Kentucky Sports Radio

If you’ve turned on Wimbledon at all during the past week to accompany your morning breakfast, chances are you have either heard the grunting, or you have heard the talk of a possible “grunt-o-meter.” Yes, you read that correctly. Grunt-o-meter. It sounds like the featured machine in the next highly anticipated “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” movie (just kidding, but do you secretly hope for that too?). The contraption that has been discussed to possibly relieve some of the seemingly unnecessary, and quite frankly annoying, noise that has become commonplace in the game of tennis, may have a ridiculous name… but the need to some is real. For the casual fan, and even the serious fan in some cases, the volume of the “grunting” or “screaming” in professional tennis has become unbearable. Maria Sharapova (pictured above doing her best “Tom Crean, we just beat Kentucky snarl” impression) is one of the key culprits. For years now, she has screeched her way to the top of the professional tennis rankings. For the moment, she sits in the top spot, followed in the #2 spot by a fellow grunting enthusiast, Victoria Azarenka. Tennis is looking to eliminate or at least monitor something that two of the top players in the world are doing: grunting. The move to quiet the noise will be tricky though, especially when two of the sport’s most popular players are doing so on a regular basis.

Many fans have reignited a complaint that has been around for a few years now, that the grunting and audibly very loud noise has taken away from the game of tennis. Many argue that the casual fan who might turn a match on while sitting in front of the television often gets too annoyed and chooses to switch the channel. The players on the other hand, seem less bothered in general by the noise. The players making the noise argue that it is a part of their game and would be too hard to eliminate at this point in their careers. They believe that by grunting they are able to exert more energy into their hits. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has been hearing suggestions that perhaps a compromise can be reached utilizing a “grunt-o-meter,” which would be installed on the court during matches to monitor the volume of the grunting to presumably keep it at a more audibly pleasing level. Penalties could be imposed if the volume reached a certain level. Though the talk of the grunt-o-meter has stirred up once again during Wimbeldon, the more likely approach by the WTA will be to encourage the younger generation of players NOT to use the strategy as part of their tennis game.

I’m really not sure where I stand on the implementation of the grunt-o-meter, but I do know where I stand on the release of another “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” movie. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! “Honey I Blew Up The Kid” was alright, too.

Now on to some UK-related news…

- Aaron and Andrew Harrison announced today that they have moved up the probable date for their commitment announcement. Two of the top players in the 2013 class, both long considered to very much like Kentucky, will make their decision in September. Look for them to send a text message to Chris Broussard to be the first to break the news…

- Another 2013 recruit has been making waves in the media today. Chris Walker has been tweeting photographs of various gyms that he might be playing in for his collegiate career, including Rupp Arena. He also tweeted pictures hinting at Louisville, Florida and Kansas as possible destinations. Walker told SlamOnline that he is considering 7 schools: Kentucky, Florida, Baylor, Kansas, Ohio State, Louisville and Syracuse. No mention of Frank Martin? Hmm. Weird. Walker’s tweet about Rupp Arena went a little something like this (or exactly like this):

- 24/7 Sports released their latest 2013 Top-100 rankings and a ton of Kentucky targets were listed, including the names mentioned above. To list a sampling…

1. Julius Randle

3. Jabari Parker

4. Andrew Harrison

6. Aaron Harrison

7. Mamadou Ndiaye

8. James Young

10. Chris Walker

74. Derek Willis

Not Ranked- the poor guy trying to defend Mamadou Ndiaye in the picture on KSR earlier

- Anthony Davis had some advice for Nerlens Noel today. Davis suggests that Noel do his best to block out the attention and publicity of it all, instead focusing on playing basketball and taking care of his work in the classroom. Davis probably should have thrown something in there about staking a claim to the flat top now before the Blue Zone snatches up the rights to the trademark.

- The NCAA made a big move in the AAU world today by banning 4 AAU teams (including Chris Walker’s) for the July period for alleged involvement with agents.

According to a release, the New England Playaz, Florida Rams, Worldwide Renegades and SEBL Elite All-stars have a relationship with ASM Sports, a professional sports agency. By NCAA rule, non-scholastic basketball teams that are associated with agents are prohibited from competing in NCAA certified summer basketball events.

The eligibility of the prospects is not in question though, and they can still participate in certified events on different teams.

- In a bit of absurd NBA news, WHAT IS GOING ON IN HOUSTON? (Do not make a Houston we have a problem joke. Do not make a Houston we have a problem joke. Do not make a Houston we have a problem joke). Okay, moving on. The Houston Rockets seem to be stockpiling forwards and the reasoning is questionable. Today the Rockets dealt guard Kyle Lowry to the Toronto Raptors for yet another forward, Gary Forbes. When Terrence Jones and Royce White were both drafted to the Rockets, a team already equipped with a roster of 4′s, people questioned the move. The Rockets do appear to be close to reaching an agreement with Jeremy Lin, which would explain the departure of Lowry. Surely they can’t keep all of those forwards though. Keep an eye on Patrick Patterson, who is one of the many forwards currently on the roster.

- Darius Miller has been named to the Hornets Summer League team, along with Austin Rivers, third-year pro Al-Farouq Aminu and a host of others. Summer League play opens July 15th, when Miller will do his best to insure a roster spot for next season on the Hornets. Anthony Davis is not on the roster at this point due to his participation with the USA team in an attempt to make the roster for the Olympics.

- Speaking of…Anthony Davis was able to workout this afternoon at UNLV with the USA basketball team and staff. According to Andy Katz, he was not able to do a lot, but was still able to show some of his wide skill set. Sean Deveney of the Sporting News says it is easy to see Anthony Davis winning one of the final two spots on the Olympic team. Hopefully if his ankle injury is doing well enough to allow him to participate at all, Coach K and the coaching staff will have enough interest in what Davis can bring to the table to add him to the 12-man roster. At this point, the need for a serviceable big man is huge and Davis’ defensive abilities might be enough to win the coaches over. Is it wrong that a part of me still wants #BoogieForAmerica?

- Earlier this evening KSR bid farewell to graduate assistant Brandon Weems. Now it’s his turn…

- Did you know that Mitch Barnhart will be climbing Mount Kiliminjaro later this month? Yeah, me neither. Now we know. Mitch Barnhart will be climbing the peak in Africa, the highest solitary peak in the world. If you are surprised by Barnhart’s adventurous side, you shouldn’t be. He has been sky diving. Rocky mountain climbing. And he went 2.7 on a bull named Fu Man Chu. Just kidding, but that’s a good Tim McGraw song. Barnhart really has been sky diving. He’s also climbed Mount Ranier twice, but he said this will be his biggest challenge yet. “I wanted to find something that challenged me mentally and physically and this is a good deal. And it’s extremely quiet and I love nature and I will tell you when I get up that high and look down there’s nothing more beautiful.”

- Remember, remember the 5th of November. No seriously, mark your calendars. Kentucky will play host to their Broadway neighbor, Transylvania University, on November 5th. The tip-off is tentatively set for 7 p.m. I haven’t checked the Transy message boards, but I think they are fussing about not getting a “home-and-home” series with the Beck Center.

- Check out former UK Hoops player Keyla Snowden’s new website KeylaSnowden.com. The website just launched today and Snowden has been supportive of KSR, so let’s show her some support as well.

- And finally, the coolest Anthony Davis tribute hat you’ll see all week…

(h/t Kyle Simpson)