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Well, there is never a dull moment here in the Bluegrass when it comes to sports. Wait, that's not true - this Sunday was pretty dull.
Okay, there's rarely a dull moment here in the Bluegrass when it comes to sports, and yesterday was the perfect example. Late in the day, our good buddy Captain Ahab Pete Thamel came out with a "Thar she blows!" heard 'round the college basketball world when he revealed that the NCAA had not quite finished looking into Nerlens Noel from an initial eligibility standpoint. White whale sighted, mateys! Ready on the rhetorical harpoons!
Immediately, high dudgeon and unintended hilarity hit Twitter as foes began assuring all and sundry that John Calipari was once again embroiled in recruiting violations! Here's just one example of thousands:
I am so not shocked there might be recruiting violations for calipari. Every school.
— Peter B (@PodgeSports) August 23, 2012#ncaab.
Never mind the fact that he has never even been accused of recruiting violations, and that the two programs he coached for that got into NCAA trouble did so because of unethical and rulebreaking actions by players, not Calipari. Apparently, though, the rule for the Twitterverse is to never let the facts get in the way of a good tweet.
Tweet of the Morning:
I blame Calipari. RT
— KentuckySportsReport (@MyKSR1) August 23, 2012@vaughtsviews: Unbelievable RT@toddstarnes: Coach faces probe for letting churches provide pre-game meals for team.
You can read the story they are talking about in the Quickies, which follow the jump.
How’d UK get so young? (HINT: Class of 2009) // Kyle Tucker – UK Beat
The abject failure of the 2009 recruiting class, taken as a whole, is how.
Eligibility questions continue to dog three top recruits // USATODAY.com
This is interesting not for its recap of the current questions surrounding for basketball recruits, but for the very last paragraph:
In academic cases, like with Purvis, part of the delay comes because the NCAA goes through clearance for fall sports before winter sports, like basketball.
This actually makes some sense. But the NCAA is so opaque that it's nearly impossible to glean their reasoning for some of the delays.
McDuffen says defense has errors that it must correct before Louisville // vaughtsviews
Lee Ann Herring-Olvedo talks to sophomore Malcolm McDuffen about some things that need fixing in the defense.
Larry Vaught talks about the Marshall County Hoopfest, the Harrison twins, and some other big time players who are likely to attend, like Andrew Wiggins and possibly Cliff Alexander.
Olympic cash muddles NCAA eligibility waters
There is a way to earn money in your sport while being a college athlete. And not only does it conform to NCAA rules, the ruling body encourages it. Go on, take the money. It's easy.
All you have to do is win an Olympic medal.
That's right: under a USOC program called Operation Gold, a gold medal winner gets a check for $25,000, a silver medalist takes home $15,000 and a bronze medal is worth $10,000.
As Han Solo once said, "Easy! You call that easy?"
But of course, as with any NCAA thing that involves money, there are pitfalls for the unwary...
College notes: Former North Carolina coach ordered to turn over phone bill
A judge has ordered former North Carolina football coach Butch Davis to hand over records of calls made on his personal cellphone related to his job duties.
Those could be interesting. I'll bet North Carolina wishes the judge had ruled differently. It seems that whenever you turn around, something crawls out from under another rock in Chapel Hill. Lots of creepy-crawlies could come out of Davis' phone records.
APR benefitting former students?
Since APR began nine years ago, more than 10,000 former NCAA student-athletes who left college early to pursue careers in professional sports have returned to school and completed degrees.
It's not clear to me what the APR has to do with the above fact, but this article does mention a UK baseball player who returned to get his degree, which is good. Still, if you can draw the connection between that and the APR, you're smarter than I am ...
Why do schools act all outraged when Kentucky decides to pursue one of their recruits? Fear, I think...
Stay away from Towns, Dookies! He's ours, I tell ya, ours!
Oops, sorry, I was momentarily possessed by a Syracuse fan.
Look out! A Tony Trocha mention!
School Under Fire For Allowing Churches to Feed Football Team // FOX News & Commentary
"Taking public school football teams to church, even for a meal, is unconstitutional," wrote FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel. "This program is an egregious violation of the Establishment Clause and must cease immediately."
Seidel said taking school children to churches and having ministers "present the Gospel of Jesus Christ" and having the food blessed "shatters the protections the First Amendment put in place."
* Sigh *.
- Everybody’s favorite private investigator, Pete Thamel, released new information regarding the NCAA’s investigation of Nerlens Noel’s eligibility. Rob Dauster tells it like it is, sorry Kentucky but you’re not THAT special
Can anyone decipher this for me? Maybe I'm having an attack of stupid today, but I just can't quite figure out what the part about, "... you're not THAT special" is supposed to mean.
Dauster's commentary, which I plan to discuss later as part of a larger post, doesn't draw any conclusions about UK being "special." Well, maybe it will come to me later.
My appearance on "Speaking On Sports" talking Kentucky football
I'm on about halfway through the program. Very enjoyable show.