Here is the player for the Kentucky Derby Festival Classic game, tonight, April 11th at 7:00 PM. It requires the free Microsoft Silverlight framework.

ESPN, multiple local sources reporting Billy Gillispie will not be back as the coach at Kentucky.

The Herald-Leader reporting an 18-minute meeting took place between Gillispie, UK President Lee Todd and others at the President's mansion on campus, after which Gillispie was seen getting into a vehicle with Texas A&M tags and leaving.

More as it comes...

Orestes Meeks, Jodie's father, shares some surprising and interesting comments that make it seem like this was coming for some time, or at least has more behind it than we maybe realized.

Friday was the first day of Foursomes and Four-ball, the part of the Ryder Cup Matches that the USA usually gets way behind in.  I have no idea why this is so, bu historically, the USA has struggled mightily in team play and when they have won, they have done so, by making a comeback in the singles matches.

For those of you unfamiliar with this kind of golf, how it works is this:  In Foursomes, each team of two plays one ball, and the shots are alternated -- i.e. player one hits a drive, and player 2 for the same team hits the second shot, and so on through the green.  Yesterday, the USA was up 3-1 after the Foursomes, with two wins (one point each) and two, "halves," (where the teams end up tied after #18, which gives each team 1/2 point apiece.

In the Four-ball matches, each player plays his own ball and the lowest score is what counts for each team.  In yesterday's Four-ball, the USA once again rose to the challenge with two wins, a loss and a half.  That places the USA ahead after the first day, 5 1/2 to 2 /12, for the first time in six Ryder Cup meetings -- twelve years.

I was fortunate enough to watch all the players at one time or another, as our tendency was to pick a hole and watch all the teams cruise by.  The crowd was electric and huge, and this was only the first day.  I saw a few familiar faces there, including Matt Jones (to whom I introduced myself, but I'm pretty sure he didn't know that I write at A Sea of Blue).

Now, about J.B. Holmes.  I didn't get to see him that much yesterday, but I did during the Four-ball on #16 tee, where I watched him smash a 350+ yard drive into the fairway.  Now, folks, I have been a golfer since I was ten.  I played on my high school golf team and narrowly missed qualifying for the Kentucky State Amateur a couple of times.  I am an above-average golfer, and know what good golf looks like.  But watching someone smash the ball 350 yards in a professional golf tournament is something that I was unprepared for. No wind-aid, no hit-on-the-downhill ground effect adding 50 yards -- he simply flew the ball for 330+ yards and got maybe 20 yards of roll.

Holmes hit the ball so incredibly high, it simply vanished -- I don't think anyone could have seen it.  It wound up 50+ yards ahead of the three other players, and these guys hit great drives.  It was a margin so gaudy and unlikely that it was shocking, utterly gobsmacking to me.  I think a lot of fans just failed to appreciate the magnitude of a drive like that.  I myself have hit 300+ yard drives, but we are talking 310 at the most after a downhill roll or a 20 MPH following wind.  This was a 330+ yard carry in dead-still wind.  Amazing.

Some observations:

• Phil Mickelson is much bigger in person than in TV.  Tight-end big.
• Nothing can prepare you for the violence of J.B. Holmes swing.  As short as it is, the power he generates is impossible to describe or see on TV.
• Sergio Garcia looks the same in person as he does on TV.
• José-María Olazábal, the many-time Ryder Cupper, assistant European captain and frequent partner of Sergio García, is much, much smaller in person.  Tiny little guy.
• The European fans break out into Olé! Olé! far too often, and at weird times.
• Valhalla is a fantastic venue for the Ryder Cup, and the American fans have been spectacularly well-behaved.  It may get worse as we get closer to the end, as it often does, but so far, I have been pleasantly surprised given what we have seen at other Ryders.
• Nick Faldo is a very active, very motivated captain.  Azinger is extremely involved, but less frenetic.  Interesting contrast, given Faldo's extremely stoic mein during his PGA career.
• The Europeans have been very subdued, almost grim.  Given how loose they have been at previous Ryder Cup's it is a strange and unexpected contrast.
• What great weather we have had.  Maybe worse today, but it should be good tomorrow.
• Hearing the remote crowd roars in person is an experience everyone should have.  They are extremely exciting.
• Mickelson made maybe 4 or 5 20+ foot puts.  America really had the flat stick working, and it was a 180-degree reversal from what we have seen the last six or seven Ryder Cups.

I'll be leaving a bit later today, I needed a few morning hours to recover from yesterday.  Walking around a golf course for 12 hours in the sun is draining, and at my age, I have to pace myself.

Well, yesterday was my first day of a four-day stint at the Ryder Cup. The weather was awesome yesterday and the last of the practice rounds were played.  I took a ton of pictures, some of which I hope to share with you today.  From now on, cameras are not allowed on the golf course at Valhalla, so I can't take any more.  I will put up a few today and and the rest later on.

What has this to do with UK, you may ask?  Well, lots.  First of all, a former UK golfer, J.B. Holmes, is on the US Ryder cup team.  Second of all, it is a once-in-a-lifetime event for me to actually see a Ryder Cup live.  Trust me, it's a big deal.

Second, the UK band was there, along with the U of L band, to help launch the opening ceremonies.  As you will see below, I was kind of late to the opening ceremony and didn't have a very good spot, but it was fun nonetheless.

Today, the Foursomes begin.  This is the part of the event that has historically been dominated by the Europeans and the U.S. needs to be competitive in this area if we want to bring the Ryder Cup back from across the Atlantic.

After the jump, some pictures for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy

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Just in case we have some interested parties out there, this is an open thread for the discussion of the NBA draft tonight at 7:30 on ESPN.

If we are going to wait for Joe Crawford or Ramel Bradley to go, we could be up into the wee hours.  But it will be interesting for other reasons.  I will be curious to see if Lofton or Foster get drafted, and whether Beasley or Rose winds up #1 overall.

Post your comments below.

[ED. NOTE: This is a rescued post from December of 2006, but seems relevant enough, given that (a) it took time to compile and (b) it's LOUISVILLE-CATS on Saturday! ... ]

[Originally published Friday, Dec. 15, 2006] ...

With another of the annual grudge match known as the Louisville game nearly upon us, A Sea of Blue takes a quick look back at some of the most memorable games in this storied rivalry.

A State Divided
The day it all began ... again. Having refused to meet since the late 50s, chance and the basketball gods worked it so that Kentucky and Louisville squared off in the NCAA regionals in the spring of 1983 in Knoxville, TN.

That Big Blue squad featured junior big man Mel Turpin and sterling backcourt of Dirk Minnifield and Jim Master. Louisville countered with Scooter and Rodney McCray and Milt Wagner, among others. It was a true heavyweight matchup, and one befitting the first meeting in over 20 years between the arch rivals.

The game was a tight one, and it wasn't over until overtime, after Master nailed a jumper at the buzzer to knot it up. Once the game went into extra time, however, the Cardinals took over, fast-breaking the slower Cats into submission.

It was, and is, still among the greatest games the two teams ever played.

A Rivalry Renewed
It took a threat of legislative action to force UK and UL to meet in the regular season for the first time in ages. The fans wanted it, but the administrations were reluctant to pit one power against another with state bragging rights on the line. But eventually, with the Kentucky legislature talking of stepping in, both sides relented, and this annual I-64 series was born anew.

With a bitter taste still in their mouths from their OT NCAA loss to the Cards the prior year, the Wildcats hosted the Cardinals in the first of the alternating home-and-home trips. Kentucky returned nearly everyone from the previous year, and added now-healthy All-American center Sam Bowie to the mix as well. Louisville had lost some of its star power, but still had the amazing Milt Wagner to lead the troops.

No. 2 Kentucky was too much for the Cardinals on this day, using sharp shooting from Jim Master and the inside strength of Mel Turpin and Bowie to a 65-44 victory in front of a rocking Rupp Arena crowd, which included the Governor, John Y. Brown, Jr., complete with split red-blue baseball cap. Ever the politician, eh?

King Rex and his Court
Don't let the rankings fool you, when UK and UK met on Dec. 27, 1986 at Freedom Hall, the Cats were heavy underdogs. After all, the Cards were the defending national champion, and returned a nucleus of stars led by then-sophomore Pervis Ellison, the MOP of the '86 Final Four. Then again, we all forgot about King Rex.

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Seems Ron has a few anger issues.  From the Courier-Journal online:

More coverage:

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• Pith in the Wind
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• KSR
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• Wildcat Fan Report
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If you have $10,000 burning a hole in your giant pocket, you too can own a significant piece of UK hoops history.

According to this ebay posting, a basketball stanchion and apparatus said to be from Memorial Coliseum is being sold for a cool 10 grand (or similar offer). The pics look like the back of Lexington Christian Academy, so perhaps the University donated them and now the school figures it can get more from them than a few made baskets by scrawny religious teens? Smart move.

Should we take a collection basket around the web?

I volunteer to hold onto the basket for a few years ... I'm sure my wife won't mind since we live in a two-bedroom apartment!