Sunday sampler

Good morning/afternoon! Hope all is well with you today, and I hope you aren't too jealous of this delicious robe I'm wearing. Got it for Christmas, you know. It's made from Siberian tiger fur, and stuffed with dhole tails (doesn't the word "dhole" look like something you'd call your friends if you didn't want to cuss, but still wanted to insult them? "Bring me a beer, man." "No, get it yourself." "Dude, you are such a d-hole. No wonder your wife is cheating on you"). It's very comfortable.

With that being said, let's bang out a few UK-related notes so that I can retire to my recliner and ponder how many endangered animals had to die to make this glorious robe.

-Kentucky beat South Carolina yesterday, 79-64. Someone had predicted they would win by 16. That someone didn't miss the final score by much either. He must be really smart.

The most troubling stat of the game for me was the rebounding. Kentucky got out-rebounded by 5, which isn't terrible, but USC had 16 offensive rebounds leading to 15 second chance points. This continues a theme we've seen a couple times this season, where Kentucky has problems rebounding against physical teams.

The good news to come from yesterday was the resurgence, for now, of Terrence Jones. He led the Cats with 20 points on 8-9 shooting. But to nitpick, he only had 3 rebounds. See the above paragraph.

Marquis Teague also played much better, shooting 6-10 on his way to 17 points, with only 3 turnovers. His progression for the next few games is going to be something to keep an eye on.

-If you were asleep by 1:00 last night, as I should've been, you missed Charles Barkley on Saturday Night Live. It was an OK show, but one skit gave a shout-out to our boy DeMarcus Cousins, calling him a "baby". See, people? Even the SNL writers wonder about his maturity level.



-Speaking of the NBA, last night's game between the Knicks and Pistons featured Josh Harrellson and Brandon Knight, and both guys represented themselves well. Knight led the Pistons in points, rebounds, steals, and assists, while Josh managed an 11-7, with a +12 in 27 minutes. Keep an eye on his +/- this season, it's been very interesting so far. In 8 games, he is +44 on the year, with his worst outing being a -2. I'm sure there is much more to it, but on the surface, it's a very encouraging number.



-In NFL news, former UK great Dermontti Dawson is a finalist for the Hall of Fame this year. He was an All-SEC center at Kentucky, and went on to play 13 years for the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he started 181 games and made 7 Pro Bowls. We certainly hope he makes it in this year, as he has also been a finalist in 2008 and 2009. Although, looking at his stats page, it makes me wonder how he even had a job. No tackles, no yards gained, nothing! Zeroes across the board! Wow, the NFL used to be a weak league.


I thought he played for Kentucky, not Penn State?

-Finally, congrats to fan Vincent Swope, who hit a half-court shot to win $10,000 from Kroger. The company wasn't going to pay, due to controversial foot placement on the shot, but all ended up well. $10,000 will buy A LOT of ice cream sandwiches. The "Sammies" are delicious.

But not as delicious as this robe. Have a good week.