March 3, 2016
Dear Coach Pitino, Hi. My name is Ryan. You probably don’t remember this, but we met once, way back in the early 1990s, when you gave a speech at DeSales High School in Louisville. (Shout out to Nick Roush there — go Colts!) Do you remember, Coach? I had that rockin’ sweater that Mom made…
October 19, 2015
It was a great night. Rather low-key in terms of Madness, but between Coach Mitchell stankin’ and Drake shootin’ and Anthony Davis interruptin’ Cal and the cheerleaders jumpin’ and – oh yeah – Skal and Jamal showin’ us they were for real on the court, it was a great time. The disappointment of the…
August 20, 2015
Are you ready for football season yet? I really got ready for it recently when I inadvertently remembered what I thought was the most inspiring performance I’d ever witnessed from a UK football player. Then I thought: What are all of the most inspirational performances in my lifetime? So here’s the deal: I was born…
August 13, 2015
There’s a reason you won’t be seeing Javess Blue on the field when the Pats play the Packers tonight. It has a lot to do with bad luck and fluke injuries in an up and down football career. UK receivers coach Tommy Mainord had some news — and it wasn’t good. He had to…
August 6, 2015
I remember when I first met Nate Northington. We were at a book fair, and Mr. Northington was surrounded by family and friends. I noticed that from the looks of it, he kept in shape. He was trim, dressed in a smart brown suit, with an electric blue shirt. He had salt-and-pepper hair, a…
July 30, 2015
FRANKLIN, Ohio – It all started 40 years ago, when Hilda Ratliff was a newly divorced mother of two. On a normal day she’d walk two houses down to the local restaurant for a cup of coffee. One day she arrived, and, in a sense, she never left. It turned out the owner needed help,…
July 23, 2015
Well, I guess these things happen. My favorite UK Hoops player – ever – is Jen O’Neill. And I was super psyched she caught on with a WNBA team this season. The undersized O’Neill caught on with the league’s best squad, record-wise, and I talked with her last week about what her journey was like.…
July 17, 2015
For decades, Kentucky fan Jan Pfeffer organized trips taking UK supporters across the world. The name of their group? The Cat Trackers. No game seemed out of reach, and bad weather be damned. The Trackers would pile on to a bus and head out. New York. The SEC Tourney. Hawaii. No trip was out of the…
July 9, 2015
Isn’t it funny? I mean, isn’t it? First, it’s funny that I even saw Tim Sullivan’s column from this weekend, because most of the time I avoid the daily newspaper – especially the one from Louisville. But it’s also funny how easily I let a few of his declarations get my goat. Some were…
July 2, 2015
In 2003, LeBron James took his talents to the NBA. UK’s Keith Bogans was also a part of that draft. And so was I. A journalist always remembers how his stories begin. From The Washington Post, 2003: After Prep Work, James Is Chosen One By Ryan Clark Washington Post Staff Writer NEW YORK,…