The first stage of the Tour de France today produced a lot of fireworks. Mark Cavendish, trying desperately for the stage, caused a crash that may put him out of the race.
Here are the team by team outlooks for this year's TDF by Podium Cafe:
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Your Quickies:
Kentucky football
Kentucky basketball
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Paul Prather writing for the Herald Leader has an article today about cognitive dissonance, but he can't quite put the proper name to it. He starts with the fact his father, a minister and ethical man, reacted with violent opprobrium when his beloved UK Wildcats were accused of scandalous behavior by the Herald-Leader back during the Eddie Sutton regime. Consider:
You encounter people who think it's patriotism to defend their country's policies, even when their country is sanctioning torture. Or they'll fight you to the floor over their church's holiness, even when the church has acted dishonorably.
I don't know why this is.
Let me help. This is called "cognitive dissonance," and it happens when we are faced with two contradictory beliefs. This normally happens when people want to believe one thing about something important to them and are faced with a set of facts that contradicts what they want to believe.
It is a difficult problem to overcome. Usually, the person experiencing the dissonance will resolve it by rejecting, and usually rationalizing the discordant set of facts, as we have with Prather's father. Dealing with the dissonance by accepting the discordant facts requires a lot of effort and a strong desire to deal with objectivity, rather than live in subjectivity.
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2016's Udoka Azubuike mixtape. He's on UK's radar:
Hat tip: NBC Sports
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2016's Derryck Thornton's mixtape, also drawing UK interest:
Hat tip: NBC Sports
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Andy Katz talks about Kentucky in his latest three-point shot. Calls Kentucky's schedule "loaded." I don't think there's any doubt about that.
Links posts
College football
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A kerfuffle has erupted in Texas over an article critical of Charlie Strong by ESPN's Travis Haney. Wescott Eberts assails Haney's piece here, asking what look like good, legitimate questions. Over to you, Travis ...
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Speaking of Texas — WTF? Over.
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Vegas not especially high on Louisville's chances to win the ACC championship. Well, to be fair, there's Florida State, Miami and Clemson in the way.
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Team Speed Kills ranks SEC units, this time the defensive lines. I think Kentucky is a bit low here, but to be fair, Brandon points out that he might be a little on the low side if C.J. Johnson works out. Roll 'Bama Roll has their effort here, but allows users to rank each subgroup.
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A look at possible College Football Playoff teams from the SEC during the BCS era.
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It's not uncommon to see football players charged with crimes, but this one is a touch unusual.
College basketball
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Five NCAA basketball coaches with the most to prove next season. I think I would have included Donnie Tyndall over Cuonzo Martin. Hat tip: Real Clear Sports.
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Kyle Wiltjer talks about restarting his career at Gonzaga, but still has a good relationship with Coach Cal:
It helped that through the transition, Kentucky coach John Calipari was supportive, telling Wiltjer that he’d love for him to stay but understood there might be a better opportunity for him elsewhere. Wiltjer remains in touch with Calipari, saying that they have a good relationship and that he rooted for the Wildcats during their run to the 2014 national title game, though it felt weird cheering hard for two different teams.
Other sports news
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Remember Dee Bost? Here's what he's doing these days.
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The Bucks plan to pursue Eric Bledsoe. He's going to get a lot of interest.
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Nerlens Noel's first basket. A dunk. Plus this:
Nerlens Noel finishes his first NBA game with 19 points and 4 steals. He's telling the NBA TV guys that he's much stronger. No doubt...
— Steve Moss (@smosswkyt) July 5, 2014 -
Marquis Teague impresses in his first Summer League game. He's going to be good one day, but he should still be here.