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?

I Love the Smell of UK Basketball in the Fall

The countdown is over...Kentucky basketball's season has begun! I love college football, but let's be serious, UK football isn't anything to write home about. UK basketball, on the other hand, is the most important thing in the world. While other kids watched cartoons or other shows, I was glued to the Kentucky basketball games. Yelling, cheering, crying, high-fiving...Kentucky basketball has always been my obsession.

Tonight marks the start of a new season. Our team in no way compares to last year's squad, but a team like that only comes along once in a Kentucky blue moon. However, being a true fan does not entail cheering solely during the victorious stretches, but rather it demands loyalty through thick and thin.

Midnight Madness is a great tradition in NCAA basketball, especially at UK. I remember going every year to watch it in Memorial Colosseum, after camping out to get tickets for it (which are free, but sell for hundreds). I remember witnessing Rajon Rondo win the dunk contest during that year's Midnight Madness, and I was blown away by his explosiveness. I knew right there that he was destined for great basketball endeavors (he is now probably the best point guard in the NBA).

I wish I were able to be there tonight, but thank goodness for espn3.com. In honor of the tradition that is Kentucky Basketball, I watched the 1998 NCAA Championship game vs. Utah. Yes, I frequently watch the classic games that took place during my lifetime, and it never gets old. I love seeing Utah crumble and the Comeback Cats triumph. Envy our past, fear our future.

UK basketball stirs in me emotions that nothing else can. A combination of pride, enthusiasm, hopefulness, and love fill me to the core. Some call it over the top, I call it passion. And life without such passion, is no life at all.

So until the next post, I'll leave you with some highlights of that glorious 1998 championship game:

-Doleac struggling to get down the court towards the end of the second half, as his bowl cut is matted to his forehead.

-Wayne Turner never making two consecutive free throws (consistent with his 56% free throw average).

-Scott Padgett and Jamaal Magloire always looking Bad A with some sort of bruise or cut near the eyes.

-Rick Majerus rumored to have burned his "lucky" sweater after the game due to its failure to bring luck as well as its pungent odor and yellowed armpit regions.

-Cameron Mills being the man and making two threes when UK was, up until that point, 0-7 on three point attempts. As the final buzzer sounds, he then becomes the man that falls to the ground in tears (prompting pal Jeff Shepard to follow suit).

-Kentucky wins its seventh NCAA title. 'Nuff said.

The Hunt for a Reds October is a Success!

FINALLY!!! 1990 was that last year in which the Cincinnati Reds won the World Series, and 1995 was the last year they made it into the post-season. Now the fifteen year drought is over!

I have many fond memories of going to the Reds games and eating soft serve ice cream out of the plastic helmets. Some real greats have played for them over the years, like Ken Griffey Jr., Sean Casey, Adam Dunn, Austin Kerns, etc. Although many times they started out the season with a bang, they always trailed off in the NL Central race, and year after year failed to make it to October.

But this season was different! They have remained in the lead, or a few games off the lead, for a while...and have stayed at the top! I hope they can make the most of this long awaited post-season appearance and win the World Series in what has seemed like a long twenty years!

College Football!

Ah, the leaves are turning, the air is getting cooler, and the helmets are being strapped on...it's college football time! There's nothing quite better than sitting in front of a t.v. all day Saturday and flipping back and forth from one great game to the next. Grilling out bratwursts, hot dogs, and hamburgers, popping the top on a Barqs Root Beer, and only moving to go to the bathroom or get more food. Get ready, folks. Saturday is about to become your favorite day of the week.

The Best part of college football and the BCS system is that every Saturday counts. There is no room for error, and with every yellow flag you can't help but cringe and wonder if they can make it through the game without five more off sides. Many teams may come out of the starting gate at top speed only to be left behind during the last stretch. It's fourth and inches, and you're biting your nails and trying to help the next Knowshon Moreno get that crucial first down. You hold your breath as the star receiver is smashed to the ground after a gruesome tackle, or you lean forward to see if the helmet rolling on the field still has a head in it-for surely the impact was impossible to survive. Behold the ups and downs of football. The high fives for a victory, and the tears of sadness that coincide with the truth of the trophy slipping away. It's all part of the emotional ride, and it's all worth it.

The first weekend was a great one! UK beat Louisville, the SEC fared well in general (however, that LSU vs. UNC game was too close for comfort), and the Boise St. vs. Va Tech was a thrill! Oh poor Beamer and his goiter. But this is only the beginning. The noise from all the conference shifts has died down, and now we can all focus on the war zone that is about to ensue. Ready, set, HIKE!

The Not Fantastic Five

So I think I'll start my own Friday tradition of the Not Fantastic Five-a numerically lesser spin-off of Sports Center's Not Top Ten.

In descending order:

5. I love the Celtics, so I'd hate to throw my team under the bus completely. However, signing Shaq? That's definitely not fantastic.

4. USC Football. Kiffin is trying to promote his program and how they are as focused as ever this season despite not going to a bowl game. Let's face it, they might as well not even play this year, we don't like them anyway.

3. Brett Favre. Again we have to deal with his decision of whether or not he will still play, as if we didn't already waste a month of our time awaiting LeBron's decision.

2. The Red Sox losing 9-1 at their home stadium. That just sucks.

1. Coach K. Need I say more?