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Today is a one-game playoff between the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates for the right to be the National League's wild-card entry in the playoffs.
Tweet of the Morning:
The Cats' D-Ends, Za'Darius Smith and Bud Dupree are 2nd and 8th in league sacks category with 4.5 and 2.5, resepectively.
— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) October 1, 2013
The wages of hiring a defensive coordinator as head coach.
Your Quickies:
Kentucky football
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Ira Coombs talks about the Florida-Kentucky game, calling it "much different" from other recent Kentucky-Florida contests.
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Kentucky doesn't have a "quarterback controversy," it has a "quarterback quandary." I really wish, and I have been calling for this for some time, that they would simply move Whitlow to wide receiver, make Smith the QB, Patrick Towles the backup, and Whitlow the special situations/3rd string QB in a role similar to Florida's Trey Burton.
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Kentucky has struggled on third and one. I think it's because, in large part, they have been either too predictable or too tricky.
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Kentucky offers Minnesota 3-star tackle Frank Ragnow. He's a big boy who will only get bigger.
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Verdontae Wilkinson from Madison, Ohio lands a UK offer. Wilkinson is a weak side defensive end, and is kind of a typical Kentucky recruit.
Kentucky basketball
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John Calipari breaks down his formula for returning the Wildcats to prominence:
Calipari then explained how he corrected last season's unfixable problems. After heightening the drama by asking reporters if they were ready to hear the secret, the UK coach lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper and said, "Better players. More of them."
Pretty good idea, I'd say.
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This is an interesting Q&A with John Calipari, and one of the things to come out is that Alex Poythress is currently suffering from a hamstring injury:
Has Alex Poythress made the strides you hoped for? He’s way better, but the guys around him are way better. But he’s made strides. I’m happy too. This summer going against Julius (Randle) every day…You know, that’s a handful, that’s going against like a 6-9 Michael Kidd-(Gilchrist) every day, where he’s not slowing down, he’s trying to dunk every ball one you. You don’t feel like playing today, or ‘I don’t feel like embarrassing anybody,’ well, the choice is you embarrass him or he’s embarrassing you. It ain’t about not embarrassing anybody. You embarrass him or he’s embarrassing you. So now all of the sudden you start changing, you’re like ‘Whoa, how do I do this? What do I do?’ He’s done fine. He’s got a hamstring right now, so he hasn’t played since we’ve been back, but he’ll be fine. [my emphasis]
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Tickets for UK-Michigan St. and SEC tournament are on sale now.
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Calipari: "[Harrison twins] DNA the same. They can look at each other and they know what the hell they are talking about. I asked those two (Puerto Rican players) to come in, and I had two Dominican kids on my team who spoke Spanish, so I had them come in and I asked them, ‘How do you say ‘FU’ in Spanish?’ and I made them all say it. How do you say your are an a–hole? I went through all this. I said if I ever hear that stuff pointed to me, you are out of here. I just want you to know."
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Nice write-up about James Young in the Kentucky Kernel. I think Young is really going to surprise people with his versatility, and his defense.
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Aaron Harrison likes the "toughness" of Rajon Rondo, and hopes to meet him. Well, you're in the right place, kid.
Other Kentucky sports
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Cally McCumber wins her second consecutive cross-country meet, lead UK to a second-place finish a the Oklahoma St. Cowboy Jamboree.
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The UK volleyball team, currently #18, defeats Alabama in Tuscaloosa. UK is 10-3 overall and 2-0 in conference.
Links posts
College football
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Could Vanderbilt's James Franklin be considered for the USC job?
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Jack Del Rio, Chris Petersen are the favorites to replace Lane Kiffin at Southern Cal.
College basketball
Other sports news
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Michael Kidd-Gilchrist talks about last season:
"I was disappointed in myself," Kidd-Gilchrist said at media day, on the eve of training camp Tuesday morning at UNC Asheville. "It wasn’t the losses. I like all my teammates and we bonded a lot. I was mad at myself. I set goals and I didn’t reach any of the goals that I set. All my life I did that and last year I didn’t reach one goal.’’
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DeMarcus Cousins is giving back to local charities after signing his max deal with Sacramento.
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Danny Trevathan and Wesley Woodyard are making noise in the NFL. Amazing how many quality linebackers UK has sent to the big leagues.
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Surge reported in sports-related head injuries among children. That's a troubling trend.
Other news
- University of Kentucky linguist records a short story in an ancient language.