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Big(gest?) Night in UK History

A few nights ago was NBA Draft Night. A few nights ago, a certain someone contended it was the biggest night in the history of UK basketball. That man was head coach John Calipari.

As we all know, three lottery picks and two more late first-rounders went in the draft. UK players were seen shaking hands with the Commish. The nation saw Calipari, the shepherd of all that talent, the one who can guide prospects to the promised league, smiling as each of his players realized their dreams. Jay Bilas preached about each UK player’s “length,” which ultimately wasn’t that great because he said that about literally every single player in the draft. And once Daniel Orton was taken off the board, the graphic was instantly cued up showing that UK became the first program ever to see five players taken in the first round (and HOW, with all that talent….).

Calipari also created a “new guard” of people who seemingly appreciate the name on the back of the jersey more than the name on the front.

“I’m not saying that winning national titles is not important; it is,” Calipari said. “But if you told me we’d win a national title and no one gets drafted, or you go 0-for-20 against West Virginia and five guys get drafted, you tell me what you’d want.”

Uh, OK. Let’s see an eighth national title! Of course that’s what we want! In fact, Calipari’s scenario just happened this season. Duke won the national title, and saw none of its players shake the Commish’s hand. UK fell short of a championship and watched five of its players get drafted. I’m pretty sure Duke fans were much happier on championship night than UK fans were on draft night. (Actually, I know this for a fact. My dorm neighbor was a Duke fan. Championship night was unbearable for me.) And I’m pretty sure I know which scenario I would rather have. And while Cal didn’t explicitly state which he preferred, I have a feeling he doesn’t fall on the same side of the blue-and-white fence as I do.

Now, draft night was a big night for UK basketball — it showed that the Wildcats are back on top, at the very least from a talent viewpoint, and if that draft wasn’t a ringing endorsement of Calipari for any recruit paying attention nothing will be.

It was a historic moment for UK basketball — never before had the Wildcats seen one of their own taken as the #1 draft pick, and then on top of that came a top-5 pick and a lottery pick. Never before had the Wildcats, or anyone else for that matter, seen five players taken in the first round.

But it was not the biggest night in history for this storied program. I figured Calipari got caught up in the heat of the moment — it can happen to anyone, especially when the moment includes watching almost all of your first team as head coach make it to the biggest stage of them all — and would maybe come down a little bit. But, no, he pressed on, saying it depended on your frame of reference and maintaining that it’s “players first.”

Now, it might have been the greatest moment in each of these player’s history. I would say earning a first-round selection and all the opportunities that come with it would be a crowning achievement, a validation of all the hard work and preparation put in (even though some player’s hard work and preparation only got them 3 ppg and 3 rpg in college, but who’s counting, right?).

It might have even been the greatest moment in Calipari’s history. These were his guys from his team in his first season at UK. It had to be special for him to watch all those guys he worked so hard to get and keep don their suits and walk to the podium. Perhaps this night was, for him, even greater than the Final Fours he had been to (maybe they were vacated from his heart as well as from the record books).

When Cal talks about the biggest night in UK basketball history, I think it was mainly done from the two perspectives he knows best — from the player’s and his own. And he’s probably right there. But he didn’t consider it from a fan’s perspective. Bluebloods wanted their own party through Lexington after the NCAA Championship game, not watch someone else’s Draft Party because they landed a franchise player who used to be their franchise player.

I’m only 19, so I don’t have the greatest answer as to what exactly would have been the biggest night for Wildcat fans. I would start with the obvious: seven national titles, including two in a three-year stretch. I can’t really remember what those were like — my aunt and uncle were attending UK during that streak and said it was wild, but I’m still waiting for my first championship I can remember — but I imagine those were pretty great moments.

To fans, the greatest moment in UK basketball history will always be something that happens while these guys are in uniforms, not suits.  We won’t see any banners hanging from Rupp’s rafters next season to commemorate the Draft Cats achievement, no matter how proud it made Cal.

UK keeps its chances alive with series win

With their backs pressed against the walls guarding the SEC tournament, UK turned around to take a peak.

The Cats (26-21, 9-15 SEC) still have hope of ending up on the right side of the wall after taking two of three from No. 4 South Carolina (36-11, 17-7 SEC).

UK entered the weekend series two games out of the eighth and final spot for the SEC tournament with three weeks left in the season. Facing the league-leading Gamecocks wasn’t an easy team to start the turnaround against.

But UK put a dent in the wall behind two dazzling pitching performances — one from freshman Jordan Cooper, who was thrust into the starting role, and another from Alex Meyer, who showed just how dominant he can be — that propelled them to two weekend wins.

Cooper, pitching on Saturday after a series-opening 13-9 loss, came up with a gutsy game on the mound. Making just his third career SEC start, Cooper led the Cats to a 2-1 victory that evened the series.

Sunday, Meyer showed exactly why his ceiling is considered to be so high. He went seven innings, allowing three unearned runs while striking out six. And all that after missing three weeks with mononucleosis. Behind his smoldering fastball, UK rolled to a 9-3 win that gave them the series victory.

The weekend win was important for a multitude of reasons. Beating the No. 4 team in the nation, and the best team in the SEC, can do wonders for a team’s confidence. UK got great starts from all three pitchers, even as they removed junior Logan Darnell from the rotation (at least for this weekend). There may be some renewed trust in the bullpen, which held onto slim leads Saturday and Sunday after a year of blown late-inning leads.

However, with all that, UK didn’t receive the all-important boost in the standings. They still stand two games behind eighth-place Tennessee, who swept Georgia. Even worse, Tennessee holds the tie-breaker over UK because they won the series earlier in the season.

But still, UK kept it’s postseason chances alive with the win. Next up are defending national champion LSU, in a down year for the Tigers (12-11 SEC), and SEC cellar dweller Georgia (3-18 SEC).

Making the postseason tournament is a possibility. Tennessee has to play Auburn and Alabama, both middle-of-the-pack but very solid SEC teams. UK may have given itself enough of a boost to win these next two series and sneak in after all is said and done.

For right now, though, they are still peering over the wall. On the wrong side.

Bat Cats on the ropes entering final month of conference play

Life on the brink.

That is what UK baseball faces as it enters the homestretch of the regular season.

Look one way, and the golden promise of the Southeastern Conference tournament waits, where anything can happen. Look the other, and it’s a dull and bleak offseason, where nothing will happen.

UK (24-20, 7-14 SEC) sits in tenth place in the conference, two spots behind the eighth and final spot that makes it into the postseason conference tournament.

The Cats dropped a series to Tennessee (24-21, 8-13 SEC) this weekend. The two teams were tied for ninth place entering the weekend but Tennessee captured the position, dropping UK to tenth in the SEC.

UK has three series remaining in the regular season. They play SEC frontrunner South Carolina (16-5 SEC) May 7 to 9, powerhouse Louisiana State (11-9 SEC) May 14 to 16 and last-place Georgia (3-16 SEC) May 20 to 22, the last weekend of the season.

“We’re still fine,” second baseman Chris Bisson said. “We still got LSU, we got Georgia, and those are going to be important series for us to go out and do our best at.”

The Georgia series could be beneficial for UK should the race for one of the last spots remain in reach, as the Cats match up favorably with the Bulldogs. Georgia ranks near the bottom of the SEC in nearly every major hitting and pitching statistic.

Variable pitching is UK’s biggest concern as it enters the final stretch. Starter Alex Meyer is out with mononucleosis, although he should be able to return in time for one or two starts. The shaky pitching has put more pressure on the offense to consistently produce runs.

“We’re going to have to get more consistent at the plate,” head coach Gary Henderson said. “We can’t have the on Friday, off Saturday, on Sunday stuff. If you’re going to win, you have to be consistent every game and give yourself the most opportunities you can.”

The offensive inconsistency is reflected in the team’s contradictory performances. Since SEC play began, UK has had only two winning streaks of more than one game and has won only one series.

Part of that problem is the bullpen’s inability to lock down wins. Opponents have consistently climbed out of deficits to snag wins against the Cats’ corps of relievers.

Plenty of examples exist. Vanderbilt climbed from seven runs down for a 9-8 walk-off win against UK. Arkansas hit a two-out, two-strike, walk-off grand slam in a 17-16 heartbreaker defeat. Alabama scored 11 unanswered runs in an 11-9 UK loss. Auburn hit a two-out single that handed UK a 6-5 loss. Louisville scored four runs in the final inning to bury the Cats 10-9.

“We’ve got to figure out our bullpen,” Henderson said. “We’ve got to get tougher in the bullpen, there’s no question about it.”

Those losses have been major contributors in putting UK on the tightrope that leads to Hoover, Ala., for the SEC postseason tournament. It’s the second year in a row the team has been in this situation. Last year, UK had to win against Florida in the last game of the season to make it and lost.

This year, UK wants to write an alternate ending — one that ends on the right side of the brink.

“We’re going to figure it out,” Bisson said. “We need to just keep on fighting.”

UK football looks to leave its mark in the NFL

By Ethan Levine

With the hype surrounding the upcoming NBA draft, many UK fans may have overlooked last weekend’s NFL draft, a draft in which  three former Cats heard their name called by NFL franchises. Defensive lineman Corey Peters, defensive back Trevard Lindley and fullback John Conner each look to begin their professional career.

Corey Peters, Defensive Tackle, 6-foot-3/300 lbs, Third Round, Atlanta Falcons

Peters was chosen with the 83rd overall pick in the draft, the first UK player to go. At UK, Peters posted his best season in 2009, earning himself the Southeastern Conference Defensive Lineman of the Week award twice and second team All-SEC honors.

Peters is likely to start his NFL career as a rotational lineman in the Falcons’ 4-3 defense, but shows promise with his above-average footwork, instincts and field awareness. He is also an adequate pass rusher with the ability to collapse the pocket up the middle. This power can benefit Atlanta’s pass rush from the outside, most notably from their all-pro defensive end John Abraham.

One area scouts say Peters can improve is in his technique. If he shows he can progress his technique consistently from play to play, Peters has the ability to be a promising defender in the league.

Trevard Lindley, Cornerback, 5-foot-11/183 lbs, Fourth Round, Philadelphia Eagles

Lindley was a standout cover corner at UK. Regarded as a potential All-American candidate entering his senior season, injuries kept him off the field for much of the year. As a result, he fell to the 105th overall pick in the NFL draft.

Lindley excels in both man and zone coverage. He is quick and athletic and reacts exceptionally well in zone coverage. He has the ability to jump patterns in man coverage, which is something quarterbacks fear. While he is not a liability against the run, he has struggled with stopping the rush on the edges. The key, at least early in his career, will be durability.

Lindley will likely start the season as Philadelphia’s nickel corner, but if he can show he is fully recovered from the injuries he suffered last year, he has the opportunity to become a starter for the Eagles in a conference which boasts offensive excellence.

John Conner, Fullback, 5-foot-11/246 lbs, Fifth Round, New York Jets

When the Jets traded their playmaking running back Leon Washington for a 5th round pick, 139th overall, many fans watched and wondered what the Jets would do with the pick. They used it on Conner, who was regarded by many scouts as the best fullback in this year’s draft.

Conner is an old-school fullback, who loves to play physically and block defenders for runners behind him. His one liability is catching passes out of the backfield, although he showed improvements in that area in his senior season.

He will join the NFL’s No.1 rushing offense, including returning playmaker Shonn Green, who made a statement in last year’s playoffs, and the newly arrived, record-holding running back LaDanian Tomlinson.

Conner will likely sit behind all-pro fullback Tony Richardson to begin his career.

Bashing players, coaches for following dreams is wrong

What do you want to be when you grow up?

It’s one of the most common questions we’re asked when we’re children and the answers can range everywhere from firefighter, to doctor, to teacher to professional basketball player.

Wait, professional basketball player?

Call me crazy, but after reading the comments from a lot of Big Blue Nation – no, not all of Big Blue Nation – I would have thought John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson, Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton were leaving UK early to enter a profession not safe for print.

I’ve heard everything from ‘John Calipari might as well be a trainer for the NBA,’ to ‘Why isn’t Calipari making his players stay to earn their degrees?,’ to ‘Everyone going pro is going to be broke in five years anyway.’

I don’t get it. Actually, it genuinely makes me upset.

I’m sorry Big Blue Nation if this freshman class didn’t deliver an eighth championship banner, but what else do they need to do for you?

They reinvigorated a program that had grown stale under the previous regime, they excited you all enough to help set a new Rupp Arena attendance record, they beat Louisville, they beat North Carolina, they won the program’s 2,000th game, they dawned covers that had never been dawned before by college players, they won countless awards, they won regular season and postseason championships, they started dance crazes, and they were one of the biggest stories in all of college basketball.

Why are you grilling them for following their dreams to become professional basketball players? Why are you grilling Calipari for encouraging them to follow their dreams?

Sure, getting a degree would be great, but let me ask you this: If you were majoring to become an accountant, and you were one of the smartest and brightest accounting majors in the entire country when you were just a freshman, and a firm contacted you and said they would pay you $30 million over the next five years to work them, would you turn them down?

Even that scenario isn’t fair though. These players can always get injured and have their dream and all the money that comes with it washed down the drain from an injury.

Please, stop acting like these young men are doing something horrible by foregoing a few years of college to begin a respected, well-paid profession as a professional athlete.

I don’t mean to paint Big Blue Nation with too broad a brush. It certainly is not everybody who is upset with these young men. In fact, it’s probably a minority, but why are some of you treating these young athletes with disdain for following their dreams?

Sure, as a fan it might stink to know your favorite team is missing out on a great opportunity to hang another banner in the hallowed rafters of Rupp Arena, but don’t put your fandom and personal desires above the futures of five young men who you cheered on for six months.

When these 19-, 20- and 21-year-olds were in elementary school and were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, it’s likely they said a professional basketball player.

Is that such a horrible dream?

Let’s congratulate Wall, Cousins, Patterson, Bledsoe and Orton for accomplishing their dreams at such young ages. Let’s congratulate these five players for being able to support their families. Let’s wish these players the best of luck in the future while thanking them for their work in the past.

All they’re guilty of is working hard and following their dream when they were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up.

Staying Above Par: Parker becomes UK golfer named to All-Freshman team

By Ethan Levine
sports@kykernel.com

At a school known for the fantastic freshmen in its basketball program, UK’s men’s golf program has a fantastic freshman of his own.

Chase Parker, a 19-year-old student in the College of Agriculture, was named to the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman Team on Tuesday. Parker is the first UK freshman to receive the honor since its creation three years ago.

“It is such a great honor because the SEC is such a great conference,” Parker said. “In my first year here at UK the honor was definitely unexpected, but I am very proud.”

As a freshman, Parker has emerged as one of the most talented and consistent players on the team.

He sported the UK blue in 10 matches this season, including the last seven matches to close out the year.

In his last event at the SEC Championships, Parker posted a 54-hole score of 216, about 72 strokes per round, including a 2-under-par 68 in the second round.

His three-round score was good enough to earn him a 22nd place finish at the conference championships, and was the second lowest score posted by a UK golfer for the weekend.

“We definitely played the best we have played all year that weekend,” Parker said. “We all went out there with the attitude that we could win the whole thing, and even though we fell short we still played well as a team.”

Back in November at the Hummingbird Intercollegiate in Sapphire, N.C., Parker played the best golf he has played all season long.

With a day one score of 72 and a day two score of 70, he finished at even par for the tournament. His score of 142 for the tournament was good enough for 15th place, his best finish of the season, and helped the team to a 2nd place finish.

“I played pretty well that weekend,” Parker said. “I played decent the first day. The second day we were playing really well as a team and I was playing really well myself. Unfortunately we crumbled at the end and that knocked us back some as a team, but it is still some of the best golf I have played this season.”

A native of Augusta, Ga., home of golf’s most sacred tournament in The Masters, Parker continued to amaze the competition week in and week out.
With a team-low stroke average of just over 74 per round for the season, Parker shows plenty of potential as a golfer. And as only a freshman, he is looking to improve his game more and lead UK’s golf program to places it has never been before.

“I have nothing but great feelings about the next few years,” Parker said. “Next year will be good; we have a lot of young and talented players coming in. As for myself, this year was a good chance for me to learn where I fit in on the team. From here on out, I plan to go out there with the mindset of a leader and set an example. I will need to be up on my game, but I like the feeling of performing for the team and being a leader.”

Random notes from UK-Louisville baseball game

A couple game notes, mostly random, from the thrilling 10-9 walk-off win for Louisville against UK.

- The closers from both teams – Matt Litle for UK and Neil Holland for U of L – both blew leads in the ninth inning. Both are really good closers. They combined to give up nine runs in the final frame. Wild stuff.

- This was the first road game I’ve covered for any sport. However, the game was in familiar territory. I played at Louisville’s Patterson Field in a high school fall baseball league. Sadly, the only real memory I have of it was making artwork out of the black pebbles from the Field Turf stuff they use. I don’t think I got that much playing time. And deservedly so.

- Probably the biggest difference I’ve noticed between the two teams is that the Cards actually have girls play a part on the team. Unlike UK, they use bat girls. They also have cheerleaders who occasionally perform on top of the dugout. UK has neither of these things at Cliff Hagan Field. It might have something to do with distractions. When I was on the high school baseball team (and, once again, not receiving much playing time), we used girl managers for one year. That idea lasted all of one season. I think the bench players tried too hard to flirt with them rather than support the boys (I don’t think I was guilty, at least not if you count success as evidence).

-  A star athlete from my hometown made an appearance tonight. Dean Kiekhefer, who now pitches for the Cards, was the high school superstar at Oldham County. (Probably one of the biggest in school history, too. The only others I can think of off the top of my head were Jon Rauch, another pitcher who went on to win an Olympic gold medal and now pitches for the Minnesota Twins, and Dante Smith, who was drafted in the second round by the Atlanta Hawks but quickly ended up in the NBDL.) Kiekhefer came on in the sixth inning and got a crucial out.

Back in the day, Kiekhefer was an unhittable force. He isn’t as unhittable in the college ranks – he owns a 4.15 ERA as a weekend starter, which is still pretty good. I faced him one time in my high school career, during an intrasquad scrimmage. I was a sophomore going up against a senior lefty with a twisting windup and a mid-90s fastball and who had scouts showing up to watch him almost every game. At our ballpark. Our little Oldham County ballpark with a concession stand that was a trailer and some weird-looking garden outside the visitor’s dugout. That part, the part where scouts showed up to watch one of ours, was really cool. But when I faced him, I planned on swinging three straight times, trying to avoid getting hit in the head and heading back to the dugout as soon as possible. I couldn’t hit pitchers who touched 70, much less this guy. And let’s just say I executed my game plan to perfection.

Anyway, it was weird to see someone from my high school take the mound in an important situation in an important game. He hasn’t lost anything. Although he has gained some facial hair, from what I saw in passing down on the field after the game.

- I can’t escape Drake. I think two U of L players had his songs as their walkup songs. This isn’t a bad thing.

UK falls 10-9 to Louisville in walk-off fashion

It looked like Louisville had won the game. Then it looked like UK had won the game. Then, finally, Louisville did win the game. The scoreboard even said so.

UK saw a three-run lead in the ninth inning crumble as Louisville scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth to send the Cats (23-18) walking off the field and walking onto the bus after a 10-9 loss to the Cards.

It was a game that saw closers from both teams blow leads, a game that saw the bases loaded three separate times in the last two innings, a game that saw two ninth-inning comebacks and a game that drew a Patterson Stadium regular season school-record 4,039 fans.

“That’s how it goes,” UK junior infielder Chris Bisson said. “You never know in baseball, and especially when you’re playing a team like Louisville. It’s very disappointing. Tonight they were a little tougher than we were.

However, Bisson and the rest of the Cats were not able to come out on top. The Cats had clawed back from a two-run deficit in the top of the ninth inning to take a three-run lead. Closer Matt Little was on the mound. Three runs up, three outs away — it looked like UK had completed the season sweep.

“Your plan with a three-run lead is that your closer can go get you three outs,” UK head coach Gary Henderson said. “That’s the plan. It didn’t work.”

It turned out Louisville didn’t even need all three of its outs. After a quick out to start the inning, six consecutive Louisville batters reached base safely as the Cards tied the game 9-9. Little was yanked in favor of sophomore Braden Kapteyn.

Now the bases were loaded, bottom of the ninth, intrastate rival on the ropes, and it was Louisville freshman Zak Wasserman who delivered the knockout blow. He lined a single into left field as UK shortstop Taylor Black jumped and tried to haul in both the ball and any remaining hope of salvaging the game.

The ball easily cleared Black’s glove. Louisville scored the winning run. The Cards’ celebration started at the plate and slowly moved toward the outfield as more and more players kept piling on the circle.

“We owed them one,” Wasserman said. “We really hit the ball well tonight.”

Still, the fact UK was even able to get a lead that could be blown was an achievement unto itself. Down by two runs entering the top of the ninth inning, and facing Louisville closer Neil Holland, the Cats mounted a comeback. Bisson singled. Chad Wright singled. Andy Burns singled. Lance Ray doubled. Keenan Wiley was intentionally walked. Navarro Hall walked on four straight balls, bringing home the go-ahead run. A Cory Farris groundout scored two more runs that gave UK a three-run lead. Just three outs away from a season sweep.

“The two best arms of the evening pitched in the ninth and both offenses really locked in,” Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell said. “It’s what I told the coaches at the end of the game, it was a great college baseball game. Obviously, we feel better than they do because we came away with the win.”

Even though UK ended up on the gut-wrenching side of the score, it found solace in its fight.

“The spirit of the team right now is really good,” Henderson said. “I was really pleased with the way the guys came back. That’s a lot of heart in being behind and coming back. I was proud of the effort, especially on the road. Still disappointed that we couldn’t close out a game that we clearly should have won.”

The ninth inning, home of so many magical moments, showed its magic twice in this game. UK ended up on the wrong side of the magic, but some players enjoyed the close battle.

“Fun,” Bisson said. “Those games are fun. It’s a lot better when you come out on top, but I love competing.”

SEC/ESPN deal has much to prove

Nine months ago, the Southeastern Conference and ESPN agreed on a $2.25 billion media deal promising coverage of anything donning the conference seal. Nine months in, the deal has underperformed.

Across a number of media platforms, the Worldwide Leader has without a doubt raised the profile of football and basketball across the South.

That’s it, though.

The inherent problem with ESPN promising so much coverage is it can’t all go on the flagship station or even ESPN2. If an ESPN crew is going to cover an SEC early-season baseball game in the middle of basketball season, how deep into your cable company’s sports package will you have to dig to watch?

By the time you get down to watching games live on ESPN Classic, something doesn’t feel right. Even during football and basketball season, the deal didn’t perform. Games were aired on networks Insight employees weren’t sure how to access.

The SEC Network didn’t offer a marked improvement in production quality and the on-air talent was, to say the least, a major step down from all-world hoops tandem Tom Hammond and Larry Conley.

But in the other areas, what has the deal done? What about the Olympic sports?

According to the joint news release the league and ESPN sent last August, ESPN and ESPN2 would televise: at least three regular-season baseball or softball matches, three regular-season gymnastics matches and the conference championships in those three sports.

During the gymnastics conference championships, ESPN went with an MLS game. and ESPN2 had Sweet 16-round NCAA women’s basketball tournament games.

The heart of the deal is in football and basketball. But by the time ESPN gets past its priority programming — Alabama and Florida football, and UK basketball — you may be stuck watching your favorite team play on ESPNU, with second-rate production quality and commercials for muffin pans.

And we’re in for 14 more years of this. By the end of this thing, we may be spurning college baseball programming just so we can watch third-round coverage of all 16 SEC teams playing in the 180-team NCAA Tournament, broadcast in 3D.

Whatever it is we’re watching at that point, it still won’t be gymnastics.

James Pennington is a journalism senior. E-mail jpennington@kykernel.com.