Dancin' Their Way To the Sweet 16

Well it is a sweet time to be a basketball fan in the state of Kentucky, as both the men’s and women’s teams have reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. This is the first time the men have made it to the round of 16 since 2005 and the first time the women have done it since the expansion of the field in the tournament. This is the first time in my life that I can remember this happening, both teams start there seasons together with big blue madness can they end the season together as national champ? I think this may be asking a lot for Coach Matthew Mitchell and his Hoops team since they have never done it. Both of these teams spoiled wildcat fans as both the men and women was perfect at home, how many schools can say that both of their programs can do that.

These teams took way different paths to get there as the men’s cats team started the season expected to win, while the women hoops team was expected to have a good year but not as great as they have both teams started the seasons winning 13 straight and both beat in state rival Louisville, but they are not the same the Cats are 34-2 on the season the a number one seed in the tournament. While the hoops went 27-7 to be a number four seed in the tourney. The Cats have plowed over their opponents while the hoops had a couple close games verses Liberty and Michigan State but they looked good doing it.

These teams also have some things in common as they both have the SEC player of the year in John Wall and Victoria Dunlap, as well as SEC freshman of the year with DeMarcus Cousins and A’dia Mathies. So this year’s teams showed they are in the top of the SEC, I’m excited to see what happens as both of these teams finish the big dance.

Cats pull out the SEC Chip!

Wow! That is really all I can say about the South Eastern Conference (SEC) tournament outcome, it included everything you could ask for. As the Kentucky Wildcats lead by freshman John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins defeat Mississippi State in overtime for the schools 26th SEC tournament championship, Kentucky also won the regular season SEC championship as well.

This tourney was a challenge for the cats from the start as they received a first round bye and faced Alabama in a game were the cats struggled in the first half and went in to half time down by five, but the second half was a different story. Whatever Coach Cal told them in the locker room at the half worked as they come out to win the game as they pulled out a 73-63 point win over the tide. The leading scorer of game one was Wall with 23 points as he stepped up big in this game. Junior Patrick Patterson showed his leadership skills to have 20 points and four rebounds.

Game two of the weekend the wildcats faced there boarder state rival Tennessee Vols, the cats and the vols split the regular season as UT awarded Kentucky one of their two losses this season. The neutral court played in the cats favor as the town was painted blue with wildcat fans. Coach Cal pushed the point of play as hard as you can the first five minutes of each half and you will win the game and He also told his players if you don’t take the open shot you’re going to be on the bench and these two things pushed Kentucky to a 74-45 win. There is bad blood between these two teams and the coaches so it was a very physical game that included 2 sets of technical fouls and an ejection of a Tennessee player. The wildcats lead this game from the tip as Kentucky took a 32-19 lead at the half were coach call said I want to win by 25 points, well he got his wish. Cousins went to get his 19th double-double of the year with 19 points and 15 rebounds in a game controlled by freshmen as Eric Bledsoe scored 17 points and Wall put up 14.

With these two wins they advance to the championship game were they went on to win 75-74 in overtime over Miss. St. Today was Patterson’s 21st birthday and he wanted to bring home the title for that as he came out of the gate scoring four of his 15 points in the first few minutes of the game. The cats trialed at the half 31-35 but they came out playing a lot better half a pep talk from the coach but they just couldn’t finish it in the second 20 minutes as Cousins hits a shot with one tenth of a second left on the clock to send them in to over time. Overtime was control by Wall as he hit a key 3-point shot to put the cats in control. Wall finished the game with 17 points, eight assist and seven rebounds, and Cousins finished the game with a double-double 10 points and 10 rebounds.

John Wall was awarded the MVP of the tournament and him as well as cousins made the all tourney team. The cats will celebrate this win for a little while as they wait out to see where they place in the NCAA tournament bracket. They are thought to be the number two over all in the tournament which would give them a number one seed in the east more than likely. We don’t have long to wait to find out where they will place as the selection show begins at 6:00 pm eastern time.

Thank You Nomar!

Today is a sad and joyful day for members of Red Sox Nation, as this morning Nomar Garciaparra signed a one day minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox, so that he could retire as a member of the team. Garciaparra was the first round draft pick of the 1994 draft for the Red Sox coming out of Georgia Tech and this began his journey into the major leagues. Nomar played 14 seasons in major league nine of which he played with the sox and he stated late in 2009 that He would like to retire in a Red Sox uniform which he got a chance to do today.

Nomar was the 1997 American League rookie of the year, during that season he had a .306 batting average in 153 games that year he also lead the league in at bats, hits and triples. He is a six time All-star and started in the 1999 All-star game at Fenway Park, He also won two AL batting titles. He was loved by fans in Boston because of his love for the franchise, the team and most importantly the fans. Nomar took time out of his day to sign autographs every chance he got and he says the things that you need to say to be loved by the fans.

The press conference that took place today was a class act as he seat at the same table with the man who sent him out of Boston, Red Sox General Manger Theo Epstein and other members of the staff. He answered a question about how he felt about leaving the Red Sox the same year that they won the first World Series for the franchise in 86 years.

"I felt like I was there," Garciaparra said. "In Boston there's something greater than an individual player winning a World Series. When I was there I realized there's something bigger than us winning a World Series. It's winning a World Series for these people."

He was awarded a World Series ring by the team in a private ceremony; in Chicago from the team because they felt that He was a part of what got them there.

Nomar to me in my younger day was a symbol of what the Red Sox were, just like when you thought about the Bulls in the early 90’s you thought Michael Jordon. He represented the heart of the team and he had the bat to back it up. I’m glad that he had a chance to retire with this organization and hope to still see him around it in the future. I feel that He was good enough to have his number retired because he was such and influential player during his nine years there and probably one of the best short stops the Red Sox have saw in years.

So what is next for Nomar Garciaparra? He says he plays to take a position at ESPN doing baseball tonight and even calling some games for them, so he isn’t quitting baseball all together. He is just moving from player to media, which he will do great in the media as he has auditioned for several different stations with appearances on the MLB Network and Baseball Tonight in the off season. I wish him the best of luck and can’t wait to see him on ESPN on a daily basis.

A video from today's press conference can be found belong from boston.com

2 Out of 3 Ain't Bad

This has been a beautiful spring weekend here in Barbourville, KY and with spring comes the great game of baseball. The Union College Bulldogs played a three game set against Covenant College in AAC play. The bulldogs’ weekend included a nine inning game that took place on Friday and on Saturday there was a twin-bill of seven inning games.

The Friday game was a game that featured Soph. Brandon Hedrick on the mound and his 11 strike outs that he received in the game and he was one away from tying the program record of 12 strike outs in a game which He has done once this season. Hedrick made it seven innings and gave up two earned runs on two hits and a walk to receive his second win of the season. Now the pitching looked good on Friday but the offence I can’t say the same for because as a team they only had five hits. This is not your traditional Bulldog team that scored five plus runs a game. The biggest help to the team was freshman first baseman Tyler Brake who went 2-4 with two RBI to lead to a Union win with a score of 4-2.

So coming off of a close win game one of a day brought on some worries for the team as they was having issues from the start giving up three runs in the top of the first inning you know that can only bring more trouble. In this game the bats was alive but pitching was the down point as Covenant had 11 hits, ten on senior Adam Snyder who pitched five innings and one on junior Koby Hearn. The bats were alive though as Union put up 11 hits and the team was lead by soph. Donnie Popham went 4-4 with two runs. But late in the game the mood of the game changed when junior catcher Mike Adams got injured making a terrific plate blocking play and had to leave the game. He did not return in the game, which lead to a defeat as Covenant went with a game one win of 8-6.

The second game of the double-header brought new life to the Bulldogs after dropping game two of the series and they wanted to win. The team came to life in the bottom of the second as they put five runs on the board to put them ahead. The bulldogs was lead by Hedrick who was manning third who hit 2-3 with one RBI and Brake who went 2-2 with 3 RBI. The Dogs was putting points on the board often but they were lead by some solid pitching as Senior Matt Modlinski and sophomore Drew Chamberlain. Modlinski went four innings giving up six hits, two walks, two strike outs and three runs. Chamberlain pitched four innings giving up three walks and striking out three batters with no hits to be awarded the win. Union won game two of the double with a score of 9-3 in seven innings.

So the Bulldogs finished the three game series with a 2-1 record and since this was the team’s first AAC match up of the season they are 2-1 in AAC play and 7-6 with all play. This is going to be a down year for the Dogs but I can’t wait to see how the rest of the season works out. For more information on the Bulldogs’ Baseball or other sports you can check that out here.

Athlete of the Week: John Wall

I decided this week I am going to start a new segment that I’ve had in mind for a few weeks now called Athlete of the week. I am going to look over the high lights of the week and season the chosen athlete has accomplished.

This week’s Athlete of the Week is going to be University of Kentucky freshman John Wall. Wall lead the Wildcats to an 80-68 victory over Georgia, were he scored 24 points 3 assist and 1 steal. This freshman star has taken this team by the reigns and become its leader, he is not the leading scorer most nights but he always makes his showing. With the NCAA tournament coming up in a few weeks I feel he will come out and show his true colors to lead his team to the final four. On the season Wall averages 17 points per game, 6 assist and 1 rebound and he is said by some to be the 2010 NBA overall number one draft pick. His leadership skills on the court and his ability to take control of the tempo of the game are why he is this week’s player of the week.