Morning Newspaper May 2nd, 2009 -- Kentucky Derby Edition

It's a rainy Derby day here in Kentucky, and we are settling in for a day of racing and relaxing.

I Want Revenge, the morning-line favorite, scratched from the Derby today.  He "took a couple of lame steps."  I hope he's OK, and the trainers and owners are to be commended for placing the health of the animal above the biggest race in horseracing.

The Los Angeles Times has some hats of the Kentucky Derby for us.  That first one is wild, but the third one made me laugh out loud.  I managed to win only one race out of the four or five I bet yesterday, but my wife hit a trifecta for $75 and just missed on another.  Overall, we wound up just slightly ahead for the day.  It should be fun today as well.

I knew Rachel Alexandra was likely to win the Oaks, and I expected her to win pretty big.  I did not expect her to crush the field by 20 lengths on a hand-ride.  That was literally a Secretariat-esque performance that has everyone wondering what would happen if she were running today instead of yesterday.  I am inclined to think the result would be similar, based on recent work and what I saw yesterday.  But we will forever be forced to speculate.  I do wonder if she will wind up in the Preakness, though, which would seem to be a perfect spot for her.

And now, the news.

UK Basketball News

• Mike Casey introduced into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame.  Rest well, Mike.  We will never forget you.
• Tom Crean and John Calipari are involved in a friendly Twitter rivalry for most followers.  I actually like the sample messages Crean is sending.  I like Calipari's also, but I have received the same tweat half a dozen times.  That's not very inspiring.  Crean may be repeating tweets too, I don't know.
• This ACC Insider article encourages John Wall to go to UK, and implies that the ACC schools are just plain too good for him.  I hope Wall's reading it.
• Rush The Court breaks down the early NBA entries.  Some very good commentary in this post, in case you missed it below in the news feed.
• The Loathsome Troll Jeff Goodman ranks UK #3 next year, under the assumption John Wall decides to matriculate.  I am flattered by that lofty ranking, but I am more skeptical of such a young, albeit talented team.

UK Football News

• Mark Story talks UK-U of L football.  By his analysis, which looks reasonable to me, UK ought to have the advantage.  It would be really, really cool to beat U of L three straight times.
• Joker, I believe.  Brooks?  No way.
• Tim Masthay signs with Indianapolis.

Other UK Sports News

• Kentucky defeats UT in the first game of a three game tilt.  This series is big for both teams.
  

NCAA Sports News

• Searching for Billy Edlin questions the recent signing of Renardo Sydney by Mississippi State.
  

Other News of Interest

• Tiger Woods falls back at Quail Hollow.