Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: Death Of The Handshake Edition

Kentucky high schools are no longer allowed to conduct post-game handshakes. I think this is shameful, and indicative of the inability of coaches to instill sportsmanship in their players. It's purely a discipline matter, and I think bailing on a tradition like this is taking the easy way out.

If these schools can't teach young men how to behave in public on the field, how can they be successfully teaching them the more important things?

Tweet of the Morning:

The fact that we can't shake hands with the opposing team after a high school game in KY is absolutely ridiculous and ignorant

— Jacob Andrew Biller (@jacobiller) October 9, 2013

This is beyond cowardly.

She's arrived! Presley Blue Mitchell was born this morning! She's a very healthy little girl! Praise God for that! pic.twitter.com/NRKHREpqm6

— Matthew Mitchell (@UKCoachMitchell) October 9, 2013

Congratulations to Coach Mitchell and Jenna!  Love that middle name, coach.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Kentucky already has one commitment for 2016. Can we get any of these? [Hank]

• Kentucky probably won't get Chandler Cox even though we were the first to offer. See why. [Hank]

• What the Crimson Tide thinks about the Wildcats.

  "I think Kentucky is really playing well as a team," Saban said. "Sometimes you look at the won-loss record and it’s a little deceiving. They’ve played three really good football teams in a row, and played them really tough and played them well."

  ...

  "We expect this to be a difficult game, and our players need to prepare for this team with a lot of respect," Saban said. "And our players know how difficult it is to play on the road in our league."

• This year is the first year ever that Kentucky will play four ranked teams in a row.

• Mark Stoops is waiting for the team to grow up mentally, but I'm not sure if that will happen this season.

• Bradley Dale Peveto is a genius. He took the most pathetic special teams on the planet, the Kentucky Wildcats last year, and turned them into one of the best in this league. No coach on Stoops' staff has impressed me as much as Peveto.

• Remember, you heard this first here at A Sea of Blue.

• Doh. There was really never any doubt at all. I don't think it would have changed the outcome, but you can't say for sure. What I want to know is what the conference will do about it going forward. Nothing, probably. The lack of transparency between officials and the league is, to me, appalling.

Kentucky basketball

• College Chalk Talk breaks down the SEC in basketball.

• John Calipari and Matthew Mitchell at the Alumni Luncheon in Louisville. Hat tip: Cat Scratches.

• Stanley Johnson will be playing point guard for Mater Dei this season. That's pretty amazing, and it will definitely help him in college. Calipari is really pushing for him, and hopefully, we'll get him.

• Possible surprise players on this year's team. I think Derek Willis is likely to be a big surprise.

Other Kentucky sports

• Matthew Mitchell thinks he has some special players at UK.

Links posts

• The Leach Report — Wednesday Wildcat Links

• John Clay's SEC Links

College football

• John Clay explains how college football will be watching the outcome of Alabama's recent revelations with regards to D.J. Fluker and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, especially in light of Saban's prior relationship with Mark Emmert. Emmert probably needs to publicly recuse himself from involvement in the matter, which should be a relatively straightforward thing to do.

  With respect to Derrick Crawford, an Alabama graduate who is now a director of enforcement for the NCAA, it would make sense for him to recuse himself as well just to avoid appearances of impropriety.

• Condoleezza Rice is apparently among the people selected for the playoff committee. Former Auburn coach Pat Dye lost his mind over this the other day, claiming essentially that people who had never played football should not be selected for this position.

  What do you think about that? Automatically rendering women ineligible seems like a bad idea to me.

• CBS guestimate of the BCS poll. Cards not included but will get a BCS bowl game anyhoo. [Hank]

• New NCAA football recruiting rules proposed, but I don't see these making much of a difference.

College basketball

• 76 of top 100 already committed for 2014.

Other sports news

• Florida HS Media Polls [Hank]

• Tennessee HS Polls [Hank]

• Georgia HS Polls [Hank]

• Ohio HS Polls- top two divisions [Hank] Note: Look near bottom on the right.

• Kentucky HS football district standings [Hank]