Big Blue Daily Mail -- All Over the Map

I know the Big Blue Daily Mail hasn't exactly been "daily" in a while.  Mostly, that is due to me working on a couple of really huge projects that take up a tremendous amount of my time, and have seriously curtailed my blogging.  I promise this is not a permanent situation, but it will continue for a while yet.  So for those of you who miss the daily BBDM, I promise it will return fairly soon -- hang in there.  Real life often has a negative impact on my posting, but I have not lost my passion either for blogging or for the Wildcats.

With that out of the way, today's top stories will be Wildcat-related, not Pitino-related, and it will be that way (hopefully, barring some other credible revelation) forever.  Coach Calipari has recently asked (without providing quotations) that UK fans be on their best behavior when Louisville comes to town for our annual basketball tilt.  I hope that happens, but I don't think it's realistic,and Calipari obliquely threatening not to coach the game if fans misbehave shows the depth of his misunderstanding of the intensity of this rivalry.  All I can say is, he had better have his assistant coaches ready to go.

On the football front, Rich Brooks is telling us what anyone who follows SEC football already knew -- neither Morgan Newton or Ryan Mossakowski are anywhere near ready to take on the job of being a starting quarterback in hte SEC, even at Kentucky.  Both these guys will eventually be very good, but this year, I don't expect to see much of them.

Top News

• 'Great summer' brings Meeks back to Kentucky
  Jodie will be signing some autographs this weekend: Meanwhile, Meeks returns to Kentucky this weekend to sign autographs in Paintsville on Friday (Brown's Ford, 4:30-6 p.m.). Then he will be in Pikeville (Wal-Mart, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Pikeville High School, 6-7:30 p.m.) and Hindman (Sports Complex 2-3:30 p.m.) on Saturday. He will be in Lexington's Fayette Mall on Sunday at John Millards Art Gallery, 2-4 p.m.

• Ex-UK star Issel files for bankruptcy | KentuckySports.com
  Tough times for a UK great. Seems like tough times all around, I guess.

• ZAGSBLOG " Boyle Confirms Indy, Duke Lead for Irving
  Confirmation from Irving's coach that Duke is the leader for Kyrie Irving. Plus, Andre Dawkins will somehow suit up for Duke this year, despite being a 2010 recruit.

UK Basketball News

• Calipari asks the media to leave him off the hook about Pitino's infidelity.
  UK media relations asked the media to not ask Calipari about the Rick Pitino situation, per the coach's request. I guess I don't blame him. I don't think any good could come from him weighing in on the situation. There are lots of other nice tidbits in here, too.

• Danny Jett's Inner Circle: The Immortals: UK's 25 'Legends' #14
  Keith Bogans is a legend at A Sea of Blue, and his name is an integral part of the creation of this blog.

• Top non-conference games to watch in 2009-10 - CBK News - FOX Sports on MSN
  The Loathsome Troll Jeff Goodman gives us a pretty good list.

• The Big Blue Nation Report: Calipari is... Boring?
  Heh.

• Bluegrass State Basketball: John Clay Chats About His Job, UK and Calipari
  Definitely worth your time to read.

• Cats getting some pre-season love nationally
  Indeed.

• Rupp Arena: Simply the best
  Heh. Guess Gary Parrish was right about that.

• One on One with Jodie Meeks
  Really nice Q & A with Jodie Meeks, plus some footage of him playing this summer.

• Cousins ‘embracing’ competition

UK Football news

• Georgia high school a pipeline for Cats | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
  Wesley Woodyard and Braxton Kelley are the gifts that keep on giving.

• SEC revises media policy - Sports - Kentucky.com
  Not very much, though.

• Cats LB Thurmond back in action after three surgeries
  Great news for UK, and for the young man. I really hope he can make it all the way back and play.

• A troubled past won't dim rookie Johnny Williams' future
  UK linebacker Johnny Williams is lucky to be alive, and he is intent on making the most of it.

• Thursday post-practice comments from Brooks, Phillips
  Via Tom Leach.

• ESPN.com's Preseason All American Team: Ivan Maisel
  Trevard Lindley named first team All-American.

• "Rich Tradition" book signing events
  Don't miss this at Tom Leach's blog.

• Video interview with Joker Phillips after Thursday's practice
  As always, a must-watch from Tom Leach.

Other UK Sports news

• Chris Bisson Named First-Team All-SEC by SEbaseball.com
• Two UK Volleyball Matches Selected by ESPNU

NCAA Sports News

• Ranking the SEC Coaches: Who Passes the Road Trip Test? - Arkansas Expats
  High-larious. Literally.

• Rush The Court " Blog Archive " Buzz: Duke Adds Andre Dawkins
  Duke getting better. I sure hope we get a shot at them!

• H1N1 strikes Duke football.
  Duke coach David Cutcliffe announced on Friday that nearly half of his 99-player roster has been treated for symptoms believed to be the H1N1 virus, exposing a problem football programs around the country could face this season.
  
  Wow.  I hope everyone will be okay. Scary. Very scary.

• Auburn names Todd starting quarterback - College Football - Kentucky.com
  Wow, an E-town grad as QB for the Auburn Tigers. War Eagle, Kentucky boy!

Other News of Interest

• Michael Phelps uninjured after two-car accident; police say other driver at fault - ESPN
  Michael Phelps just can't stay out of the news. I wonder if the old axiom, "Any press is good press" applies to his situation?

• Pence: Sypher's forced abortion story "a fabrication"
  Heh. U of L is in no position to preach about abortions. There is one clinic in the city that performs abortions, and both doctors on the staff are faculty members of U of L medical school. Crawford is making sense here, I think.

• Eric Crawford gets emails ...
• ... and more emails ...
• ... and still more emails.

• Sypher says husband was paid to marry her
  Weirder and weirder.

The Daily Schadenfreude

• U of L fan sees UK conspiracy in Pitino affair.
  Your paper's slant only throws gasoline onto the fiery rumor that Coach Pitino's seductress was an instrument of entrapment perpetrated by UK alums who are disgruntled over his coming to U of L.
  
  Heh. This was linked earlier, but I just had to put this in the Daily Schadenfreude. It is much too rich just to sit in a FanShot. Those UK alums are just so ... devious! They really should apply for work with the CIA -- we need agents that can arrange affairs like this so we can spy on our enemies using blackmail.

• Pitino should leave and take Jurich with him
  That's forgiveness for ya.