Kentucky Sports Radio

Rajon Rondo has earned a reputation over the years as being a bit of an oddball. He enjoys the children’s game Connect Four, devours Shirley Temples, and is apparently outstanding at the tailgaiting pastime known as cornhole. Besides these activities and his obvious basketball skill, Rondo is also known for something else in the world; his outstanding taste in clothing. If you remember back to last summer, Rondo had the opportunity to intern with GQ because of his impeccable taste in apparel, and now his fashion sense has earned him a guest spot on E!’s Fashion Police with Joan Rivers. 

Late last night when the show aired, Rondo discussed a number of topics including his height, former internship, and whether or not he hummed a Kanye West song near Kris Humphries before an in-game scuffle. As was the answer when the Humphries incident first occurred, Rondo emphasized that the tussle wasn’t anything personal, but rather him defending his teammate (Kevin Garnett) after a perceived dirty play. “I don’t have a problem with Kris Humphries,” Rondo stated.

Perhaps the most entertaining part of Rondo’s appearance was when he was asked to bring an article of clothing for the “stash it or trash it” segment. He brought this zebra striped jacket which he wore last season in a post-game interview. He won approval from Kelly Osbourne, Giuliana Rancic, and George Kotsiopoulos, but couldn’t win over the ever-so-hard-to-please, Joan Rivers. If you wish to see the entirety of Rondo’s segment on Fashion Police, it can be found here. If you’ll excuse me, I need to do something manly to offset the writing of this post.

(Photos by Regina Lexi Rickert)

After a regional title last week, Kentucky softball has earned its second trip to the Super Regionals in the last three years. The No. 12 overall-seeded Wildcats won the Lexington regional after knocking off Marshall, then dispatching Virginia Tech twice to claim the second-ever regional victory for the program.

Kentucky is headed to Tempe, Arizona to face the No. 5-seeded Arizona State Sun Devils at Farrington Stadium. The Cats and the Devils will begin a best-of-three series Saturday night for a spot in Oklahoma City and the Women’s College World Series.

Kentucky (41-19) advanced out of the regionals thanks to marvelous pitching from freshman Kelsey Nunley. She went 3-1 over the weekend with a 0.83 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 25.1 innings. Lauren Cumbess started the winner-take-all game Sunday, posting a strong 3.2 innings pitched, allowing no runs and just two hits. That work opened the door for Nunley to come in and close it out.

At the plate, the offense ran through freshman slap-hitter Sylver Samuel who went 5-for-9 with three runs scored, three stolen bases, and a .556 on-base percentage. Samuel bats in the nine-hole and acts as a second lead-off hitter. When she gets on-base and the top of the order turns over, good things happen. Also helping the move runners over the weekend were junior Ginny Carroll (.429), and sophomore Griffin Joiner (.417).

The matchup with Arizona State will be fierce and the Wildcats are certainly the underdog in more ways than just ranking. The Sun Devils (48-10) enter the Tempe Super Regional with a stunning 38-3 home record and regular season series victories over No. 3 Oregon, No. 10 California, No. 12 UCLA, No. 14 Washington, No. 14 Stanford, and No. 23 Oregon State.

Perhaps even more daunting for the Cats; in the postseason under head coach Clint Meyers, ASU is 28-3 at home, and all six of the Sun Devils’ Women’s College World Series berths under Meyers have come through a Tempe Super Regional.

As a team, Arizona State is hitting .334 (8th nationally) with 92 home runs (4th), and 403 runs scored. By comparison, Kentucky is batting as a team .269 (138th), with 57 home runs (42nd). Pitching favors the Devils too – albeit not by much – with a 2.07 ERA (24th), versus Kentucky’s 2.69 ERA (76th).

One advantage the Cats have is this not being the first time these teams have met. While the year was still young and before the weather turned here in the Bluegrass state, Kentucky softball was beginning its season out west where it played in the Kajikawa Classic – a loaded tournament against three ranked teams. Kentucky opened its season with a victory over No. 3 California, and suffered its first loss against No. 4 Arizona State, losing 8-1 in its fourth game in two days.

In that game against the Sun Devils, Kentucky started Cumbess, who gave three innings, surrendering four hits and three earned runs; then followed in relief with Nunley, who gave three innings, while surrendering seven hits and five earned runs. It wasn’t the best performance for either pitcher and both have improved dramatically this season. It didn’t help that ASU ace Dallas Escobedo shut the Cats’ offense down either, only allowing five hits and one run while striking out eight batters.

Surely we will see a Nunley vs. Escobedo matchup on Saturday, but the confidence level of playing such a tough schedule this season and coming this far in the tournament has to improve the chances for Kentucky in a rematch.

If Kentucky wants a shot at the Women’s College World Series, it is going to have to keep this Super Regional a pitcher’s duel. Arizona State is too good in the circle overall to allow the Devils too many runs. Escobedo is on a current 31-inning streak without allowing an earned run and held batters in the regional to a 0.60 average. Throw in a second “ace” in the wings for ASU, Mackenzi Popescue who boasts a solid 2.03 ERA and ASU pitchers are set with a slim lead.

Kentucky will struggle at the dish against such elite and veteran pitching. So chipping away will be the game plan. Get a couple of runs across with small ball and aggressive base running, and then rely heavily on pitching and defense. Kelsey Nunley will have to work efficiently to keep herself in the ballgame, because without her the Wildcats will flounder. Lauren Cumbess will surely have an opportunity to pitch in relief or in a decisive game later this weekend, and though her innings will likely be few, they will be extremely important to help stretch Nunley out as long as possible.

The series starts tonight at 10 p.m. on ESPN2. Game two of the series will be Sunday at 5 p.m. on ESPN, and if necessary, game three will be played Sunday at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. You can hear the games called in Lexington by Dick Gabriel on 630-AM WLAP.

(h/t Kentucky Wildcats TV)

Need to get pumped for a little bit of weekend softball? If so, the good people over at Kentucky Wildcats TV created a hype video for tonight’s big game in Tempe, Arizona. If you’re already hyped for the game, good for you, keep that energy going until tonight.  The first pitch for tonight’s contest against Arizona State is set for 10 p.m. and can be viewed on ESPN 2.

Earlier this week, the selection order for June 27th’s annual NBA Daft was finalized with Cleveland winning the top spot for the second time in three seasons. Naturally, within minutes of the finalized order being revealed, the internet exploded with its usual flood of mock drafts and conspiracy rumor. The news of Cleveland being awarded the Draft’s top spot also brought something else to the media forefront; opinion. Like everyone else, Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has an opinion on who the Cavaliers should draft with their first overall pick, and contrary to popular opinion, it’s not Nerlens Noel.

In his article, Livingston cited his reasons for not wanting Noel with the #1 overall pick and wasn’t shy in doing so. In the article’s first two sentences he stated, “Nerlens Noel, who is rehabbing a torn ACL, has no offensive game and will not play for a head coach here who can teach it to him. Oh, yeah. He’s also too skinny to play his position in the NBA.” Which, if we’re being honest, are two valid criticisms of Noel’s game. Later in the article, Livingston stated what Cleveland truly needed on their roster. “The Cavs need a shooting guard/small forward who doesn’t shoot 42.1 percent for his career. In other words, someone other than Alonzo Gee.”

While offensive firepower is always a valued trait in any league, college or professional, the numbers suggest that Cleveland is in desperate need of some defense. The Cavs finished 27th in the NBA in defensive efficiency, allowing 109.4 points per-100 possessions. Cleveland also ranked 29th in effective field goal defense, 25th in defensive rebounding percentage, and 25th in defensive free throw rate. These are three categories in which Noel excels. If you’re interested in reading Livingston’s entire article, it can be found here.

Each year Memorial Day marks the symbolic start to the summer season. The 3-day weekend gives us the chance to appreciate the sacrifice from our nation’s finest in the armed forces, by enjoying a barbeque and a cold beer (or two, or ten). While most take the additional day off work to spend time with family in friends, for local businesses (primarily car-dealerships) it provides the opportunity for “sales extravaganzas”. Low production commercials take form and entertain us more than you could ever think. After scouring the internet, I have found the best of the worst commercials you will see this time of the year.

“Hi there! Do you need a tent?”

I hope this next one from Crazy Charlie’s used cars isn’t real. I highly doubt that someone would ever be insensitive enough to publicly say, “You’ll think we had our brains blown out with a road-side IED in Afghanistan when you see these prices.”

The commercials in West New York are a little different than around here. I guess Broadway really does bring out the best in biz.

This has nothing to do with Memorial Day but it has everything to do with great, honest advertising. You have to admire someone with the cojones to admit, that he’s been hit in the face 5 times with a crescent wrench by a bouncer in Birmingham, and got his jaw broken with a fence post by his wife’s boyfriend.

Oh more Charles Ramsey? Sure.

My love for punny titles can only be surpassed by my love for softball. While I usually dabble in short-shorts on Tuesday nights with other old men, UK Softball is actually doing athletic things (I prefer cheering on my team without using any words, just moans and groans). Tonight at 10:00 PM on ESPN2, the UK Softball team will face Arizona State in their 2nd EVER Super Regional matchup.

They are ‘this close’ to achieving their World Series dreams, but beating traditional powerhouse Arizona State on their home turf will be a tall task. The Sun Devils have won two National Championships in the last five years, setting the standard for West Coast softball dominance. Their ace Dallas Escobedo is one of the best all-time, leading her team to a National Championship as a freshman. This year she is as strong as ever, only allowing four hits in 21 innings during Regional play.

Even though the task at hand seems mightier than ever before, UK Softball players couldn’t be more excited to achieve their lifelong goal to play in the WCWS (that’s Women’s College World Series for those of you that don’t like abbreviations). Despite losing to ASU 8-1 earlier in the season, the young Kittens’ short memory and extreme motivation could help them surprise a few folks. Freshman Ace Kelsey Nunley has more wins in her first season than any other pitcher in UK history while posting the 2nd best ERA (1.97) in school history too. Lauren Cumbess packs a powerful punch at First Base, leading the team with 12 homers this year. If the Cats, excuse me Kittens, can string together a few hits they may surprise a few and make a little history this weekend.

OLine Coach John Schlarman, Vince Marrow, and Mark Stoops with “shirt tucked into jeans” swag received LaRubbio’s commitment this morning.

Offensive Guard

6’5”, 280 lbs.
Liberty Township, OH (Lakota East)

Rivals: #16 OG, #29 in OH
Scout: #24 OG
24/7: #42 OG, #39 player in OH

Chose UK over: Nebraska, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Vandy, and Arizona State among others.

Twitter: @jlube75

The Ohio pipeline continues to flow blue as Mark Stoops received his 6th commitment from the Buckeye State this morning. The #16 OG in the country is a monster on the right side of the center. LaRubbio saw the power of #BBN firsthand at the Spring game, making it easy for Vince Marrow to make another great recruiting move in Ohio.This addition moves Kentucky’s 2014 class to #16 in the country, 7th in the SEC just behind Ole Miss.

After watching some of his film I’m sure his favorite food is pancakes (my favorite pancake on his highlight reel comes at the :56 mark). Attacking defenders with sheer size is impressive to watch, but his quick first step sets him apart from other great offensive linemen. High School players often ‘let up’ on the offensive line when a play is ran to the other side, but LaRubbio has a good head on his shoulders and doesn’t stop until the whistle is blown, regardless of whether the play is going his way.  His Lakota East High School team is an option run-based team, giving him more responsibilities at OG than a normal spread/pro-style offense. The QB bases much of his decision making in the option off of the OG’s play; if he doesn’t create a hole immediately the play could be a bust. LaRubbio’s experience thus far has turned him into an attacking lineman that will only do good things for UK in the future.

A 3-star Offensive Guard from Lakota East High School outside of Cincinnati, the 6’5 260 pounder has committed to play for Mark Stoops in the Class of 2014. The highly-touted OG held offers from Nebraska, Wisconsin, Vandy, Pitt, North Carolina, and Arizona State.

The #16 OG in the nation is Vince Marrow’s 6th commitment from the state of Ohio in the Class of 2014.

Even though it is the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and the UK sports world has seemingly come to a halt, Mark Stoops has different plans. A variety of sources from Drew Barker to Justin Rowland are Tweeting about “big news” coming.  I have no idea who it is, but Mike Edwards would be a great addition less than a week before Darius West decides; they plan on attending the same school.

Stay tuned to KSR for the latest breaking coverage throughout the day.

*****************************UPDATE**********************************

I should have waited 10 minutes; Jarrett LaRubbio joins the Class of 2014.

The Pacers and the Heat are close to being an official rivalry. Last year the Pacers took a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Semifinals before losing the series in 6 games, but after last night’s win and one hell of a performance in Game 1, once again the Heat have their backs against the ropes. What I find humorous is the fact that the media is quicker to blame Lebron for losing than praise the Pacers….SMDreads.

There are still many long months of summer before football season begins. Until then we only have either really boring, or really fun news. Today it’s fun because the Rams decided to sign a 6’10 403 lb lineman, putting UK’s John Grubbenschlabben to shame.

Body Shapes Medical has been working miracles for Ryan Lemond, but they can’t do what this couple from England is doing. Considered the strongest couple in the world, I dare you to find an ounce of fat in this relationship.

I will leave you with a video of Paul George putting the tatted-up Birdman to shame. I don’t know of anything that could’ve made me happier, until someone edited George’s Wikipedia page 10 minutes later saying, “He was arrested on May 24 for animal cruelty”.

It’s Memorial Day weekend. If you aren’t grilling out, ducking away to the lake for the weekend, or karaoking in patriotic gear (oh, just me?)… chances are you will probably find your way to a movie theatre at some point this weekend. Memorial Day weekend is notorious for new movie releases, especially from the category I like to call “why do people like mediocre movies in the summer?” Memorial Day weekend tends to mark the release of the first big action blockbuster movies of the summer. This year, two of the weekends’ biggest movies are sequels. Many of you are probably planning to either see the Fast and the Furious 32 this weekend, or the Hangover (I refuse to give them separate numbers, because they are just the same movie taking place in a slightly, slightly different setting).

I do have faith though that the 3rd in the line of the Hangover movies will be better than the 2nd. I mean, it has to be right?

And now on to the news and views from the day…

      Today was Charles Ramsey Day on KSR. Although Ramsey showed up a little late and caused Matt and Drew some understandable stress, he delivered exactly the kind of interview you would expect. Ramsey was candid, honest, funny, a little scary (kicking heads and plotting for demises), very much a fan of McDonald’s, etc. Ramsey had a few touching comments and also managed to give Rex Chapman a shout out. What more can you really ask for? If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the podcast yet, you won’t be disappointed. Have a listen here. 

      With the news coming out yesterday that the core of Kentucky’s basketball team next season decided against playing for Team USA this summer in order to spend more time in Lexington preparing for a national championship, it’s hard not to get excited about the focus and goals that this team clearly holds for next season. The expectation level of the fan base is on par with the expectations before the 2012 national championship season. The buzz and excitement matches the expectations. It’s nice to see that the star-studded incoming recruiting class and some of the returning veterans are ready to get to work together this summer. 

      The real loser in this situation though? Billy Donovan. Donovan was probably excited to add some of Kentucky’s star class to his roster for the trip to Peru. Team USA will lack some of its best potential players now. The team simply won’t be as good as it would have been. For Billy though, it will be a lot like the feeling pretty much every season since the graduation of Joakim Noah and company. He’s used to it.

       One member of Kentucky’s 2013 class, Marcus Lee, expressed the laser-like focus he and his teammates have on accomplishing one goal and one goal only: winning a national championship. Lee spoke with Larry Vaught about the lofty goals:

“Winning the national championship has gone through our minds. Now it’s stuck in our minds. That is all we plan on doing, especially since we are all big competitors. We will refuse to lose next year.”

      Lee also talked about how excited the guys are to get on campus, which is a big reason why they turned down the Team USA invitations. Lee even said that some people are probably tired of hearing the guys in the class talk about Kentucky constantly. “If five of us are not talking about Kentucky, the sixth one will be.” 

3 things I love about the demeanor/perceived attitude of this recruiting class:

1) They do not remind me of last year’s team at all.

2) They seem almost competitive to a fault. How good will those practices be next year? These guys are going to push each other day in and day out.

3) They are genuinely excited to come to Lexington.

       While the 2013 class has already been solidified and looks forward to congregating in Lexington, one of the prized members of the 2014 class spoke out positively about John Calipari today. Emmanuel Mudiay, largely considered to be the best point guard available in 2014, likes Coach Cal and it’s not just his ability to coach the game of basketball. Mudiay thinks that Cal has a “big heart.” Mudiay says he has the same kind of heart as well.

“You’d think that we talk about how I can help Kentucky and basketball things like that, but we don’t. … He moreso talks about what I should want to be in life period…”

This guy sounds like Nerlens Noel 2.0. And if Cal is having these types of discussions with all of the recruits, that has to be a mother’s dream, I would think.

      On the football side of things, a few interesting tidbits came out today:

1) Matt Elam says that with the schools who are recruiting him the hardest, it’s essentially a 3-horse race between Kentucky, Louisville and Alabama. How often do you hear Kentucky (or Louisville for that matter) in a final 3 list with Alabama? Elam is that good, and Kentucky has put itself in good position to be a final contender for his services.

2) 3-star Offensive lineman/Offensive tackle Ty Barrett out of Dallas, Texas has cut his list of schools to 7 via Twitter. Kentucky made the list along with some other big names:

Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kentucky, TCU, Texas Tech, Baylor and Ole Miss.

3) 3-star Safety Mike Edwards out of Cincinnati, Ohio also used Twitter to announce his top 6 schools. Edwards was once thought to be headed to Kentucky, but the tides changed a bit recently. Kentucky is still in play though:

Nebraska, Vanderbilt, Louisville, Kentucky, Wisconsin and West Virginia

4) 4-star WR Derek Kief out of Cincinnati, Ohio also trimmed his list to 5 on Thursday. Kief showed his creativity by using a nifty (haven’t used that word since i was carrying about a L.L. Bean backpack with my initials on it in 7th grade)  graphic/rap lyrics. Kentucky also made the list, along with Notre Dame, Ohio State, Northwestern and Alabama. That’s 2 big time players in which Kentucky and Mark Stoops are going toe-to-toe with Alabama for… Is that a sentence you expected to read about 2 years ago?

5) The National Football Post released their rankings so far for the class of 2014. Despite the early rankings, Kentucky cracked the top 25 with the #21 ranked recruiting class in 2014. 

      When not busy hitting the recruiting trail, Mark Stoops took a break to talk to ESPN’s Edward Aschoff about the spring practices/game.

-”It went very well. We got a lot of work done. We still have a long way to go, but I was excited. Our players had a great attitude, worked extremely hard and we got a good start on things.”

-”We have to be more physical, but I feel like our coaches approached it the right way. We were as physical as we could be in the spring. We’re looking forward to having a great summer…getting bigger, getting stronger.”

-”We’re still packed up there (referring the quarterback race). Jalen had a real nice spring game. He gives us that other dimension with the running.”-

-”I was excited about Raymond (Sanders). I was happy with him.”

      John Wall and Anthony Davis have both been invited to Team USA mini-camp this summer. Even though Coach K said that he was going to hang it up with the national team, he has signed on for another round. Gary Parrish of CBS Sports believes that John Calipari will be 1 of the next 5 college coaches in the running when Coach K gives it up.  The 5 names? John Calipari, Bill Self (Kansas), Billy Donovan (Florida), Tom Izzo (Michigan State) and Brad Stevens (Butler).

Parrish on why Cal would work:

“Calipari is a master of convincing great players to play hard and well together, even if this past season flies in the face of that statement. Yes, I know, he’s widely considered to be a “failed NBA coach” because of his stint with the Nets. But Calipari has changed so much since those days, and he’s much better suited to manage egos now than he was when he got his first NBA job at age 37.”

Golfers from the state of Kentucky are fairing rather well on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour this week.

Lexington resident, UK fan, and KSR reader Josh Teater has rounds of 65 and 67 and currently sits in a tie for 3rd at -8 at The Colonial in Fort Worth, TX. Teater has been on a roll lately. He led qualifying for the British Open Monday. The British Open, to be played in July, will be his first career appearance in a major championship.  He has made 12 out of 15 cuts this season and has made over one million dollars. Teater held as much as a two stroke lead during the 2nd round today and got to as low as -11 for a period of time. Three late bogeys brought him back to -8 but he is still in great position to make a run at his first PGA Tour win this weekend.

Tied for 3rd at Colonial with Teater is former University of Kentucky golfer and Union, KY resident Steve Flesch. Flesch, a 2010 inductee to the UK Athletics Hall of Fame, has rounds of 68 and 64 on the par 70 golf course. Flesch is a four time PGA tour winner who has amassed more than $17 million in career earnings. At the age of 46, Flesch has played sparingly this season due to injury. Flesch won the Colonial in 2004, holding off Chad Campbell by a stroke. Like Teater, Flesch is in good position for a weekend run.

Kentucky golfers are no stranger to success at Colonial. As I mentioned, Flesch won at Colonial in 2004. In addition to Flesch’s victory, Kenny Perry won in 2003 by 6 shots and in 2005 by 7 shots.

Speaking of Perry, the former Western Kentucky golfer and Franklin, KY resident is playing really well this week at the Senior PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, MO. Perry is currently -7 for the tournament and tied for the lead. Perry is a 14 time PGA Tour winner and has won two times to date on the Champions Tour.

Who is he tied with? None other than former University of Kentucky golfer and Paducah, KY resident Russ Cochran. Russ is also -7 par at the halfway point. Cochran won once on the PGA Tour and has won 3 times since joining the Champions Tour (including the 2011 Senior British Open).

Perry and Cochran had matching scores of 69-66 for the first two rounds.

Cochran’s nephew Rick Cochran, also a Paducah resident, is tied for 11th on the NGA Tour (formerly the Hooters Tour) in Knoxville this week. Also playing well there are Kentuckians Kent Bulle from Glasgow (tied for 5th) and Brandon Brown from Shelbyville (tied for 9th).

If for some reason you are inside on this gorgeous weekend, chances are you’ll see a Kentuckian swinging a golf club on your television. Good luck to all of these gentlemen from the Bluegrass State.

@AFlenerKSR

The 2012-13 academic school year was one of the most disappointing years for Kentucky athletics. The baseball and basketball teams both started the season ranked in the Top 10 before failing to reach the post-season while the football team suffered one of the worst seasons in school history, leading to the departure of Joker Phillips. With the academic year over, we now turn to optimistic summer dreams of a future filled with wins. The biggest surprise? Kentucky football’s dramatic change in less than 6 months. While it  is difficult to describe the success of a new coach without having played a game yet, Mark Stoops has given the #BBN more than enough reasons to once again ‘Believe in Blue’. After looking back to May 2012 compared to May of 2013, Extreme Makeover couldn’t prescribe a more drastic facelift. Don’t believe me? See for yourself…

1. Coaching staff. The most obvious change over the last year is the replacement of Joker Phillips with Mark Stoops. Joker spent most of his Spring and Summer Camp attempting to convince the waning fan base that he could still get the job done. While most called his bluff and did not renew their season tickets, some people (like Matt Jones) still clung to that last bit of hope. After losing to WKU and getting embarrassed by Vandy at home, there was simply nothing left for Joker. Mark Stoops wasn’t the first choice for most fans to replace Joker, but his plan for the program was more than enough to convince Mitch Barnhart that Stoops was the right guy for the job. Stoops’ next move is what separated him from Joker: he recruited a highly-motivated, young coaching staff with big-program ties to come to Kentucky. Joker’s staff consisted of men mostly in their 50′s, compared to the 30 and 40 year old pups that Stoops has brought in. While some may think that doesn’t matter, the energy that Stoops’ staff brings to a room is unprecedented when compared to the crotchety old men of before. These coaches could convince Alan Cutler to put on pads and play, unlike the former staff that couldn’t even recognize the 6th best QB in the nation at their own camp.

2. Recruiting, Recruiting, Recruiting. I could probably make a week’s worth of posts talking about the radical differences in recruiting since May of 2012. The most obvious difference is the addition of Ohio as a recruiting pipeline. A Top-5 state in national high school football talent, Joker only managed to recruit 5 prospects from Ohio to UK in his 3 years as head coach; Mark Stoops has received 8 commitments from Ohio in less than 6 months. Stoops is successfully reaching across the Ohio River for prospects, while simultaneously convincing the best from inside the state to same stay home. Joker may have picked up a few guys from around the state each year, he never consistently got the best of the best. Ryan Timmons and Jason Hatcher can potentially make a positive impact for the team in the fall. In the 2014 class, Stoops has the #1 player in KY with Drew Barker while staying hot on the #2 player’s trail (Matt Elam).

Another easy barometer for recruiting success is seen in the recruiting rankings. Mark Stoops’ three 4-star players in the Class of 2013 equal the number of how many Joker had during his 3-year tenure as head coach. Oh and 3/7 in Stoops’ 2014 Class are 4-star players. Long gone are the days when decisions for recruits are between Middle Tenn State, WKU, and UK: now it’s between Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Alabama. The improvement has translated into even further hype for Stoops’ program. The average fan never knew the big recruits, unless they were great in-state players like Patrick Towles. When my lawyer-boss asked me about Braxton Berrios today (from North Carolina), I realized that football recruiting has reached a level higher than ever before.

3. An increased chatter across #BBN. While writing for KSRCollege last Spring, it was tough finding anything to write positively about the football program. When I posted the Spring depth chart in March of last year, there were COMPLAINTS for having football news during March Madness. The proof lies in the numbers: In May of 2012 there were 22 football-related posts on KSR; this post is the 22nd football-related post since last Friday. Not only is there more chatter, but it’s almost entirely positive chatter. Instead of talking about how hot Joker’s seat is, we have actually been comparing Drew Barker and Andrew Wiggins. ANDREW WIGGINS, THE BEST HS PLAYER SINCE LEBRON! If this isn’t enough, go back and listen to old podcasts and see if you can find a football entry in the headline.

4. Season ticket sales. It’s sad to say that the biggest story of last year’s Spring football season was the dramatic decrease in season ticket holders. 2012 season ticket figures were down 20.8% since 2011 and 32.5% from 2009. On April 22 of this year, season ticket sales were 2x larger than on the same date in 2012, with 35,342 compared to 17, 647. The excitement generated by Mark Stoops arrival cannot be given all of the credit: UK’s marketing department has gone above and beyond promoting ticket sales. Not only has the quantity and quality of advertisements increased, but they have opened Commonwealth Stadium to the public during the work day, allowing you to sit in your potential seat before you buy it. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think KSR had a radio show at CWS last Spring.

5. Bon Jovi to Chief Keef. Watching Matt Jones’ face light-up in sarcasm when “It’s My Life” blared through CWS before 3rd downs last year was something to see. Playing an outdated Bon Jovi song was a great reflection of the state of the program last year. The only thing uglier than CWS was the play on the field, which translated into an even emptier CWS. Fast forward one year and the CWS renovation bill passed in Frankfort with only one detractor. UK greats like Tim Couch spoke during timeouts of the Spring Game to pump up the crowd. The UKAthletics staff also began putting together video pieces inside Spring Practice. Watching Stoops get taken out during ‘board drill’ is a 180-degree turnaround compared to the sight of Joker’s somber face. For the first time since Hal Mumme’s original Air Raid, Kentucky football is cool.

6. Two pictures say it all…

-@RoushKSR

Matt and I spent the morning with Charles Ramsey at Eric C. Conn’s law office in Stanville this morning and America’s favorite new hero was everything we expected and more. After a little worry he wouldn’t arrive in time, Charles finally walked in and kissed all the ladies on the hand before sitting down for a radio interview with Matt to conclude our show. Afterwards, the three of us discussed Nerlens going to the Cavs and how we can get him to Lexington for a game next season. He wants to be the ‘Y’.

Here are my 10 favorite quotes from the show:

1.) “I’m willing to pay his $8 million bond and ship him to Puerto Rico, because I know on the way there he will meet his demise. If not, when you get off the plane, you’re gonna meet your demise. If not, I wanna pay somebody for you to meet your demise… Can’t say that?“

Charles is still very disgusted and outraged by what his neighbor, who he thought was just a regular guy, did to the girls he discovered in Cleveland.

He might’ve gone a little too far in airing it out, though. Just a bit.

2.) “No good deed goes unpunished. Me finding those girls… ‘Good job, now we’re going to rip you apart.’”

Since discovering the missing girls a few weeks ago, the media has dug up all it can find on Ramsey’s past, which includes a few arrests. But he doesn’t care what people say about him because he knows what truly matters:

“Three girls were home for Mother’s Day,” he reminded us. “You can talk about me all you like.”

3.) “I have about… approximately… 20 million letters from people.”

Maybe a little high on the estimate there, Charles.

4.) “Let me ask you something, because I heard if Rick Pitino comes to Lexington he gets spit on.”

Then he redeemed himself…

5.) “I’m a Rex Chapman fan.”

Much better.

6.) “I’ve been taking [McDonald's] up on [that offer] everyday, just to make sure they keep up their word. We go to 4 to 5 McDonald’s, one day. Just to look at ‘em. When I pull up, they go, ‘That’s you!’ and I go, ‘Yeah, give me a Big Mac.’”

McDonald’s gave him a “Chuck Card’ that he can flash for free food for the next year. There is also a ‘Ramsey Burger’ at Hodges restaurant where Ramsey still works as a dishwasher.

7.) “What I’d rather them do, for the city of Cleveland, is go give the homeless people those burgers and stop focusing on me.”

And this is why people love him.

8.) “I was able to call Anderson Cooper on the phone and he did exactly what I told him to do — I knew this was big. He didn’t tell me no or nothing. He asked me where I wanted to meet him and I said ‘Cleveland’ and he said ‘I’ll be there in an hour.’”

Charles didn’t really grasp how big he had gotten until he had Anderson Cooper wrapped around his fingertips.

9.) “This has gone totally Hollywood, but I’m still focused on what those girls have been through for the past 10 years. I’m not the hero; Amanda Berry is. I didn’t go through nothing. She went through it for 10 years. She had a kid with this bastard.”

He was “just a dude playing his position,” he says. Amanda Berry and the other two survivors deserve all the love.

10.) “You wouldn’t be interviewing me now [if he had known right away what was going on.] I’d be in the penitentiary right now, or on my way there. Because I was able to take that dude’s head, take it off his body, and kick it down the street like a soccer ball… Said too much?“

Listen to the entire interview here:

If you enjoy reading articles about the UK men’s basketball team, please visit my webpage at http://kybasketball.blogspot.com.  You can also follow my webpage on Twitter. My webpage has been around for several years and I update it several times per day so UK basketball fans have access to the best and most recent articles about the team.

Now, The Article Links-

Gary Parrish from CBSSports.com says Calipari is one of five college coaches that could lead USA basketball after Coach K.

Marquis Teague will be a capable role player in the NBA as his career progresses, but for a rookie who was thrown into a unique situation, you can’t really complain about the job he did with the minutes he was given

Duke, Kentucky and Michigan State are the presumed favorites for Jahil Okafor and Tyus Jones

ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla says Nerlens Noel is the most overrated NBA Draft prospect

Calipari believes the sky’s the limit for Willie Cauley-Stein

From KSR College’s David Mulloy…

Photo by Regina Rickert

On April 2nd, after a thrilling extra inning win against the UL in Louisville, the Bat Cats’ record stood at 22-6, 6-3 in the SEC, and were ranked a season high fifth in the nation. Seven weeks to the day later, they were eliminated in the first game of the SEC Tournament by Ole Miss after dropping 19 of their last 27 games to finish unranked and out of the NCAA Tournament. So the question is, how can a team that was so highly ranked, so talented, and who played so well out of the gate suffer such a traumatic collapse in the second half of the season?

Where did it all go wrong?

The obvious answer is the LSU series. Following the win over UL, the Cats went down to Baton Rouge and were promptly swept by a combined score of 31-6. Although disappointing, at the time, the sweep was not overly concerning. LSU was, and still is, a very good team and a national title contender.

Where I think the season really went off the rails was the next weekend against Tennessee at Cliff Hagan Stadium. After a come from behind series opening win, the Cats dropped the next two games, giving the Vols, who finished 22-30 (8-20 in the SEC), their second of two SEC series victories. The 5-0 loss in the series finale was the first “uh-oh” moment of the season. I won’t mince words; Tennessee was not a good team and the series loss to them was inexcusable and a sign of things to come.

What made the series loss even worse was that the next four weekends were against South Carolina, Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Vanderbilt, all of whom were, and still are, ranked with three of the four legitimate national title contenders. The Cats were swept at USC, won the series in Oxford, won once against the Razorbacks and were swept at home by Vandy to put them on the brink of the NCAA Bubble. Throw in a beat down in Lexington by UL and an 18 inning loss against WKU in the middle and you have a really bad month of baseball. The final nail on the coffin was last weekend at Mizzouri where the 16-30 Tigers took two out of three to eliminate any hope of an at large NCAA bid.

What went wrong?

Last summer when Jerad Grundy announced that he would turn down draft 28th round draft pick by the Minnesota Twins to return for his senior season I thought, “That’s it. That is what is going to make them contenders for Omaha.” Grundy started slow but finished the 2012 season very strong and had two postseason wins. His return, combined with Corey Littrell’s second season and A.J. Reed’s promotion to the weekend gave the Cats a formidable and experienced left-handed weekend rotation. On March 23rd, Grundy pitched eight innings strong innings and struck out ten in a 3-2 victory over Mississippi State. His ERA was 1.99 after six starts. The win, his fifth on the season, would be his last in the SEC. In the following weeks, Grundy would drop four of his next five starts with an ERA of over 10 in those game before being demoted to the midweek starter. I don’t mean to pick on Jerad, who was really having a terrific season until April, but he was a microcosm of the entire team as he simply “lost it” and could never get back on the right track. As Grundy went, so did the Cats.

That’s not to say that the other two weekend starters, Littrell and Reed, didn’t have struggles of their own. Reed was just 2-8 on the season with both wins coming early in the non-conference portion of the schedule but his record doesn’t tell the entire story. Reed’s problem was that the offense (despite his own efforts) simply didn’t give him enough run support. Seven of his eight losses came in games where he gave up four earned runs or less and all four of his no decisions came in games in which he gave up two or earned runs or less.

Speaking of the offense (or lack thereof), it was the Cats’ Achilles heel all season. It was especially absent down the stretch as seven of UK’s final eleven losses came by two runs or less. Of those seven losses, the maximum number of runs an opponent scored in a game? Five. To say that the offense struggled is a massive understatement. Only one starter batted over .300 on the season and that was freshman Kyle Barrett, who was inserted as the everyday right fielder midway through the season, with a .349 average. Even A.J. Reed, who led the team with 13 home runs and 52 RBI, batted just .280. Fellow sophomore Austin Cousino batted .249 and led the team with 46 strikeouts. J.T. Riddle, who collected 11 hits in 14 at bats on the first weekend of the season, was the team’s second leading hitter with a .283 average. As a team, the Cats’ batted .255.

Where does UK go from here?

First, the Cats have to take stock of who is coming and going. On top of graduating three seniors: Jerad Grundy, Walter Wijas, and Zac Zellers, the Cats have six draft eligible juniors: Lucas Witt, Paul McConkey, Matt Reida, J.T. Riddle, Trevor Gott, and Corey Littrell who will likely be drafted this summer. Their decision return or go pro will have a large impact on next year’s team. UK has eight LOIs 2013 recruiting class which includes two of the state’s top pitchers, Hunter Green and Woodford County’s Clinton Hollon. Both Green and Hollon are expected to be selected in the MLB draft this summer so their decision will have a large impact on next season as well.

Second, the coaching staff is going to have to address the offensive woes. For the second consecutive season, the lack of offensive production down the stretch as cost the Cats dearly. I don’t know what specifically can be done to get the bats going but I do know that no matter how good the pitching staff is, it is impossible to win without scoring any runs.