Hey NCAA, LIGHTEN UP!!

Over the past week or so, information has surfaced that UK Basketball player Darius Miller is in violation of NCAA rules. It is comical to me that a kid is possibly going to be punished over actions that he wasn't even a part of. A picture of Darius was used on pamphlets to advertise for a basketball camp at a Kentucky High School. NCAA rules state that a player's likeness can't be used to promote any venture where there stands to be money made. First of all, Darius wasn't getting paid so how does this cause any harm or give Darius an upper hand. I have a huge problem with some of the NCAA rules. Here are a few of the big problems that I believe the NCAA needs to look at.

First, I believe that all NCAA athletes deserve a monthly allowance of approximately $300.00 from the institution they are a part of. Yes, I know they are receiving a paid education. This paid education is not actually costing the school any more money than if they were not there. Here is my theory. For the most part, NCAA athletes do not have time for jobs. Their job is to practice daily, study, and represent the school. I can say from experience there just is not enough time in the day to throw in a job. How fair is it that these athletes can't earn enough money to do their laundry, go out to eat, or even have a date.

Another NCAA rule that I have a problem with is that a coach can't even by his player something to eat. This is ludicrous! In many cases, when parents send their children off to school they want their child to be looked after. Many players look at their coaches as a parent figure. I believe the NCAA is sending the wrong message. I am not saying the coach should be able to give the athlete money to go by a burger or steak, but I do believe the coach should be able to have the athlete over to their house or be able to take them out to eat.

I understand there are rules in place to keep a level playing field, but I just think some of the rules are just plain ridiculous!

FOOTBALL SEASON IS NEARING!!!

Football season is just around the corner and I for one am very interested to see what Rich Brooks does with his team this year. UK is coming off the most successful three year run in UK football history. I feel that this team has the potential to make a bowl game, but there are some large roadblocks that will have to be overcome in order to make their fourth straight bowl game.

Maybe the largest obstacle this year is the schedule. No matter how you look at it the SEC is always tough, but the schedule this year fields the likes of Florida, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, and Georgia. Year in and year out every one of these teams competes for the SEC title, as well as national titles. The good new is that we have Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee at home. Yes, I know UK has some very long losing streaks against Florida and Tennessee, but it does prove better for UK that they will at least have home field advantage and will not have to deal with the raucous crowds.

In my opinion, I feel the CATS will have to win all their non-conference games which include Miami-OH, Louisville, Louisiana Monroe, and EKU plus squeak out a couple of victories from either Vandy, South Carolina, or Mississippi State in order to add to their record of three straight bowl games. I just do not see them pulling off the upsets of the likes of Alabama, Florida, Auburn, Georgia, or Tennessee. While UK has come a long way in the realm of player athleticism, I just do not believe it will be enough this year to pull off the huge upset of one of the big five.

The second obstacle I see standing in the way of UK making their fourth straight bowl game is the offense. Whether or not the offense has improved will rest on the shoulders of junior quarterback, Mike Hartline. At this moment, I believe all UK fans believe that Hartline will be the starting QB when Miami, OH arrives September 5th. Hartline will have had to improve his confidence, arm strength, and accuracy in order for the UK offense to have improved at all from the statistics they put up last year. At times last year it was very hard to watch our offense while Hartline was the QB. He was inexperienced and afraid to make a mistake. This led to him not taking any chances throwing down field. Opponents new that UK was not a threat down field so they concentrated on stopping the run and allowed UK to complete the two and three yard passes. Hartline is the key as to whether UK reaches their fourth straight bowl game or whether the keys to the offense are turned over to one of the two top twenty five quarterbacks that UK was able to sign this past off season.

Happy Father's Day!!!!

I'm taking the day off since it is Father's Day. Hope you have a great Father's Day. I will be back on 6/22/09 with more "Talk UK Sports".

Thanks for visiting!!

New Arena Same Old Story!!!

Let me first start by saying that I think it is high time that the UK Basketball team gets a new arena. My problem with the proposed arena is that it is not going to be on campus and it will still not be owned by the University of Kentucky. The proposed plan calls for the arena to be owned by the current owners of Rupp Arena and The Lexington Center. To me this is just plain ludicrous!

I am sure this arena will be state of the art, but I just can't help but feel that the atmosphere would be so much better if the arena was located on campus. Some of the toughest venues in the country for opposing teams to play are at locations that are on a school campus. I'm not sure why the powers that be at UK would not want the arena to be located on campus.

I am not sure what the proposed agreement is between UK and the arena owners, but there has to be some type of yearly compensation for UK to play in the arena. At one time during the 1980s and early 1990s each time UK had a basketball game in Rupp Arena they had to pay approximately $55,000.00. I have a few questions? Why pay to play in an arena that you are not even able to practice in? Why pay to play in an arena where there could be scheduling conflicts because there are so many other types of entertainment shows to be scheduled around?

Other than the debt that comes along with a new arena, I am not sure why UK officials would not want to own their own basketball arena. First off, much of the cost of the arena would be paid for by donations. The Craft Center is an excellent example of this. When it comes to UK basketball, alumni and fans will donate money at the drop of a hat. If there was any debt left after donations, the arena could be paid for in no time because UK would be able to profit from all ticket sales, all memorabilia sales, and all concession sales which is not the case with the current or proposed plan.

When it comes to basketball, UK is the most distinguished program in the country. In my opinion, the most logical step forward for UK Athletics is to own and control all sporting venues. An on campus arena owned by the university would take the program to a whole new level!

SHOULD BE BACK WITH ANOTHER BLOG SAT 6/20

I apologize to my growing number of followers, but I was not able to post a new blog today. With any luck I should be back on Saturday (6/20).

If anyone has a topic that they would like discussed please feel free to post on the comments page!

ARE WE SETTING OURSELVES UP FOR DISAPPOINTMENT?

With all the excitement surrounding the UK basketball program and the wild predictions of a national title this year there is one very big question that we as fans need to ask ourselves. Are we setting ourselves up for disappointment?

Please don't get me wrong. I'm as excited as anyone, but I believe the current predictions and expectations are unrealistic. Yes, I think we will have a much improved team next year. I believe by the end of the year we will be one of the ten best teams in the country. The expectation that this team is a lock for the final four is just plain ludicrous.

Anyone can see that this team is loaded with talent, but talent does not always mean there will be success. When a team is as young as this current UK team there are a few factors that can prevent the success that is expected.

First of all, the step from high school basketball to college basketball is huge. An incoming freshmen has to overcome the realism of being the best player on the floor in his high school career to playing with and against players of equal or better talent in college. Sometimes this proves to much to overcome.

Another obstacle that can throw a wrench in huge expectations is the fact that there is no guarantee that the talent that has been assembled will gel as a team. This has proven to be a huge downfall of many talented teams over the years.

As I stated before, I'm as excited as anyone, but I just feel that we as UK fans need to reign in the expectations that are being heaped upon this team. It is great to be excited about UK basketball becoming relevant again, but please be careful not expect too much from this young, but talented team.

Let me know your thoughts!!!

Is Pitino the one to blame for UK basketball downfall?

Now that UK basketball is rising from the funk it has been in for the past several years, UK fans can now get the swagger back that has been absent for so long. This being said, I would like to pose one question. Who or what is the single largest factor in the downfall of UK basketball over the past six to seven years?

While the title to this blog hints at placing the blame on Rick Pitino, I truly do not blame him for the downfall. I was basically just poking fun at the fact that if he hadn't left to coach the Boston Celtics we would not be having this conversation. This could possibly be true, but the blame can't be placed on him due to the fact he was following his heart at the time.

I believe the blame lies with the hiring of Orlando "Tubby" Smith. Yes, I know he won a national title for UK in 1998. But, if a look is taken at the 1998 team compared to the teams he was responsible for placing on the court the following years, there is no comparison in one regard, TALENT LEVEL!

The style of play that Tubby stressed just wasn't the style that attracted top level talent. Year in and year out we kept hearing that Tubby was going to stress a faster style of play, but this never happened because (with the exception of a couple of years) UK just didn't have the talent pool to play that style. Instead, UK constantly set up a half court offense and constantly struggled to produce an easy look at the bucket. Many times the shot clock would dwindle down before getting a shot off. The teams Tubby coached relied heavily on defense to make up for the huge lack of offensive scoring. I have no doubt that Tubby Smith is a great human being, but I feel that the past UK downfall lies squarely on his shoulders.

ISN'T IT NICE NOT TO WORRY ABOUT THE TALENT LEVEL AT UK NOW?

POST WHAT YOU BELIEVE WAS THE REASON FOR THE DOWNFALL!