A Sea Of Blue

Notes from the press conference 5/10/2008

Truzenzuzex — Sat, 10 May 2008 16:01:50 -0000

Nothing earth shattering here. The big news is that Jasper has pretty much decided to leave. It should be finalized this week.

Other tidbits:

Williams has been granted an unconditional release, which we knew.
Meeks is progressing nicely from his surgery
Patterson is out of his cast. Doctors are encouraged by his progress. He will be in a walking boot for 4-6 weeks.

Those are the most interesting details. More details to follow later.

Patrick Patterson

Crow — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:46:41 -0000

If you test a man, boil him down until nothing is left except the thing that makes him take one more step when all others around him have fallen, then you are left with the reason why grown men love sport.

Absent war, sport is the single greatest instrument for revealing character in a man. Politics, love, intellectual pursuit…. All pale in comparison to sport for revealing the fabric of our will when condensed under pressure and layed bare before frothing masses. Some are granite while others crumble to nothingness and trickle away like the ball squirting behind a fragile and broken Bill Buckner.

In one instance the entire measure of a man's life becomes due. Like soldiers on a battlefield, it's not until the ultimate questions are asked do you know whether or not you have what it takes to go over that wall. All the training, all the preparation, all the hard work mean nothing when the final bill comes due and you are lacking.

In sport, as fans, we watch and wait. Sifting through countless hours of ho-hum viewing. Watching and waiting to see if one of those rare moments present themselves where one man will be asked the questions and we hold our breath collectively and await the answers. No movie, no play, no other form of entertainment can compare to those intoxicating moments.

Rarer still are those players that are born for such moments. Pete Rose, hatless, rounding third and heading for home under a full head of steam. Mohammed Ali pacing the canvas like a caged lion staring through an invincible George Foreman on a steamy night in Africa. Joe Montana with a minute and thirty-nine seconds left on the clock in the Super Bowl.

Patrick Patterson is such a player. Inside Patterson's cast iron heart winning and losing are not statistics, they are life and death. Patterson, as in all truly great athletes, takes defeat personally. Long after all hope of winning has vanished the great ones play on because the very thought of losing is hateful and an affront. Men like Patterson play because they must play. In some ancient primordial swamp when men clawed for their existence against great beasts of prey, Patrick Patterson still roams.

Loincloth, club, or basketball, he would still be the same man. Patterson is the perfect sum of a million years of evolution. A modern savage at war upon the sterile battlefield we call an arena.

Thousands of years ago we roared in approval as the strongest and most gifted among us went forward to slay great beasts in the night. Centuries later we still feel that connection. That admiration. So the next time you stand at a game in a big moment, maybe it's okay to go ahead and let out your best roar. Scream savagely and perhaps you too can feel that ancient connection to why grown men love sport. We were born to.

Issues & Questions ...

JL Blue — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:46:55 -0000

Hey there,

Lots of changes, obviously ... and while there are notes on the main page about who to contact with issues, it's sort of confusing, I know.

So if you have questions, suggestions, issues that you want addressed, post them here and we can pursue them vigorously...

ISSUE #1:
REMOVE Duke ringtones as ad on KENTUCKY SITE...for the love of jiminy...if htey can't control this, they got problems across the network ... rivalries are what college sports are all about!

Welcome to the new A Sea Of Blue and SB Nation

clockwerks — Fri, 09 May 2008 08:19:36 -0000

Good morning and welcome to the new A Sea of Blue, guys and gals. Below, you will find a very informative post from Trei Brundrett, the guy who managed the overall process of SBN2 development and migration. It has been a huge undertaking, but Trei and his team have done a fabulous job with this new platform, and I expect it to deliver a far better blogging experience to our users.

Be sure and migrate your account right away, it is really easy. When you're done, study the post below and begin enjoying our new home. Don't be afraid to break anything, just take your time. The interface is very intuitive, but like all software, it isn't without its little quirks.

Have fun! Do what you do. I'll be bringing up a new post soon.

Tru

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Hey A Sea Of Blue,

Today is the big day. We've switched your community over to the new SB Nation sports blog platform. My name is Trei, and I'm here to help you get adjusted to the new home we've built for you. If you have questions or trouble with the new system, post a comment in this thread and myself or one of the team (lovitt, sixfoot6 or odacrem) will try to point you in the right direction.

Before we begin, I want to let you know we still consider this a beta platform, so don't be surprised if you find a few bugs or if everything isn't exactly right yet. We hope you'll take the time to report any problems you encounter at bugreport@sbnation.com. We'll be continuing to make changes and improving things.

Please take a few minutes to read about what's new below. But if you just can't wait to jump in, here are some quick things to check out:

Sign up for your SB Nation network account and claim your old blog accounts
Once you're logged in, press your Z key in any thread with new comments
Explore your dashboard and setup your profile
Read the guide to the new FanPost editor
Install the FanShot bookmarklet and post videos to A Sea Of Blue from YouTube or images from Flickr
Click the "Rec" button on posts and comments to help other people find the good stuff.
Customize display options on your Edit Settings page

What Has Changed

SB Nation Network Accounts - the Big Change

Readers across all of our blogs told us they wanted one account to use on every SB Nation blog. To make this work, we're requiring that everyone create a new SB Nation network account. In most cases you should be able to keep your old username, but a few of you may have to choose something new, since every other community in SB Nation will be going through this same transition. We tried to be as fair as possible in deciding who gets to keep which name, using a formula that takes into account length of membership and frequency of activity.

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to participate on all of our blogs, but we don't want to encourage everyone to start visiting rival team blogs and initiating flame wars. To maintain friendly communities we ask that you explicitly join each blog in order to participate. It's a two-click process, but it does means accepting each blog's community guidelines. Just as you join each blog individually, you can be banned on each blog individually.

You can claim old accounts from multiple SB Nation blogs, and your new username will be retroactively attached to all your old comments and diaries. So now you'll be able to access all your writings from your single profile page... like magic.

To get started, click here to claim your old blog accounts and create a new SB Nation network account.

FanPosts (the Section Formerly Known as Diaries)

We changed their name. Why? Because we took this major upgrade as an opportunity to leave behind some vocabulary that never made much sense for a sports blog. SB Nation is the network of, by and for fans, and these are the blog posts we make. So we call them FanPosts. When you're at a bar telling someone to check out your online sports opinions, you don't have to suggest they read your diary.

FanPosts are displayed differently on the homepage - we include your avatar to give more credit for the time you spend writing great posts. The new post editor has a WYSIWYG view that provides easy formatting. It also auto-saves drafts so you don't have to worry about losing your work when you compose a post within the web browser. And you can now associate teams, players and games with your posts: these tools promote your FanPosts on our new team, player and game pages - across the entire network.

The new system does not work like the old diary editor. For example, in HTML mode the new editor doesn't auto-create a new paragraph from two line breaks. But it does offer a whole array of new features. Look for the blinking help button on the right side of the FanPost editor for quick tips, and take a look at our full guide to writing FanPosts on the new platform.

IMPORTANT - if you write your posts in Microsoft Word or some other off-line editor, you will get the most reliable behavior if you cut & paste your post into the HTML view of the FanPost editor. And if you do that, remember to wrap <p></p> tags around each paragraph so your text doesn't run together.

Visual Redesign

This one is probably the most obvious change of all. Like other major websites working to improve readability for their audience, we've adopted a fixed-width layout optimized for the 1024 x 768 resolution used by the majority of A Sea Of Blue and SB Nation network users. Use the switcher below the user menu if you prefer the wider layout designed for 1280 monitors. We've introduced a top navigation bar with quick links into old and new sections of the site. We also polished a few edges, made some things larger, others smaller and moved a few boxes here and there. More changes and adjustments to come.

Search

We've completely replaced the old search engine with a new one. We're excited to make it easier to find old posts and comments, but we've only taken our first pass on the tools we're offering. We're focused on making search even better than what you had before, so please know that we're aware search is missing key features and we're working on it.

What's New

Schedule, Scores, Stats and Roster

A Sea Of Blue now has all the basic information about the Kentucky Wildcats and hundreds of other teams. During games you'll see a regularly updated line score, and as the season progresses we'll track team stat totals and leaders. This is just our first step, so look for us to publish more detailed and archival stats in the future. The best part about all this sports data is that we've integrated it directly into the blog so. We now have special pages that aggregate all blog posts written about games, players and teams.

Recommending FanPosts

Some writing deserves more attention and more conversation. If you want to bump a FanPost up to the top and keep it there for awhile, just click the 'Rec' link under the body of the post. When a FanPost receives enough recommendations it will make the recommended list.

Auto-refreshing Comments

You no longer need to refresh the page to see new comments. If you're logged in, new comments will automatically appear on the page every few seconds. When you post a comment, the page will not refresh either. If you want to quickly cycle through all the new comments, you can press the C key on your keyboard. Unmark a new comment after you've read it with the X key. And use the Z key if you want to umark comments as you're cycling through them.

As you use these shortcuts to cycle through comments, press the R key to reply to the current comment. All these helpful keyboard shortcuts are listed at the top of each comments section for reference.

Recommending Comments

Now you can reward those folks who take the time to look up stats and make smart arguments in the comments. Next to each comment there is an 'actions' link that you can click to find the recommend and flag options.

Flagging Comments

To help the moderators on a site, we've built-in tools that let you flag comments that are spam, trolling or just plain inappropriate. Only moderators can see those flags.

FanShots

Many members of the community just want to post that one link, video, photo or quote, but don't need a full FanPost. We've got you covered: FanShots let you share YouTube videos, Flickr or PhotoBucket photos, quotes from articles, portions of chat transcripts, top 5 lists and simple links. If it's a video or image we'll put a thumbnail on the homepage when you post it.

For those of you who are experienced internet hunter-gatherers of Kentucky Wildcats material, install the bookmarklet onto the links bar of your browser and share FanShots with the community from wherever on the web you find that killer quote or photo.

Avatars

Upload an image so folks can see your custom avatar on your profile, your FanPosts, and all your comments.

Network Profiles

Now that we have unified SB Nation network accounts, your profile will be your central hub for all of your activity on any blogs where you are a member.

Network bar

The top bar stays with you on all SB Nation blogs. It's a quick way to login and logout. When you're logged in, you'll see your avatar and screen name which links to your profile. The icon to the right leads to your Dashboard area where you can edit your settings, profile, account details and any FanPosts or FanShots you've published. As we add more blogs to the new SB Nation network, the My Blogs menu will be a handy way to navigate between the blogs you've joined.

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There are plenty more small changes and additions we've made, so please take a careful look around and explore this new system. We appreciate your patience and hope you'll help us improve the new platform for this and all the other SB Nation blogs.

And in case you missed it, you'll want to start by claiming your old blog accounts and creating a new SB Nation network account.

Off the subject of basketball

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:06:07 -0000

But I just saw Wesley Woodyard's Cat Walk at the Music City Bowl.

Kentucky fans are one amazing group of people be it basketball or football or another sport.

It took him almost 10 minutes to get through that crowd. He was hugging multitudes and signing things for the young kids.

What a great guy and a UK football player.

I wish him the best in the NFL.

Here is the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSGfgI-5KxE&feature=related

Hoosier hysteria

Truzenzuzex — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:12:33 -0000

The Indiana basketball team has completely imploded right in front of Tom Crean.

Only 3 scholarship players will be returning to IU, and (now former) player Eli Holman exploded in Crean's office during a meeting with him yesterday, said to have hurled a potted plant and prompting a call to university police. No charges were filed, and Holman apologized today for his outburst.

I wonder if this is a commentary on the quality of young men Kelvin Sampson associated with the program? Certainly Kentucky had no such catastrophe when Gillispie replaced Smith.

Or perhaps it is a commentary on Crean.

Anybody have an opinion?

Jasper's gone, just read the diary

Austinb83 — Fri, 02 May 2008 04:04:53 -0000

I spoke with a former co worker who has been friends with Derrick Jasper since he arrived at UK and he tells me that Jasper is 100% gone from UK. After his finals were finished this afternoon he made a phone call to the person in question and basically said his goodbyes. He is now gone from Lexington and will not be returning. You can take this as a rumor for now until an offical word is released tomorrow or the next. Its a sad day in the wildcat world and I am sorry to be the bringer of bad news.

Since UK news is slowing...

TrickyD26 — Thu, 01 May 2008 02:00:00 -0000

I just wanted some opinion on a story that isn't getting much coverage down here in ACC land.

This was in the Raleigh N&O today: http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/unc/story/1055122.html

So, the Tarheels have a "voluntary" scrimmage, consisting of the whole team, with the coach watching, during exam week and the NCAA basically doesn't care.

This happened last year when Ray Felton and Sean May played pick-up games with UNC recruits, also a violation, and again nothing happened. Here is that link: http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/unc/story/709830.html

It's really amazing to live down here and see all of the things UNC gets away with. NC State was prohibited from the NCAA tournament after going undefeated because David Thompson, a recruit at the time, played a pick-up game with Stae players. Carolina has a large journalism school and it clearly shows by reading the NC papers.

Jon Hood Update

piketaylor — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:42:56 -0000

Not really diary worthy, but I didn't want to include this in the discussions of Ferguson and Harrelson.

Jon Hood had an official visit at UK a couple weeks ago and really loved it. He went to classes with Jasper and a couple other players and really enjoyed how the players were treated by the fans while on campus and around Lexington. Billy G wasn't there--he was spending his time with Jodie Meeks in the hospital, and that really made a big impression on him. Billy is coming to Madisonville next week, and Jon said that if he'll let him wear #4, he's ready to seal the deal.

Apparently UK is where his father has wanted him to go for quite some time, but hasn't pressed the issue because he wanted Jon to make the decision on his own.

Another interesting note is that Hood really liked Bruce Pearl, but people have been in his ear saying that the chances of Pearl staying for 4 years aren't very high.

This comes straight from people in the know at Madisonville North Hopkins, so take it for what it's worth.

Conversation with Joe B. Hall...

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:21:41 -0000

Former Kentucky basketball coach, Joe B. Hall being interviewed by D.G. FitzMaurice. Joe B. shares stories about Coach Rupp's superstitions and other memories.

Part-1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUrurwGqheE

Part-2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH1WDtJKo2A

Very funny!

Enjoy.

-dCAT-

Coach, is RICHIE gonna play tonight???

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:09:18 -0000

* THIS IS NOT A ONE-LINER! *

New post on YouTube for ya-- Coach, is RICHIE gonna play tonight???

Part-1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2JDrER4hUw
Part-2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU4vm5wl3yY

Enjoy!

-dCAT

OK, this is a FILLER since my post is being rejected for being a "ONE-LINER!"

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Farmer

Richie Farmer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Richie Farmer (born August 25, 1969 in Manchester, Kentucky) is a retired American basketball shooting guard for the University of Kentucky and current Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture. He was the second of three children born to Richard and Virginia Farmer. He is married with three children.

[edit] Basketball career

Farmer was named Mr. Basketball in the state of Kentucky in 1988. He played shooting guard for the University of Kentucky from 1988 to 1992, where he posted career averages of 7.6 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game.[1] Farmer, along with fellow classmen Deron Feldhaus, Sean Woods, and John Pelphrey, became known as 'The Unforgettables.' The jerseys of all four players, including Farmer's number 32, were retired.

[edit] Political career

In 1992, Farmer earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Kentucky with a double major in Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Management.[2] He was elected Commissioner of Agriculture in the state of Kentucky in November 2003, a post he still holds. In his 2007 reelection bid, he stamped himself as one of the future stars of the state's Republican Party, winning by a nearly 2-to-1 margin[3] while the incumbent Republican governor Ernie Fletcher lost by 17 percentage points. He and Trey Grayson, who won reelection as Secretary of State, became the first Republicans to win statewide office in an election won by a Democratic gubernatorial candidate since 1915.[4] In his victory speech, Farmer promised to serve out his full term and remain a Republican; it had been widely rumored that he was considering a party switch.[5]

The Barnstorming Event

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:44:55 -0000

This was brought back this year with great effort from Matt Jones over at Kentucky Sports Radio, and others.

Joe and Ramel seem to be enjoying themselves so much!

There is a video put up today with Joe and Ramel talking about their years playing for UK, and some very nice things regarding Coach BCG and Ky's chances of another championship.

Some other clips on the menu too...damn I will miss those two guys!

"Mr. Wildcat" Bill Keightley, in conversation (Videos)

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:39:47 -0000

The video clips listed below were culled from a VHS tape that I have had since 1998. It was a gift from fellow UK fan, Gary Powers (RIP), who was a great UK and Bill Keightley fan.

You may see them here:

Part-1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWfa3AG89yY

Part-2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF32E-GG05Q

Part-3 (With Winston Bennett)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7qDUKN_DvE

Enjoy!

-d(^..^)

WILDCAT COLA

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 23:38:34 -0000

I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR SOME TIME FOR INFORMATION ABOUT "WILDCAT COLA". IT WAS CANNED IN LAWRENCEBURG, INDIANA BY LEVANS SPECIALTIES, INC. BUT I HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO FIND ANY OTHER INFO. I LOOK AT EBAY EVERY COUPLE MONTHS BUT HAVE NEVER SEEN ONE. I THINK IT IS PROBABLY 20 YEARS OLD OR MORE. THANX FOR YOUR HELP...

How obsessive are we?

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:20:46 -0000

I am just sitting here passing time at work (productivity at its highest) and noticed it's a pretty slow news day so far. So I got to wondering just how UK obsessed is everyone else you visits this site? Obviously most if not all of the people who post here are pretty hung up on Kentucky, but is anyone else over the top? Here's a few questions to see?

Have you ever missed a family function (birthday party, in-laws anniversary, kids sporting event, etc.) because a UK basketball game is on?
Do you have ten or more UK t-shirts/sweatshirts, or better yet 10 or more of each?
Do you have either a. UK checks b. a UK checkbook cover c. BOTH?
Do you have any UK related tattoos?
Have you ever bought anyone you are dating/married to a UK shirt/jersey just because you can't rationalize anyone not wanting one?
Do you have at least one room in your house where the walls are completely decked out with all things Kentucky?
Have you managed to get your significant other hooked on the Cats? To those who married/are dating someone who already bleeds blue, this question doesn't apply, but GOOD JOB! :)
Do you refuse to answer the phone when a friend or family member calls after a loss?
Have you ever got into a heated argument with a fan of a rival school? I'm not talking about a my team is better than your team debate, but an an actual voices raised, "screw (fill in the blank) university shouting match."
Do you visit ASoB on a daily basis way more times than you care to say, even if it's just to check out any new comments?

New NBA rule

TrickyD26 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:30:05 -0000

What does everyone think about the NBA's new rule requiring players to stay in college for two years now? I read somewhere that these kids were likely to take the rule and challenge its legality, but wasn't this already done in the NFL?

I had thought that the grey goose drinkin, gun wielding Maurice Clarett ruined it for everyone, but maybe not. Could some of our sharp legal minds here at ASoB set me straight please?

Assuming the rule sticks, It seems it would be beneficial to the great recruiters (BCG), but also reduce some of the parody in college hoops. The increase in talent level would lessen the emphasis on great coaching and make the recruiting trails even more ruthless (Bruce Pearl).

Any posters here know Mickey Beard?

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:44:41 -0000

He is originally from C-ville, Ky and he died Monday night while watching the Championship game.
Lived in Louisville for many years...his Mom was a golfing buddy of mine...his bro is Craig Beard in BG...very respected ortho specialist with sports injuries.

He was just 47 years old...heart related...his dad died back many yrs ago when I had not been in C-ville too long...heart.

Anyone out there??

Who is our bracket champion?

Truzenzuzex — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:17:30 -0000

I know it ain't me. :-)

TrickyD, where are you?

Who to be pissed at....

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:28:54 -0000

Oh crap - here I go - I don't know who to loathe more

Here's facts. I live in Memphis, and let me tell you the last week has been hell!!!! Watching all these bandwagon riders has been painful. You nevel see Memphis flags or T-shirts before this last 5 days. I guess it speaks volumes for the UK fan's dedication, but nevertheless just irritates me. OK - that should speel that part out for everyone. Now - CBS - while I applaude their decision to include Bill Keightley on "One shining moment" - they showed him IN FREEDOM HALL!!!!!!!!. I think it would have been better to leave him off all together, I know he is PISSED. I guess Billy Packer had the final cut on that segment. It is most upsetting to see the face of UK basketball put in focus on national TV in Cheatum Hall. Very sad to me... BUT - the great news is that a RESPECTED, NON THUG TEAM won tonight. If you all only knew the antics of the Memphis team.... and the Calipari cry fest begins - blame your team Cal - cause you are always perfect. HA HA HA

Just Embarassing...

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:12:52 -0000

In an attempt to get a Louisville Cardinal fan perspective on the passing of Mr. Keightley I ventured over to cardchronicle.com While scanning through their stories I found a particularly disturbing one. According to their site Scotty Hopson's myspace has been bombarded by comments from UK fans.
It embarrassed me to be a member of the UK fan base after reading some of those comments but, I reminded myself this is a small percentage of the fan base just acting up. However, it was pointed out that a current UK football player had some words for Mr. Hopson as well. After reading through comments (as if they weren't bad enough) I stumbled across Curtis Pulley's comment left on Scotty's myspace. The message was:

"congrats on making it out of hoptown man, just keep up the hard work and you'll make it big one day, dont listen to all of these UK fans on here man, they will turn your back on you faster than anything and they think the world begins and ends with UK basketball, you made the right choice in going to UT. You hold down Hoptown on the court and I'll hold it down on the field. Once again congrats and keep up the good work boi."

I'm certainly aware that it may not be his myspace but seeing the UK "fan's" comments and then that it makes me wonder more and more if it's not the coaching staff that's hurting recruiting but instead the University of Kentucky fans as well. I realize the nation's 14th best recruiting class isn't exactly bad recruiting but it's nowhere near where it used to be and maybe the small eprcentage of fans is to blame. Just a few thoughts I had.....