Saturday Quickies: Beat the Florida Gators

I hope that tomorrow morning when I am sitting at my laptop and logged into A Sea of Blue that I will be writing about the Kentucky Wildcats breaking the 31 year losing streak to the Florida Gators.

Right now the streak is the longest in America and it is beyond embarrassing. Last season was the best I’ve ever seen Kentucky play against Florida. In fact, the Cats had the better team. But it wasn’t enough. Two mind numbingly elementary blunders executed by the coaching staff lost the game.

It was as deflated as I’ve ever been after a football loss.

I think Kentucky is either equal to or better than Florida at almost every position on the field save a few. But I can’t pick them to win. I can’t let myself get emotionally involved as I did last season. Because the day after sucked.

The national headlines. The ridicule from rival fanbases. The knowledge that the win was RIGHT THERE was too much to bear.

So tonight as I watch the game I will do so with the smallest amount of hope. I will go into it with the expectation to be let down by my team.

Tweets of the Day

Is there anything as Larry David as Kentucky’s losing streak to Florida?

The team certainly has the look about them.

Mannion was once considered a heavy Duke lean. With this and the Blue Devils losing out on Bryan Antoine, one has to wonder if the loss of Jeff Caple is as bad as we all thought it would be for Duke recruiting.

Quickies

Why UK can and can’t end the streak | Courier-Journal- There have been a lot of these posts written this week. Hopefully it’ll be the last year we will have to read them.

Answering questions about Florida | Cats Pause- Despite having a new coaching staff the Gator team is full of veterans. Breaking news: the defense and running backs are good. But this is essentially the same team Kentucky played and should have beaten last season.

20 numbers to know for UK vs. UF | Saturday’s Down South- This is the one number that sticks out to me: “1 in 4,294,967,296- The odds that a coin toss will have the same results 32 times in a row.”

Who has the edge? | Cats Illustrated- Unfortunately Florida has the edge in more categories than we would all like.

James Wiseman at Kentucky | Cats Pause- The number one player in the class of 2019 is on his official visit this weekend. He has publicly stated that Kentucky and Memphis are his top two choices right now. Wiseman is with Ashton Hagans this weekend and I am sure Cal is pulling out all of the stops.

Three keys and a prediction for UK vs. Florida | Courier-Journal- They left out “Make sure all of Florida’s wide receivers are covered.”

Cats fall to #6 Longhorns | UK Athletics- The volleyball team hit another bump in the road last night as they fell 3-1 at Texas. Coach Skinner’s team has not fared well against the nation’s elite this season.

Trinity falls to 0-4 | Courier-Journal- In one of the most surprising stories in high school football, the Louisville powerhouse has yet to find a win. Last night the visiting Male Bulldogs completely dominated the Rocks.

Rick Pitino once vowed to never return to the city of Louisville. But the lure of trying to swindle the Cardinal faithful out of more of their money was just too much for the disgraced coach. I have a feeling this event will not go as he plans. In his warped mind, the Louisville fans are still with him.

Experts pick the biggest games for college football week 2 | CBS- The week 2 slate isn’t very intriguing but there will be some upsets and, hey, it’s college football so I’m not complaining.

Ray Allen praises ‘08 Celtics in Hall of Fame speech | ESPN- It seems as if Allen is ready to bury the hatchet with the other Celtics champs. But Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett continue to distance themselves from their former teammate.

The Nun gets a franchise best for the Conjuring series | Variety- Even though the reviews have been mixed, the Conjuring universe has scored it’s biggest opening weekend yet with The Nun. The frightening Catholic woman was shown in The Conjuring 2 and proved so creepy that she deserved her own movie.

Speaking of creepy, I watched the movie Heredity last night and was genuinely freaked out. It’s well worth your time if you are a fan or horror and not just slasher gimmicks.

Mac Miller dead at 26 | USA Today- The rapper died of an apparent overdose after battling addiction for years. I’m not going to pretend that I’m a fan or that I’ve ever heard any of his music, but he was big in the youth pop culture and his passing reverberated around the country.

Immediately following the game tonight (7:30 PM on SEC Network) I will be back on the radio for the ESPN 680 A Sea of Blue UK Postgame Show. Jason Ence will join me as we dissect and discuss the Cats vs. Gators. We will take your calls at 502-267-9680 and your texts at 502-437-9680.

Here are all of the ways you can listen (iHeartRadio is also an option):