Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the Big Blue Nation, and welcome to the Tuesday Morning quickies. I hope your summer has been great, because it’s coming to an unofficial close pretty soon. Of course, that means Kentucky football with basketball hot on it’s heals, and that’s not a bad thing.
Today’s lead story is by Jen Smith of the Herald-Leader, and it’s about UK center Jon Toth — or rather, Jon’s mother Stacey Reifeis. Reifeis suffered a horrendous motocross accident that resulted in a 25-foot fall, and it was almost easier to name the bones that were not broken than the ones that were.
Her doctors doubted she would ever walk again. 15 surgeries and 3 years later, she can walk just fine. Amazing story. The bravery and determination of human beings is truly breathtaking sometimes.
Tweet of the Morning
Mark Stoops body language has confidence written all over it..#BBN
— Nuke Maker (@heblu235) August 22, 2016
That makes one of us.
Your Quickies:
Kentucky football
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With the season opener against Southern Miss fast approaching, Mark Stoops says he sees more good than bad on both sides of the ball:
"I felt like we made a big jump defensively,"" Stoops said Monday. "As I touched on after the scrimmage, depth is an issue, but we’re gonna be just fine. As you piece it all together and put everyone together, move some guys around, we’re going to be in good shape."
Encouraging.
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Kentucky names the new location for the Cat Walk after former UK football player Talbot Todd.
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The Couch quarterback legacy continues in Kentucky — this time it’s Greg Couch, nephew of Tim.
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A lighter, wiser Matt Elam wants to silence his doubters this season. I hope he does.
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Writing for Rock M Nation, the great Bill Connelly looks at the UK-Mizzou game and doubts Kentucky can win. Well, that’s certainly fair. Beating Mizzou in Lexington is one thing, but they’ve yet to scratch in Columbia.
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In case you missed it, UK is now a 6.5 point favorite against Southern Miss.
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Updating Kentucky football’s to-do list before the opener. I’m really stoked to hear about the linebackers, but the D-line is a major concern.
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Kentucky target Jedrick Wills is up to #16 in the latest Rivals.com rankings. Wouldn’t it be great if we finally landed one of these guys over the Crimson Tide? I’m not holding my breath, though
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Former Kentucky defensive back Martavius Neloms has formed an unlikely friendship with a young girl who lost her leg in a boating accident.
Kentucky basketball
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SI’s Brian Hamilton looks at the state of the SEC after summer, and finds Kentucky in a familiar position at the top.
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And in case you missed the latest Rick Pitino drama regarding Kentucky, well, here’s your chance to check James’ post on the subject.
Other Kentucky sports
College football
- What each SEC team needs to find out by Week 1. For UK, it’s all about the rush, baby!
College basketball
- Belmont is a hoops program worth watching, according to ESPN and the Nashville Post. They usually are very good.
Other sports news
- USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo says that other countries need to be more competitive in basketball. Well, we could go back to using college players, I guess…
Other news
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William Shatner makes a funny apology about the catastrophe that was Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
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New "Goldilocks factor" might help indicate habitable planets around distant stars.
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Science says you’ll live longer if you live in the country. Meh — who wants to live forever, anyway?