Back in the Saddle Again

What's up, Sportsthat? It's been a while.

As my cohort pointed out on this site about a month ago, I dabbled in the world of KSR for a little while and I enjoyed it very much. I got a sneak peek into the world of sports journalism. I met Matt Jones of KSR a few times and had some phone conversations with him. It was a very pleasant experience and I am glad I did it.

Though I came up short in the end, I can say that I did take some positives away from my short lived TV career. Here they are in no particular order:

• I got to meet a lot of very cool people




• I enjoyed the 15 minutes of fame and the random people stopping me in the streets to tell me they saw me on television




• I have a great deal of family and friends that encouraged me in following my dream




• I have a second wind in my desire to work in the world of sports journalism, UK athletics in particular




• I have a renewed confidence in my talents and abilities

So that all brings me back to what started me on this road: blogging for Sportsthat. We have had some great successes on our little blog in the past (Free Enes, interviews from other legit news sources, an ESPN.com article, a decent number of readers and fans, a small amount of money from Google) and we have let it fall to the wayside.

I only have myself and Monster Mash to blame. We have had a revolving door of bloggers on this site that have come and gone, but the two of us have been the constant caretakers of our little blog. It's up to us to resurrect it and make it better than before.

I also have decided to drop the moniker "Boogiewoogie". I am proud of what I do on this site and most of the people that read it know who I am anyway. If I start a new trend or catch someones eye, I would like my real name to be attached to it.

No matter if anything substantial happens with this site or not, I know that I have fun doing it. It's a hobby and you need hobbies to keep life interesting. Since I am older, out of shape and breaking down, I can no longer play sports effectively, so I write about them. It's my outlet and a way for me to blow off steam.

Thanks for reading and hopefully we can restore this to it's former glory and maybe even take it a step further.

Play us out, Aerosmith:

Boogiewoogie is making his move!

Well, our boy Boogiewoogie has been looking to move into greener pastures and this week he has taken a step further. After refining his craft on the blogosphere, he is currently trying to take his face made for radio (and blogging) to Television.


This weekend he audtitioned for KSTV and out of the 200 participants, he has made it into the final 20! We are crossing our fingers that everything works out and that being called Jason is the worst of the wrong doings c/o Matt Jones.

Terrence Jones' News and Notes: Brought to You by Mother's Day and Rajon Rondo's Arm

Hello. How was your Derby? Did you win anything? Neither did I. But one thing that made me super happy was the announcement that Terrence Jones will remain at Kentucky and not lave his name in the NBA draft.

This puts Kentucky in the conversation for preseason #1 with only North Carolina in the argument. This Kentucky team is going to be redonkulous.

Onto the News:

• The Celtics finally looked like themselves last night and won a game in Boston. The story of the night, besides how fat Shaq is, was the horrific looking injury to Rajon Rondo. Rondo was taken down by the Heat's Dwayne Wade (can't he just quit effing with UK?). Rondo dislocated his elbow. He left the court, we all thought he was done for the series. Think again. Rondo came back out and finished the game shooting, dribbling and passing with one arm. It was one of the gutsiest things I have ever witnessed.


• DeAndre Liggins will announce his plans to either go pro or stay at UK tomorrow. I think that Liggins will hire an agent. His best chance to get drafted is this year, next year it will be near impossible. He may also have to struggle to find minutes at UK this year with Jones, Lamb and Miller coming back, plus of all the talent coming in. God Bless you DeAndre, whatever it is you decide to do.


• Guess how many one and dones John Calipari had this season? One. Guess how many one and dones NCAA Darling Duke had? One. Go ahead media, do your thing. Or rather just sit there and say nothing positive about John Calipari, like you always do.


• Apparently nobody wants the Maryland job. Mike Brey, Sean Miller and Brad Stevens have all turned it down. The new target appears to be Tubby Smith. Smith's tenure in Minnesota has been no picnic and it would not surprise me if he left. I will never understand how Maryland never capitalized after their championship in 2002.

That's all for now. I leave you with this:

D-Wade is a dirty SOB. Happy Mother's Day.

Terrence Jones Steals the Derby Spotlight Once Again

Maybe Terrence Jones has something against horses. Whatever it is this is the second year in a row that he is causing waves during the weekend of Kentucky's biggest international event.

Last year I distinctly remember sitting on a friends porch during the Kentucky Oaks constantly refreshing KSR and the Courier-Journal online to find out if Jones was going to be a Wildcat or a Huskie. He broke the heart of Big Blue Nation by picking up a Washington hat only to later mend the broken pieces by coming to UK and becoming one of the best freshman in the country on the way to a Final Four.

This year Jones is going to announce via Twitter whether or not he will go pro or stay at Kentucky and become a sophomore with his teammate Doron Lamb.

I haven't blogged in a while and I deactivated my Twitter account. I am once again blogging and I reactivated my Twitter for this sole purpose: to see what Jones will do and spread the news anyway I can.

Maybe I am sick in the head. One thing is for sure, I love Kentucky basketball almost more than anything else.

If there are any indications from Jones they have been veiled. He has been sending out pictures of himself as well as his UK teammates having a good time tagging them with words like "family" and "brothers". His Twitter profile pic is of him sitting solemnly in the locker room after the heart breaking loss to UConn.

Coach Calipari Tweeted that Jones is ready to announce. No press conferences. Just a Tweet. I am thinking, and hoping, that Jones is ready to blow the doors off of Rupp Arena with a simple "I'm coming back."

Press conferences are usually heartfelt goodbyes to the fans. Just look at Brandon Knight, John Wall, Randall Cobb and Patrick Patterson. It is a dignified way to say thanks for the love and memories. Announcing a goodbye via Twitter would be a bad move for Jones and his relationship with fans. This is the main reason I am thinking that the announcement will be of his return.

Another telling sign is the involvement of John Calipari. He has been talking about this Tweet since yesterday afternoon. He is pumping BBN up for something big and I doubt it is for a let down. Noway is Call hyping this to only disappoint a most loyal fan base.

Whatever happens it will make it a very interesting Derby Day. Jones is once again taking precedence over the biggest party day in the Commonwealth. The only thing that could trump it is a basketball national championship. The return of a player like Jones makes that a distinct possibility.

Follow Cal here and Jones here.

Louisville Fans find Comfort in the arms of Elisha Justice

It's makeout time in the YUMMMMMYYYY!!!! Center...and Rick likes it angry.

Right now it is tough being a Louisville basketball fan. Losing to Morehead State in the first round of the NCAA's, never beating Kentucky at anything, Rick Pitino talking about retiring, assistant coaches bailing left and right, recruits bailing left and right, and the NCAA won't let Rick and his boys play the Puerto Rican National Team; all of these things weigh a fan down like the boulder that smashed James Franco's arm.

Louisville fans have found refuge in the arms of former walk-on and current scholarship player Elisha Justice. It doesn't matter that Justice blew the Morehead State game by missing key free throws; Elisha is currently in a battle to win the sexiest male athlete. His current opponent is soccer "star" Carlos Bocanegra. Check out the name of the blog I just linked and it says it all. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Louisville fans haven't won anything of importance since going to the Final Four in 2004. Right now any win matters. Even if it takes grown men voting for a shirtless 19 year old kid, it's a victory. Their hopes rest in the sexiness of a kid that Rick Pitino calls "Bullet".

Louisville fans, you write your own material. I just repeat it.

Louisville Fans Go Twitter Crazy on Kevin Ware and Lose Another Recruit

Louisville fans LOVE to say that Kentucky fans are overzealous, over hyped, uber-emotional, die hard nutcases. In some cases we are, but that doesn't hide the fact that they are as well. Even though they try and take the high road and claim that they are everything a good fan should be, they continue to remove any doubt that they are pompous asses like anybody else.

Take the reaction that Louisville fans had since Kevin Ware chose to go to Central Florida. These reactions (I hate linking KSR) have forced Ware to not attend the Derby City Classic in Louisville because of, "All of them hostile fans. A lot of negative stuff has been tweeted to me so I don't want to deal with that."

It's gotten so bad that Kevin Ware has deleted his Twitter account due to the crazy ass Louisville fans. I wonder if Dan Owens is going to blast this kid for not attending his precious game like he did Marquis Teague, Kyle Wiltjer, Anthony Davis and Michael Gilchrist?

And the Cards just lost another recruit, so Negus Webster-Chan's Twitter beware! Webster-Chan is a three-star small forward from Huntington, West Virginia (like Patrick Patterson and Gurgui Dieng). He was committed to the Cards but has since opened up his recruiting because of the clusterfudge that is the UofL coaching staff at the moment.

In two days Rick Pitino has lost Kevin Ware (whom he personally visited), Negus Webster-Chan and has Tony Woods wavering. I think Rodney Purvis will be the next to drop out.

The sentiment around the Cardinal blogs is that "we are a football school again" and "how many more weeks until football", and "I can't wait to see what Charlie Strong has ready". They are pretty excited about going 7-6 last year.

Doron Lamb is returning and Knight has made his Decision

This is a good news/I have no freakin' clue scenario.

First up, let's talk about what we know for sure. Doron Lamb has officially announced through the University of Kentucky that he is bringing his 12 points per game and his swagger back for another run to the Final Four.

To dispel the myth that John Calipari wants to shuttle all of these freshmen off to the NBA, here i what he had to say: "Not only does he (Lamb) gain another year of maturity and school work, but he now has the chance to put in the extra work to elevate his game. I'm excited to have him back." Me too. I have my Three Goggles waiting for next season.

And now on to what we don't know. Kind of. There is one thing that we do know for sure and that is that Brandon Knight has made a decision. His mother was interviewed and she refused to give up the goods, stating "It's not for me to announce". Oh Boy.

Whatever his decision is it seems that it is going to be definite. I think he will either say he is coming back to school or he is entering the NBA draft and hiring an agent. With top 10 draft picks deciding to stay in school, Knight has rocketed up to the #5 projected player in the draft. It will be tough for him to go that high next year.

Whatever his decision he will be supported by the fans. An announcement will probably be made tomorrow or Thursday.

And Terrence Jones still has not indicated what he is doing at all.

Update: No, not the kind of update where I tell you Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones are coming back. Here is what Doron said about returning to UK:

"With the guys we have coming in next year, I know we have the talent to make another run at a national title. I want to help bring a National Champinoshipt back to Big Blue Nation because I know they have been waiting too long. I've enjoyed my time at Kentucky, playing for coach Cal and his staff and I'm not ready for it to end."

This kid gets it.