David’s Friday News and Views

 

The Voice-Tribune newspaper out of Louisville ran a story on the recently erected placed David (inspired by Michaelangelo) statue in Downtown Louisville. The 30-foot statue stands in front of the popular 21c Museum Hotel on Main Street. The statue has caused quite a commotion among the residents and frequent downtown visitors. The 3,500 pound golden statue is nearly impossible to miss and has garnered reactions from many locals, some in favor and some not as amused by its presence. Many Louisvillians were asked to share their thoughts on the statue, including our very own Matt Jones, who went there. Yes. He went there.

 

“I bet ‘David’ wishes they had turned the air conditioning down while this was being chiseled.”

-Matt Jones, founder of KentuckySportsRadio.com and host of KSTV and KSR Radio Show

 

“He’s all man, baby. I’m surprised those Kardashian harlots haven’t bought the building across the street just to savor the view.”

-Terry Meiners, Clear Channel Radio and WHAS11’s “Great Day Live!”

 

And the quote I liked best: “It’s big, gold and shiny.”

-Letitia Quesenberry, fine artist in Louisville

 

And now on to the news of the day…

 

– The UK baseball team fell to Mississippi State 3-1 in the first of a three game series. The Cats will be under a lot of pressure to win the next 2 to take the series. The Bat Cats must win the final 2 games to still have a shot at the SEC title.

 

– Kentucky still waits on one final option for the recruiting class of 2012. Montrezl Harrell is the final target before Calipari and his staff close up shop on 2012. Up until today, Harrell was still waiting on his release from his Letter of Intent to Virginia Tech. The Hokies held out for what felt like an unnecessary amount of time before Harrell was finally granted the freedom to pursue his collegiate basketball career elsewhere. As we reported earlier tonight on the site, Harrell is considering a number of schools including Kentucky, Louisville, NC State, Florida and Alabama. Kentucky would seem to be a favorable destination for Harrell due to the playing time available specifically for his position.

 

– In 2013 recruiting news, Troy Williams expanded his list to six earlier tonight. Williams is now considering Louisville, Florida, South Carolina, Georgetown, Kentucky and North Carolina. According to ZagsBlog, Troy’s uncle Boo Williams says that “We’re looking at other options. We just want to make sure we get it right.”

 

– Williams commented specifically on Louisville saying, “Coach Rick Pitino is a really good coach. I get along with him well. They play uptempo and fast.” He said literally the exact same thing about South Carolina and new head coach Frank Martin. In general Williams told Adam Zagoria that “They’re all still equal.” If tonight’s news is any indication, Williams’ decision is not coming anytime soon.

 

– You know the offseason is in full swing when the blogging world starts releasing Top 10 list after Top 10 list. Today was that day. Nerlens Noel topped the list of ESPN’s Instant Impact Freshmen entering the 2012 season. In the praise for Noel, Myron Medcalf insinuated that if Noel’s offensive game can catch up to his defensive game, he could contend for national player of the year. Although predictions are just that, it never hurts to hear the praise to keep us warm at night until Big Blue Madness. In another interesting observation from the list, no school had more than 1 representative on the list of Instant Impact Freshmen. Though the list is simply the opinion of one man, it does lend to the theory that the overall level of talent in college basketball next season will be very spread out. The powerhouse teams/heavy favorites of years past seem to be off the table heading into next season.

 

– Speaking of the distribution of talent, if you hadn’t noticed already, UCLA leap frogged Kentucky for the #1 spot. Honestly, I will be intrigued to watch UCLA’s top rated class in action next year. Unfortunately I try to go to bed by 11 p.m.

 

– In news that surely surprises no one, Adam Zagoria reported that John Calipari, Rick Pitino and Coach K are the highest paid coaches in college basketball. Yawn.

 

– Future Kentucky football player Patrick Graffree tweeted the following picture of his new haircut (h/t @TJWalk214). Looks like someone felt a little inspired by a certain UK basketball player…