The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Fan Day Edition

Yesterday was Fan Day for the 2010 football Wildcats.  A crowd estimated at 6000 showed up to cheer on the Gridiron Felines.

Now for the rest of the news:

• Calipari will speak in Ashland Sept. 6 | Vaught's Views

• Cornerbacks catch Phillips' eye | KentuckySports.com

  Phillips was asked at Media Day about freshmen who could make an immediate impact, and the first name that came out was kicker Joe Mansour, who will be given every opportunity to win the place-kicking job.

  I hope this guy is as good as advertised.

• Kentucky's Thomas, Talley on Junior Ryder Cup team | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal

  St. Xavier High's Justin Thomas and Caldwell County's Emma Talley both will play for the U.S. team that will face Europe's top juniors just before the regular Ryder Cup.

  That's terrific.  I'd just love to see Kentucky golf get more competitive in the SEC.

• State-Journal.com - Hardluck Hartline still working for respect

  "Wear on you?" Hartline replied, when asked Friday if the questions about the status of the QB spot grow tiring. "No, it doesn't wear on you. I've known that you have to compete no matter what position you're at, and no matter what the depth chart looks like. You just do what you know how to do best. You can't take a back seat to anybody. You have to make plays. You have to make all the right throws when you need to.

  Hartline is saying the right things.  He evidently learned from the firestorm surrounding his comments a couple of years ago.

• The C-J Sunday College Basketball Notebook | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal

  But during the Wildcats' practices in preparation for a trip to Canada that starts Aug.15, Lamb has shown what Calipari called "some Chris Douglas-ishness," comparing the native New Yorker to Chris Douglas-Roberts, who played for Calipari at Memphis and now is a member of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks.

  Nice to see Lamb getting off to a hot start.

• Including Marcus Camby turns honor into a UMass Hall of Shame | masslive.com

  He’s right. Camby showed more conscience than his school, which threw all the blame on him.

  Where else did it belong?  The NCAA agreed with the school.

  Sadly, scolds like this just can't wait to blame everybody they can.  Should UMass put Camby in it's hall of fame?  Well, all I can say is that Beard and Groza's names are in the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame despite their association with the point-shaving scandal.

• Geoff Calkins: NCAA blows the call on Tigers' Will Barton " The Commercial Appeal

  "I don't believe that," said Pastner, but what was he going to say? That he's suffering because of the sins of John Calipari, because Memphis used to be the academic Wild West? Or that the whole system is bogus, starting with the rule that forces kids like Barton to go to college in the first place?

  Calkins cannot let go.  "...academic Wild West" indeed.

• Tyson Gay stuns Usain Bolt in 100 - More Sports - Kentucky.com

  "I'm really happy with the win, even though Usain Bolt isn't in the best shape," Gay said. "It was very important to beat someone like that for the fans and the sport."

  Against a guy like Bolt, you take them any way you can get them.

• Pitino trial is over, legacy likely forever affected | College Hoops Journal

  The Louisville coach can make his peace with his family and God and all that, and that’s fine and good, but the long-term battle is still in its early stages. While some of the criticism was muted by way of opposing crowds last year (though I think TV directors had something to do with that by not showing the signs directed at Pitino), the quick-ejaculation detail that Pitino copped to in his testimony is the most salacious, squirmy nugget to emerge from the trial.

  Yep.  That's just unbelievable to me, and I can only imagine some of the inventive signs it will produce at games next year.  His new nickname will probably be Quick Rick.

• Rush The Court " Blog Archive " Summer School in the SEC

  Always worth a read.

• Gopher Hoops picks up a late 2010 addition to the roster - The Daily Gopher

• Back to the Future: How the NCAA Can Solve the Problems of Oversigning and Grayshirting in College Football - Dawg Sports

  Here’s the solution to the problem of oversigning: repeal scholarship limitations. Let schools give out as many scholarships to student-athletes as they are willing and able to fund.

  Ere anyone becomes apoplectic at the thought of casting aside the venerable college football tradition of limiting schools to 85 scholarships apiece, we all would do well to recall that the current limitation was imposed initially in 1994. Colleges were permitted to have 95 football players on scholarship as recently as 1991, and a school could give out as many scholarships as it wished until 1977. For a sport now in its fifteenth decade, resuming a practice that prevailed until a mere third of a century ago represents nothing more than the restoration of the traditional status quo.

  Kyle King makes a compelling argument here.  Read the whole thing.

   

• Rumph will not let Phillips down for support he gave him | Vaught's Views
• UK Football: Liberty Bowl executive is a fan of Joker Phillips