Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: British Open Edition

The British Open and the Tour De France both wind it up tomorrow. Today at the British, Martain Laird found out just how unforgiving a links course can be.

Tweet of the Morning:

Can't believe Auburn kicked booted a kid for possessing less than an ounce of weed. UNC would've given him a degree in horticulture.

— Not Jerry Tipton (@NotJerryTipton) July 20, 2013

Heh. This might be the tweet of the year!

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Jonathan Schuette at KSR has written another great article on Mumme, Leach and Brown. [Hank]

• Oh my, Matt Elam is a BIG boy! [Hank]

• Nick Richardson didn't show up for last night's camp, but UK only has to worry about Vanderbilt. [Hank]

• Here's a fantastic video of Eric Korem talking about his and UK's High Performance Program. If we are to see improvement over last year, this is where it begins. Over 500 pounds of fat have been lost and 260 pounds of muscle has been gained since Korem started this program. [Hank]

• Rivals writer Mike Ferrell projects UK to have the #19 or better recruiting class for 2014...ahead of Texas. He project Louisville between #33 and #36. Heh. [Hank]

• Robbie Andreau of Gatorsports.com thinks Mark Stoops was the most impressive of the SEC's new coaches.

• I think Stoops is absolutely right. I believe UK fans will cram themselves into Commonwealth Stadium next year, and depending on how it goes, for many years to come.
• More Yahtzee! in the Bluegrass? Let's hope so.

Kentucky basketball

• Here's another take on the Wiltjer transfer. [Hank]

• Jerry Tipton's article on Kyle Wiltjer's transfer. I liked this:

  Saying his heart would always be in Lexington, Wiltjer said he would continue to seek advice from UK Coach John Calipari.

  We'll miss Kyle, and wish him the best kind of success at Gonzaga.

• USA Today thinks that Kentucky doesn't even have any of the top three players in the class. RSCI begs to differ.

• Stanley Johnson was beastly on Friday at the Nike Global Challenge. So was Rashad Vaughn. Coach Cal, of course, was watching all the UK recruits there.
• Coach Cal offers Justise Winslow.

• Julius Randle speaks to Larry Vaught. I liked this:

  "I don’t need anybody to baby me," Randle said. "I came here to be coached. I came here for somebody to push me and make me be the best player I can be. I feel like with Cal and his staff, that’s what I’m getting here. That’s why I love it so much because I know they’re not going to short-change you."

  Man-talk. More, please.

• CoachCal.com talks about Kyle Wiltjer's transfer. I think Calipari is not happy about it, and I don't blame him. With that said, I completely understand why Wiltjer would make this decision.

• Karl Towns is really good. I love his stroke, but he has to get stronger. Hat tip: Sam Henson.

• Raphielle Johnson writing for NBC says the Kyle Wiltjer-Kelly Olynyk comparisons are off-base.

Other UK sports

Links posts

• KSR's Saturday Morning Links
• The Leach Report -- Friday Wildcat Links

College football

• Jon Johnston at Corn Nation believes college football will die a slow death, and gives reasons why. [Hank]
• Heh. Bret Bielema had better forget about "normal American football." The SEC is anything but.
• Seriously? Twenty SEC media members left Jadeveon Clowney off their All-SEC ballots? Where are these people from, France? They sure don't cover football.
• Good grief.

College basketball

• Andy Glockner talks about NCAA seeding and fairness, and I think he makes some very good points. One point I'd love to see, but sadly won't (as Andy points out) is the conference tournaments being finished before selection Sunday. I think the SEC really needs to consider that, it will help them much more than hurt.
• Jahii Carson may be fast, but have we already forgotten John Wall?

Other sports news

• Nate Silver, the New York Times statistician who made a lot of news in the last election, moves over to ESPN. I'm happy for Nate's movement away from politics and back into sport, where he got his start.

  The bad news, though, is that he's going to be on Keith Olberman's show. I think Olberman is one of the worst people in television, and I hate to see anyone stuck with him. In my view, Olby will be lucky to last a year at ESPN.

  Anyone who imagines Olberman won't be in constant conflict with Bristol over every little thing, just like he has been at his last three or four gigs, is guilty of wishful thinking. I can't wait for the fireworks to begin, it should be fun.

• When will the practice of coaches unfairly limiting transfer choices stop? Of all the things that cry out for NCAA legislation, this one is making the most noise. I'm fine with coaches blacklisting major rivals and the conference they're in, but other than that, no.

Other news