Kentucky Wildcats: Morning Quickies - Election Day Edition

Today is election day in America. Go do your civic duty, and participate in our democratic republic.

Tweet of the Morning:

Thx to all Americans who paid the ultimate sacrifice so we have the freedom to vote today! twitter.com/UKCoachMitchel…

— Matthew Mitchell (@UKCoachMitchell) November 6, 2012

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Kentucky to gauge Rex Ryan's interest in coaching vacancy // The Clarion-Ledger

  In the theater of absurdity that can often be the early stages of a coaching search came this gem from Lexington on Monday: Kentucky plans on talking to New York Jets coach Rex Ryan about its vacant position.

  The rumor was reported by Matt Jones of KentuckySportsRadio.com. It appears that no other outlet is running with the news.

  Heh. This is a dream. Nothing more.

• Pat Forde takes shots at Kentucky // Yahoo! Sports
  Just like you'd expect. He's an equal-opportunity Kentucky basher, not just a Calipari critic.

• Your Head Coaching Candidates, Part 1 Head Coaches // A Sea Of Blue
  It's a long list, but there are good names on there.

• RE: Tony Franklin // A Sea Of Blue

• The SEC's a Hard Road to Travel // A Sea Of Blue

• Joker Phillips will coach Kentucky's final 2 games // Yahoo! Sports
  I figured this would happen. Joker remains a Kentucky guy to the end. He didn't have to do this, but I really appreciate the fact he did.

• Kentucky Football Coach: Willie Taggart, Sonny Dykes In Mix To Replace Joker Phillips
  Willie Taggart, I doubt. He is a WKU alum, and I think he is building something there. We may speak to him, but I suspect he'll stay put.

Kentucky basketball

• You know the rapture is coming when Pete Thamel manages to look fair. Also, check out the entire article, which turns out to be quite timely considering the defense UK played last night.
  
  
• This is why Wiggins is so coveted. Via Sam Henson. :
  

• Calipari wants Noel to be player that blocks shots and not just a shot blocker // vaughtsviews
  Noel's offensive footwork was notably better against Transy.

• Kentuckiana is epicenter of hoops // TheState.com
  Every time I see those neon orange (excuse me -- "infra red") uniforms it makes me want to look the other way.

• Mays continues to show he can do more than score to help Kentucky // vaughtsviews
  I'm just glad he's healthy. We need him to be our best.

• CatsIllustrated.com // Five-star Johnson reclassifies to 2013
  This is big news for UK, because the Wildcats are all over him.

• John Clay: Transy has no answers for Kentucky's defense // Kentucky.com

  "After the game, I apologized to Cal for not scoring more points on them," Lane said. "But I told him, 'You had something to do with that.'"

  I'd say a bit more than "something."

• Jumpstart needed ahead of Cats’ Big Apple visit // The Kentucky Kernel
  What was needed was somebody who could make a jumpshot. Transylvania was really packing it in the lane.

• Final exhibition features scares, but Mays, Cats ready for regular season // CoachCal.com

  Mays was officially diagnosed with a right leg strain and is listed as day-to-day. Kentucky expects to have him Friday night for the regular-season opener against Maryland in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Other UK sports

• Kentucky plays UT Martin in the first round of the NCAA Women's soccer tounament // College Soccer News
• UK Hoops Postmortem: Women Thrash Bellarmine, One-Up The Men // A Sea Of Blue
• Men's Soccer Opens Postseason Play vs. Memphis - UKAthletics.com

Links posts

• Big Blue Links // John Clay's Sidelines
  Mays says he's fine. That's good news.

• A few college basketball links for election morning // John Clay's Sidelines
• The Morning Mix // Troy Machir, CollegeBasketballTalk
• SEC: Could Georgia really win the national title? // John Clay's Sidelines

SEC News

• Arkansas D-G reports B.J. Young suspended two games for team rules violation, including exhibition and season opener.

  — Michael DeCourcy (@tsnmike) November 6, 2012

• Texas A&M vs. Alabama preview // Saturday Down South

College football

• How Alabama, Oregon, and Notre Dame passed college football's gut-check test last weekend // Grantland

  We tend to think of the Nick Saban–era Tide as a cold and merciless killing machine; this is largely Saban's fault, because he comes across as a fastidious and Napoleonic dictator, and I presume he likes it that way. But something happened in the final seconds on Saturday night, after LSU missed a field goal that would have put them up six, after the Tide drove quickly and neatly downfield, after quarterback AJ McCarron dropped a screen pass to T.J. Yeldon, who darted past the blitz and scored the game-winning touchdown. And what happened — and what made Alabama seem, for the first time this season, something like a living, breathing human story — was that their quarterback sat on the bench and bawled his eyes out.

  Good read.

College basketball

• 3-point shot: Transparency at Marquette // ESPN

Other news

• Albrecht Stahmer on the NBA: U of L will start to push back as influential proponents gain support // Insider Louisville
  That's because U of L is looking to take the Yum! center from the taxpayers for their own private piggybank.

• KyForward /// "I really need all of you to help get the word out..." -- Coach Cal