I can’t remember a more under the radar football game for the Kentucky Wildcats than their showdown against the Eastern Michigan Eagles. After the huge letdown last Saturday against Florida, I’m sure Mark Stoops was braced for non-stop questions. But then the biggest scandal in the history of college basketball hit and football was put on the backburner for media and the public at large as we watched everything unfold.
Now it’s Saturday and the ‘Cats have a chance to wash away the woes from last week. Eastern Michigan is a good football team. They come in as 2-1 with a win at Rutgers and their loss being in overtime to a good Ohio team.
This game might not be the walk in the park that everyone thinks it should be.
Tweets of the Day
#BBM17 is SOLD OUT!#BBN, thank you for your support of @KentuckyMBB & @KentuckyWBB!
— UK Ticket Office (@UKTix) September 30, 2017
Tickets sold out in just 40 minutes. pic.twitter.com/kwBTRyfQ8y
Here we go again, time to figure things out together, challenge players, make them uncomfortable & reach beyond their dreams. Gotta love it.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) September 29, 2017
Throughout the course of the week, I don’t think John Calipari has lost one minute of sleep.
Quickies
Kentucky vs. Eastern Michigan tale of the tape | Lexington Herald Leader- Kentucky checks the boxes in just about every category and Mark Story has this game as a blowout. But even with the clear advantages, we haven’t seen this team really dismantle other teams this season. Would love to see it happen today, though.
Pioneer Nate Northington to be honored | SEC Country- Nate Northing and the late Greg Page will be honored this weekend as we all celebrate the two players breaking the color barrier 50 years ago. ESPN and CBS will air a one minute video celebrating Northington and Page during every SEC game today.
How to watch UK vs. Eastern Michigan | Courier-Journal- The ‘Cats are taking permanent residence on the SEC Network.
More odds and predictions for Kentucky vs. Eastern Michigan | SEC Country- The line is Kentucky by 14.5 and both Kyle Tucker and Joe Mussatto have Kentucky winning big. I hope I’m the one that’s missing something.
Jaxson Hayes picks Texas | Scout- In a bit of a stunner the emerging big man picked picked the Longhorns and Shaka Smart over Cal and Kentucky. Usually when Kentucky goes off the grid to offer these little known players, it’s a lock. The good thing is with the turmoil over at Arizona, the ‘Cats are emerging as once again a major player for Bol Bol.
Kentucky trending up for Quentin Grimes | Lexington Herald Leader- Even with the commitment from Immanuel Quickley last Friday, things are looking good for Kentucky and 5 star guard Grimes. We’ve seen Calipari operate with multiple point guards in the past. He is visiting this weekend.
Babo lead UK Women’s Soccer pat LSU| UK Athletics- Junior Sophie Babo scored two goals as the Wildcats beat the Tigers 3-0 at The Bell.
Rick Pitino : I miss my players so much | Lexington Herald Leader- Coach 2 is throwing himself a pity party while the team he coached is burning to the ground thanks to him. It finally seems as if Louisville fans are seeing the real Rick Pitino after blindly defending him for the last several years. Pitino released this statement mere moments before David Padgett was named as interim coach. It’s all about Rick, ya’ll.
Pitino tried to block Calipari coming to Kentucky | KSR- In her OTT Podcast, Tyler Thompson interviewed Jennifer Palumbo about Rick Pitino. Palumbo revealed that Pitino actually tried very hard to block Cal coming to UK. One can correlate the start of all of the cheating at UofL with Calipari starting to roll at UK.
29 year old former Cardinal David Padgett accepts deal as interim coach | Courier-Journal- Even though Padgett was on the staff during all of the cheating, UofL interim president Greg Postel opted to offer him the position. One would think because the players wanted Padgett for the job. Even though Louisville has some talent, Padgett may be in for a rough season.
Tom Jurich claims he would have fired Pitino if he knew he was Coach 2 | KSR- Likely story, Tom. He’s backed Pitino through every scandal and has never once reprimanded the coach despite multiple instances of public embarrassment and scandal. Jurich is trying to tell the board and fans what they want to hear in order to save his job. Too late. Years of being a bully have finally caught up to the former AD.
Washington State joins playoff discussion | ESPN- After a massive PAC 12 victory over USC last night, Mike Leach’s Cougars are now a factor in the college football playoff. It took some time but Leach once again has a team back to mattering in college football.
Can Russell Westbrook keep his super team together? | ESPN- Westbrook just inked a blockbuster deal with Oklahoma City and now has some major help with Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. At one time, the Thunder had Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and James Harden only to lose the latter two players to other West teams. Can Westbrook keep his new teammates around for the long haul?
Uncertain times ahead for Auburn and Bruce Pearl | CBS- While Louisville has blown it all up and has started to try to move on, Auburn may be close to doing the same. There are moves being made to remove the current AD and Pearl may not be long for his job.
SNES sells out nationwide | Rolling Stone- Last year at this time, the NES Classic system was the hottest item in the country heading into the Christmas season (and I got one thanks to my wonderful wife). Now Nintendo has released the SNES Classic system and it’s killing it too. Maybe Santa will come through for me two years in a row!
Kids in the Hall in talks for revival | The Wrap- In the early 90’s Kids in the Hall and The State were two off-beat sketch comedy shows that pushed boundaries that SNL sometimes shied away from, although SNL was in the midst of its golden years. Now the Canadian comedy troupe may be ready for a news miniseries. In my opinion, there wasn’t a better time for sketch comedy than the 90’s.