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Wildcats Quickies: Spring Game Monday Morning QB Edition

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Revisiting the Spring Game, The Bat 'Cats look to avoid a sweep, the Lady Bat 'Cats are in action, and more quickies to kick off your week.

By Keith Garrett
A Terrific Trio
A Terrific Trio
Keith Garrett via UK Spring Game

By now you have likely read a multitude of angles from other people on the spring game, I thought I would also contribute my opinion, which is worth as much as you are paying for it.

THE SURPLUS SALE WAS A HIT

I was impressed by the turnout for the surplus sale, there was a HUGE line waiting for the doors to open and fans were genuinely excited. By the time I walked out there was a line was at least an hour long to pay for the stuff people were buying.

One of the cooler moments was seeing incoming freshman Landon Young participating in the event.  He is a mountain of a man and stands tall above everyone else.  I cannot wait to see him on campus wearing blue and white.

ATMOSPHERE

Kentucky did a good job with the setup, it was truly like a regular season game with the pre-game videos and smoke coming out as the ran out on the field.

There were several former players around and on the sidelines adding to the experience.  You had Keenan Burton, Jeremy Jarmon, Tim Couch, and Avery Williamson to name a few.

EYE OPENING PERFORMANCES

  • DENZIL WARE: Ware was a monster all day, he abused All-American JUCO recruit Tate Leavitt early and often.  He ended the day with 15 tackles, 4.5 for loss, and a fumble caused.  It is less about those numbers, and more about the eye test.  If you watched the game you saw him all over the place.  He is going to be an SEC monster

  • JORDAN JONES: Jones has an amazing motor, he is all over the place and he is going to be in that mold of the Trevathan, Woodyard, Williamson ilk.



  • SIHIEM KING: King was the starting tailback for the 2nd team, the significance of that is that he was going against an SEC (albeit not a very good one) defense and shined.  He ran for 95 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown.  King has had a great spring and the spring game was a nice culmination of that.  Throw in JoJo Kemp and Horton improving and it should put some serious pressure on Boom Williams to work hard this summer.

  • JEFF BADET: Badet has killed it all spring and Saturday was no exception.  He had three catches for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns.  One of them was a tunnel screen where he BLEW by everyone on his way to paydirt.

  • DREW BARKER: Barker played the first half and went for 156 yards on 12-18 passing.  While it was against the 2nd team defense, he also did not have Boom Williams, Blake Bone or Doran Baker at his disposal. Barker settled nicely into the game and showed better mechanics and probably better pocket poise than Patrick Towles at any time.  He also had two AMAZING throw and catches for Touchdowns to C.J. Conrad and Ryan Timmons (My pick to blow up this year, conversely, he was my pick to disappear last year).


Overall, the best thing to take away from a spring game is not whether the team is going to be better or not, but to see who appears to be taking steps forward, and who could be factors in the fall. If you look at the game and try to determine if we are going to win 7 games, do not kid yourself, you cannot make that kind of assessment based on that game.

The spring game is an abbreviated session, with several starters not playing, and no incoming freshman to come in.  Players are not playing for the depth chart like they will be this fall when they are being pushed by other players.

The team had a great spring, and the spring game was a solid ending to it.  We are improved, and have had some questions answered, but ultimately it comes down to those six weeks this summer.


TWEETS OF THE WEEKEND



YOUR UK QUICKIES

  • Kentucky's Bat Cats lost their first series of the season this weekend in Nashville, but they were able to salvage a win and avoid the sweep yesterday by shutting down Vandy 3-0.  The 'Cats pitcher Kyle Cody went 7 strong innings with 8 strikeouts to lead the 'Cats.

  • The Ladies of the diamond took to the field in hopes of a series win at #18 Missouri on Sunday.  Freshman Abbey Cheek hit three homeruns during the week, all three of which ended up being the winning run(s).  She launched one in the 6th inning to take a 3-2 lead and ultimately the win.  The #12 Wildcats are now 37-9 on the season.

  • It is no secret that UK Athletics has been making a significant push in becoming more competitive in every sport.  The old saying goes you have to spend money to make money, and UK Athletics is doing just that. According to this deep dive by the USA today, Kentucky is now 11th nationally in money spent, and 14th nationally in revenues earned.  Both of those numbers are much higher than past numbers, by about 10 MILLION each.

  • Of all the media guys and talking heads out there for UK sports, I really appreciate Freddie Maggard.  Maggard played the game, and he has a passion for the 'Cats that is unrivaled. I especially appreciate his knowledge of the game vs. ANYONE else that cares to pontificate on the team.  Having said all that, here is what he thought of the Spring Game.

  • Here are all the highlights of the Blue-White game:



YOUR NON-WILDCATS QUICKIES

  • The Celtics chances vs. the Hawks took a blow when Avery Bradley went out with a significant hamstring injury. Coach Brad Stevens has confirmed he will not return in the series.

  • Can Kirby Smart take Georgia to the next level?  For me, I do not think there is anyway that they can, former coordinators turned 'hot' head coaches almost never work out as hoped (Muschamp) and especially at a program like Georgia where 9 wins is a given.  Smart is going to have to make 10-11 wins the given to please that fan base... unlikely.

  • Air from Kobe Bryant's last game was being sold on eBay recently... I'll type that again, someone put a ziplock bag of air on eBay claiming it to be from Kobe's last game. The first thing you think is it is likely a joke, right?  Well, apparently some verified bidders were bidding on it and it got up to $15,000 before it was taken down.

YOUR RANDOM QUICKIES

  • During the work week my lunches consist of client lunch or me making a frozen meal in the office.  Here are my top 5 frozen meals you should try if you need something that tastes good (and yes, I am aware they are not very healthy) and is quick and cheap.



  • Guns and Roses frontman Axl Rose is now the lead singer for AC/DC... I am a big fan of AC/DC and a big fan of Axl's Guns-n-Roses... I am, however, not a fan of Axl singing for AC/DC.

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