Kentucky Wildcat Lynx: The News In Blue

OK, so it's not the best title I ever came up with. I considered Blue Bayou and Jadevon Clowney's Pain Pages, but those didn't work for me. And since this is now my little corner of the world, listen up BBN. The game is about to change. As your new bringer of quotable quotations, nasty newsgrams, Big Blue Bombshells and pics of the people that Coach Cal buries everyday by Tweet, I am hereby going to bring a few new twists and turns to the mundane task of making the rest of the world of college sports feel our wrath. And now, on with the news.

Lynx (liNGks):

noun 1. a wild cat with yellowish-brown fur (sometimes spotted), a short tail, and tufted ears, found chiefly in the northern latitudes of North America and Eurasia.

In case any of you wondered why I chose the little play on words in our title, well, it comes from my childhood, and possibly yours as well. (besides, Glenn didn't like Big Blue Bombs Over Broadway)

Feel free to have a listen as Mr. Jerry Clower breaks it down for you. And for the "politically correct" amongst us, the term "coon" refers to raccoon. It is used in no derogatory terms whatsoever, and I would not use it if it did so.

I still laugh. but only because I have seen something like that first hand. Now, if good, clean, southern-fried, comedy is not your style, you can fast-forward to the 5:45 mark or so and you will have your answer. For the rest of us who like a good belly laugh in the morning, let it run. Oh yeah, either finish your coffee before you listen, or do not point your nose at your computer screen. You have been warned.

Unfortunately, the BLUE Lynx today are fairly thin. Not a lot going on in the world of Wildcats today. Everyone is saving up for the weekend I guess?

Now, I have to confess, I do not keep up on Twitter as much as Glenn obviously does, nor do I have a burning desire to do so. However, in the interests of some level of continuity I bring you my version of the "Tweet Of The Day":

Stopped by the Nutter Training Center today and got to see some great people that made our stay here special. Support Stoops he will do it!

— Rich Brooks (@UKcoachbrooks) October 15, 2013

If it's good enough for Rich, it's good enough for me. Will I follow blindly, never asking questions or raising points I feel are valid? Not on your life! But I really like Stoops approach, attitude, and how he has gotten this team to believe in itself despite their shortcomings. Go Cats!! And yes, I will ask Glenn how to do it the fancy way with all the bells and whistles tomorrow! Now, on with our show.

Oh yeah, I heard a little more news on the Washington Redskins "Politically Correct" name change dilemma. After much anxiety and hand-wringing, it seems that Dan Snyder has come to a decision about their name. They will be changing their name to the "American Redskins". They dropped "Washington" from their name due to the fact that it was becoming an embarrassment for them to force their fans to say "Washington".

It seems as though UT Chancellor Jimmy Cheek is not a fan of The University of Tennessee Marching Hound Dogs. Cheek fired the Band Director for "whining" about the band's playing time. You mean to tell me that not even the band at Tennessee can get any playing time?? I cannot imagine what he would have done to him for complaining about having to wear all that orange.

No matter who you trust for your rankings, they pretty much all have the same thing to say about the Kentucky Wildcats' Football Schedule this year: It's been murder. Kentucky gets 3rd in the nation for their strength of schedule from both Sagarin and Anderson and Hester. I knew it was ugly, but that's just downright unfair to do that to a first year head coach. Also, all three of the top schools? SEC. And just so you know all rankings are not correct, however, the SEC media poll is out for Women's Basketball. Somehow, those wonderful pundits of punctuation have decided that Kentucky is only good enough to be ranked #2 behind Tennessee. I guess they have somehow decided that "Forty Minutes of Dread" is not enough. Bulletin board material Matthew, bulletin board material.

In case you are in Siberia, on lockdown in a federally guarded facility, or lost in the woods and didn't know it, Friday night is Big Blue Madness. ESPNU is going to feature some of the best college basketball programs in the country on their annual Midnight Madness Special. The Kentucky program will be heavily featured including a visit from Jimmy Dykes and Darrin Horn that begins at 7:30 on ESPNU/ESPN3. But today, you can catch a glimpse of BBM fever by picking up your Blue-White game tix. They go on sale at 9:00AM.

I am not sure how I feel about this one, but the SEC has evidently chosen Nashville as the pseudo-permanent home of the Men's SEC Basketball Tournament. No more "Catlanta" after 2014? Evidently not for a very long time as the only other cities getting the tournament will be St. Louis and Tampa. St. Louis and Tampa?? Why? Why not just send us to Dallas, Texas? I mean if you want to send the tournament somewhere that has nothing to do with the SEC, why not send us to Jerry Jones' house and let us play where you can really draw a crowd? I mean 80K fans screaming "Go Big Blue!" is something I would pay to see. Then again, play it wherever you want, Mr. Slive. We are still gonna kick butt and take names.

It seems that Andrew Luck has run out of it. His Indianapolis Colts took on on the chin in San Diego against the Chargers last night on ESPN's Monday Night Football. The 'Bolts 19- The Colts 9. On a side note, I love the fact that the NFL, and the sports world in general has taken on the cause of breast cancer. There is no finer cause for the league to champion than trying to help end a disease that has touched far too many people in the world, many I know personally. If the word "cancer" never had to be uttered again, it would be like a dream come true. However, can we find some other way to do it than adding the color pink to the uniforms of the teams? Color the field pink, put pink ribbons on every yard marker, the pylons in the end zone, even the goal posts, but pink socks and pink towels, and pink ace bandages just turn me off. The cause can do better than that. That pink blended in with my Bengals' orange, black, and white was bad enough, but with Packer Green? And San Diego in their classic powder-blues accessorized by pink towels and other bizarre add-ons?

Back into the wild blue yonder, who does CBSSports.com believe is the best college basketball team in the country? Oh yes. And who do we find at #2? Why, it is none other than our fowl friends to the west, the Louisville Cardinals. I know it's a long season, but it is sweet to start it out right. Our lone detractor in the poll? None other than Doug "I Can't Gottlieb No Satisfaction". Oh well. I guess every rose has it's thorn.

Time to face facts about next Saturday. The Cats will probably be without Jalen Whitlow's services. Of all the things that happened against Alabama last weekend, the injuries are the part I wish would not have happened. We gotta get big folks. Really big, and really fast. We have got to protect these QB's and give them time to throw, not run in busted plays. Let them run when they have open fields and can slide. Stop the sacks and the QB's taking punishment and you improve your chances for success in multiples. Having said that, medical recoveries have occurred in less time, so maybe the bye week gets us a chance at a Big Blue Miracle.

Moving on to the rest of the college football world, seems as though the BCS is getting just a bit more complicated, at least according to Stewart Mandel. The one glaring comment from the entire piece:

Louisville has no shot at the national title. Given their wretched schedule, the eighth-ranked Cardinals (6-0, 2-0 AAC) need to dominate every chance they get in order to be taken seriously. While their defense did just that by hauling in four interceptions in last Thursday's nationally televised 24-10 win over Rutgers (4-2, 1-1), the voters demand blood. In other words, they want to see quarterback Teddy Bridgewater put up 40-plus points on everybody. Bridgewater passed for 310 yards, but he and his teammates also coughed up three turnovers in an underwhelming performance against the Scarlet Knights.

Now on to our final section, which we have lovingly titled: The Links That Wild Weasel Would Never Find

(It's not really that he would not find them, I just had to find a way to squeeze him in here. He can fill in the rest he finds in the thread throughout the day, as I will be forced into the mundane task of indentured servitude for a paycheck.)

Rich Rodriguez says he has regrets about some of the things that happened while he has the head man at the University of Michigan, and the rest? BS, at least according to Rich. Everyone is talking about Arkansas AD Jeff Long being the first chairman of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. While I guess being the first guy to hold the position is historic, I am betting that come time to actually do the work, the job won't be so enviable. Native Kentuckian Michael Waltrip is learning about corporate downsizing. His MWR Racing team just got cut in half for the 2014 racing season. Dropping his number of teams from 4 to 2, including losing the man who was probably his most promising driver Martin Truex Jr. Waltrip is paying the price for pushing the rules that NASCAR itself knew would some day come back to haunt them concerning multi-car teams. The phrase "If you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin'" comes to mind.

So, there is edition #1. It's not perfect, it's not even close. I will be adding more as I get better at this thing, so, a little patience, if you please. Place all your comments, criticisms, colloquialisms, and wisecracks below. And oh yeah, have a nice day!!