Happy Easter to everyone. It is a beautiful day here in Louisville, and I hope the weather is good where you are, too. We are all blessed to be Kentucky fans, today as always.
Tweet of the Morning
Stephen Curry declared for NBA Draft. Doug Gottlieb "He doesnt have the upside of Rubio. Jennings, Flynn, Mills, Teague all more athletic."
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 23, 2009
If you believe anything Doug Gottleib says, well... just don't tell me and I won't think less of you. :-)
Your Quickies:
Kentucky football
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A.J. Stamps keeps coming up in article after article, so you know he's making an impression. J.D. Harmon is in this one,and I'm glad to hear things about him.
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Michael Burgin of WBN has an interview with UK recruit Chandler Cox. Via Hank. Consider:
Ellis Johnson is Chandler's great uncle and was Adolph Rupp's first All-American and was the 8th All American (7th first team AA) in UK Basketball history. Cox is the kind of player that the BBN should want because of his leadership skills.
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Nice article by John Clay regarding JUCO lineman C.J. Johnson. Hank
Kentucky basketball
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Aaron Harrison Sr. tells a Houston TV station that the twins are "... not leaning either way" when it comes to entering the NBA Draft or returning to school. They played their cards close to the vest when they made their college choice, and there's no reason to suspect that won't be the case in their NBA choice.
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Adam Himmelsbach takes a shot at the starting lineups for Lousiville Cardinals and Kentucky Wildcats. Via Hank.
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Heh. Funny.
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Jordan Brand Classic highlights. Hat tip: NBC Sports.
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NBA scouts believe that the Harrisons are genuinely torn about declaring for the NBA.
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Patrick Patterson has a nice game in his first playoff effort.
Other Kentucky sports
Links posts
College football
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I put this in football, but it could go anywhere. Dennis Dodd's comments on the new framework proposed by the NCAA for "big 5" conference autonomy. The most interesting comment is here, and it is an observation I have made before:
Comment: One of key issues the Big Five commissioners want addressed is time spent by athletes on their sport. The NCAA limits 20 hours per week. However, that regional National Labor Relations Board official used as his foundation for granting a union vote the conclusion that athletes spend 40-50 hours per week on their sport.
Amazingly, few have disputed that fact. Be assured those hours are going to be cut. The commissioners will see to it. No specifics yet but I'm thinking that some of those voluntary offseason workouts will pretty much be eliminated.
Unquestionably right. The easiest way to avoid unionization is to cut the hours far enough that college players no longer meet the definition of a worker.
But read the whole thing. It's long, but illuminating, and shows that the NCAA is not going to willingly separate itself from the big 5 conferences. Given that they can't continue to let smaller colleges rule the roost, they are doing about the only thing they can.
College basketball
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Alabama Spring game. Hank
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Mike Slive has this right, I think:
SEC commissioner Mike Slive said Wednesday night that there's a simple way to view the reason to have a rule. For as long as anyone can remember, the NCAA manual has been used to create a level playing field. Slive's suggestion: "Make the primacy of what we do the student-athlete."
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Most important, if a school can't afford it, don't allow it to hold back the schools that can. That is the essence of the governance changes that the NCAA is in the process of making. Division I can never level its playing field, and thank goodness it's about to stop trying.
The jealousy and fear of smaller schools are, in large part, responsible for the NCAA mess. Not completely, of course, the bigger schools have left their mark of idiocy (see the recent change in draft deadlines universally panned by every reasoning person). But make no mistake, the smaller schools see legislation as their only refuge from the power of bigger schools, and they wield the hammer of their bigger numbers liberally.
Other sports news
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John Wall and the Wizards made the playoffs. Now comes the hard part.
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I nominate Big Baby for an Oscar for this outburst. In the drama category.
Other news
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Technology to transfer liquid natural gas at sea. This is a fascinating look at innovative technology based on the same process used to refuel aircraft in flight. Via Wild Weasel