:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/22561877/20131104_kdl_sf6_322.0.jpg)
So, it's Wednesday. Wild Wednesday, Wacky Wednesday, Whatever. What's happening in the world of the Big Blue Nation today? Well, we have another #1 ranking to celebrate, for starters. Bracketology is back on CBS, and the Cats are leading the pack for week one. Not convinced? Would you like another #1 ranking by someone else for something else? Do you trust Grantland? Gary Graves says John Calipari's biggest problem is finding enough minutes for the most talented freshman class in history. Does that mean we get another #1? Hmmm. Julius Randle has been named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy watch list. Oh, I forgot. We are also playing in the #1 ranked November tourney. Still not suitably impressed? Jay Bilas is. Very Impressed.
Coach Stoops & D.J.Eliot had a few things to say about preparation for Mizzou. This football team has become another Rocky Balboa. They may get beat, but they refuse to go down and stay down. Neal Brown discusses what has happened over a difficult year with his family and how it's handled. For anyone holding out hope for Ryan Timmons to make Saturday's game, Stoops says not likely. Mark Story chronicles some rather disturbing stats for UK Football, and makes a very clear point. For UK Football to rise, Missouri must become a game that the Cats win. Losing Alex Montgomery is not gonna help either. Yahoo Sports has a preview of Mizzou-UK.
Let's be honest here folks. With the injuries and the remaining schedule, it's unlikely the Cats end up back in the win column again in 2013. However, that does not mean there won't be progress made. Stoops is using every one of these situations to teach. These kids who are on this team, they might not have even gotten an offer 5 years from now, but Stoops and this staff are committed to turning them into a football team. I think they have accomplished that goal. All they can do now is continue to push, try to find situational places where they have advantages and press those advantages and hope that other teams make mistakes. If this team can just play mistake-free football the rest of the season, that's a win right now. Not beating yourself is a huge part of getting to the point where you start winning.
The UK Hoops Squad got some respect yesterday as three members of the team received All-SEC Pre-Season honors. Collegesportsmadness.com has a preview of the Hoops team and their #6 preseason ranking. For those of us old enough to remember the infancy of Women's College Basketball, this picture ought to cause a few flashbacks as Valerie Still stuck her head in the door during Big Blue Madness and posed for a shot with the Hoops Squad. One of the keys to success, is appreciating where you came from and what you have to do to maintain success at a high level. Matthew Mitchell gets that. And he is, in a word, grateful.
And now, The Rest Of The Stories- I know that 'Bama is King of College Football. I know that Nick Saban is their answer to John Calipari, and I not only get that, I support it. So why, for the love of all that is good and collegiate, does Nick Saban want to go to Texas? "Special pressure"? What in the world is so "special" about the pressure at Alabama when you are winning at the clip that Saban is? And would someone, ANYONE, please explain this call to me? And then call the NCAA and get them to explain it to me? PLEASE. My apologies to A2 in having to relive this, however, it's going to be a difficult week for the Pack. Losing Cobb was extremely tough. Losing Rodgers cripples them. This story about Baylor coach Art Briles ought to remind us all that sports is not the beginning and ending of life. Powerful stuff in there. Mike DeCourcy explains why the new college basketball rules are going to be the right thing to do, in spite of all the handwringing.
On to The Links That Wild Weasel Would Never Bring You- We mentioned the Astrodome in links the other day. Here is it's fate, along with some other voting issues that were brought up across the nation. No, we do not discuss politics, however, voting is not politics. What's better than Simon & Garfunkel on SNL? But, does Paul REALLY remember everything? So, you just love bananas. Do you look at them closely before you buy them? Maybe you should.
Finally we have our Tweet of the Day, and this one comes from Aaron over at Aaron's UK Basketball Blog and sums up why John Calipari is the best there is at what he does-
Trey Lyles became the 23rd five-star prospect to commit to Calipari at UK
— Aaron Kall (@AaronsUKBBBlog) November 6, 2013
That is all...