Wildcat Quickies: Honoring The Ladies Edition

A few days ago, Matthew Mitchell's #8 Wildcats took down the #13 Duke Lady Devils, this will surely vault them into the top 5 next week.  The 10-0 'Cats are win win away from the best start in school history, and they are a fun team to watch.

They have also had to overcome A LOT of adversity, if you would have told me this team would be 10-0 after the rash of transfers they had, I would have bet A LOT of money against that.

Mitchell had 4 players leave the program in the span of three weeks.  Each one seemingly random and not tied to anything other than bad timing.  The thought by everyone outside the program was that they were imploding and questions needed to be answered by Mitchell.

"When you have four situations in a short period of time, it certainly looks like it's connected," Mitchell said. "And it's hard for people, if they're not in it and don't know each individual, they're four individual situations. So one's a dismissal. So a player chose not to live up to the standards of the program, so I had to make that decision. The other three are all separate individual decisions that you need to talk to those individuals."

So Mitchell took his remaining 10 players and he has done nothing but exceed expectations and start the season undefeated.  Kudos to Coach Mitchell and the ladies for the season they have had thus far and hopefully continue.

TWEET OF THE NIGHT

That big present under the tree from Morgantown last year turned out to be a broken toy he had to return. https://t.co/RLnhXHkYo2

— Justin Rowland (@RowlandRIVALS) December 22, 2015

YOUR UK QUICKIES

• Kentucky Baseball Junior Third Baseman JaVon Shelby is a pre-season All-American according to Louisville Slugger.  This is the 4th straight year a Wildcat was tabbed a pre-season All-American.  Prior honorees were Austin Cousino, Corey Littrell, AJ Reed, and Kyle Cody
• 16 Wildcat Student Athletes received their degrees over the weekend, see the list here.
• DeMarcus Cousins had a feature in Slam Magazine where he opened up quite a bit in the piece.

SLAM: The stats sort of tell the tale, but do you think you're the best big man in the League?

DMC: In my mind, it's not even close between me and the next person. I would say the next big is AD, but it's not close, in my mind. Not close.

SLAM: So how are you going to get the credit that you think you deserve?

DMC: At this point, it's about winning. I got the All-Star appearances. I got Team USA. My name is out there. It's just about winning, it's about carrying a team. I mean, from a talent perspective I know I'm way above any other big man—now it's just about winning.

SLAM: Everyone who knows you says that your persona doesn't vibe with how you're portrayed. How do you change that? Do your mom, friends or even Coach Cal have any good advice?

DMC: There's really no advice because they all know me. In their minds, what the f*** is there to change? I've sat here and thought about it, I've analyzed other players and, shit, win, and they'll accept you for whoever you are. You could be a f***ing crackhead and they'll love you. If you win, they sweep everything under the rug.

SLAM: What are we considering winning?

DMC: Where we are, Playoffs would be a perfect season. Sky is the limit, though I think anything is possible. You think it, talk it, and then you can put it into existence.

• The Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy is one of the best in the business and one of the few national pundits who actually defend Cal and use rationality.  He took some fan heat form his preseason analysis on this team, but as Larry Vaught points out, he pretty much nailed it.
• One of Kentucky's more important commits is Quarterback Mac Jones.  Jones was not happy about Shannon Dawson being let go, however, he is not jumping to conclusions and knee jerk decommitting.  Jones is waiting to see if the new Offensive Coordinator is going to fit his style.  I am guess Jones will be watching Cincinnati this week.
• I chat with the guys at ESPN Radio Lexington's The Sports Huddle yesterday about the basketball team's woes.

YOUR NON-UK QUICKIES

• The Akron Zips have had football since 1891, they have not had a football bowl victory until this year, breaking a 116 year drought.
• Forbes listed the 20 most valuable college football teams, the Top 5 was Texas, Tennessee, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame.
• Buffalo Bills QB Tyrod Taylor bought each of his lineman 65-inch Ultra HD Televisions for this season.
• If you know Herschel Walker's story, you know that he left Georgia early and went to the USFL (More lucrative than the NFL at the time).  What you may not know is that the decision hinged on the flip of a coin, no really, he flipped a coin to decide on the USFL or staying at Georgia.
• He did not win the Heisman, but Stanford's Christian McCaffrey won the AP player of the year award.
• Tiger Woods thinks 2016 is going to be his year, he is looking forward to it being a pain free year filled with major titles.
• Black Monday is not a continuation of the black Friday sales, at least not in the NFL.  Black Monday is the first Monday following the regular season wrapping up, when head coaches heads roll.  Sports Illustrated is previewing the rolling heads and replacements.
• Russell Westbrook is known for his style, lack thereof, or his attempt attention.. call it what you may but he has apparently outdone himself with this most recent ensemble.
• The Pro Bowl roster has been released and the undefeated Carolina Panthers have an NFL best 10 players placed.
• Baker Mayfield wil lead Oklahoma into the College Playoff, but before he was the QB of the Sooners, he was an intramural legend.

YOUR RANDOM QUICKIES

• Sometimes you gotta fake it, till you make it, and here is a list of some celebrities who moonlighted as exotic dancers before they were big time
• If you are like and looking forward to 'Concussion' with Will Smith, here is some real life information on the actual doctor that Smith portrayed.
• Bloomberg lays out some 2016 tech and business to look forward to.  Included in this is bendable cell phone screens, Virtual reality will heat up even more, One of Japan, Russia, China, or India will finalize plans for a manned mission to the moon, for the first time since 1972, and more.
• Are you 11th hour shopping for presents, here are 215 real world gift ideas that you can get your hands on if you need.
• Check out some of National Geographic's best photos from 2015, some amazing stuff in there.
• A 28-year old Russian man is suing the makers of the game 'Fallout 4'... because it is too addictive.  He played it for three straight weeks and lost his job and his wife, and wants $7,000 compensation for it.