A Few Monday thoughts ---
--- Loved what I saw from the Basketball team this weekend, even with the first half struggles last night. The athleticism is unbelievable and I agree with whoever said above that he is ahead of Wall at the same point (although Wall took a huge leap in December of that year). Cal is also giddy with this group, mainly because he has dudes that all want to work. I am not overly concerned with outside shooting as struggles in that area ensure he will have to play Willis, even with his mediocre defense. We will lose some games, but by the end of the year they will be right there. One deficiency I worry about is no rim protecter since this team likes to go for steals so much, but they can overcome it.
--- I was really frustrated by how wimpy the FB team coached on Saturday, especially not going for it on the 4th down in the first half. I think Stephen Johnson's Miss state fumble has them all spooked and now they refuse to do anything but the most safe option. Problem is, they won't beat good teams like that, at least in my view. Still I think the program has taken a massive step up in the last few weeks....key is not to totally get embarrassed by Louisville (which could happen) and keep fans engaged for what should be a fun Bowl game.
--- Lonnie Walker would be a great Fall commitment and one that UK Folks really believe they can get. Arizona is probably the favorite but folks in Lexington think they are right there and they have been encouraging an early decision. Its a gamble on Cal's part, but one that might work.
--- Been an odd few weeks for me in relation to UK (non-basketball) folks. It is all basically resolved now but it will never cease to amaze me how many fans (especially on this board) think I am just a mouthpiece for the Administration when many over there are not fans at all. Just shows you cant please everyone.
--- I cant believe Donald Trump is going to be the President. I am not totally shocked he won, mostly because Hillary was so unlikeable, but I can't believe this is the result. I don't think its going to be a massive change from a normal Republican Presidency from a policy perspective...maybe a little more populist economically, but probably not too much as Ryan/McConnell won't allow it. Still this is the one thing I really dislike about it...he is normalizing the idea that being a total *** can not only work, it is preferable. It isn't so much the racist/sexist rhetoric (which is bad but I think he will get away from as President), but the fact that his position on everyone that disagrees with him is "screw them." It doesn't really matter for Trump but it infects the way others act who emulate him. It encourages *******-ishness across the board, which kind of sucks. But hey, he won and Clay Travis is popular....so my opinion is clearly in the minority on this.
--- Bobby is going to try to score 100 against us...I think we will either play it relatively close or be totally humiliated. There is no middle ground.
--- Early TV indications are pretty good for our gig. We have cut into Jeopardy substantially and improved the time slot ratings for WLEX a pretty good amount. It is also a ton of fun to do and I am amazed at how they will basically let us put anything we want on the air. Even if the show were to ultimately fail, I wanted to do a show completely my way and let the chips fall where they may...talking sports but also politics and trying to do creative stuff. We have so far and it has been surprisingly pretty positive. We get our first big ratings book in December though so ultimately that will be the first true indicator.
--- Remember when the UK media online all hated each other and there were tons of grudges? Of course there was me vs Maggard and that whole thing but there were lots of others as well....some of which never even got made public. Everyone kind of despised each other behind the scenes. Now some folks have problems with Rowland (who is much more controversial than anyone else now, including me, although I do get along with him) and I am sure there are still some with latent dislike of me, but it isn't like the old days at all. Probably because the media landscape is much thinner and really only 4 entities (CJ, Herald, KSR and Cats Illustrated) have much of a consistent following. Kyle Tucker may change that with SEC Country and knock the CJ out, but the days of 500 sites and reporters has kind of gone away.
This has really become my only place (along with our site and Twitter) that I read on UK sports topics on the internet. You guys still have a huge influence on the content of my show (as I am sure you probably know), especially when it comes to what drives people to argue and get mad at each other. Thanks for that.
--- Loved what I saw from the Basketball team this weekend, even with the first half struggles last night. The athleticism is unbelievable and I agree with whoever said above that he is ahead of Wall at the same point (although Wall took a huge leap in December of that year). Cal is also giddy with this group, mainly because he has dudes that all want to work. I am not overly concerned with outside shooting as struggles in that area ensure he will have to play Willis, even with his mediocre defense. We will lose some games, but by the end of the year they will be right there. One deficiency I worry about is no rim protecter since this team likes to go for steals so much, but they can overcome it.
--- I was really frustrated by how wimpy the FB team coached on Saturday, especially not going for it on the 4th down in the first half. I think Stephen Johnson's Miss state fumble has them all spooked and now they refuse to do anything but the most safe option. Problem is, they won't beat good teams like that, at least in my view. Still I think the program has taken a massive step up in the last few weeks....key is not to totally get embarrassed by Louisville (which could happen) and keep fans engaged for what should be a fun Bowl game.
--- Lonnie Walker would be a great Fall commitment and one that UK Folks really believe they can get. Arizona is probably the favorite but folks in Lexington think they are right there and they have been encouraging an early decision. Its a gamble on Cal's part, but one that might work.
--- Been an odd few weeks for me in relation to UK (non-basketball) folks. It is all basically resolved now but it will never cease to amaze me how many fans (especially on this board) think I am just a mouthpiece for the Administration when many over there are not fans at all. Just shows you cant please everyone.
--- I cant believe Donald Trump is going to be the President. I am not totally shocked he won, mostly because Hillary was so unlikeable, but I can't believe this is the result. I don't think its going to be a massive change from a normal Republican Presidency from a policy perspective...maybe a little more populist economically, but probably not too much as Ryan/McConnell won't allow it. Still this is the one thing I really dislike about it...he is normalizing the idea that being a total *** can not only work, it is preferable. It isn't so much the racist/sexist rhetoric (which is bad but I think he will get away from as President), but the fact that his position on everyone that disagrees with him is "screw them." It doesn't really matter for Trump but it infects the way others act who emulate him. It encourages *******-ishness across the board, which kind of sucks. But hey, he won and Clay Travis is popular....so my opinion is clearly in the minority on this.
--- Bobby is going to try to score 100 against us...I think we will either play it relatively close or be totally humiliated. There is no middle ground.
--- Early TV indications are pretty good for our gig. We have cut into Jeopardy substantially and improved the time slot ratings for WLEX a pretty good amount. It is also a ton of fun to do and I am amazed at how they will basically let us put anything we want on the air. Even if the show were to ultimately fail, I wanted to do a show completely my way and let the chips fall where they may...talking sports but also politics and trying to do creative stuff. We have so far and it has been surprisingly pretty positive. We get our first big ratings book in December though so ultimately that will be the first true indicator.
--- Remember when the UK media online all hated each other and there were tons of grudges? Of course there was me vs Maggard and that whole thing but there were lots of others as well....some of which never even got made public. Everyone kind of despised each other behind the scenes. Now some folks have problems with Rowland (who is much more controversial than anyone else now, including me, although I do get along with him) and I am sure there are still some with latent dislike of me, but it isn't like the old days at all. Probably because the media landscape is much thinner and really only 4 entities (CJ, Herald, KSR and Cats Illustrated) have much of a consistent following. Kyle Tucker may change that with SEC Country and knock the CJ out, but the days of 500 sites and reporters has kind of gone away.
This has really become my only place (along with our site and Twitter) that I read on UK sports topics on the internet. You guys still have a huge influence on the content of my show (as I am sure you probably know), especially when it comes to what drives people to argue and get mad at each other. Thanks for that.
