Lee Majors’s Monday News and Views

Today is the 73rd birthday of the most famous citizen to ever come from Middlesboro, Kentucky, Lee Majors. For many of you, the name Lee Majors probably does not ring a bell, but the acting name of the individual born Harvey Lee Yeary was actually a huge star in Hollywood in the 1970s. He was on three big shows, “Big Valley”, “The Six Million Dollar Man” and “The Fall Guy”. For a time, he was an actual major television star and at one point was considered one of the “It” actors in Hollywood. He famously married Farrah Fawcett when she was at her peak, when she was gracing posters in the bedrooms of young males across America. He still turns up in random movie and tv appearances (the last one I saw was on Community), but after “The Fall Guy”, his stardom was never the same. Being from Middlesboro, I best knew Majors as the guy who was the famous person from my town. While I was in school, the decision was made to name the football field after him and he showed up in at his alma mater, infamously landing an awkward kiss on the Football Homecoming Queen that still gets reenacted from time to time in the area. His name graces a sign leading into Middlesboro (not far from where the new Cracker Barrel will be) and if you are ever passing through, make sure and give it a wave. Below is the theme song to “The Fall Guy”, which was sung by Majors and includes the lines, “I am not the kind to kiss and tell, but I’ve been seen with Farrah. I’ve never been with anything less than a nine, so fine.”:

— The big story in UK athletics is the unbelievable success of the UK baseball team. Today the Kentucky Wildcats beat LSU 7-6, to win 2 of the 3 in the series and complete their fifth series win against a ranked opponent. The victories will leave Kentucky potentially as the #1 ranked team in America in one poll and gives the Bat Cats a one game lead in the SEC. The accomplishment is not only amazing for Coach Henderson and the team, but also is shocking a league that knows a thing or two about baseball. I like to give KSRCollege.com writer David Mulloy (who along with John Wilmhoff has been doing an AMAZING job covering the team all year) a hard time for predicting the team would be bad, but he was not alone in that view. The story of college baseball has been how a group of players that were listed on few MLB draft boards at the beginning of the season, have now come together to shock the college baseball world. Kentucky is now in line to potentially host a Super Regional, which could put the Cats with the opportunity to make the College World Series. I have always wanted to go to the event in Omaha, and now this is a legitimate chance. Kudos to the team for the win and UK fans who packed the stadium in mediocre weather for three straight days to cheer them on to victory.

— While attendance was the obvious story at the UK football Spring game as well, lost a bit in the worry about the football team’s future was a team that looked much better at some key positions. Maxwell Smith looked very strong in his new role as the lead Quarterback on the team and his ability to hook up with WR Demarco Robinson was an encouraging sign. Robinson, LaRod King and Darryl Collins seem to give Kentucky legitimate Wide Receiver options, something was sorely lacking last season. Most who attended the game were encouraged by the performance of the first team, and LBs Avery Williamson and Bud Dupree played so well that Joker Phillips said they could be one of the best combos to play the position that Kentucky has ever had. The key will be to continue to get the young players to develop and win over a skeptical fan base that seems certain of impending bad news. The first game at Louisville may have never been so important for one coach, and team’s, future.

— On the basketball side of things (and when is the last time basketball has been the third sport talked about on a night post?), the main story is the push to get Anthony Bennett. The other big recruits in the class, Nerlens Noel, Archie Goodwin and Alex Poythress, have all been tweeting Bennett, trying to convince him to come to Lexington and the fans are in the Patterson/Lucas mode of becoming obsessed about his recruitment. Unfortunately, it looks like it will still be some time before Bennett decides as he says he plans to visit three schools over the next few weeks. Calipari for his part, is already recruiting for next season, having spent the weekend on the road, looking at a number of kids, most obviously the 2013 mega-stars, the Harrison twins, who he saw play multiple times.

— All over the state, the members of the 2012 Championship Team have been doing autograph tours to large crowds. Pictures suggest that Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones, Darius Miller and Doron Lamb are getting huge responses from the Big Blue Nation and the events look to be great for all who attend. Some grumbling continues about cost, but that happens every season and is a byproduct of any move to have such events. My view is that no one is making people go see the players and if they price themselves too high, then they wont get attendance. At this point, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Good luck to all the players out their making the tours and the fans who are getting their life keepsakes.

— Saturday, we had the first leg of the KSTV Casting Call in Northern Kentucky. 13 Semi-finalists made it through two rounds of cuts to move to the next round and meet up with the finalists still to come in Lexington and Louisville. We will be in Lexington on Saturday, for an event that is sure to get a large crowd and a great group of talent. We will have more about it all week and we want fans of all ages to come join us. You have a big game to show however to match the top contestants we saw in Florence, including a 50 year old mom with UK knowledge overflowing, a preacher who uses UK to instruct his flock and a college student who shaved a UK logo in the back of his head. We are looking forward to the next batch of talent making it through this Saturday.

— Finally, I want to end the night by remembering the passing of Kenny Roark, the football coach at Middlesboro High High School, during my time there. I was saddened to hear that he passed away this week after battling a long illness. Roark won a state title at Middlesboro in 1998, and saw a number of his players go on to play for colleges throughout the country. During my time at the school, he was known for his hard-nosed teams and loud, bellowing voice that could be heard throughout the hallways of my small high school. He produced a number of great players and better people, and my thoughts are with his family and close friends.

— We are back tomorrow with the radio show from 10 am to noon and all the news you can handle here on the site…