The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Ryder Cup Edition

The Ryder Cup is in full swing this morning.  I personally attended the last one at Valhalla, and it was one of the singular events in my life.  This one has started rather inauspiciously with a weather delay due to heavy rains.

If you are a Ryder Cup fan, don't miss this piece by Gregg Doyel.  It ought to get your competitive juices flowing, Tiger Woods fan or no.

Now, for the news.

• Kentucky freshman Brandon Knight is Wildcats' workhorse | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal

  Knight might well be a one-and-done talent himself, but he insists that's not his priority. Just because Rose, Evans and Wall jumped to the NBA after one season under Calipari, Knight said, doesn't mean he'll have to.

  Hmm.  We'll see.

• Basketball Blitz – Knight doesn’t mind comparisons to star guards | Vaught's Views

• BBL: No Wildcat Wally this year for Madness John Clay’s Sidelines

  John Clay's Big Blue Links.

• SEC: Vandy tailgaters banned for being too loud John Clay’s Sidelines

  John Clay's SEC links.

• Calipari downplays — yet welcomes — high expectations | KentuckySports.com

  With its record-setting five first-round picks in this year's NBA Draft and the departure of Ramon Harris and Perry Stevenson, Kentucky lost players responsible for 70.3 of the team's 79.3-point scoring average, lost players responsible for 34 of the 41.7-rebound average and lost players responsible for 485 of the 573 assists and 236 of the 273 blocks.

  Those are sobering numbers.  Yet you never know what can happen.

• The Game Plan: Joker Phillips' keys to the game -- UKAthletics.com

• 'Discipline' UK's watchword at Ole Miss | KentuckySports.com

  "I'm sure they'll [Ole Miss] look at the film and say, 'Hmmm a freshman QB ran for five touchdowns on them out of the Wildcat (formation); we've got Jeremiah Masoli. That's what we're going to do,'" Lumpkin said. "If I was a coach, I'd do that. I'd line up in the Wildcat until we stopped it. We've got to be prepared for it. They've watched film. That's our résumé, and they've seen it."

  Yeah, Ricky, that's pretty likely.  And unless you and the rest of the defense learn to stop that kind of offense, you might just see it every game from now on.

• The Leach Report Podcasts

  Be sure to check out the new interviews Tom has up on his site.

• Forgotten Nazr Mohammed now starter for Charlotte | Vaught's Views

• Rush The Court - Doc’s Kid to Duke: Austin Rivers Commits

  Billy Donovan cannot be happy.  I suppose this shows the pitfalls of taking commitments early.  If you'll remember, Rivers committed to the Gators verbally two years ago.

• Kentucky football practices getting ‘ugly' | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal

  But defensive tackle Ricky Lumpkin said UK is in need of an attitude adjustment, noting that constructive criticism from coaches and teammates is rubbing some players the wrong way."

  There's people that just don't care, or they'll say, ‘Why are you complaining?' " Lumpkin said. "That's what we have a bad habit of right now — people thinking that guys who are trying to help them out are just whining and complaining, when they actually care about the team and want the team to get better."

  So what we have are a bunch of prima donnas?  Good grief, guys, start singing from the same hymnal, will you?

• Rush The Court - Morning Five: 10.01.10 Edition

  Remember the story that class of 2011 uber-recruit Anthony Davis‘ father was requesting $200,000 for the services of his son for one year at the college of his "choice?" Two hundred large seemed like a hefty price tag to us at the time, that is, until we read this piece where a San Diego high school player named Chen Cai reportedly took over $30,000 in gifts from a Chinese marketing company called Zou Marketing.

  Heh.

• Former Cats in the Headlines

  Several former Cats are making headlines as the NBA begins it's preseason. John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Chuck Hayes, and several other Cats have made headlines in the past few days. Here are some articles from some of UK's former players.

  Read the whole thing.

• Rush The Court - Two Michigan State Players Guilty of Poor Judgment, Possibly More?

  This is quite possibly the reverse of the famous Duke case. Instead of innocent players being railroaded by prejudice and a rogue prosecutor, this is a case that, at least according to the victim, a case of prosecutorial cowardice.

  So who do we believe?  I don't know.  He said/she saids are always tough, and there seems to be precious little other evidence.

• Attorneys: Payments to ex-UNC coach were loans - NCAA Football - CBSSports.com

  Attorneys for former North Carolina assistant coach John Blake say there was nothing seedy about loans their client received from longtime friend and sports agent Gary Wichard, and there was never an arrangement to direct players to Wichard once they left for the NFL.

  Uglier and uglier.

• Hold sympathy: College athletes need no paychecks - NCAA Football - CBSSports.com

  College athletes aren't paid like professional athletes, but they're paid. If you didn't know that, well, now you do. Are they paid commensurate of what they're worth to their school? Not all of them, no. A guy like A.J. Green, who helps keep the Bulldogs in the national conversation when he plays -- and who saw the team go 1-3 when he doesn't -- is worth more money to the school than the price of his scholarship. I'm not telling you he isn't.
  
  But what about the Bulldogs' other receivers? And their tight end? And an offensive guard and even that third-string safety, Alec Ogletree, who's on scholarship and who has contributed two tackles in three games. What's he worth?

  Doyel nails it.  This is exactly why we cannot start paying players.  Pay to play would solve nothing.

• Appalachian State to study possible move up to FBS - NCAA Football - CBSSports.com

  And they will probably soon become a very good D-I team if they make the jump.