SB Nation User Blog: Anything but Gatorade

By the Numbers: Florida at Kentucky

Anything but Gatorade — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:55:45 -0000

That's Lane Kiffin's house. via riannanworld.typepad.com

I'll go ahead and preface this post by saying I'm not quite as confident going into Saturday's game as Ken is. After the jump (in a continuing effort to keep Howlett's good work on the level), I'll explain in a little more detail why I'm less than enthused about our chances this weekend. Oh, and whoever that guy is who always says "not a football fan, but Kentucky basketball forever!", come on, man. Come. On..

The following appeared on my own blog earlier today:

Tim Tebow at Kentucky

Ugh. I hardly want to write about this. Yes, it's football, and yes, by virtue of even playing the game, the Cats have a chance to win. I also have a chance to go skiing down Mt. Vesuvius with Cokey the Tiger but I'm not booking any plane tickets to Italy. No, the Gators did not look like world-beaters last Saturday at home. Tebow did not quite look like he'd been touched with Jesus tears before he entered the game. But they still won by 10, whether they played poorly or not.

Kentucky, on the other hand, didn't inspire much confidence in me against Louisville. They did a good job of moving the ball when not politely handing it over to the Cards' special teams and defense, and they did put some good numbers on the board. They did not, however, stretch the field. If Florida keys on Derrick Locke and Randall Cobb, and we can be sure they will, then Hartline is going to actually have to play some real quarterback. I do feel more confident in the defense, but the line still needs to improve its pass rush. By, like, a lot and stuff.

Quite frankly, I'll gladly accept a moral victory in this game. Anything's better than the shmusmortion the Cats put up last year, and if no one blows out a knee when the clock reads zeroes, I'll be okay with that.

Statistics can say whatever you want them to say, that's true. The available stats for 2009 aren't terribly accurate because a) Florida's played three games to Kentucky's two, and b) Florida's played a D1-AA team and a Sun Belt team, which probably skews most of their numbers to look better than they may actually be. Keeping that in mind, though, check it out:

Points per game: Florida, 47.0, Kentucky 36.5. I'm calling this a push because of the aforementioned caveats.

Points allowed per game: Florida 7.3, Kentucky 13.5. Again, we don't really know how good Florida's defense is given their first two pushovers plus Jonathan Crompton, an SEC defense's best friend. Giving up so many points to Louisville was nigh inexcusable on Kentucky's part, though.

Yards per game: Florida 536.7, Kentucky 417. Not bad, Cats.

Yards allowed per game: Florida 224, Kentucky 283. At least it's less than 300. For the time being.

Time of Possession: Despite keeping the ball for probably all of a minute in the third quarter of the Louisville game last week, Kentucky averages 32 minutes per game while Florida keeps it 29 minutes. The difference is probably negligible given Florida's quick strike abilities.

Yards per play: Florida 6.6, Kentucky 5.9. That's actually a lot closer than I thought it would be, but can you imagine 6.6 yards per play? That's ridiculous. Florida also runs 75 offensive plays per game (to Kentucky's 50) in an attempt to take a page out of Oklahoma's playbook.

Yards allowed per play: Florida 3.1, Kentucky 4.4. Woah. Not good, defense. The Cats have also allowed opponents about 65 (to Florida's 57) plays per game, which is bad. That's probably, again, a little skewed thanks to the third quarter of the Louisville game.

What's all that mumbojumbo tell us? Well, on the surface, the Cats aren't all that statistically inferior to Florida when you consider the relative competition. But when you look a little deeper, the thing that really scares me is the number of plays to which Florida limits its opponents, and how few yards per play they allow. In contrast, Kentucky has let its opponents run a lot more plays despite winning the time of possession battle, and they're allowing larger chunks of yardage on defense. That's not something we can afford against Florida, bad game against Louisville or not.

I'm hopeful that the Cats defense turns it around this week, I really am. Some of the Gators seem to have an H1N1 problem, and Tebow wasn't quite himself against UT last week. But, like Ken said, it's going to take some serious focus and absolutely no mistakes in all three phases of the game to win. Go Cats.

AbG's Power Poll Doesn't Count (but read it anyway!)

Anything but Gatorade — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:16:54 -0000

by Dave Martin - AP

Pardon me, but there's a Blog Poll I need to be getting to. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

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We're all well aware that the sages of Garnet and Black Attack and our very on Truwhateveritis are editors of the weekly SEC Power Poll. Tru hasn't posted his votes (I don't think) just yet, so I thought I'd take a moment and put together my own. Naturally, this doesn't count whatsoever in the big-boy poll, so I can put the Cats ANYWHERE I PLEASE, SUCK IT VOLZAAAAAHHHGGH!

Excuse me, blacked out there. Anyway, hyah it is:

Alabama - The score was close but the game wasn't so much. They were pretty dominant.
LSU - Washington outgained the Bayou Bengals and rolled up over 400 yards in a loss. That Tiger D needs to get it together fast.
Ole Miss - Jevan Snead & Co. looked pretty shaky in the first half against Memphis. Not sure whether or not to chalk it up to first-game jitters. The D did look pretty solid.
Auburn - They were actually losing for a minute before the managed to take control and pile on a pretty good Louisiana Tech team.
Kentucky - Only here because they were the one of the few schools to play a D-1 team and beat them into the turf.
Tennessee - Yes, it was against Western Kentucky. But they showed they had a lot more on offense than anyone thought.
Georgia - There are lots of excuses for losing that game, but Okie State's defense had a lot to do with it.
South Carolina - The defense was OMG scary, the offense was pretty terrible. Still, a win over a BCS school should count for something.
Florida - Might as well have played a high school team. Are they really worse than any of the teams above? Of course not, but until they play someone other than a 1-AA team, they don't get the cred.
Vanderbilt - Looked great in their opener against Western Carolina. But beating cupcakes won't get you very far in the SEC, it's common practice.
Arkansas - Petrino may have that offense in high gear again, but it's hard to tell against Missouri State.
Mississippi State - Could be better than we thought. I don't think they put up 47 points in all of 2008.

Some caveats: Please remember this is a week-by-week deal. Commies fans will not like being ranked where they are, but I ask that they remember that they played a bad team from the FCS. Kentucky is probably not better than UT, Georgia, and definitely not Florida, but they looked better against tougher competition (marginally, anyway). That being said, feel free to rip me apart in the comments.

Hey, Preseason Prognosticators: Am I Missing Something?

Anything but Gatorade — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:31:29 -0000

Picture is unrelated. Via pictureisunrelated.com

So I, like some of you who can manage to distract yourselves from the "Guiding Light" episode that seems to be the everyday lives of Rick Pitino and Billy Gillispie, have been reading quite a few preseason picks for the SEC lately. And I'd say 4 out of 5 of them have Kentucky finishing dead last in the SEC East. In most years, I'd say that's par for the course and work on mending my tent so I could camp out for Midnight Madness tickets. But if the last three years have taught us anything, it's that Kentucky doesn't totally suck at football anymore. You've read what Ken, Tru et al. have had to say about the team. It's probably better (if reports from camp are true) than it was last year, and even though last year was tough to swallow, it still ended in a bowl win. So you'd think that other people might notice, right? Wrong. This one from Team Speed Kills in particular just really grinds my gears, disclaimer by the author notwithstanding:

Kentucky

DATE OPPONENT OUTCOME

5-Sep @ Miami (OH) W

19-Sep Louisville W

26-Sep Florida L

3-Oct Alabama L

10-Oct @ South Carolina L

17-Oct @ Auburn L

24-Oct Louisiana-Monroe W

31-Oct Mississippi State W

7-Nov Eastern Kentucky L

14-Nov @ Vanderbilt L

21-Nov @ Georgia L

28-Nov Tennessee L

Kentucky just wasn't very good last season, and they made it to bowl season largely on the back of a terrible non-conference schedule. The terrible non-conference schedule is back, but I just don't see improvement from the Wildcats that many of the other conference teams will make. Going with Mike Hartline under center over Randall Cobb didn't inspire confidence, and losing Jeremy Jarmon was the last straw.

One SEC win. One. With two All-America candidates in the defensive secondary. With one of the few QBs in the league with actual game experience. With a freaking stable of thoroughbred running backs and receivers that can apparently catch the football now.

Are we still dealing with this? The cupboard behind last year's starters wasn't bare, folks. If Coach Brooks says we're better than we were last year, I believe him. Some might chalk that up to coach-speak, but if there's one currency we know Papa Rich doesn't trade in, it's BS. So am I right to get my shorts in a wad every time I read something like this, or should I just suck it up and let the Cats prove it on the field? I'm inclined to do both, but let me know if you see it differently.

UPDATE: Here's a link to the story.

SEC = Media Gestapo

Anything but Gatorade — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:18:06 -0000

More photos » by Butch Dill - AP

Expect there to be a lot fewer microphones come September 5. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

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I would have to guess that most anyone with a high school diploma read Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 at some point in time. It's not the most fun book to read but it does, in a roundabout fashion, warn its readers against the dangers of censorship and the relinquishment of control to authority in general. Well apparently, the thinktank that put together the SEC's new media and ticketholder policy totally missed that week of English class or are huge fans of the George Orwell's 1984 antagonist, Big Brother, because check it out:

Media Policy

Point (1) is the most important point, and probably the biggest change in media policy. To me, point (4) is the next most interesting. But keep in mind, all the media points are terms of a contract; it's a this-for-that arrangement where the media guy gets access in exchange for limitations on use of material. This only applies to people with media credentials. There is a separate agreement for ticket holders.

Media Creds can only be issued to full-time salaried employees of accredited media institutions. This will be the biggest sticking point for the media, and it's the first sentence in the terms. The "full-time" condition is a huge deal for two reasons: it shuts down all possibility of allowing bloggers to be a part of the media (with the exception of people like Spencer Hall, who is considered media via Sporting News); it also shuts out a lot of the smaller media outlets - especially print media from small markets. I think it's more important to focus on that latter point, and here's why. As a blogger, I would like a chance to get more involved with the sports programs so I can bring better content to RTT. However, it's not my livelihood. At many of the smaller markets, the sports journalist is a part-time guy (or otherwise not "salaried") and removing his beat may endanger his job. That may be a stretch (and I'll readily admit I'm not familiar with small market media), but that's a far bigger consequence for them than anything I have to worry about.

No audio or video may be transmitted of the event within 72 hours of the even, except for television newscasts. And those clips must be shorter than 3 minutes. The 72-hour window will give the game-carrier (ESPN, ABC, or the SEC Digital Network in most cases) exclusivity during the 'hot' time. This is a concession to the big boys who are paying money so they can be the only ones broadcasting things while everybody's interested.

Highlights cannot be placed online or transmitted through any "new media" medium (e.g. cell phones, PDAs, etc.). For the moment, remember that this is talking about media personnel; we'll get to ticketed people in a bit. There is an interesting ambiguity here in that there is no time limit explicitly connected with this, yet it's in the same paragraph as the preceding point. So, can GVX post highlights after the 72-hour window? Probably not. Even more interesting is this scenario: suppose ESPN is covering a Vols game. They'll naturally be on hand to record post game interviews, which are a part of the "Event". Is GVX now prohibited from posting their audio of the interview on their website? Even after 72 hours? There is room for interpretation here, and the SEC will have to figure it out.

No "real time" updates of any form. This will presumably include Twitter in the eyes of the SEC. Interesting note: "... the determination of whether a blog is a real-time description or transmission shall be made by the SEC in its sole discretion." In its most draconian form, this could be read to say that live game threads are taboo. However, this is a restriction placed on the "Bearer" of a media credential. We don't have media credentials and are therefore not subject to the terms of this contract. I'm very interested to find out their intent on this point.

Media Credentialed personnel may take pictures to use in their stories. Still photographs don't interfere with video coverage, however,

Media cannot sell the pictures they take. This is really interesting for image services like Getty, who often buy pictures from local media rather than hire somebody to cover each and every event in the country. Add to it that only full-time salaried employees can get media creds in the first place, and all of a sudden outlets like Getty won't have a source for photos.

Radio stations cannot use live commentary in game updates without prior permission. This really isn't a big deal, but while a game is in progress, the little sound-bite updates can only be given if the SEC allows.

Ticket Holders and Non-Media Credentials

This will hit closer to home for most. Again, keep in mind it's a contract, and these are the restrictions that the SEC demands in exchange for allowing you to 'license' a seat for the event. That, and paying for the ticket, of course.

No use of photos, video, audio, etc. that is copyrighted. I emphasize the 'copyrighted' bit because there's more to follow. But basically, any transmission of information that belongs to somebody else can't be used by a ticket holder. Honestly, that's pretty standard stuff, so pay more attention to the next point, which I will quote directly because it's the most important one to know.

"No Bearer may produce or disseminate (or aid in producing or disseminating) any material or information about the Event, including, but not limited to, any account, description, picture, audio, reproduction, or other information concerning the Event, other than in speech that cannot be restricted under the First Amendment, in any form." You read that right: no picture-taking. No cell pics, no cell videos. No Twittering. No calling your best friend and explaining what just happened. That's the letter of the law in this term of the contract (always remember; this is a contract). How far will the SEC pursue this? I have no idea, but the language is in place to give them as much freedom as they want. However, its interpretation is made shaky by this term later on (and I again quote):

"Bearer may not bring alcoholic beverages, bottles, cans or containers, laser pointers, irritants (e.g. artificial noisemakers), video cameras, strobe-lights, or any type of weapon (or anything which the SEC or its member institution may deem a weapon) onto the premises of the Event. Note that cameras are not excluded. So while there is language prohibiting photography, there is not language prohibiting cameras. Also, I would like to point out that the Mississippi State cowbells are technically banned under this policy (even though I think it's a cool tradition). So if the SEC lets MSU fans use cowbells, they don't really have any room to prohibit the carrying of cameras, which aren't included in the policy. Oh, and smoking may be banned at events, too. But you knew that. (Side note: in a conversation we had offline, Joel suggested that could be an oversight, so we'll see how it goes.)

(HUGE, GIGANTIC FOAM CLOWN COWBOY HAT TIP TO ROCKY TOP TALK ON THIS.)

This has been peppered to death already by John Clay, EDSBS and Dr. Saturday's Holly Anderson (a Vol fan, but a tolerable one), and the aforementioned smart guys over at Rocky Top Talk. As fantastic as we all thought the new SEC/ESPN media deal was going to be for everyone ever, it turns out it comes with a few, ah, restrictions.

What's to be done about it? I'm a big fan of passive resistance. Are the blue and/or yellow coats really going to be sitting up in the concourses with binoculars watching to see if LSU fan is dropping bourbon into his RC Cola, or if Mississippi State fan has a cowbell? I doubt it, they don't get paid enough and they've got enough on their plate already. My advice is to ignore all this stuff and dismiss it as the unenforceable crap it is. Just because you bought a ticket doesn't mean the SEC can tell you how to behave. Sure, there are some limits, but no cell phone photos or even conversations? Get out.

UPDATE: The Birmingham News is reporting that some of these policies as they pertain to the media may be "tweaked." I should think "tweaking" would be an understatement.

Breaking Down Kentucky at Vanderbilt

Anything but Gatorade — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:54:19 -0000

via assets.espn.go.com

Take the above image and repeat about five or six times and you have Commies at Cats, 2008. Several blogs lately have pointed out that the Doormat Bowl has evolved from answering the question of "who's going to be at the bottom of the league" to "who's going to be at the bottom of the league, but also gets to go to a bowl?" That wasn't the case in 2008, as Kentucky got torched and still went to the Liberty Bowl. It might not be the case in 2009, either, as South Carolina or Tennessee could easily fail their way to the same East basement that Vandy and UK have struggled so mightily to climb out of. Of course, every conference game is important, but, because UK/VU tends to happen so late in the season, it always seems like a fulcrum-type game, and 2009 looks to shape up that way, too. Chris Low calls the game a "fork in the road" for Kentucky, and Team Speed Kills calls it one of the 10 games that will shape the SEC this year.

Cocknfire over at TSK does a pretty good job breaking down the game, and I've taken a look at it myself recently, albeit a brief one. Of all the games on the schedule this year for both the Cats and Commodores, this was the hardest one for me to pick (or push). Here's a deeper look, and why it's probably not going to matter come November 14th anyway:

Coaches: Rich Brooks (123-150-4 in 24 total collegiate seasons, 32-41 in 7 years at UK); Bobby Johnson (87-92 in 16 collegiate seasons, 27-56 in 8 years at Vanderbilt). Oddly enough, Bobby Johnson is the longest tenured coach in the SEC. Both of these guys can really coach, and both have led historic turnarounds in their schools' football programs. I'll say this for Coach Johnson, though: he's done more with much less, and also without an athletic department. Brooks's efforts and success have been well documented, and the fact that he's still here after two and a half miserable seasons due to probation, etc., is a testament to his abilities and philosophy.

Offenses: Vanderbilt's offensive line last year was, in a word, bad. Luckily, they had fleet-footed Chris Nickson under center to scramble around behind them. Unluckily, Nickson's list of options was fairly limited: dump it off to someone who wasn't covered, try and run for yards, throw it away, or take a hard sack. The latter two options were the ones most often employed. Spelling Nickson occasionally was Mackenzi Adams, who played well enough in his opportunities but not so well to get the starting nod for 2009. It's my expectation that Larry Smith will get that honor, and he's got much better blockers this time around. Short white guy running back Jared Hawkins returns to a role he was oddly effective in last year. The receivers are young, and that's probably the biggest question mark in the whole unit (aside from "who the hell is that guy, these jerks don't put names on their jerseys").

Ken's going through this sort of thing for Kentucky, but the line for the Cats this year should be pretty good. Christian Johnson, Jorge Gonzales, and Zipp Duncan are all coming back, and T.C. Drake must've accidentally gotten his name on some watch list for tight ends. The receivers were bad last year aside from Dicky Lyons, Jr. and Randall Cobb, but showed some promise in the bowl game. The running backs are good, but it would be nice to see some gains between the tackles. I'm pulling for Hartline because it's too soon to throw a freshman into the SEC meat grinder and Cobb's way more effective in open space than behind center.

Who gets the edge? Like so many things about these teams, there's not much room for a difference. There are lots of questions at receiver. The lines are both good, though I'd give Kentucky's a better grade. I'd give Hartline a push at QB because even though he's more experienced, he wasn't good last year. Kentucky's got more proven backs than the Dores do. I'll give the Cats a slight advantage here.

Defenses: Vanderbilt's defense is why they made it to a bowl last year. D.J. Moore was a nightmare for everyone who faced him, and he had a freakin' coming out party against Kentucky last year. Fortunately for the Cats, he's gone now. In his place, though, are Myron Lewis, Jamie Graham, and Ryan Hamilton, all effective tacklers and coverage backs. The defensive line returns most of its starters, and the linebackers are an experienced group as well.

Kentucky's secondary is equal to if not better than Vanderbilt's, returning Trevard Lindley, Ashton Cobb, Paul Warford, and Matt Lentz. The linebackers are also a talented group, with Micah Johnson returning along with Sam Maxwell and Danny Trevathan. The question marks are all up front, especially at the ends.

Edge here is even more difficult to tell. Will Kentucky's D-line firm up by November 14? How much of a pounding has each unit taken over the season? The interesting part is the offense-defense matchup; neither offense is expected to be especially effective, so the defenses might be better than we think in this game. Push.

Special Teams: I'm not a Lones Seiber fan. Here's hoping he gets his act together this year, because if Kentucky wants to win games, field goals are probably going to be pretty important. Vanderbilt returns Music City Bowl MVP punter Brett Upson, who is about as good as Tim Masthay was in terms of putting the other team in a hole as far as field position. Ryan Tiddlywinks (I can't spell his last name without looking it up) will probably have his hands full this year unless the Wildcat offense becomes much more effective at keeping the ball.

Kentucky's bread and butter in the past has been its return game, and I don't see this year being any different with any combination of Randall Cobb, Alfonso Smith, Gene McCaskill, Derrick Locke, and Kyrus Lanxter filling those roles. They can't catch passes consistently, but at least the catch punts and kickoffs. I'm not totally sure who'll be returning kicks for the Dores this year, but I'd have to think Jamie Graham will probably be in the mix.

This is a push for me because even though I think the Cats have the better return unit, I have no confidence in their kicking ability until further notice, and Brett Upson is a stud.

Schedule: Vanderbilt plays 12 uninterrupted weeks this year and the Kentucky game falls on Week 11 of their schedule. This game will be the 10th consecutive game on the Wildcats' schedule also. Kentucky goes through the meat grinder a little earlier than the Dores do, playing Florida and Alabama in the first five weeks of the season, but they get a break before going to Nashville in the Eastern and Louisiana-Monroe games. Vanderbilt will be coming off a brutal stretch of games against Georgia, at South Carolina, Georgia Tech, and at Florida. No way do they make it through there without some injuries, so the lines and backs might be pretty dinged up at that point. It's a home game for the Commies, but Kentucky always travels well down to Nashville and the Dores have a tough time filling their stadium.

Conclusion: I think that the constant pounding in Vandy's schedule and what I hope is an emerging offense from UK will be too much for the Dores to overcome. Thing is, though, this game is always hard-fought and extremely important to both teams, and anything can happen. When the week before this game rolls around in a few months, you can probably throw all of the above out the window. Just be careful when you do that, though, there might be a person down there.

Changes in Strategy, Changes in Talent (we hope)

Anything but Gatorade — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:44:05 -0000

"...and then I poked him RIGHT IN THE EYE." via cache.daylife.com

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I love Jimmy Buffett so I was going for the song thing in the title, but nothing rhymes with "strategy." Moving on...

Recruiting isn't really Tru's thing, I know, and it's not mine, either. I like to pretend that recruiting doesn't actually happen; that the kids that show up at Kirwan I every fall are there because they, you know, like it in Lexington or something. Having to consider what actually happens on the recruiting trail hurts my headspot too much, so I ignore it for the most part. That being said, one of the most profound things I took away from last week's Media Days event was a quote from Georgia defensive tackle Jeff Owens. Owens said (and I'm paraphrasing because Larry Vaught likes to copyright everything he writes) that the problem Kentucky's had with competing in the SEC East comes down to talent.

That's probably true, with some caveats. NFL types, especially scouts, seem to think that all it takes to create a successful college football team is to amass some talent and put it out there on the playing field. NFL types also think that it's acceptable to pay $8.00 for light beer at their games. Talent is very important of course, but to say that it's everything belies the importance of coaching said talent once it reaches said field. Going past the coaching edge, though, and you see why the Kentuckys and Vanderbilts of the SEC have struggled so mightily for so long: they can't get enough of the right kinds of players to fill out a roster.

Kentucky has some geographic and historical mountains to climb, but Coach Brooks recently addressed a sea change in the program's approach to college football's very lifeblood:

Kentucky has never put together great college football talent consistently like the Floridas, Georgias, South Carolinas, Alabamas and Texases of the world. This is a product of an administration that didn't care much about football, having a small state population relative to the rest of the schools in the conference, and the fact that most high school programs in the Commonwealth are working with next to nothing in their budgets with which to spend on football. Those last two factors are also some of the reasons Kentucky high school basketball is so much more important, but that's another post for another day. Adding in the fact that Kentucky, as the SEC's northernmost school, is almost in Big Ten country, and that negatively impacts the state's recruiting base even more. The only way many coaches in the past have dealt with this problem is to pick up a lot of junior college transfers with mediocre degrees of success.

Geographical and socio-economic reasons aside, Kentucky's fielded bad, bad, bad football teams for a lot of years. Sure, there are a few bowl games every decade to pin some pride on, but up until recently, success was...inconsistent. (That was hard to write, it's like saying "President Clinton's attitude toward marital fidelity was...inconsistent.") Kids who are good at stuff want to play with other kids who are also good at stuff. Beating up your sister is fun, but it's not something to be proud of; you want to beat up the kid that's just as big as you or even bigger. The analogy works with Kentucky football: offering talented kids a place to play immediately sounds great at first, but wouldn't you rather work and learn a little bit so you can get noticed by NFL scouts? That wasn't happening in Lexington until Andre Woodson emerged in 2007.

Fast forward two more years to today. If any of you follow my own site (and according to Google Analytics, you probably don't) you'll note that I keep track of Vanderbilt football, too. At this point in the year, Bobby Johnson has already obtained eighteen (18!!!) commitments from high school kids to play in Nashville in 2010. To look at the league as a whole, see hmyah (from Mr. SEC):

School	Total Commits	5-stars	4-stars	3-stars	2-stars	1- or 0-stars	Total Stars	Avg. Stars
LSU	20	0	12	6	0	2	68	3.4
Alabama	18	1	9	6	2	0	63	3.5
Georgia	18	0	8	9	0	1	60	3.3
Florida	16	1	11	3	0	1	59	3.7
Vandy	18	0	0	12	2	4	44	2.4
SCarolina	15	0	3	8	1	3	41	2.7
Auburn	13	0	2	9	0	2	37	2.8
Tennessee	12	0	2	7	0	3	32	2.7
Arkansas	8	0	1	5	1	1	22	2.8
Miss. St.	9	0	1	5	0	3	22	2.4
Kentucky	2	0	0	1	1	0	5	2.5
Ole Miss	2	0	0	1	0	1	4	2.0

Well look at that, Kentucky only has two commitments! And one's a kicker!! Well, we need a kicker, so that's okay. But to see the disparity between our Doormat Bowl compatriots and ourselves in terms of recruiting commitments thus far made me panic. So, I did what any other neurotic, possibly unbalanced Kentucky football fan would do, I asked Rob Gidel from KSR what the hell was going on. Oddly enough, he sent me an email back:

Great site (Ed. note: as if I didn't know that). Thanks for the question and for coming to the site. I cannot answer the 2010 question, because I really think at this point, it's always a crapshoot. Most of the kids that commit, commit on the whim. I've said from the beginning that UK was a leader for [Isaiah] Lewis (as early as last January). I'd be surprised if Michigan State was able to overcome the relationship that UK established from the beginning for him. He will decide soon. Outside of him, it's a crapshoot, as the tea leaves are always few and far between at this time of the year. I'd say, you can sound the alarm if UK goes past September with the same amount of commitments. Right now, it's not nearly as big of a deal as everyone is making it out to be. Things change so much in football recruiting and the biggest recruiting pitch is opportunity for UK. Kids cannot see opportunity from a pamplet. They have to get them on campus. Once they do and they see that the fans do take football seriously, things start to swing. In the past, the summer commitments have not nearly been as successful once they arrived on campus, so the lack of verbals at this point is not nearly as painful to take, in my opinion. We just need to be patient and remember that the biggest "gets" for this staff have all been late signees or winter commitments.

(Thanks for the help, Rob.) So that calmed me down a little bit. Then, on Sunday, I saw this gem of a quote from the OLD (Spurrier's not old enough to call himself old yet) Ball Coach himself:

"I think recruiting is going pretty well, better than it has in the past," Brooks said. "We may have had more commitments this time last year, but we also have to be a little more careful about who we get commitments from because we're into some guys that are maybe a little more high-profile."

HT: Chip Cosby on that. What this all means to me is that Kentucky is starting to at least try to get to the next level in recruiting blue chip talent. We Caliparians already know how important that is in basketball, and football isn't any different. What it seems that Kentucky is doing is trying to wait it out with some of the better recruiting targets on its radar rather than just snapping up whatever leftovers it can find like it's done in the past.

It's a gamble, but it is definitely one that I trust Rich Brooks to take. If this works, and Kentucky actually starts reeling in multiple classes of players that could just as easily start at Tennessee, Georgia or Alabama, the possibilities are astounding. I really don't want to get too worked up about it because, as a Kentucky football fan, I am no stranger to disappointment. But if the change in recruiting strategy serves to further improve the level of talent on the field at Commonwealth, I guarantee I'll be laughing maniacally for years to come.

How do the Wildcats stack up to the rest of the SEC East?

Anything but Gatorade — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:05:04 -0000

[Editor's Note: I have asked AnythingButGatorade to guest blog at A Sea of Blue for a while. I hope you will all give him a proper welcome and enjoy his commentary.]

Funny, I thought the SEC East looked just like Tim Tebow.

via www.bethelinc.com

By this point, all of the pre-season fanboy mags are out, be it Athlon, Sporting News, Lindy's, or the sainted screed of Phil Steele. Any chance his name is kind of close to Philistine? I think not. In any event, if you look at how the national and regional pundits have ranked the SEC you'll find Kentucky in its usual spot: dead last or second to dead last.

As Ken pointed out earlier, there are a lot of reasons why no one gives the Cats a chance to climb their way up the ladder and reach for the stars, etc. Kentucky has an exceedingly difficult time beating SEC competition. You know those streaks everyone likes to talk about? The ones that make you want to drive your Rich Brooks edition Ford F-150 into the nearest telephone pole? They're all against teams in our own division: Tennessee, Florida, and South Carolina. The Cats have only beaten UGA once in the last fifteen tries. Our record against Vanderbilt since 1990 is only 11-8. And here's where the news gets even worse: everyone is getting better.

Yes, Rich Brooks and I both believe that this year's offensive unit will outperform last year's (how can it not?). We know that the secondary is very good. But let's look at this year's eastern division, briefly, and see how we stack up.

SEC East:

Florida: Returns with The Anointed One, Tim Tebow, who was statistically and ecclisiastically the best quarterback in the league last year. The #1 scoring offense in the league in 2008 loses Percy Harvin but still has Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey, Aaron Hernandez and probably Riley Cooper for the most prolific offensive attack since the Wehrmacht took Poland. They gained an AVERAGE of 455 yards/game last year. Jeebus. Defensively, the Gators bring back almost all of their starters from last year's league leading scoring defense. There's a reason everyone thinks they'll take their second consecutive crystal football this year.
Georgia: Just because they didn't live up to expectations last year doesn't mean they were bad; they still got second in the East. Joe Cox is a fifth year senior, A.J. Green is probably the best wide receiver in the division, and the Bulldog line is always going to make opportunities for the next UGA running back to put up big numbers. Defensively, the Dawgs weren't spectacular last year, ranking 6th in total defense.
Kentucky: The defense, which got a lot of press early last year, got banged up a bit and sort of underwhelmed as the season dragged on. The secondary will still be very good. The line, specifically at end, on the other hand, scares the pee out of me. Collins Ukwu and Chandler Burden absolutely have to produce or the Cats will have no chance this year. Offensively, the questions are well chronicled: is Hartline going to be better? Can the receivers catch the ball? Was Moncell Allen just born without any cervical vertebra? Good news is that the best offensive line in the SEC is coming back and only lost Garry Williams to graduation.
South Carolina: The most quizzical team in the division. Is Stephen Garcia a good quarterback? He's elusive, but that Gamecock offensive line was terrible last year. The defense figures to be pretty good this year despite finally graduating Jasper Brinkley and Captain Munnerlyn, but they were middle of the pack in the league last year and do have their holes, as Vanderbilt found out early and often.
Tennessee: The Vols were a bad team last year. But guess what: they led the league in total defense. Eric Berry is a worthy Heisman candidate, no doubt, and running the ball on this team is always difficult (although the Pac 10 sure has figured it out, haven't they?) Lane Kiffin's been trying to prop up the disaster that is Jonathan Crompton this offseason. We'll see if it works as well as his strategy to recruit a QB for 2010 (read: not well). Also, for the first time in a while, there isn't a star running back lining up in the I for UT this year.
Vanderbilt: Returns 11 starters on what was a solid defense last year. Bobby Johnson hasn't yet named a starting quarterback, but my money's on Larry Smith, who is more mobile than people think and has a very strong arm. The Commodores' offensive line is what killed them last year, but all five guys are coming back and there has been more muscle and weight added to each player.

Can the Cats honestly expect to beat any of these teams? I don't think so. Compete with just about everyone but Florida, yes, but the Cats do not really have a talent advantage over anyone except maybe Vanderbilt. If you look at the matchups using 2008 statistics for total offense and total defense (which don't really accurately project what will happen in 2009, of course),and the Cats are actually middle of the pack offensively and dead damn last defensively.

No, they don't play games based on numbers, and I'm no slave to statistics. The point is this: Kentucky has a better football team and program than it did five years ago. So does everyone else (except Tennessee). The Cats are getting better talent and better production through each year under Rich Brooks. But there has to be even more improvement if the Cats want to make inroads in the SEC. The 2008 season was an aberration offensively, I hope. The defense, billed in 2008 as the best Kentucky has ever fielded, cannot keep giving up 300 plus yards per game and expect to come out on top. Those problems are not fixed with scheme, they're fixed with talented players. Get those more talented players, and the wins will come, as will the TOTAL SWITCHEROO WITH SPURRIER'S GAMECOCKS IN THE SEC EAST STANDINGS! WOO!! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Sorry, blacked out there for a minute. Go Cats.

UK Logo: distraction from basketball blahs

Anything but Gatorade — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:42:16 -0000

As I ~~watched the game~~ washed my car last night, I noticed that the UK cheerleaders had new uniforms with the ubiquitous "UK" logo on them rather than the old block "K". I have always liked the block "K" better, and now the "UK" logo is looking more and more like Houston's "UH" and some other team I can't remember at the moment.

The point is, what made the university change the logo? I remember when it happened back in the late '90's, but I don't remember why. Somebody help?

Billy and Jeanine

Anything but Gatorade — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:43:09 -0000

Billy and Jeanine

I know Tru doesn't particularly love it when other blogs try to get traffic from this one, so I'll be stopping after this fanshot. I also know that he thinks coach mock-ups are funny, and that's what this is.

Kentucky Beats Florida at LIFE, 68-69

Anything but Gatorade — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:19:09 -0000

Kentucky Beats Florida at LIFE, 68-69

Unlike Tru, I think Walter Hodge should have been kicked out of the game. But I am not objective and reasonable. This link is to AbG's game summary from last night. It is not pinkie style in any respect.

DATE	OPPONENT	OUTCOME
5-Sep	@ Miami (OH)	W
19-Sep	Louisville	W
26-Sep	Florida	L
3-Oct	Alabama	L
10-Oct	@ South Carolina	L
17-Oct	@ Auburn	L
24-Oct	Louisiana-Monroe	W
31-Oct	Mississippi State	W
7-Nov	Eastern Kentucky	L
14-Nov	@ Vanderbilt	L
21-Nov	@ Georgia	L
28-Nov	Tennessee	L