Kentucky Sports Radio

Earlier this week, I shared my love for “Arrested Development,” one of TV’s most underrated comedies that will return with new episodes Sunday on Netflix. All week, pop culture blogs have been full of posts heralding the show’s return, and now, a South Carolina sports site has even gotten in on the fun, assigning an “Arrested Development” character to each SEC football team. Who would UK be?

Kentucky: Maeby Funkë

Occasionally able to deceive onlookers into thinking they’re more valuable than they are. Identifies with Vanderbilt, as both go largely ignored. Practices form of rebellion by being basketball school.

Obviously the Gamecocks are still a little bitter about losing Drew Barker to us, but I’ll give the site credit: some of their picks are spot on. I especially like Arkansas as Lucille Austero.

Top 2014 point guard Emmanuel Mudiay is the latest elite recruit to do a blog for USA Today’s High School site, and in his latest installment, opens up about some of the coaches recruiting him. What does he have to say about Cal? Take it way, Mr. Mudiay…

Then I’ll talk to Coach (John) Calipari and 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. He tells me that I’ve got to know what my goals are for life; whether it’s helping others or things like that. The thing I really love about Coach Cal is that he’s got a big heart. I’m the same way.

For the past year or so, Cal has really focused on the “changing lives” aspect of recruitment, and it’s nice to see that players like Mudiay not only respect, but respond to that. So often top coaches go in and practically beg players to come to their schools (cough, Crean), but Cal is selling something much different: come play for me and we’ll change you and your family’s lives.

Also, in case you were wondering how Mudiay got all that great footwork, he says that he played soccer growing up in the Congo. Mudiay is also very spiritual, and says that coaches will text him scripture every so often.

[USATodayHS: Emmanuel's Manual]

The venerable Larry Vaught recently caught up with Marcus Lee, one of Kentucky’s six incoming McDonald’s All-Americans. We’ve heard the incoming freshmen talk about how excited they are for the upcoming season and their shared goal of winning a National Championship, something Lee says is “stuck” in their minds:

“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.“

(Nice use of one of Cal’s slogans, Lee. You’re a natural already)

If their talent wasn’t mind-boggling enough, the freshmen have also been fortunate enough to play together and form chemistry during the numerous All-American games over the past few months. Lee says that experience has been invaluable, and helped the six bond:

“I think it is great to be together like that. It helps us mesh quicker and gives us more time to be together. We all get to be around each other, laugh and joke around together. That has to help for next year. …We are similar but we are still different. We get along real well. We are joking around probably 90 percent of the time. The other players are probably tired of us always talking about Kentucky, but we are loving it. There are six of us. If five of us are not talking about Kentucky, the sixth one will be. We are really excited to get there and do greatness.”

We’re excited too, Marcus.

It looks like our sources are correct again. As KSR reported yesterday morning, Jeff Goodman has been hired by ESPN to be an on-air reporter, as well as write for ESPN.com.

Goodman was hired by CBS Sports two years ago, along with Gary Parrish, and helped make the site one of the best sources for college basketball information on the net. Good luck to him in his new endeavors at the Worldwide Leader.

Four-star wide receiver Derek Kief made his top-five official Thursday with this professional-looking graphic, bearing his own rap lyrics. The Cincinnati La Salle target is high on the list of Mark Stoops and Neal Brown for the class of 2014, but Vince Marrow is taking the lead on this recruitment for Kentucky, continuing to tap his Ohio pipeline.

His top-five has been figured to be the schools listed here: Kentucky, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Northwestern, and Alabama, in no particular order.

“Speed does kill, yeah speed does kill. You’ll get punished with my strength, that’s for real.”

You can hear the rap over his highlight video that has appeared on the site before.

Enjoy watching ESPN’s Edward Aschoff interview Mark Stoops about how the Cats did in spring practice. Great tie, coach.

Matt and Drew got up at the crack of dawn this morning to go to Floyd County to meet Charles Ramsey, but it was worth it in the end. Charles finally made his appearance on Kentucky Sports Radio to talk about discovering the three girls trapped next door to him, what his life’s been like since then, and his favorite UK player.

It’s pure gold, and I don’t to spoil it, but here are a few teasers:

– Since he gets free McDonald’s now, he says he sometimes travels to four or five locations a day to get his free burgers, and they recognize him now. “Hey, that’s you!” “Yeah, now give me a Big Mac.”

– What he’d like to do with the kidnapper, Ariel Castro: “I’d like to pay his $8 million dollar bond and ship him to Puerto Rico.”

– Get on his bad side and he’ll cut off your head and kick it like a soccer ball down the street.

– He wants to know why people in Lexington spit on Rick Pitino.

– He is a Rex Chapman man.

– So. much. more. Listen now.

Ramsey comes on in the last twenty minutes of the show, but tune in early to hear Matt’s mini-meltdown about whether or not he’ll make it.

LISTEN TO KENTUCKY SPORTS RADIO

Matt Jones, Charles Ramsey, and Drew Franklin.

Shannon is currently uploading the podcast, we will have it for you as soon as possible…

We was three-goggling with this dude…

The 2012-13 season is mercifully over, and despite having the #1 ranked recruiting class in the country, Kentucky failed to make the NCAA Tournament, and were unceremoniously dispatched in the First Round of the NIT by Robert Morris. Hard to see things being any different in 2013-14. To stay apprised and educated, follow me on Twitter @NotJerryTipton. Here’s the weekly notebook:

*Power Circle (Feat. Kendrick Lamar): While there is considerable optimism among Kentucky fans regarding next year’s team, Las Vegas is not impressed with the Cats. The experts have spoken, and they have guaranteed that Kentucky will not win a national championship next year. This has to be a devastating blow for UK fans, who were already clearing space on the mantel for a 9th championship trophy. By giving Kentucky 5-1 odds to win it all next year, Vegas is saying that there is only a 1 in 6 chance that Calipari gets the job done. In other words, they are saying there is literally no chance* that the Cats win it all next year. By comparison, the gamblers are guaranteeing that the crown will be won by either Kansas, Louisville, Michigan State, Duke, UNC or Florida.** Oh well. There’s always 2015.***

*They are saying there is a 17% chance.
**Collectively, they have a 64% chance of winning.
***Unless the world ends before then.

*The Boss (Feat. T-Pain): As it stands currently, Kentucky is the winningest basketball program of all time. However, it does not appear that this distinction will last very long. Presently, Kentucky holds a mere 10 game lead on the 2nd place team, Kansas. However, the Jayhawks gained 10 games on the Cats last season. If that happens again – and there’s no reason to think it won’t – then poof. UK’s lead is gone. And those who say there’s no guarantee that last year will repeat itself are right. If history is any indication – and it usually is – next year will be worse. During his 10 seasons at KU, coach Bill Self is winning an average of 30 games per year. Meanwhile, in 110 seasons of playing basketball, Kentucky is only averaging 19 wins per season. In other words, if these trends continue — and there’s no reason to think they won’t — then this time next year, the winningest basketball program in the history of the sport will be the Kansas Jayhawks. When that happens, it will be interesting to see if UK will be forced to stop billing itself as “The Greatest Tradition in the History of College Basketball.” At least one writer I spoke with in the mirror hopes so.

*Super High: After Louisville won a national championship in April, coach Rick Pitino treated himself to an absurdly large, unsightly back tattoo. This does not bode well for Kentucky. By getting himself a “Champ Stamp,” Pitino has in no uncertain terms told Louisville fans that he is there for the long haul. And the beauty of it is that he told Card fans this in language they can understand: Body art. Meanwhile, despite winning a title in just his 3rd year at UK (it took Pitino 12 at UofL), despite a 4-1 record against Pitino in the UK/UofL rivalry, and despite winning 83% of his games at UK (Pitino has just won 74% of his at UofL), Calipari has so far refused to permanently defile his body with a ridiculous tattoo. Could this be because Calipari has his eyes on a return to the NBA? He has yet to emphatically deny it, so yes.

* On this date: On this date in 1951, Kentucky was celebrating its 3rd national championship. (Congrats on your achievement, Cards!)

Yesterday, we found out that Anthony Davis got an invite to the Team USA minicamp in Las Vegas, and it looks like at least one fellow former Cat will be there too. According to Yahoo Sports, John Wall has accepted an invitation to the camp, along with six other point guards (Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving, Ty Lawson, Kemba Walker, Mike Conley and George Hill). Steph Curry may receive an invitation as well.

Coach K and the rest of the Team USA staff will likely make selections for the 2014 World Championships in Madrid at the minicamp, and eventually, the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The camp takes place from July 22-25.

Want to know just how different things are in Kentucky football recruiting these days? A top prospect is deciding between Alabama, Louisville…and Kentucky. Elizabethtown giant Matt Elam is the 24th best defensive tackle in the nation, and says that right now, all three schools are neck-to-neck:

“I will say of the offers I have right now, it’s a three-horse race between Alabama, Kentucky and Louisville,” Elam told LEX18. “Kentucky and Louisville are so close to home, [they're] great atmospheres, I love the coaching staffs at both schools. And then Alabama — national championships, that’s just a great opportunity to have.”

In the past, recruits that have offers from Alabama wouldn’t look twice at Kentucky. However, Mark Stoops, Neal Brown and the rest of the UK staff have made keeping in-state talent in-state a priority, and after top 2014 QB Drew Barker committed to the Cats a few week ago, the “come be a hero” campaign has a lot of momentum. However, it was two-time defending National Champion Alabama that gave Elam his first offer, when the talented defensive tackle went to a camp in Tuscaloosa:

“We went in his office — it was me and my coach — and we sat down on his [Nick Saban's] couch and he was just right in front of me. You hear about him all the time, but [I'm thinking] I’m never going to meet this guy or let alone talk to him and get an offer. It was just very surreal meeting him.”

Alabama’s only negative? It’s not close to Elizabethtown. Fortunately, UK is only an hour and a half away.

There’s the head right there. Charles will join Matt and Drew on the radio sometime in the second hour, so grab some McDonald’s and tune in.

The day we never thought would happen is finally here. Matt and I are in Floyd County, Kentucky at Eric C. Conn’s law office to meet Charles Ramsey, a true American hero.

Charles will be on the show from 11:15 to 11:45 before the unveiling of his statue.

This is happening.

Join in on the fun by calling (502) 571-1080.

Topics include:

– Ribs

– McDonald’s

– Salsa music

– Can’t get in that way

Listen to Kentucky Sports Radio

KSR Affiliate List

WAIN (93.9 fm) Columbia
WHIR (1230 am) Danville
WCLU (1490 am) Glasgow
WJKY (1060 am) Jamestown
WLAP (630 am) Lexington
WFMW (730 am) Madisonville
WFTM (1240 am) Maysville
WKYM (101.7 fm) Monticello
WMSK (101.3 fm) Morganfield
WKJK (1080 am) Louisville
WKYH (600 am) Paintsville
WLSI (900 am) Pikeville
WPRT (960 am) Prestonsburg
WSFC (1240 am) Somerset
WTCW (920 am) Whitesburg
WBTH (1400 am) Williamson, WV

On Delay…

WBGN (1340 am) Bowling Green 3-5 pm
WKFC (101.9 fm) London 6-8 pm
WLBQ (1570 am) Morgantown 3-5 pm
WRIL (106.3 fm) Middlesboro Thur 8-10 pm
WKYQ (1560 am) Paducah 5-7 pm

Sorry Rex, your place in the records books is fading away.

Hey everybody, did you know John Calipari plays freshman a lot?  I bet you didn’t.  But see, I pay attention to things like this.  And I pay attention to the record books as well.  And I am amazed how drastically the record books have changed under the John Calipari administration.  OK, not really the entire record books, but the FRESHMAN record books for sure.  Take a look at some of the freshman records and how they have changed in the 4 short years John Calipari has been the coach:

Freshman Points pre-Calipari
1. Rex Chapman- 464
2. Chris Mills- 459
3. Sam Bowie- 440

Freshman Points post-Calipari
1. Brandon Knight- 657
2. John Wall- 616
3. Terrence Jones- 595
4. Demarcus Cousins- 575
5. Anthony Davis- 567
6. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist- 476
7. Doron Lamb- 469
8. Archie Goodwin- 466
9. Chapman
10. Mills
————————————————
Freshman Rebounds pre-Calipari
1. Chris Mills- 277
2. Sam Bowie- 276
3. Rick Robey- 214

Freshman Rebounds post-Calipari
1. Anthony Davis- 415
2. Demarcus Cousins- 375
3. Terrence Jones- 336
4. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist- 297
5. Mills
6. Bowie
————————————————-
Freshman Assists pre-Calipari
1. Dirk Minnefield- 126
2. Rajon Rondo- 118
3. Rex Chapman- 103

Freshman Assists post-Calipari
1. John Wall- 241
2. Marquis Teague- 191
3. Brandon Knight- 159
4. Minnifield
5. Rondo
————————————————

What strikes me the most about that is how much we criticized Archie Goodwin for his freshman year.  The kid is selfish and takes horrible shots and on and on.  Consider this: ARCHIE GOODWIN TOOK LESS SHOTS THAN REX CHAPMAN IN EACH MAN’S FRESHMAN SEASON.  You think Goodwin was a ball hog, what about Chapman?  And people consider Chapman’s freshman season to be legendary, while Goodwin was some kind of bust.  And don’t think Chapman’s freshman team was so great and that’s why people love him.  His 1987 team was bounced in the first round of both the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. 

My point is 2 fold: that we look at freshman basketball players at UK in a completely different light.  Some would call it an unfair light.  And second, the performance of the freshman in 4 years at Kentucky is something that is unheard of in college basketball, and certainly in Lexington.  And I think even more unheard of or appreciated than UK fans are doing. 

Follow me on twitter @BryantheIntern 

Looking to buy a new home? Got about $190 million to spend? Oh boy, I have just the place for you…

Copper Beech Farm in Greenwich, Connecticut, named for the large copper beech trees populating the property, is on the market for the first time in over a century. The 50-acre property includes two offshore islands, a private beach and a 13,500-square foot Victorian mansion home. The main house, seen in the photo, includes 12 bedrooms, seven full baths and two half baths, a wood-paneled library, other cool stuff with fancy words and a kitchen with something Forbes.com calls a dumb waiter. As someone who was called a “dumb waiter” several times throughout college, I find it odd that a house as extravagant as Copper Beech Farm would proudly boast having one inside. I wonder if it shows up 15 minutes late every morning and steals french fries and bacon strips out of the window, too.

Outside the main structure, you will find two conjoined heptagonal pools, whatever that means, and other outdoor amenities that rich people enjoy to show off once a year and not use. There is a grass tennis court, an apple orchard, multiple greenhouses — because everyone needs more than one greenhouse — and a viewing pergola, which to my understanding is the uppity word for gazebo. Not to mention, it’s just a short segway ride away from the WWE headquarters.

Built in 1896, Copper Beech Farm now holds the title of “America’s Most Expensive Home” and can be yours for just under $200-million. If you purchase it, I’d like to go ahead and ask to be your dumb waiter. My only request is that I get an apple a day and an occasional 15-minute break in the viewing pergola.

 Well, well, well, you’re back for another edition of the News and Views. I guess we’ll start with biggest news of the week and that is the likelihood Nerlens Noel ends up in Cleveland this summer. DraftExpress.com, that site ran by the guy who hates Kentucky fans, released its updated mock draft Thursday and Nerlens is projected to go No. 1 overall. Draft Express has had Nerlens at the top of its mock drafts for months now so it isn’t shocking to see him up there in the first updated mock draft since the selection order was announced.

Coming in at No. 30 is Archie Goodwin to the Phoenix Suns. Draft Express believes Archie will hear his named called with the final pick in the first round. NBADraft.net, on the other hand, predicts Archie falling to the second round to Detroit with the 38th pick. But NBADraft.net also projects Ben McLemore going first to Cleveland. Dion Waiters much?

 If you didn’t get a chance to read Mrs. Tyler’s A Look At What Coaches Do The Best With Elite 5 Star Recruits Thursday afternoon, I highly recommend you do it now. She put a lot of work into the post and it shows. Her discovery: Calipari is the best at getting players ready for the NBA.

 Also from the In Case You Missed It cabinet, Matthew Mitchell was brilliant on the radio show Thursday morning. Coach Mitchell brought the heat for two full hours with tales of Nick Saban blowing him off, wanting his wife to give birth at Big Blue Madness, Hall & Oates and so much more. Check out the podcast here.

 Julius Mays worked out at the Brooklyn Nets’ NBA combine on Thursday and he was surprised with a visit from John Calipari. Cal flew up to the BK to watch Julius in the league-wide combine:

Following Mays’ workout, Coach Cal tweeted, “Just got done watching Julius Mays at the Nets’ combine. Julius played really well — and he played point guard! Julius had 18 points and six assists in just two 12-minute quarters. He played so well that people are probably wondering why I didn’t play him at point guard. Couldn’t be more proud of Julius.”

It’s very unlikely that Mays ends up on an NBA roster next season but it’s good to hear he played well when up against other NBA prospects in front of personnel from all of the league’s teams. I think we can file this one under “Kentucky Effect.”

 Anthony Davis received an invite to attend Team USA mini-camp in Las Vegas in late July. Coach K, who announced he’ll return to the team, invited Davis back after seeing the way he made the most of his opportunity on last year’s Olympic team. Coach K plans to focus on developing the best talent into the best team, something he says he hasn’t had time to do in the past. Whatever that means.

 The Cincinnati Bearcats baseball team raised the bar on postgame interview photo-bombing:

 A bit of sad news from UK athletics: UK Men’s Tennis was bounced from the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. Our man Anthony Rossi fell in singles play to some guy from Cal Poly and the dynamic duo of Tom Jomby/Kevin Lai saw their seasons come to an end in a doubles loss to Georgia State. Rossi finishes his career with 106 wins, tied for 12th all-time, but everyone else from our third favorite UK team is returning for another season.

 Friday is a big day for Kentucky Sports Radio as Matt and I will be deep in the heart of Floyd County to meet Charles Ramsey at Eric C. Conn’s law office. It could be the most absurd thing we’ve ever done (that’s saying something) and you won’t want to miss it. Charles will be on the show with us from 11:15 to 11:45 before the unveiling of the Charles Ramsey statue. What is life right now?

A few weeks ago I wrote on here about how this is going to be the “Summer of Transition” on KSR as we move to some new endeavors and expand what we do on this site. We are very excited about the changes and looking forward to announcing new additions to the site in the months to come. One of those additions is bringing on some new writers, a couple of which are names from the past (BTI and John Wilkinson), some new names you don’t yet know and a couple of folks you do know that you will be excited (and surprised) to see in the KSR environment.

But along with that, it is time to once again cast a net and add some new writers to the KSR family from our readership. It has now been 2 1/2 years since our last blogger contest and in these 30 months, we have not added on any new writers from outside the KSR world or the KSR College environment. This summer that changes. Over time, the most important names at KSR have come from either the Blogger contest or writing on separate blogs and then joining Kentucky Sports Radio. Now we will set out to look for the new Beisner, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson from our KSR Readership. So we are asking you, do you have what it takes to write for KSR.

Here is What We are Looking For:

1. Creative Writers to Cover UK Sports: You know the KSR style. Do you think you can do it? If so, we would like to read your submission. If you decide to apply for one of these positions, make sure and let us know what sports you would focus on and what you consider your expertise. Remember, most will say basketball and football, so if you have an interest in another area, please let us know. You can be any age, any walk of life and have any profession…just a desire and ability to write at a high level about Kentucky sports.

2. College Students: Many of our best writers have come from KSR College and we are continuing another year of that starting in August. The form of KSR College will alter slightly and the posts will be integrated into the main site as part of the redesign. But if you are interested in joining the KSR College group, you should apply for this position. This involves actual covering of UK games, press conferences and events (last year writers from KSR College were able to cover the John Calipari Fantasy Camp). We prefer to have students who can be in the Lexington area for events, although this is not required. If you are a college student, this is the best position to apply for and we have had a number of writers coming from KSR College land full time sports reporting jobs after their time with us.

3. Creative non-UK Sports Writers: Part of our new endeavor will be to create a “Culture” page, similar to what Bill Simmons has done with Grantland that will include writing beyond the world of UK sports. Some of our best writers, such as Tomlin, Drew and others will be writing extensively here. If you think you are particularly capable of writing about interesting, non-UK topics (movies, politics, pop culture, long features), this is the position for you and you can be part of building a spin-off phase of KSR going forward.

These are the three main types of writers we are now seeking. We are adding a KSR Photographer, but she has already been picked and will be joining us in June. What we are looking for now are great writers and I know you are out there. If you come down this path, it can literally change your career, just as it did for Thomas Beisner, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson. And now is the time for you to try as as well.

To Apply, EMAIL KSRJOBS1@gmail.com with this information:

— Reference in SUBJECT OF THE EMAIL as to which position/s you are interested in

— A couple of paragraphs on who you are, where you live, what you do for a living, why you are interested…a biographical look at the person applying. Make sure to use this as a time to sell us on you as it will be (at least until we interview you) our only chance to know who you are as a person.

— At least 2 WRITING SAMPLES OF YOUR WORK. This can be created specifically for this application or something you have done elsewhere. But we are interested in seeing your writing ability.

— Contact information and schedule availability. If you are chosen, how often, and when, would you be available to write.

Our vision is that you will join us as a secondary hobby to whatever career you are pursuing now, but with the possibility of advancement, just as other KSR writers have done before. We need your submission by TUESDAY MAY 28 at 5 PM. We will spend some time reviewing the applications and then be in touch by mid-June. This is an exciting time for KSR and we are eager to pursue the next phase of the site’s growth this summer. We hope to have you a part of it and look forward to reading your submissions. Thanks!