Happy Memorial Day weekend to everyone.  Glancing at the weather forecast, it should be a wonderful, sunny and warm weekend here in Kentucky.  About time, I'd say -- nothing but cold, wet weather up until now.  But finally, and just in time, it looks like summer has found its way to the Bluegrass.

So here are a few bits and pieces that may be of interest to Kentucky fans:

• I'll be headed to Las Vegas Invitational on November 28th and 29th to hopefully watch Kentucky win the tournament.  There are lots of Wildcat fans headed out there, so any other readers of ASoB thinking about going should let me know.  I am planning to create some t-shirts that will be made available to our readers (and anyone else who wants one, I suppose) when I figure out a mechanism for doing so.  Hopefully, that will help those who have the opportunity to go identify themselves so we can meet and chat.
  
  I know Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio is heading out there, so it would be a great chance to meet and greet a number of Kentucky bloggers, readers and on-line fans as well as getting to enjoy the Wildcats in person.
  
  For those who want to check into tickets, they are sold on the Orleans Arena site.
  
  
• Jared Carter and Ramon Harris are heading out to Africa for some games with Athletes in Action.  The Winchester Sun has a really nice article today about Jared and his faith.  It is an interesting article about an impressive young man who has been rather unfairly maligned by some of our more outspoken fans.  But Jared has a great attitude, and maybe this experience will help prepare him to finally contribute this year.  I hope so.  Godspeed, Jared and Ramon -- you do us proud.
  
  
• Jody Demling has a chat with Vinnie Zollo.  Seems like Vinnie has been a Wildcat nearly from birth, and is working hard on his game to get ready for prime time in Rupp Arena.
  
  There is still plenty of opining going on about recruiting younger players, and most of it has been predictably negative.  But quite honestly, a good amount of it has been hypocrisy or just plain unthinking reactionism.  The debate that will be had be the coaches will be interesting.
  
  But early recruiting is not confined to Kentucky nor to basketball, it seems.  Here we have a story from the Arizona Republic that details how it has impacted many college sports.  But here is the part that got my eye:
  

  Matt Carlino, a freshman point guard on Gilbert Highland's basketball team, said he received his first college offer in the seventh grade from UA coach Lute Olson. [emphasis mine]
  

  So, riddle me this, Batman -- why is Gillispie catching heat for offering 15 year-old 8th graders, and Loot gets to offer 7th graders without comment?  Can you say, "double standard?"  I knew you could.
  
  
• You think maybe fans of the Orlando Magic still hold a bit of a grudge against Billy Donovan for his vacillating, "I will.  No, wait!  I won't." flirtation with the head coaching position there last year?  Consider this article about the wisdom of the "one and done" rule in college basketball, A.K.A. the age limit:
  

  "It's not a healthy rule," Florida Coach Billy Donovan said. "It's not a good rule for college basketball."
  
  And Donovan, for once, is right on so many levels. [emphasis mine]
  

  Ouch, Billy. That's gonna leave a mark. Read the article, though, it is right on point.
  
  
• FGM and a surprising number of ASoB Cat fans live-blogged the baseball game last night that saw our team get drubbed 13-4 by the Crimson Tide. 
  
  Well, the Tide was due -- we beat them 4 times in a row this year, and they are a very good team.  Congrats to the Tide, tough luck for the Bat Cats.  But we should easily make the NCAA tournament field.
  
  
• I will be heading out of town next Saturday for ten fun-filled days in our 50th state, the beautiful land of rainbows and Roderick Flemings, Hawai'i.  You can expect me to still be posting, but it will be somewhat less intense than normal.  You will likely be seeing more articles from Ken (who is just returning from vacation himself), JL and FGM during that time (which should make you happy).
  
  You can count on some breathtaking FanShots from me, though.

Finally, if you have any suggestions on how the new blog platform (A.K.A. SBN 2.0) can be improved, please email me your suggestions.  After we get all the SB Nation blogs transitioned over, feedback on non-critical changes will be considered.  Keep that in mind as you use this thing.