Kentucky Sports Radio

What a day! Actually forget about a day….what a week! Remember where we were just five days ago? We had just gotten rid of a controversial coach in a bizarre scene that left no one with a smile on their face and questions as to who could be the coach for a program that looked to be in turmoil. Now five days letter, and as Gregg Doyel suggests in this article, the Kentucky basketball juggernaut is back! Since the first inkling that I received on Saturday afternoon that this could happen occurred, I have been afraid to get too excited. There simply cant be a better marriage than Kentucky basketball and John Calipari. A charismatic winner who is dying to take a place among college basketball’s all-time elites joins a program that needs reassurance it is the best in the land. A perfect marriage and one that is exhilirating for the Big Blue Nation.

There will be plenty of time over the next couple of days to dissect how we got here and what the future holds, but lets start with this. TEN THINGS THAT CHANGE TODAY in KENTUCKY BASKETBALL:

(1) The Fanbase is Unified:

I have been running this blog for almost four years and without a doubt, the most frustrating part of it has been a continous divide amongst the UK fans. First it was pro-Tubby vs anti-Tubby, then it was pro-Clyde vs anti-Clyde…..both splits causing one set of fans to disagree with, and at times dislike, the other half. No more. The fanbase is as unified as one could ever imagine at this moment. There is not a person I have spoken with who thinks this is a bad move. Some have concerns about this or that but all agree that UK basketball is back as the Big Blue Nation’s emotion is palpable. Its One fanbase going forward….how long we have waited for that.

(2) Kentucky is a Final Four contender….NEXT YEAR

We all imagined there would be rebuilding time to get adjusted to the new coach. Some thought a couple of years, some were more dire but all agreed it would take some time. Not now….if Calipari brings a couple of recruits, this team can be very good immediately! Give me a core group of Patterson, Meeks, Miller, Harris, Stevenson, Galloway, Orton and Hood….throw in John Wall and Demarcus Cousins and then see what happens with Matt Pilgrim and DeAndre Liggins…..folks that is a group that can beat anyone….NOW. This team is immediately preseason top 10 and has as much upside potential as anyone. Watch out folks…

(3) The School Down the Road is on Notice

My what a difference 72 hours make. On Saturday night, UL fans were literally dancing in the streets, talking about their future Final Four and UK’s coaching disaster. Three days later, they were embarassed by Tom Izzo, their coach is rumored for other jobs and the Cats just became explosive again. The UK-UL rivalry just got heated again as two men whose career paths have intersected (as this article showcases are now in the same state. Think that UK-UL game is all of a sudden a little crazier? I wouldnt be surprised to hear Calipari say tomorrow that he is going to own the state….in fact I hope he does. This rivalry should be right up there with Duke-UNC….now I think it might be.

(4) The SEC Got Its Bad Guy Back:

I have been very impressed with the hires in the SEC recently…Trent Johnson, Anthony Grant, etc have added to a conference that already had talent with Billy Donovan, Bruce Pearl, Rick Stansbury and others. But we all know that the SEC is not the SEC unless UK is great….now they are. Sellouts when the Cats come to town will be prevalent and the new ESPN contract will have its marquee team for its big affairs. Its time to dominate the conference again and make the one school where basketball is the biggest deal, the dominant group yet again.

(5) Mitch Barnhart and Lee Todd Deserve Praise:

Just last Friday, message boards and call-in shows were filled with ill-timed demands for a change in leadership at UK. At the press conference announcing Gillispie’s departure, Lee Todd said unequivocally that Mitch was his man. Now we see again why. Barnhart is the best at finding a Coach and making a deal get done. Yes he messed up with Gillispie…..but we all make the occasional hiccup. This my friends is a homerun. All those who called for the departure of two individuals who have been great for their University, step back. They showed what they are made of again.

(6) The Former Players Are Back in the Fold

Over the last two seasons, former UK players have found themselves shut out of the UK program. After Gillispie got rid of the longtime secretary for UK basketball, older players found themselves either ignored, or in some cases actually pushed away. I have had conversations with over ten former players from all generations who said that while during the Rick and Tubby years they felt a part of a program’s history, in the last two they had no connection. Former players who would traditionally come on campus and play pickup games with the current players were told not to show up and the traditional games (which includes NBA players like Bogans, Hayes, Magloire, etc and other non-NBA guys) were actually played at Georgetown College. Older players said they never even met the Coach, even when it was requested. That changes now. I spoke with a former player today who knows Calipari and who told me, “he has already said to me that he wants to meet EVERY Kentucky player to ever wear the uniform.” That is all I need to hear.

(7) Kentucky Now Has its Pick of the Nation’s Top Players

For those of us that take some interest in recruiting, it has been clear that for the last few years, only North Carolina and Duke could basically pick whoever they wanted. It is not that other schools couldnt get great classes, but those two schools basically had their selection of the elite of the litter. Now add Kentucky to that list as well. With Calipari, Kentucky will compete with UNC for the best of the best and will be spending their time deciding who they want instead of who wants them. Following recruiting will not be about which player is “leaning” UK but who UK wants. What an interesting and refreshing change…..oh yeah and no more eighth graders.

(8) The National Media Will Remember What Kentucky Means

UK still sells and has since the dawn of college basketball. But with Calipari, they join the Duke-UNC duo as THE Story in college basketball. In the middle of Final Four week, the Kentucky coaching search was the only topic on ESPN and national talk radio. Get used to it….everything Kentucky does will become a national story and as with Duke and UNC, their players will be national celebrities. Get ready to love and hate national reporters more….because they will be talking about Kentucky a lot.

(9) Kentucky will be the “Cool” Program Once Again

Combine John Calipari, the most popular coach on the AAU circuit, with all of his recruiting connections (including “World Wide Wes”) and all of a sudden people with no connection to the Wildcats will once again be cheering on UK. You can see it in articles like this one referencing Dirk Nowitski saying “We are Back” in reference to UK (and notice as well a shout out to our own KSR writer Tomlin’s little brother). The Cats will become a top seller of merchandise to those with no fan affiliations, thus helping recruiting and selling the program. Just wait, it will be big….

(10) It Will Finally be FUN AGAIN

Finally, and most importantly, how good will it be to have fun with college basketball again. For the past two years, we have spent most of our time debating losses, off the court incidents and bizarre decisions. We have had to defend actiosn that we didnt really like and debate things we werent really comfortable with. But actually ENJOYING watching a game? It didnt happen much. Thats about to change. You remember how giddy you were when Jodie went for 54? Were you like me, standing in your living room and jumping up and down with each three? That is what it is supposed to be like…..pure UNADULTERATED FUN. Thats back starting tomorrow. Kentucky basketball will not just be your passion, it will be your joy….and we have all missed that.

As you can tell, I cant wait. I am getting up at 6:30 am to get there early and get ready. I hate mornings but I am not going to hate tomorrow morning. UK basketball as I know it is back….and I could not be happier. Dont believe me? Then read what Calipari said to the AD at Memphis when he asked how much money Calipari needed:

“You don’t have to give me anymore. It’s Kentucky.”

Once again, it certainly is…..

Press Conference tomorrow…..lets celebrate!

We’ll have more later on Calipari taking the UK job.

Stay tuned for the Live Blog tonight at 10 pm.  If you can’t get it here, you can get on CoverItLive.com .

- Still the only independent (not citing Memphis reports) Kentucky-based report that it is a done deal is from the Courier-Journal’s Rick Bozich.  If it is wrapped up already, the reason we might not be seeing more reports is because no one at UK is going acknowledge it until the name is on the contract. When that happens, the madness will begin.

UPDATE:  Eric Crawford also says “Calipari is a Cat” and says the introduction should be incredible.

UPDATE AGAIN:  John Clay saying Memphis station now retracting their story and claiming Calipari is wavering and nothing is definite.

- Rick Pitino continues to put in his two cents on the situation and says Calipari would do a great job

 - Tune in tonight at 10 when Matt will be hosting a Live Blog here.  If you have trouble accessing the site, you can go through CoverItLive.com

Sorry I have been MIA the last two days…this Calipari news has found me on two days when law had me kidnapped. I am back in the mainstream by 8 tonight.

Three quick things….

— All Memphis outlets are reporting its done and that he is coming to UK. Cant get any of my UK sources to confirm this….however like with the Gillispie dismissal, I have NO ONE who believes he will not be here.

— I was innudated with calls today after my earlier posts confirming that the 2010 recruits and beyond were a real issue for Calipari throughout this whole thing. I am not sure the issue has been resolved, but it has been a major topic of discussion.

— Lots of questions about the roster….if Calipari comes, I will get into what I have heard at that point.

Stay tuned and we will let you know as soon as we have it….this site is likely to hit over half a million hits today….phenomenal.

While John Calipari does his best Marc Cohn impression and drives around Memphis, trying to decide on which job to take, John Clay is reporting that Memphis has ponied up more cash than UK in their latest offer to Calipari.

This is going to make one hell of a book one day…

- Matt spoke with someone close to the negotiations and he said that UK expects to receive an answer from Calipari at some point today. Whether he accepts or declines, it should be resolved today.

- Along that note, the same person said that almost all of the details were finalized late Monday night.  One of the major sticking points was the status of the outstanding scholarship offers for the players in the 2010 class and beyond. According to this source, Calipari said that “only one is anywhere close to a UK-level player”.

- Matt spoke to someone very close to Calipari who said a couple of interesting things:

1. There will be no players leaving Memphis to follow him to UK. There was some speculation of Wesley Witherspoon, Robert Sallie and others following their coach, but that will not happen.

2. This person also says that Calipari is very excited about the current UK roster. This person said that “Patterson, Meeks, Miller, Stevenson, Harris, Galloway, Orton and Hood”, along with 1 or 2 recruits he would bring with him, is a team that Calipari says could potentially be special.

****Matt will be on Bomani’s show at 11:20 discussing the situation.  Listen in here.

Well, things got a little more interesting today for basketball fans in this state, didn’t they?  Let’s just think about this.  Sunday morning, Louisville was sitting on top of the world as the #1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament and only a date with a Michigan State team widely regarded to be overrated standing between them and the Final Four.  Meanwhile, our heroes in blue were still smarting from a coaching change and the possibility of a mass exodus of recruits and current players and only a few rumors of a new coaching hire to hang our hopes on.  But, less than 36 hours later, the basketball tides in the Commonwealth have changed the course a bit.  The Filthy Cards are out of the tournament and facing a large departure of their own and the Cats are presented with the possibility of a new, proven coach that is the type of “home run” everyone has been demanding…..and maybe a couple of his recruits too.  One stop over to the Courier-Journal sports page said it all.  A few encouraging, positive stories about Calipari and UK at the top, T-Will crying at the bottom.  You see folks, the world really does balance itself out.  As of March 31, Big Brother is back on top in the Bluegrass.  (Update: Since writing this, it appears Eric Crawford wrote something nearly identical)

Go knock on wood.

Ok, now that we’re done beating our chests a bit, let’s get to some news.

 - First of all, let’s get the obvious out of the way.  As the day wound down and no announcement came either way, fans began to speculate that Calipari was reconsidering his move to Lexington and a few media outlets in Memphis reported so.  But, Matt told me tonight that he talked to someone very familiar with the negotiations and he said that it’s not so much an indication that things are going wrong, but because UK is dead-set on not be making an announcement of any kind until Calipari has signed on the dotted line….for obvious reasons.  This seems to reinforce the opinion of Rick Bozich and others that said that though things were moving quickly, the official announcement might not come for a few days.

 - Also, that same person said that there is a “98% chance that Calipari will be in Lexington tomorrow”, although it will not be for a press conference or a pep rally, just some good old fashioned negotiating.

 - On a slightly different note, Matt talked to another source who said that the reports of Calipari bringing in Memphis players are “wildly overblown”.  Reports have been popping up online that Wesley Witherspoon and Robert Sallie, among others, would be transferring to UK if their coach came to Lexington.  This person told Matt that there would be no players at all leaving the team and it was very unlikely that any player who had signed a LOI already would end up at UK.  However, that does leave the possibility of DeMarcus Cousins (verballed, but no LOI) and he uncommitted and unsigned John Wall jumping on board.

 - Another very interesting story came out today from Sports Illustrated, who reported that former UK big man Nazr Mohammed contacted Calipari about adding Scott Padgett as an assistant.  If Calipari were to add Padgett, which is probably more likely than we would all think, it would be the first of many “un-Gillispie” like moves.  One of the early criticisms of Gillispie was that he was not willing to embrace former UK players and, whether Padgett is added or not, it would be tough to see Calipari doing the same.

 - Perhaps the greatest quote about today came from Calipari buddy and Mark Story article subject William “Worldwide Wes” Wesley.  Wesley told Bozich that “What’s going to happen is going to be monumental for college basketball. It’s going to be exciting. It’s going to be great.”  I’ll admit I have my reservations a bit about “Worldwide Wes”, but it’s probably more of a reflection of they system rather than the man.  Still a great quote.  If you’re asking yourself who “Worldwide Wes” is, check this out.

 - On a housekeeping note, as you know, we had our fair share of server issues again on Monday.  Heading into last week, our biggest day at the site was the day Patrick Patterson committed to UK.  Friday, when Gillispie was dismissed, we had about 325,000 hits, which doubled that number.  Today, we had issues almost the entire day and still got a little over 300,000 and when we called the host, they said we were getting between 11 and 12,000 connections a minute.  So, what’s the moral of the story?  We’re doing our best to keep up and we appreciate everyone’s patience.  I know it’s frustrating sometimes.  But, to make sure you still get everything, sign up for the Twitter feeds that Matt has been sending out.  Regardless of what is happening on the site, you’ll get the info.  It was a big day all around the Big Blue internet.  Even John Clay’s blog crashed.

- Speaking of John Clay, I saw this on his Twitter account today and it amused me in a strange way.  By the way, if you take away our Twitter account, Clay’s ranks #1 in terms of good updates and Bomani’s is a clear-cut #1 in terms of entertainment. Twitter is growing on me.

 - Also, on an non-Calipari note, WLEX’s Alan Cutler issued an apology this evening for the way he chased Billy Gillispie Friday in the Craft Center.  Cutler went on air and apologized to UK fans and acknowledged that he is attempting to reach Gillispie to apologize to him as well.  Like my mom said, I’ll give you something to cry about it takes a big man to apologize.  This Uk fan will accept it.  Also, speaking of my mom, she is still continuing her claim (four months now) that Pitino is going to Arizona and her friend sold Joanne a condo. 

That’s it for now (believe it or not).  This was an unbelievably crazy day around here and hopefully we’ll start to get some clarity tomorrow.  For now, it looks like the Calipari Era could be upon us in the near future (sorry to the guy who blames me for jinxing Donovan).  See you this afternoon….it should be another fun day.

Well, that honeymoon didn’t last very long.  John Calipari hasn’t even been introduced yet and his hiring is already being scrutinized by the Herald-Leader’s Mark Story, who wrote an open letter to Lee Todd asking him to consider a few things about his coaching hire.  Story’s biggest complaints seem to center around the character of the apparent heir to the UK throne and those he seems to bring along with him.

It’s approaching 7 pm on a very crazy day, but it looks like UK has their man - for somewhere in the neighborhood of $32 million over 8 years.  WHAS and WLEX both cited the same report from the Memphis Commercial-Appeal (so did ESPNews) that John Calipari was set to be introduced as UK’s head coach, but after a Memphis news report said otherwise and DeMarcus Cousins said Calipari told him it was “untrue”, things seemed uncertain again.  But, Lee Todd confirmed to the Herald-Leader that negotiations with a new coach (never saying it was Calipari) were going to move quickly which seems to mean that the negotiations with Calipari are fruitful to this point.  Rick Bozich said that he expects an announcement to come as early as tomorrow or as late as Thursday and I think it’s finally safe to say that when that announcement comes, John Calipari will be named as the new coach of the University of Kentucky.

Thank goodness.  He is great photoshop material.

***NOTE: As difficult as it is to access the site, it’s ten times harder to get to the admin screens and update. So, for today, in an effort to get the most updated info up as fast as possible, WE WILL JUST UPDATE THIS THREAD RATHER THAN PUTTING UP NEW POSTS. Hopefully this will make it easier to get what you need faster.

 - DeMarcus Cousins says the Calipari to UK talk is “not true”

 - Another potential holdup in the announcement could be because Calipari wants to try to get former assistant Tony Barbee to be his replacement.

 - Listen to John Clay on 680 The Fan in Atlanta (4:30 pm)

 - Larry Vaught said it’s a done deal over at Kentucky Sports Report

 - Bozich says it’s “all systems go” with Calipari but an announcement won’t come until tomorrow or as late as Thursday

 - Jody Demling says top 50 guard Nolan Dennis could also try to follow Calipari

 - The Memphis Rivals site calls it a done deal and multiple sources say Memphis has asked for permission to speak with Mike Anderson of Missouri

 - John Clay says there has been a 4:30 pm  meeting called for the UK players.

 - Jerry Tipton says it’s nearing completion, but one potential issue could be whether or not scholarship offers to players in the 2010 class and beyond would be honored.

 - Why is the font so small?

 - The sheer volume of fans taking it to the internet today is unbelievable.  We are getting 11-12 thousand connections a minute, Cats Pause has been blowing up all day with posts and John Clay just posted that his blog is down.  UK fans are either passionate or completely insane…or both.

 - In the spirit of this blog, take a look at the ridiculous side of the Calipari situation….ok, it’s all pretty ridiculous right now.

 - John Clay is saying Calipari might inform Memphis of his departure at 3:30 pm meeting

 - Matt was told to expect to hear something by 4 pm

- The offer to Calipari is rumored to be for $6 million a year.

 - If you’re in the “ESPN hates us” camp, here’s another chance to bow up over The Worldwide Leader’s front page story about UK’s coaching change

 - Kentucky officially given permission to speak with Calipari this afternoon

- Bozich talks to Calipari buddy “Worldwide Wes” who told him “What’s going to happen is going to be monumental for college basketball. It’s going to be exciting. It’s going to be great.” Bozich also said he’s heard that Wall and Cousins might not be too far behind.

- Jerry Tipton was on Sportscenter and said he expects it to happen today and then something about how no matter who the coach is, he will fall short in one aspect of his job inthe fans eyes.

ESPN’s Andy Katz was on Mike and Mike this morning and said that Memphis coach John Calipari met with UK officials yesterday about the open coaching position and is meeting with Memphis officials today.  He said that UK is expected to offer a “mega deal” for Calipari to become Billy Gillispie’s successor.

Katz on the situation

 - Also, Jody Demling gets fired up just thinking about all of the recruiting possibilities if Calipari comes to the Bluegrass

 - If you’re near a TV, tune into Sportscenter.  Gottlieb just ended Mike and Mike by saying “I’m going to go do Sportscenter and talk about Kentucky possibly getting a new coach for a bajillion dollars”

This is the KSR crew in color.  I won’t tell you which picture is which, but the point of all this is a common complaint of commenters is “It’s easy to say all those nasty things behind a computer screen.”  So, here is what we are gonna do.  If you want, send me an email (bryan.hash@wku.edu) with whatever picture you want to symbolize YOU, whether it’s an actual picture of yourself or not.  We would love an actual picture of you, but whatever.  Then I will put together a gallery of KSR readers with just your screen name (please include that in your email) for the whole world to see.  Or at least the state of Kentucky.  The more embarassing, the better.

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UPDATE!!!:  Andy Katz just reported on Mike and Mike that there has already been a meeting between Calipari and UK administration yesterday.  He also mentioned that he is hearing of a “Mega-Deal” in the works for Coach Cal.  Interesting stuff.

I just want to make one statement about the coaching search.  And that is those of you who feel that UK needs to hire a coach who runs an up-tempo system, and that needs to be one of the main factors in who to consider, are just plain misguided.  And the person that has taken the most grief about this is Tom Izzo.  ARE YOU SERIOUS???  Tom Izzo would make UK a winner immediatly.  The man has won a national title, been to another 4 Final Fours, and people want to knock him off the list because he doesn’t score in the 90’s.  If you can find a coach who runs up-tempo AND is a big-time winner, then by all means go after him.  But Tom Izzo has the same amount of national titles as Pitino, and more national titles than Calipari, Barnes, Miller, Matta, Ford, and Pelphrey.  So please stop the complaining about having to watch an offense “that is like watching paint dry”.  Personally, I don’t care if the score is 30-25 at the end of the game, if the Cats are on the winning end, its all good to me.  After watching Izzo dismantle the Cards yesterday, he has become my second choice, behind Calipari.  He has no violations, is a proven BIG TIME winner, personable, and seems to actually want the job.  There’s my 2 cents, for what its worth.

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1. The UK baseball team didn’t have a great weekend, dropping 2 of 3 to 28th ranked South Carolina.  The Cats are now 4-5 in the SEC.

2. Economy falling apart.  2 wars still going on.  A new president.  Many, many problems in this country.  Yet, “60 Minutes” decided Lebron James was a big enough story to interview him.  Of course, he did do this, so maybe it was worth it.

3. Stephen Curry’s brother, who was the leading freshman scorer in the nation this year, has decided to transfer….to Duke.  His mom just isn’t as hot anymore.

4. Goalies gone wild!!

Its early and I gotta hit the road, but the Calipari heat continues to rise. Both CBS Sports and ESPN are reporting that a meeting between UK and Calipari is going to happen, possibly as soon as today. Doug Gottlieb said this morning that the only impediment to UK and Calipari getting a deal done is the compliance office at UK.

While I think the last statement is a bit premature, I do believe Calipari and UK are now in some sort of talks. I caution everyone to calm down as the last call I had last night told me that while UK is interested, “this is nowhere close to a done deal.” Today will be a crucial day in the process. We shall see…..

pictured created by enterprising UK fans

It has been quite a three day period now hasnt it? We woke up Friday morning with a basketball coach, a divided fanbase and a host of crazy rumors. Now three days later we have a coaching vacancy, a unified fanbase and….well a host of crazy rumors. Some things dont change. But this weekend has done an important task in crystallizing a grea lot of issues for Cats fans. First, we now know that Billy Gillispie will no longer be at the helm and that the UK coaching position is open for only the sixth time in nearly 70 years. We also know that the fanbase as a whole has gone a long way towards accepting the decision of Mitch Barnhart and Lee Todd. I have spoken with a number of former players and folks around the program after we published my article on the end of the Gillispie era and they all universally agree with its sentiments. The time had come to move on and now that step has been made.

But whats next? Well the weekend has been filled with coaching rumors, the likes of which we havent see since….well. oh last week. It started with talk on Friday that Billy Donovan had been in town on Thursday night (a rumor that was carried on by internet folks and some mainstream media….and it was false) and ended with talk of a certain man in Memphis being ready to pull a Ric Flair and sign on the dotted line. So lets see where we are….

(1): All indications seem to point to the fact that John Calipari is the early frontrunner for the position. Just before I wrote this, ESPN reported of mutual interest between the two parties and Calipari’s friend, Stephen A. Smith, has said all day that there is interest from Cal to UK. The question becomes whether that interest will lead to a job offer or acceptance. I have been told that Kentucky will likely talk to Calipari early in the week, and others including Larry Vaught suggest the same thing. Calipari and Kentucky will dominate the headlines tomorrow and we will look for every little sign that he could be the next hire.

(2): I spoke to two people who are my best sources on this search and both told me the same thing: Calipari and Izzo are the top candidates at this time. Both guys will be looked into and explored before the search moves on to others. The Izzo situation could cause the entire process to take longer due to his trip to the Final Four. Izzo is a favorite of some of the more conservative parts of the UK administration and I expect that he is much more of a player in the process than the vast majority of internet speculation is now suggesting.

(3): Kentucky fans are dominating the internet right now (although the comments and fights on the Calipari daughters Facebook pages probably should be ended if Cat fans want him here), but the coaching search is causing a great deal of turmoil in Memphis, Arizona and East Lansing. Arizona figured to be the top job to come open this year, and now with Kentucky in the mix, their elite job may be the second choice. There is agreat deal of speculation that they too are interested in CAlipari and a bidding war could ensue. While it is hard to imagine that anyone could outbid UK, the Arizona situation is one that needs to be watched as the top candidates are likely to be the same.

(4): Reports of Sean Miller having been in town were incorrect as well, however UK’s interest in him is not just a mirage. Miller joins Thad Matta, Rick Barnes and Travis Ford as the names of people that I have been told are in the group behind Calipari and Izzo on the UK wish list. I am thrilled to see Miller on the list and while I would not put him ahead of Calipari or Izzo, he would be my top choice of the next group. HE is young, plays an exciting brand of basketball and according to a friend of mine who follows recruiting as close as anyone I know, he is “the best young recruiter in America, bar none.” I worry a bit with all this Calipari hype that a guy like Miller could be considered a disappointment…..if he were indeed hired, in my mind he would be anything but.

(5): Finally, the more conversations I have, the more I believe that Billy Donovan was once again offered the job and once again declined. From everyone I have talked to, it seems that Donovan was given an offer either Thursday night or Fri morning and most at UK thought he would agree. However I do have an idea….At this point, if the job ever comes open again, lets not look into this direction for a third time.

We will have more all day, including the debut of our column “Winners and Losers” that grades the impact on people of the week’s events. The Intern is coming with his thoughts and Beisner is ready to give you the scoop while I am away in Middlesboro for two days. Stay tuned………

And to start the morning, how about one my favorite songs by Cash/Dylan: