The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Small Sports Edition

Today, we will lead off with a few of the items from the smaller UK sports, or at least, the UK sports which do not earn the kind of $$ that football and basketball earn.  There is quite a bit of good news in that area.

Leading off (pardon the pun), we have Bat Cats left-hander James Paxton deciding to eschew the major leagues (namely, the Blue Jays) for another season in Blue and White.  Paxton is one of our best pitchers, and his return to the rotation will be huge for next year's baseball team.

Our second item is UK volleyball, which is picked to finish second in the SEC.  UK's volleyball team has been rising of late, and it is nice to see them continuing to make headlines.

Finally, Barry Rice of the UK soccer team is tabbed as pre-season defensive player of the year.

Now, for the rest of the news:

Top Stories

• UK basketball schedule to be released on WYMT Thursday night
  Finally.

• UK's Cobb to see back specialist
  This was linked in the comments earlier. Plus, Locke practices for half the practice, and Aaron Boyd returns.

• 2010 ESPN College Gameday Sites Announced
  Rush the Court looks at the ESPN Gameday games, and pronounces UK-UT better than Duke-UNC. Dick Vitale is surely shaking his head about that.

• Basketball GameDay returning to Lexington

UK Basketball News

• Who am I?
  I'm a new player on Kentucky's team. I make behind the back dribbles, spins in the lane, three-quarter court assists, reverse dunks, and three pointers.

• Calipari won't walk out, wants fans to show respect
  That's more like it. We don't pay Calipari to teach proper fan decorum, although I totally agree with his take that UK fans should show respect -- not just to Louisville, but to everyone.

• Checking in with Tobias Harris

• Bluegrass State Basketball: UNLV Looking for Big Season from Derrick Jasper
  Great job by BSB keeping us up to date on Derrick Jasper.

• Danny Jett's Inner Circle: The Immortals: UK's 25 'Legends' #12

• From Beijing to the "Greatest Town on Earth", Calipari is the ambassador UK needed
  Rest assured Cat fans, Calipari has no intention of NOT taking the opportunity to wipe the Rupp Arena floor with Pitino's smug face (my paraphrasing, not Calipari's). All he asks is that Cat fans be respectful of Pitino but he admitted to Andy Katz that he "can't control 25,000 people." Heh. Smart, coach. No Cat-herding for you. I think you are in the right job coaching the basketball team.

• Gibbons' new top 175 for '10
  Other UK targets listed: Josh Selby No. 14, C.J. Leslie No. 15, Tobias Harris No. 16, Terrence Jones No. 17, Doron Lamb No. 19, Adreian Payne No. 28, Stacey Poole No. 29, Cameron Clark No. 30, Cory Joseph No. 40, Justin Martin of Indianapolis Lawrence North No. 56, Roscoe Smith No. 60, Jeremy Lamb No. 75 and Keala King No. 115.

• NBA not priority for Cousins
  So sayeth Cousins to Larry Vaught. I hope that doesn't change for a while.

• Vaught's Views: Count ESPN as a believer in UK, Calipari: AMNews.com
  It’s no wonder that noted national columnist Tony Barnhart says there’s no comparison between the hiring of Calipari at Kentucky and Lane Kiffin as Tennessee’s football coach.
  
  "I am not going to say it is not even close, but Kentucky basketball is a franchise in the sport. Tennessee football is great, but it is not Kentucky basketball. For Kentucky to land Calipari was huge," Barnhart said.
  
  Heh. I always thought those comparisons were silly.

• Bluegrass State Basketball: Pat Forde Tweets About UK's Schedule Release
  Heh. Yeah.

• Calipari Talks to Media Yesterday

UK Football News

• Freshman lineman making a big impression
  This is a big boy. I'm talking Alabama big. Wow.

• UK's Davis, Smith battling for 1-game start
  These guys are ready to step in and take a start. Good for them.

• The Most Memorable UK Football Games Since 1983: No. 19

• SEC as Soundtrack: Kentucky - Roll 'Bama Roll
  Kind of cool. I guess in a football conference, Kentucky is a heretic. I can live with that.

• Countdown: Does line experience equal wins? John Clay’s Sidelines
  I actually think it does. A quality line on both sides of the ball will take you a long way. An experienced line will help even more.

• UK calling on in-state prospect
  The Wildcats have not offered a scholarship but will monitor the progress of Behanan. Oklahoma State did offer a scholarship to Behanan last week.

• Hartline learned valuable lessons early
  Good.

• The SEC in 2009: Every game picked, one or two correctly!
  4. Kentucky: Rich Brooks has taken the Wildcats to bowl games the past three seasons, and who said he was a lousy hire? (Actually, me.) This year Kentucky beats Tennessee for the first time since 1984. Regular season: 7-5, losses to Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, Auburn and Georgia. Liberty Bowl: Beats Southern Miss.
  
  Well, what do you think?

• A preview of the Miami (OH) RedHawks, UK's first opponent.

Other UK Sports News

NCAA Sports News

• Renardo Sidney cleared to enroll at Mississippi State - ESPN
  I guess Rick Stansbury knew what he was doing. This makes MSU a big deal in the West, and quite frankly, I suspect a top-25 team.

• SEC on high alert as storm season heats up
  Tryin' to reason with hurricane season.

• Three Gator Freshman Lose Their Stripes
  I don't usually put Florida stuff up here, but I like the method Meyer uses to "initiate" his freshmen, I think it is very old-school. Plus, the author of this blog does good work, and I love to see women blogging sports.

• Fulmer laying low, but wants back in coaching
  Phillip Fulmer plans to spend this football season working for an investment firm, doing some television work and even taking a few weekends off. An investment firm? Really?

• Pitino's no devil compared to other scandals - Beyond the Arc - msnbc.com
  Mike Miller puts Pitino's peccadillo in perfect perspective.

• UK Rivals Tournament, THE FINAL FOUR: #2 Tennessee vs #6 Duke
• John Clay's Big Blue Links.

Other News of Interest

• UofL chief told Pitino to apologize
  So he apologized on orders from the president of the university? Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

• Real Time blogging during "No Reservations – Thailand"
  I love Anthony Bourdain's show, it is always informative, interesting and quirky. I like quirky (as long as it doesn't cross the line into weird).

The Daily Schadenfreude

• Team of the 2000s: #4 – Duke
  Just to remind you of where we have not been for the last ten years.