Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen

And I will say it again. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” Yep, little brother west of Lexington has slipped straight out of the ranks of the AP Top 25. This is not a huge surprise to me. I knew something smelled fishy after the Cards let Middle Tennessee State score 40+ points against them the second game of the season. The sad part is their coach, Steve Kragthorpe, is probably to blame. Bobby Petrino left a talented crew of players on the roster and a preseason top-10 ranking. The defense was never that awesome, but this year, it down right stinks. I honestly hope they pull the rest of the season together to finish respectable, as long as they don’t beat WVU.

The word on the street is Louisville fans are calling for Kragthorpe’s head, a la UK fans over Orlando ”Tubby” Smith. Can’t say I would blame them. If the trend continues, it would be like running a Ferrari into the ditch. Like I said before, Petrino left UofL in good standing just like Rick Pitino left UK’s basketball team in good standing. We’ll see what goes down at NC State.

And since we're talking about college football, we might as well get this out of the way. What about those Cats? Yep, everyone doubted them before the UofL game. “I just hope we have a good showing.” (Yeah, that was myself five hours before game time.) “I don’t think we stand a chance.” (Guys tailgating beside us.) During the first half, people in front of us were not cheering. Some one called them assholes and told them to get up and cheer for the Cats or next time they should stay at home on the couch. (That was me.) Why pay that much money to just sit there during a game like that? Honestly, our seats are okay, but the view on ESPN Classics is much better. But, then again, they might have attended the game so they wouldn’t have to listen to Bill “I wish I could win one for the Gipper” Curry.

The Cats brought it home and made the AP Top-25 poll. I think this was the first time in the AP Top-25 since the 1983 season. Then, they rolled into Fayetteville, Arkansas and handed McFadden and crew a beatdown courtesy of Andre Woodson, Trevard Lindley, and true-freshman, Derrick Locke. They did look good. Plus, they proved the UofL game wasn't a fluke. I can’t remember the game announcers' names, but Dude, were they ever in love with McFadden and Arkansas. This was only short-lived. By the end of the third quarter, I think they wanted their daughters to marry Andre Woodson. Feeling the love now, are you? 14th in the AP Poll this week. Nice.

The joke that sits beside Kirk Herbstreit on ESPN Gameday, Lee Corso, said two weeks ago that UK had no chance of beating Louisville. This week after the Cats beat Arkansas, Lee said that UK was the team to watch in the SEC. Herbstreit did pick us against UofL. Colin Cowherd has picked UK in two huge games this year. He picked the Cats to beat UofL and Florida. So far, he is one for two. Go Cats.

UK plays Florida Atlantic this weekend. It is an early game, so I am assuming the tailgating will start around 9 a.m. I think we are going to do some bacon and eggs on the grill. Sounds good, huh?

This weekend Beth and I rolled east to St. Albans to see her parents and family. I scored some long awaited birthday gifts Friday night from them. I snagged an awesome grilling apron with nothing less than, “J-Delicious” embroidered on the front. It has a pocket for a canned or bottled beverage of your choice. Dennis, I think I will choose the “Awesome Beverage”. It also has a bottle opener on a string and extra pockets in the front. Jealous, I know. They also gifted me with “A Taste of Home” grilling cookbook. Necessary. Thanks a bunch guys!

The next day, Beth’s brother Chris had signed us up to help him install a new French door on the back of his house. What was supposed to be a two-to-three hour job took pretty much all day. I recall helping Dad put the new door on the back of their house one day. I think it pretty much went the same way. Chris and Dennis did most of the work. I think I was there to look good and do some heavy lifting. The finish product looked really good and no one needs to know the what’s and how’s. It was a good time all in all.

Opening Day at Keeneland is next Friday. I have already put in my time-off request form and this morning it was signed. So, this is an open invitation for all those who wish to join me in playing the ponies. The first 3000 paid visitors get a free gift from Darley Jonabell Farms. Last year, we were given free tailgating chairs. The year before, I got a free hooded windbreaker. Who knows what you can score this year?

I am going to leave you guys with another pic of some of the dirt we do on the grill. This was at my buddy Sam's house after the Arlington Million back in August. (I hit the trifecta and $2 across on the 8-1 winner for about $170.) Try not to get too hungry looking at this. Give me call.