why?

He’s right. We’ve neglected to give ex-UK wide out Stevie Johnson a pat on the back for his fast 2010 start with the Buffalo Bills.

Why? Oversight.

And the fact that Jacob Tamme has a double-connection (UK and Boyle County) as opposed to SJ’s singular, but important, Cats connection.

Plus, Johnson plays for the winless Bills. (No excuse.) And Tamme replaced a known star in Dallas Clark, plus catches passes from a fellow named Peyton Manning.

But mainly, blame it on oversight.

So let’s try and make up for it a little.

Johnson leads the Bills with 30 catches for 409 yards and six touchdowns. Two Sundays ago, he caught eight passes for 158 yards and a score in Buffalo’s 37-34 overtime loss to Baltimore. In two seasons, Johnson has 42 catches, eight for touchdowns.

And here’s a nice Stevie “Call Me Steve” Johnson story from John Wawrow of the Canadian Press.

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• AP reports that ex-UK receiver Steve Johnson, now of the Buffalo Bills, has suffered an injury to his ribs.
• Courier-Journal columnist Rick Bozich compares Big East basketball to SEC football.
• Kentucky Sports Radio reports that UK will release its basketball schedule via TV.
• A Sea of Blue looks at the UK defensive line.

Continue reading ‘BBL: UK will release hoops schedule via the tube’

Ex-UK receivers Keenan Burton and Steve Johnson both caught touchdown passes yesterday in the NFL.

Keenan Burton

For Burton, it was pro touchdown No. 1 as the Louisville native grabbed a 30-yard pass in the end zone from St. Louis quarterback Marc Bugler during the Rams’ 17-16 loss to San Francisco. It was Burton’s only catch of the game. He now has 12 receptions for 164 yards and one score. He also ran for three yards on an end-around Sunday. The ex-Cat had been bothered by knee soreness earlier this month, but has now caught at least one pass in seven straight games.

Steve Johnson

As for Johnson, the San Francisco native made a touchdown catch for the second straight week, catching a three-yard score from Trent Edwards to put Buffalo up 23-20 as the Bills went on to win 30-23 at Denver. Johnson caught his first professional TD last week at the New York Jets. He now has 10 catches for 102 yards and two scores. His best gamew as a three-catch, 41-yard night against Cleveland back on Monday Night Football on Week 11.