What Would You Do? And Don't Lie.

Kentucky basketball is the topic once again for this post. I know. “Who would have guessed?” You. Now, don’t you feel smart? The direction I am steering this semi is toward recruitment or the lack thereof. What I am about to say may dissuade you from your original line of thinking. Maybe it won’t. It will give you an outlet on something I, sort of, figured out on my own in a discussion about this year's team. Hear me out.

If I could only count the number of times I have heard the following statement in the past two weeks: “We coulda had Lofton and Brewer!” This is referring, of course, to Tennessee’s Chris Lofton and Florida’s Corey Brewer. Both claim to have expressed interest in attending the University of Kentucky to play basketball. Both claim the athletic program and, more importantly, Tubby Smith were not interested in their efforts. Lofton also claims to be snubbed by the UofL program and Rick Pitino.

I honestly would say that these statements do contain various amounts of truth and fallacy. I have no doubt that both parties wished to attend UK to play basketball. Chris Lofton having lived in Kentucky for his entire life (assumption), like any other Kentucky boy, dreamed of wearing the Wildcat Blue on the floor at Rupp Arena. Corey, on the other hand, grew up in the Volunteer State. He knew of Kentucky’s hardwood legacy and eventual domination of UT in basketball. He probably thought UK would be an excellent program to fit into—one rich in heritage and consistent in performance.

Corey Brewer was a McDonald's All American. He was on Parade magazines all-American 4th team and an honorable mention from Slam magazine. He was a consensus top 30 in every major resource. Chris Lofton was McDonald's All-American nominee. He was voted as Mr. Kentucky Basketball after his senior year at Mason County. Set various school and state records his junior and senior years.

To say these programs/coaches were not interested cannot be farther from the truth. How could a coach at any level of the game not give some attention to each of these guys? Of course Tubby and Pitino were interested…they just couldn’t figure how each of these players would fit in their system. Tubby already had a boatload of guards. Patrick Sparks, Josh Carrier, Brandon Stockton, and Ravi Moss were already on his bench. He had a solid commitment from Saint Albans, W.Va. junior guard, Adam Williams, son of the legendary coach, Tex Williams (also the coach of a former Florida player, Brett Nelson). Tubby had recruited two guards, who were McDonald's All-Americans, in Rajon Rondo from Oak Hill Academy in Viginia, and Joe Crawford from Renaissance High School in Detroit. There was also the New York City recruit from the IMG Prep Academy in Florida, Ramel Bradley.

Tubby had seen Lofton play for at least three years. But what kind of competition was Lofton playing against? Bishop Brossart? Pendleton County? Bracken County? Rowan County? Lewis County? His size was questionable. His speed on defense was questionable. Lofton was a question all together. Brewer was on the national watch as a tall and lighting-quick guard. Excellent shooter. Nothing questionable to speak of unless…you already had signed three guards and had four waiting in the wings.

Rick Pitino had several guards in his camp as well. Taquan Dean, Ellis Myles, Brandon Jenkins, Larry O’Bannon were established. He had also the recruit committed that everyone wanted in Sebastian Telfair. Of course, we all know now that Telfair skipped out on Rick to go into the NBA draft.

So, does anyone see now, how these guys could have been passed over? I think, no…wait, I hope, Tubby Smith didn’t overlook the talent in either of the two players. Not knowing what you know now, can you honestly say that you possibly would have chosen different? I seriously doubt it. Other than the problem of Tubb not recruiting players from The Commonwealth, I honestly would say I would not. But, Tubby had been burned by Kentucky’s home grown before, i.e. Josh Carrier and Brandon Stockton, both of whom were the previous Mr. Kentucky Basketballs.

It is difficult to think that, yes, these players could have been Kentucky boys. Who knew about Lofton? As for Brewer, there were already two McDonald's All-Americans committed. What do you guys think? While I was watching the Tennessee-Alabama game Wednesday night on Lincoln Financial Sports, I was flipping back and forth to the Houston Rockets-Miami Heat game on ESPN. It made me think about David Kyle and his story about Uncle Dave and the "Lofton-esque" quotes all the time. My advice to DK is to tell his dad:

"Watch Tracy McGrady play for a game. No just a half. That is long enough to figure out...Chris Lofton is 'T-Mac-esque'."

Word-em-up.

Outside the Huddle

Hey, folks! My friends over at "Outside the Huddle", a sports blog sponsored by ESPN Radio's Lexington affiliate, WLXG 1300 AM, have asked for my help in recruiting people to read their blog. It is not all that publicized but it does spark some serious conversation between a few of us. I think you would enjoy the postings and they are open to all comments, serious or humor-laden. So, if you have time to check it out, I am sure they would be quite appreciative.

Some of the comments made are discussed at times on air. You can listen to the show, with Chris Cross and Mike Cameron, every weekday afternoon from 4 p.m. to 6:30 or 7 p.m. These guys are pretty entertaining. Check them out.

Unable or Unwilling to Compete at a High Level of Intensity

Most of my three loyal readers know that I am a huge Kentucky basketball fan. What I write seems to be typically redundant and usually revolves around the players not getting the job done. Well, this post will be no different. The past two games, Florida at home and Tennessee in Knoxville, of the team that I follow so enthusiastically, have been great on one hand and, to use the words of Simon Cowell, absolutely dreadful, on the other hand.

For the Florida game, UK displayed the best defense I have seen this season. The team held the undisputed #1 team in the nation to 64 points and lost only by three. They out-rebounded the Gators. They held the Noah/Horford duo to 15 points and forced 14 turnovers. On the other hand, the Cats’ shooting was awful. They had only one three-pointer in the game until the final couple of minutes. Even worse, the free throw shooting was horrendous. The SEC leading free throw shooter, Ramel Bradley, made 3 of 10. Bottom line…the Wildcats did not put together two good halves of basketball—something they haven’t done all year.

For the Tennessee game, UK’s first and last ten minutes of the game were some of the best minutes I have seen them play. The shooting was remarkable. UK shot 56% from the floor and made just shy of 80% of their free throws. Obviously, they out-shot the Vols and out-rebounded them 39-27. Something else UK had more than Tennessee was…drum roll please…turnovers. If you were to combine the turnover totals of two of UK’s best players, Bradley and Morris, you have already equaled the turnover total of Tennessee. That’s right, UK 19 to UT's 8 TO's. I know of two times in the final couple of minutes I saw Bradley, who lead the turnover charge for the Cats with 6, directly hand the ball to UT players. You can’t have your team’s core turning the ball over so blatantly at crunch time. That, my good friends, was not Tubby’s fault. What was his fault, however, was the ugly pinstriped, checkered shirt with blue tie he rocked to combat Bruce Pearl’s neon orange blazer.

UK was doomed from the get-go last night. First of all, Pearl kept commenting that Lofton wasn’t at 100%. He kept mentioning 80%. Is that so, Bruce? Is that why you played him over 30 minutes in the game? Cousin J. Will said Lofton wasn’t at 100%. Yes, over at Idle Hour Country Club, at this exact moment, he is eating his words.

Second of all, the referees were cooking up some of that hometown stuff. It was pretty obvious when the botched the no-call-goaltending in the first half. D. Crews for UT had reached over the cylinder of the rim to dunk the ball, a goaltending call by definition. The officials reviewed it and determined it wasn’t goaltending. I knew then it would be a long night for the Cats. There were several no-calls and bull-sh** foul calls. Yet, the Cats still hung in there giving us all false hope, in hindsight.

Lastly, UK cannot beat Bernard King. If you watched the game, I am sure you noticed that they were showing more Bernard King than the actual game. Every time the Vols would make a shot, get a big block, or do something replayable, the camera would flash to King to show his facial expression. UK beat UT when he was a freshman. King vowed to never let Kentucky beat him again. For five straight games during his playing career (early to mid-70's) in Knoxville, his team beat Kentucky. Last night made it six, huh? Here is a side note for you: Bernard King was there because they were retiring his jersey.

Brandon, Jason, and I watched most of the game at Buffalo Wild Wings. Adam, Laura’s boyfriend, was there with his roommate, so we got to chill with him for a bit. About midway through the second half, we walked over to Cocktails to finish watching the game in a “not-so-crowded” environment. It was not crowded, but there was some misguided soul at the bar dressed head to toe in nauseating, neon orange. He was cheering like the game was for the national championship. Jason really wanted to tell him that he should move back to Tennessee, the sooner the better, but he thought better of it in the end. I am sure Jason wasn’t the only one. Hell, I even wanted to tell him. I think the next time UK plays Tennessee, a bunch of us should drive to Knoxville and watch the game in a sports bar near campus, all decked out it blue. What do you think?

I hope you have made all of your Valentines’ arrangements by now. Beth and I have reservations for tonight at Sal’s Italian Chop House on Tate’s Creek. It should be pretty good. I am ready for a good meal. I feel like I have been starving since I left Joel’s on Sunday. I think I need some more of Alex’s sausage balls. Tasty. Holla at your boy!

Super Bowl Recap, Birthdays, and Such

Yes, Jonathon, my guess of the score was pretty close. 29-17 is not that far off from 31-14. There was a bobbled snap on an extra point that Vinateri would have, no doubt, drilled. There was also a Bears drive that the Colts defense just laid down on that ended up in a field goal for Chi-Town. I enjoyed the game. I think it is great that Peyton Manning will no longer have the whole “Dan Marino is one of the best QB's ever, but he never won a Super Bowl” thing over his head. As far as who the MVP award should go to, I think Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai were equally impressive. But, in the end, you have to give the MVP to Manning for his on the field performance and leadership. I think the third quarter drive that lasted for nearly 8 minutes, orchestrated by Peyton, happened to be the real deal-breaker for Chicago. That drive totally demoralized and gassed the Bears defense. The interception return by Hayden for the touchdown was just the icing on the cake. Great game. It had the third highest viewer ratings in Super Bowl history.

What about that halftime show? Prince? I think he is 47 years old and has not been in the pop charts for quite a spell. I like his music, but great choice? No, not really. "Proud Mary" by Credence Clearwater Revival and Foo Fighters’ "The Best of You"? His original songs weren’t that bad, but his guitar work was very rusty. I guess you could blame it on the rain. Yeah, how about Milli Vanilli? They would rock the halftime show.

Super Bowl Commercials? They were pathetic. I thought I was just watching regular primetime television. I can’t believe companies were paying $2.6M for the 30 second spots. And King Pharmaceuticals paid for a couple of spots that didn’t even mention their product. I would fire my entire marketing division if I were paying for these commercials. The only commercial I thought was outlandish enough to be a Super Bowl commercial was the Snickers commercial with the two dudes kissing. Shock factor was at an all-time high.

We had a great time over the weekend celebrating birthday after birthday. Beth and I took off work on Friday for her birthday, so Thursday night it started with a dinner at Dudley’s on South Mill Street. I had intended to try another shot at the food critiquing after dining there, but I was so uninspired by the meal, I think I will let this one go. There is one note of interest, however. They were offering antelope on the menu. I had to turn it down as much as it intrigued me.

Friday, we ate lunch at The Pub-Lexington over by the Fayette Mall. It was not bad and maybe, just maybe, I have found my new favorite beer. It is Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. Think Killian’s Irish Red with a smooth bourbon aftertaste. The food wasn’t bad either. I would definitely go back, but I just don’t know when. After schlepping it at the mall, carrying Beth’s bags for what seemed like days, we headed back to Da Pond for some Tiger Woods Golf on the XBox. Later on we went to Chili’s for some appetizers and a cold beer. Best chips and salsa in America.

On Saturday we rolled to the LC Plantation to visit Dad for his birthday. We watched the Loserville Cards take it from the Villanova Wildcats and Kentucky hand a road-dosing to Arkansas. Jodie Meeks took over that game in the second half. SEC Freshman of the Week two weeks in a row…I hope. Randolph Morris looked like a biznatch against Arkansas’ Hill—ponytail and all. After the game, Mom nailed a fried chicken dinner for us. If you weren’t there you definitely missed out. Back to Lex.

This weekend should be a time. On Saturday, Joel is having a birthday par-tay for Laura and himself in Leburn. Word on the street is Unit #899 has a barrel of Colorado Iced Lemonade on reserve. I hope I am able to make it down there. UK plays Florida at 9 p.m. on Saturday night. Joel, you get ESPN? If'n you do, maybe I’ll have to get on down there. Chase, Beth got your message and she said, “What, no effin' card?” Just kidding! She said thank you very much! I hope everyone stays warm this week. Looks like some snow is heading our way today. Better go buy some milk, bread, and eggs. Pond Doctor, out!