Morning Newspaper for January 16th

The next game the 'Cats have is against the Bulldogs of Georgia.  Dennis Felton's team has always given Kentucky fits with their Body Armor brand of defense and physical toughness.  The Dawgs gave Florida quite a game the other day, and I expect them to be very tough in Athens.

And now, the news.

Kentucky Basketball News

• Dick Gabriel on Jodie Meeks' recent eruption.  He watched the game from what appears to be a BW3 by his description along with Cameron Mills, Kyle Macy and some other sportscasters.  Seems Cameron fears that Meeks might eclipse his records, too.  To find out which ones, read the whole thing.
• GhostofNeyland defends Bruce Pearl against the Big Orange fans, some of whom are apparently ready to chuck him over the side before he has a chance to right the ship.
  
  I haven't really been playing attention to Vol angst over Tuesday's game, although I do assume that there is a significant amount for several reasons, not the least of which is that Kentucky is considered a rival (and quite honestly, Tennessee is the only school in the SEC with a decent case to make for that claim), and that it's really embarrassing to watch your team lit like Rockefeller Square Center at Christmas 12,547 times on Sports Center.  Trust me, we Kentucky fans who have to watch that confounded Laettner shot every single year overandoverandoverandover ad infinitum  know what it's like to have a painful memory ground into a wound so often it never gets a chance to do anything but suppurate.
  
  As everyone who has read this blog for a significant amount of time knows, I loathe Bruce Pearl.  I dislike him intensely.  But that doesn't mean I'm blind to the fact that he is a very, very good coach, and he has changed the culture in Tennessee basketball from that of a perennial also-ran to a genuine winner.  That is a fact, personal detestation notwithstanding.  Ghost makes a great point and one that all college fans should occasionally refresh their memory with.  And just in case you are unsure, ThirdSaturdayInBlogtober is one of the great SEC sports blogs to be found anywhere.  If you don't read them regularly, you should.  Great writing knows no team.
  
  
• Gate 21 has a very rational look at the Meeks Eruption.  Sometimes, there just is no defense, whether your team actually plays defense or not.
• Meeks coming out our ears.  John Clay has more, more, and more Meeks.  Can we ever get enough?  Not yet.
• Darius Miller is climbing out of his freshman funk, according to Jerry Tipton.  I knew he would. 
• Gillispie is OK with Patterson's recent scoring slide.  Hey, he did a great job on the boards at Tennessee, and we didn't need his points.
• Even more Meeks.  Good piece, but can we stop with the whole, "inherit the earth" thing now?  I have seen this totally obvious headline at the top of at least a dozen news articles and blog posts.  C'mon, people, how about a modicum of original thinking about your ledes.  Jeez.
• Matt Jones Rob Gidel has a ton of stuff, including a promotion for Randy Sanders to ... something.  Anyway, always a good read.

Kentucky Football/Other UK Sports-Related News

• Women's basketball adds a quality transfer from LSU.
• Dick Gabriel will host the National Guard Border Bowl banquet.  The Border Bowl is a game between the top players in Kentucky and Tennessee.
• The Capstone Report has a fun post placing SEC football coaches in the roles of CEO.  Check out where Brooks winds up.
• For those thinking to compare Meeks to Maravich -- don't.

NCAA Basketball News

• The Golden Gopers run down Wisconsin in Madison.  Big win for Tubby Smith & Co.  More here.
• Suckage at Indiana is producing suckage in the fan base.  This guy calls Indiana fans out.  Warning -- language.
• DeMar DeRozan is really good.

NCAA Football News

• How parade-worthy are the 2008 Utah Utes?
• Hugging Harold Reynolds is on fire.  In this post, he translates the bloviation of Texas Congress-critter Joe Barton, who just proposed the College Football Playoff Act of 2009, proving once again that addressing serious problems like a worldwide recession, two foreign wars and terrorist lurking under every rock won't get you half the attention that college football will in the state of Texas. [via Gate 21]
  
• A Fulmer Cupdate coming?  Oh, wait ...

Other News of Interest

• Joe Crawford goes off for 44 points.  15-25?  That's almost Meeks-esque.  Erik Danies continues to score like crazy.  That and lots more interesting stuff over at Ridiculous Upside.
• I know people watch this show, but I never have.  I get enough reality every day.