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The Bat Cats slide into the "dead zone," according to Rick Bozich. Kentucky must now win four straight games to get to the super-regional.
Tweet of the morning
Big news. MT @TWalkerRivals Stephen Zimmerman will visit UK for Big Blue Madness. It's his first trip to UK. https://t.co/zC0OUUL1AX …
— Aaron Smith (@ASmithRivals) May 31, 2014
Big news indeed. We have a very high rate of commitment from Big Blue Madness.
Your Quickies:
Kentucky football
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Neal Brown is pleased, if not happy, with the progress the UK quarterbacks are making.
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Athlon Sports rates Kentucky #70 for next season. I think this is much more realistic than some of the others I have seen.
Kentucky Basketball
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Duke is overwhelmingly the team most disliked by Kentucky fans, according to this informal survey. To me, there's Louisville and everyone else.
Other UK sports
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Rachel Lawson and the Wildcats talk about the loss to Alabama:
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Bat Cats lose to Kansas in opening game. That seems to be the story every year for Kentucky when they get to the tournament. But consider this:
"The bottom line is it's hard," Coach Gary Henderson said of UK's position. "It's not impossible. It'll probably happen this year with somebody. There are 16 of these (regionals). Somebody will probably go through the losers' bracket to win it. Might as well be us."
Might as well. Also, be sure to check out JLeverenz's postmortem here.
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Pac-12 coach bemoans the accolades afforded SEC softball. Then all three SEC teams win their first WCWS game. Ouch.
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Kentucky's WCWS chances take a blow with the loss to Alabama.
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You don't usually look to Jerry Tipton for a silver lining, but here it is.
Links post
College football
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The SEC rakes in $306.9 million from football season, UK to receive over $20 million.
College basketball
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Kelvin Sampson and Bruce Pearl, two NCAA coaches damaged by their flouting of NCAA bylaws, are back coaching college teams, trying to redeem themselves. One thing about sports — redemption is almost always possible. Except, of course, for Kentucky:
On a scale of 1 to an overstuffed Emery envelope, their sins really don't seem so bad: Sampson called recruits too often; Pearl hosted recruits at a barbecue during an unofficial visit. [my emphasis]
Really, Dana? I mean, seriously, was this absolutely necessary? Does it really enhance your article to the point that you don't mind alienating people over it?
Other sports news
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Balmer's $2 billion bid for the Clippers inflates the basketball bubble. No doubt about that.
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EA Sports, NCAA settle player likeness suit for $40 million. That actually seems quite rational.