The weather is expected to be a factor in the game between Kentucky and Baylor this Friday, and could be very dicey around here as well.
Tweet of the Morning:
Don't think Texas being rich is such a factor. UT offers Saban $7M, Bama offers $7.1M/sacrifices some firstborn/names a lake after him/etc
— Jason Kirk (@JasonKirkSBN) December 5, 2013
Sounds about right.
Your Quickies:
Kentucky football
- On the heels of wamarsh's excellent piece about the football program comes this Kentucky Kernel article giving reasons why UK could be on the right path. I like the use of the construction, "definitely could be."
Kentucky basketball
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Wildcats Thunder previews the Baylor-Kentucky game.
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Coach Cal jokes about the bad weather, talks about the doubleheader that includes the Kentucky men's and women's team in Dallas on Friday:
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Trey Lyles and Devin Booker will be happy to see all the Kentucky fans at the Marshall County Hoop Fest. Also, Larry Vaught has the schedule for the Hoop Fest.
Other Kentucky sports
*Kentucky volleyball will host Duquesne on Friday in the first round of the NCAA volleyball tournament.
Links posts
College football
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Jameis Winston investigation turns up insufficient evidence to pursue charges, or so it seems. Like the Chuck Hayes thing, this has become a "he said, she said." While some will be skeptical, this doesn't look like a cover-up to me. What is reassuring is that, unlike the Duke rape case, we didn't see a hysterical rush to judgment.
These situations are always difficult, and always come away with two losers. No matter what really happened, the bottom line is that in our legal system, it isn't about the truth, it is always about what you can prove. We will never know the truth, because we have two dichotomous versions of it that cannot be reconciled. What we wind up with is two young people who, depending on what you believe, now have a black mark on their lives.
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Kevin Sumlin of Texas A&M gets a new contract. Good Bull Hunting has the details.
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adt2 of Burnt Orange Nation thinks Texas should join the SEC. Well, 16 teams in a league sounds like an awful lot to me.
College basketball
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Anybody but me a little skeptical about Florida's role in this?
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North Carolina upsets Michigan St., basketball world scratches its collective head. How can the same team who lost to Bellmont at home and UAB on the road beat Michigan St. on the road by 14 points? A quick perusal of the stats tells us how; the Tar Heals crushed MSU on the offensive glass, just like Kentucky did, only they shot 50% from inside the arc and only allowed Sparty to shoot 40%
I think this speaks more of a burgeoning problem with the Spartans than any magic from the Tar Heels. MSU is having trouble getting to the line, and is not a good offensive rebounding team, something you never would think about a Tom Izzo-coached squad.
Memo to Kentucky: North Carolina, unlike previous Roy Williams teams, will defend you and rebound the basketball offensively. Take note. Chantel Jennings of ESPN has more here.
Other sports news
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North Carolina "teacher" indicted for failing to teach and accepting money for it. Will this legal kerfuffle be the straw that breaks the UNC-Chapel Hill athletic program?
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Another tempest in a teapot surrounding the Big Cuz. Via Aaron's blog
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A fantastic article about a guy I admire, Dick "Hoops" Weiss, who is a legend among sportswriters and one of the nicest men in the game. He has been a friend of this community, and I'm so glad to see he's doing well after being laid off by the New York Daily News.
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Researchers have found scant evidence of a link between football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
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MKG out 4-6 weeks with broken hand. His injury sounds very similar to the one suffered by Anthony Davis a few days ago.
Other news
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World's largest ship floated for the first time, and it's longer than the Empire St. Building is tall.
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When you're in Vegas, you should definitely try BurGR — Gordon Ramsay's burger gastro pub. The review here talks about the poppers app, and we had that; one of the best apps ever if you like spicy. They are each served in a shot glass half full of a white dipping sauce that cools the burn. But the best thing about them is the crunchy exterior, probably Panko, very light but offering the perfect fried texture crunch with none of the greasiness.
The burgers are good, too, but be warned: if you fear pink, be sure to order your burger well or medium well. Oh, and if you order the fries, one order is more than enough for two, and if you prefer Heinz or some other prepared ketchup, you're out of luck — everything is made from scratch there, event he ketchup.
I also recommend highly Gordon Ramsay Steak, an upscale restaurant in the Paris Hotel. Of course, if you go in there, you shouldn't trouble yourself with the prices. Just pretend that you're paying to get into a UK-Louisville game, and you'll be fine. They do have some wine bottles that, while higher than what you're used to paying, aren't stratospheric.
Figure at least $100 per person before tip if you go all in, but if you eschew the apps and desert, and drink water instead of wine, it's fairly easy to get out of there for about half that. But don't even dream that your "sparkling or still" water will be free, or cheap.
Petra and I paid all the money, and went from appetizer through desert, plus a nice pinot noir. It was worth it. The beef Wellington is a rare steak lover's wet dream. Technically, it's served "medium rare," but it is on the rare side of MR. The desert was called "sticky bread pudding," and it was sinfully delicious, although the ice cream that came with it is served rock-hard in a bar shape that made the dish feel hyper-technical.
Petra had the braised beef short rib, and despite her normal peckishness, consumed every bite. I tasted it. Really great dish.