All Star Weekend

Late on Friday afternoon, I walked back to my apartment completely exhausted from my grueling Statistics test. I walked in, set down my backpack, and decided to check the mail. What I saw inside that small metal box lifted my energy level and released more endorphins than anything else-a small flat rate, cardboard box addressed to yours truly. Instantly, I knew what awaited me inside. Are you on tenterhooks? It was my new Rajon Rondo t-shirt!!!! Ah!! What great timing! I had been looking for one in my size for almost two months now, and my sister found one to send to me. Best sister ever. I received my Celtic green t-shirt right in time for the All Star weekend :) I already have his jersey, and now I have the t-shirt. How more legit can I get?

Before the actual All Star game, there were a lot of other events to take place. Friday night was the rookie vs. sophomore game. Obviously J-Wall was ballin' it up on the court, since he played for UK and all. But what really made me tear up were the brilliant passes between Wall and Cousins. Seeing them play together again did my heart well, and really made me miss last year's team. This year's squad just isn't to that level. But I digress. John Wall also had some excellent assists to Blake Griffin (he's a rookie by default, but really he should have been with the sophomores). Needless to say, J-Wall won the MVP honors.

The only highlight you need to know about the Celebrity All Star game is that Justin Bieber got straight up stuffed by Scottie Pippen. Way to go, Scottie.

The dunk contest on Saturday night was a clear indication of the complete shift towards showmanship that the league has taken. Griffin jumped over the front bumper of a car and won by a landslide. It was impressive, but props aren't what should make a dunk spectacular. Ibaka's dunk from the free throw line was, in my opinion, way better. But I do think Griffin is a beast when it comes to his other dunks.

Finally, the All Star game. Usually I'm not interested in the All Star extravaganza, especially since it's not even close to real basketball. It's more of an individual offensive exhibit. However, Rondo, Ray Allen, Pierce, and Garnett were all reserves for the East, so I tuned in to watch my Celtics light it up. After the forty-five minute introduction for both teams, the game got under way. I only paid attention when the Big Four were put in, and only the first two quarters. It was a disappointment, as I suspected it would be. I still enjoyed seeing my boys and wearing my new t-shirt (I'm going on the third straight day of wearing it). It was amusing to see the perceptible coldness between the Miami Heat players and the Celtics players, as they were forced to be on the same team. I personally wouldn't handle playing with my enemies very well. Kudos to them for keeping it professional. The West won-gag me-and the festivities came to a close.

Although the game wasn't a thriller, it did produce an excitement about the upcoming playoffs. It was a good All Star weekend, especially the showcase of former UK players in the rookie-sophomore game. Basketball is the best.

Bowl Games

I know it's a little late, but New Years day was just amazing. I could sit and watch (good) football games all day! Though, I do have one complaint...there are just too many superfluous bowl games! I wish all the BCS games and other real bowl games are all shown on one-maybe two-days. A marathon of engaging games, what more could one want?

I plopped myself down on the couch with my mom and dad, in my pajamas, a coffee table laden with an array of delicious snacks, and a big screen t.v. :) Is there any better New Years tradition? I found the Alabama vs. Michigan St. game especially hilarious. There was a stretch of about three plays where at least one Spartan had to be helped off of the field. They just got beat up like an unevenly matched playground battle. At the end of the game, Michigan St. had negative rushing yardage.

Of course the suspense of the BCS Championship is continuing to build. It seems that every year the BCS makes the 'ship further and further away from New Years. Por que?? Monday night it'll all be over. What am I going to do all Saturday instead of watching football games? Study, perhaps? Nah...

The best bowl games of course, were 1) UConn in its BCS game-say what?! The same UConn, who lost to LOUISVILLE (who UK beat) was in a BCS game because they are in the Big East-a BCS conference with an automatic bid. Ok, I don't hate the BCS like most people do, a playoff system is not the answer, but even I can see how flawed that is. 2) Obviously the most anticipated game is the BBVA Compass bowl between UK and Pitt. Bahaha. What a joke. I though it couldn't get worse than going to the Music City bowl three years in a row. Well, it just did. I think it's even below the Meineke Car Care bowl AND Roady's Humanitarian Bowl. We lost.

TCU proved that they can hang tight with the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl. They really seemed to find the holes in the Badger's defense. I can't hide that fact that the Big Ten going 0-5 one day pleases me...because the SEC went 3-0 on the same day. Needless to say, the SEC can't be touched in football dominance. We own the past, present, and the future :)

I'm scared that Auburn won't take their game seriously. Oregon wants to prove something, I can feel it. Hopefully the Tigers can make us SEC fans proud!

My Favorites

Here are some pictures of my favorite people in Sports. Some are my favorite announcers (Kirk Herbstreit, Clark Kellogg), and some are my favorite players. Think of it as my Christmas Wish List this year. I want to meet all of them!

Rondo is my boy! He's the cutest-and the best-point guard in the NBA! A great Kentucky boy.

Kirk Herbstreit. Even though he's a Buckeye, he's still my favorite football analyst. I always listen to his predictions. Plus, he is the most attractive man ever!

Lamb and Jones. my favorite freshmen. Lamb is so cute, and Jones is such a presence in the paint.

Clark Kellogg. The best color commentator in college basketball! And he definitely loves UK :) I was so glad when he took over Billy Packer's job.

Andy Roddick. Let's be serious, he hasn't won a major in a while, but he's still smokin' hot! The other people I mentioned I like for legit reasons, but I just like the eye candy for this one, ha ha.

There are other athletes I really like, but I thought I'd limit it to these guys for now.

Things That Would Make My Sports Life Better

Well today started out horribly with a UK loss to freakin' UNC, but things could look up if the Auburn Tigers beat the Gamecocks in the SEC championship game. When they do, they'll represent the SEC in the BCS title game, resulting in the fifth consecutive season where there has been an SEC team in the championship.

Something else that would make sports better is if Clark Kellogg was the color commentator for all the UK games. He's seriously my favorite. Even though he's a Buckeye, he's the best! Plus you can definitely tell he likes UK basketball :)

Also, along the same vein of Kentucky basketball, I would like the NCAA to make a decision-the right decision-to FREE ENES! Geez, he'll pay back the $$, and then he'll help my Cats do well this season.

Finally, scoring a date with Rajon Rondo-that would pretty much be the best thing ever.

There are myriad more occurrences that would make my sports life better, a lot of which involve bad things happening to athletes and coaches I strongly dislike, but I need to stay positive. Plus, there's only so much you can ask for before you start getting greedy.

Pearl is Punished

As the timeless idiom goes, cast Pearl before swine and he'll fit right in! I can't fully describe the complete happiness and satisfaction I receive from Bruce Pearl being suspended from his first eight games. Not only do I despise his ridiculous orange sport coat, but the irony and corruption is almost too much to handle.

Before delving into the reason behind the suspension, let us take a jaunt down a Pearl-laden memory lane...

Twenty years ago, Bruce Pearl was an assistant at Iowa during a battle with Illinois for the star recruit Deon Thomas. Thomas committed to Illinois. Pearl, whistle in hand, got Thomas to admit to receiving a car from the Illini and turned in the tape recording into the NCAA. Although they could not back up his claim, they found other violations by further investigation which resulted in a one-year postseason ban. From that moment onward, Pearl carried around the label of a whistle-blowing rat like it was inked across his wide forehead in red. His fellow coaches shunned him with an impenetrable silence. Pearl kept telling himself and others that he did the right thing. It took three years for the tainted coach to get a job-back to Division II-at Southern Indiana. Nine years and a stellar winning record later, he was finally let back into Division I at a mid-major program: Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Three seasons later he was hired at Tennessee.

Now after such a history and a tough row to hoe, you would think that he would be the epitome of a corruption-free coach. Well, well, well...not so fast, Pearl. It turns out that Bruce has some dirt on his hands, too. He has it on his hands, his program, and his recruits. Quite frankly, when you move the orange rug you can see that he's been tracking in dirt all over Rocky Top Tennessee. The violations include excessive phone calls to recruits and use of unauthorized phones. More than the violations is the evident misinformation Pearl provided to the NCAA. Bold move from a one-eyed fat man. Covering your tracks is almost worse than performing the wrong deed! Pearl said, "It's serious what we did, it's worse how we handled it." You can say that again.

It's funny how a once goody-two-shoes is now the bad apple.

The punishment makes the matter curiouser and curiouser. He'll miss the first half of the SEC season, and will return for his Jan. 22nd game against UConn. Then he will continue his suspension and make it back to the court in time for the game against Kentucky and rival Calipari. Interesting indeed. I guess sports are more similar to politics than I thought. At least he is exposed and receiving some punishment. I can't wait to see the signs UK fans make on that Feb. 8th game.

What did I do?!

Miami Can't Take The Heat

Notice: bringing in three huge stars does not immediately yield success. Just ask the Miami Heat. I realize it's the beginning of the season, and the franchise didn't promise a glitch-free season. However, I can't help but feel a little satisfaction in seeing the Heat struggle to find their footing. What a sweet victory for the Jazz! Maybe best of all is that Miami lost twice to the Celtics-a team who has a tangible magic they clearly wanted to bring the South Beach.

I will refrain from being a complete critic because I still believe the team will eventually get in a rhythm and go on to have a solid season.

A quick note about my recent birthday. I felt so special for receiving a birthday email from ESPN.com, which included a free code for the Sports Center ringtone. Now every time anyone calls, I go into my anchor mode and pretend I'm opening the show...then I answer the call, ha ha. The second great gift I got was from my good friend, Michael. Thanks to a little prompting from yours truly, he sent me a Celtics shirt that is the definition of perfection. It reads: "I only date Boston Celtics fans". I'm going to wear it 24/7!

Family, Food, Football

This past weekend I was lucky enough to watch glorious college football with my wonderful family. My dad and I were able to surprise my sister and mom as I flew in late Friday night to see them. Needless to say, it was just what I needed :)

There are two things that are necessary for viewing football: family and food. I had both! My sister and mom made some awesome bruschetta, along with about a million pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting that I devoured. We ate great Thai food for dinner and some delicious frozen yogurt for dessert. And that's just the food. The big games (mainly SEC ones) were riveting...and my picks weren't all that bad for once! Auburn remains unbeaten-but they dropped to # 2 in the BCS standings, Oregon surpassed them for the #1 spot. UK lost like usual-Mike Hartline sucks.

All in all it was a day well spent (as in I didn't do anything except plop myself on the couch and gather around the t.v. with my amazing family). Can life get any better than this?