Somewhere along the lines, college sports became big business. And when there’s money involved, the first thing to usually go are principles since they rarely have any monetary value. We’ve seen scandals, big and small, on campuses all across the country.  We’ve seen a legend fall at Penn State in a situation that was, at best, looking the other way while a pedophile ran rampant and, at worst, a coverup of that activity by the highest ranking officials at the university.  We’ve seen SMU decimated by the NCAA’s “death penalty” in a pay-for-play scandal that reached all the way the desk of the Governor of the State of Texas.  From Reggie Bush and his extra benefits at USC and returned Heisman Trophy, to my own beloved Kentucky Wildcats and their “Kentucky Shame,” almost no campus has been spared from being front page news from one scandal or another.

I don’t blame anyone for being jaded and cynical about the state of college athletics in 2013.

While it’s easy to get caught up in what is wrong about college sports, there’s still a lot right. And there are still people involved that are teaching our young people the lessons that need learned to be successful both on and off the field.  One person that did that more than any other is the former Head Women’s Basketball Coach at the University of Tennessee, Pat Summitt.

As the saying goes, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.  On ESPN’s SportsCenter, College Football writer Gene Wojciechowski summed up how a lie can grow to such proportions. To paraphrase, Wojciechowski said that he and some of his fellow sports writers wanted to believe the Manti narrative. Even faced with some contradictory evidence, they wanted to believe in the story so much, they looked the other way.  Wojciechowski stated that he asked Manti if he could interview the GF’s family after her death and Manti declined. Wojciechowski asked if he could have pictures or talk to friends and Manti Te’o declined.  While I can understand that a family would want to keep such things private, in retrospect, nothing about this situation added up and that’s why we’re here.

Oct 24, 2011; Lexington, KY, USA; Big Blue All Stars center Enes Kanter (0) defends against The Villains guard Eric Gordon (23) during an exhibition game at Rupp Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

The problem with all this is the continued death of mainstream journalism.  The big dogs on the block, ESPN, Sports Illustrated and the New York Times all missed it. As has become custom, a smaller investigative websites like Yahoo Sports and now Deadspin, seem to be the only outfits that can be bothered by following legitimate stories.  Gene Wojciechowski point blank stated that he looked for Manti’s GF’s obituary and couldn’t locate it. And, I assume, if other reporters had done the same thing, they would have met with the same results.   But, since it was undefeated Notre Dame and their best player was playing his way to a Heisman runner-up finish, no one wanted to stop for just a second and connect the dots that weren’t making a pretty picture.

Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel wrote the definitive piece on Manti Te’o in October titled “The Full Manti.” And now that piece has been moved from non-fiction to the fantasy section of your local library.  Not to pick on Thamel, but most sportswriters love to act as if they’re above the fray. They want to preach about how unbiased they are and they go where the stories are, when nothing is further from the truth. How could Deadspin.com pick up on this story when all the evidence was out in the open and the big sportswriters and news organizations miss it? Perhaps Thamel was too busy going to Istanbul, Turkey to investigate UK’s Enes Kanter or to rural Alabama to investigate UK’s Eric Bledsoe.  Because he surely wasn’t on to the University of North Carolina’s ongoing academic fraud scandal.

I admire Gene Wojciechowski’s openness and candor during his brief interview on ESPN.  We have this situation because he and other sportswriters wanted to believe the myth that Manti Te’o and Notre Dame were feeding them and didn’t want to look any further for fear of ruining the fairy tale.  Which is unfortunate, because this story isn’t going to have a happy ending.

Not to lay all the blame of the current situation in the sports world at the feet of Bayless and Smith, but they have made an art form of saying things, loudly and forcefully, that they may or may not believe.  The danger of this type of “journalism” is that people that watch and read what they say and start to emulate them.  And that’s bad for everyone. All of us.  It turns us into trolls on social media and strains real life relationships based on something as inconsequential as sports.

I’m not blameless here at all.  If you follow me on Twitter or have read any of my other articles, you know that, from time to time, I’ve taken some cheap shots at some of the University of Kentucky’s athletic rivals.  I’ve made my share of Rick Pitino-Karen Sypher jokes.  I’ve made fun of Indiana University building a shrine to 2012′s Sweet 16 team (still ridiculous).  And while I intend to keep covering the Cats, I’m doing to do it from a more positive perspective.  At some point, we have to take a stand and do better and remember that it’s just a game.

Mar 14, 2012; Louisville, KY, USA; A general view of the KFC Yum! Center prior to the practice day the day before the second round of the 2012 NCAA men

There is something foul in Louisville: The KFC Yum! Center. I write this, not as solely a fan of the University of Kentucky, but as a concerned citizen of both the city of Louisville and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. If you haven’t been keeping up with the splendid work that the folks at insiderlouisville.com have done covering the shady dealings behind the construction and operation of the Yum! Center, then you really should. It reminds me of the sort of digging the local reporters and newspapers used to do. You can see for yourself how back-room dealings, back scratching and pocket lining have come to stain what started out as very good idea for the city of Louisville AND for the University of Louisville. How could the noble idea of building a state of the art arena for a city, with the hopes of attracting big name events, go so terribly wrong and what lessons are to be learned?

First, step back to November of 2006 when ground was finally broken for the Yum! Center. Once city leaders had decided that a new arena was to be built, the biggest argument was where. There were to distinct camps on this issue. The first camp wanted to use land at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center (property adjacent to the Louisville International Airport and where Freedom Hall is located). The second camp saw an opportunity to be bold and put a crown jewel downtown, with the arena overlooking the Ohio River. The latter group won out and ground was broken on November 28, 2006, with most residents being on board with the finalized plan. But, from the get go, it seemed as if the University of Louisville Athletic Department, the arena’s planned primary tenant, was wielding too much influence on the project. How much? The public had no idea.

As most construction projects tend to do, the finished arena ran over budget. Most accepted estimates have the project settling between $238-$254 million dollars. And just how was the debt to be repaid? What was the promise made to the taxpayers of Louisville, the citizens of Kentucky? A special taxing district was set up around the arena to offset some of the cost, with naming rights, and special fees also added to all tickets for arena events as well. The plan seemed foolproof, except for one very important variable, the entire set up depends on the number of events at the Yum! Center. More events equals more tax revenue to pay off the debt on the arena. The fewer events held, the worse the economic situation becomes.

Which leads to the first issue. I have no problem with the University of Louisville Men’s basketball being the main/primary tenant of the building. It makes sense to have events that guarantee 22,000 plus people in the area 20 times per year. That’s perfectly acceptable. But, according to insiderlouisville.com the lease agreed to by UofL and the Arena Authority gives UofL all prime dates between November and March. Again, not a problem, until you take into account that many of those events (not Men’s basketball) are lightly attended, not coming close to the 22,000 of a Men’s hoops game. With events including Men’s and Women’s basketball and volleyball, UofL is covering the majority of dates through late fall to early spring, but blacking out the dates for any more profitable events as well. In 2011, there were 209 events at the Yum! Center or, in other words, the arena sat empty for 33% of the year. It’s hard to make money that way.

Wednesday Could be D-Day for NBA Season

The NBA owners have set a 5pm deadline for tommorow for the NBA Player’s Association to accept or they will cancel the entire NBA season. The players aren’t backing down and this could get ugly really quick. “The current offer on the table from the NBA is one that we cannot accept,” NBAPA president Derek Fisher said. Kobe Bryant was qutoted today saying “We need to iron out the last system items and save this from spiraling into a nuclear winter.” I feel bad for the fringe players like Josh Harrelson and DeAndre Liggins who need to be with their teams in training camp right now to get acclimated to the NBA game. By not getting that experience, NBA owners will opt to have more seasoned veterans on their rosters rather than keep undeveloped fringe prospects. Lets hope they get this thing settled and watch our former Cats live out their NBA dreams.

Poythress Set to Announce

Is that Dakotah Euton?

Alex Poythress is scheduled to announce what college he will commit to at a press conference at 1:30 p.m on Thursday at Northeast H.S. Over the past 24 hours, we’ve heard he’s favoring Memphis, Vandy, and now it seems no one really knows where he will commit. It appears this will be a down-to-the-wire commitment. Hopefully Cal and UK manage to come out on top.

And now lets end the day with some motivational quotes from UK Wide Receivers Coach Tee Martin:

With arguably as much talent as any UK team in recent memory, we can expect to see several Cats go pro at the end of the year. With the beginning of the college basketball season on the horizon, several prominent NBA draft sites are giving high praise to several of UK’s players.

NBAdraft.net had this to say about Terrnece Jones:
“Jones will make the jump from the mail room to the board room, taking on greater accountability as Kentucky’s newly appointed leader. Jones made pre-preseason headlines after dropping 52 in the White-Blue scrimmage, running a clinic on how to benefit from possessing the combo-forward tools.

If Jones can improve his consistency over lengthier stretches of play, he’s a bubble lottery pick due to his versatility and ability to create mismatches.”
As it stands, they have Jones projected just barely in the lottery at pick 14 to Houston, where he would team up with former UK great Patrick Patterson. They also have Marquis Teague, Doron Lamb, Michael Gilchrist, and Anthony Davis in their projected first round. They also have Darius Miller projected as the last pick of the draft to the Chicago Bulls. This is the first I’ve seen of any projections that had Miller getting drafted, so hopefully he’s beginning to get more attention from NBA scouts.

ESPN also listed their top ten candidates to be one-and-dones, and three of UK’s freshman made the list:

Anthony Davis, F/C, Kentucky
 ESPN Top 100 Rank: 1

“I haven’t seen NBA scouts this excited about a big man since Greg Oden hit Ohio State’s campus as a freshman in 2006.
Davis isn’t anything like Oden as a player. But he’s a legitimate big man with crazy athleticism and a fantastic motor, and he has his head on straight. He needs to get stronger and polish his play in the post, but all the physical and mental tools are there. He’s still the odds-on favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft. Think Marcus Camby with more upside.”

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, F, Kentucky
 ESPNTop 100 Rank: 10

“On pure toughness, energy, athleticism and motor, Kidd-Gilchrist is the most exciting player in this class. He does things on a nightly basis that just wow you. Kidd-Gilchrist is a jump shot away from being a superstar type prospect. As with McAdoo and Miller, it will be interesting to see what opportunities he gets as a freshman. Right now Kidd-Gilchrist is likely to come off the bench. But given that he plays a style of basketball that John Calipari desperately needs and loves, I expect he’ll finish lots of games for Kentucky.”

Marquis Teague, PG, Kentucky
 ESPNTop 100 Rank: 15

“Teague’s brother, Jeff, is coming off a fantastic playoff run for the Atlanta Hawks, but most scouts think Marquis is an even better draft prospect. Like his brother, Teague is a blur on the floor and thrives getting to the basket. But, like his brother, he also struggles as a jump shooter. The difference is that Marquis is more of a true point guard at this point in his career and will have to be one at Kentucky. With so many scoring options, Coach Cal needs him to think pass-first.”

If the UK freshman live up to the hype and help lead Kentucky to a deep NCAA tournament run, we could see another NBA Draft feature five first rounders from UK. The only question now is can Calipari get Eloy Vargas drafted?

With arguably as much talent as any UK team in recent memory, we can expect to see several Cats go pro at the end of the year. With the beginning of the college basketball season on the horizon, several prominent NBA draft sites are giving high praise to several of UK’s players.

NBAdraft.nethad this to say about Terrnece Jones:
“Jones will make the jump from the mail room to the board room, taking on greater accountability as Kentucky’s newly appointed leader. Jones made pre-preseason headlines after dropping 52 in the White-Blue scrimmage, running a clinic on how to benefit from possessing the combo-forward tools.

Jones shined on the perimeter, operating out of the triple threat position while keeping his defenders on their heels. He showed deceptive quickness off the dribble, taking his man off the bounce from 20-plus feet out. This opened up his outside game, where he used effective jab steps to create separation, looking more comfortable shooting off two feet. His versatility makes him a difficult matchup for big men who lack the lateral quickness on the perimeter, forcing defenders to concede the 18-21 foot jumper.

If Jones can improve his consistency over lengthier stretches of play, he’s a bubble lottery pick due to his versatility and ability to create mismatches.”
As it stands, they have Jones projected just barely in the lottery at pick 14 to Houston, where he would team up with former UK great Patrick Patterson. They also have Marquis Teague, Doron Lamb, Michael Gilchrist, and Anthony Davis in their projected first round. They also have Darius Miller projected as the last pick of the draft to the Chicago Bulls. This is the first I’ve seen of any projections that had Miller getting drafted, so hopefully he’s beginning to get more attention from NBA scouts.

ESPN also listed their top ten candidates to be one-and-dones, and three of UK’s freshman made the list:

Anthony Davis, F/C, Kentucky
ESPN Top 100 Rank: 1

“I haven’t seen NBA scouts this excited about a big man since Greg Oden hit Ohio State’s campus as a freshman in 2006.
Davis isn’t anything like Oden as a player. But he’s a legitimate big man with crazy athleticism and a fantastic motor, and he has his head on straight. He needs to get stronger and polish his play in the post, but all the physical and mental tools are there. He’s still the odds-on favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft. Think Marcus Camby with more upside.”

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, F, Kentucky
ESPN Top 100 Rank: 10

“On pure toughness, energy, athleticism and motor, Kidd-Gilchrist is the most exciting player in this class. He does things on a nightly basis that just wow you. Kidd-Gilchrist is a jump shot away from being a superstar type prospect. As with McAdoo and Miller, it will be interesting to see what opportunities he gets as a freshman. Right now Kidd-Gilchrist is likely to come off the bench. But given that he plays a style of basketball that John Calipari desperately needs and loves, I expect he’ll finish lots of games for Kentucky.”

Marquis Teague, PG, Kentucky
ESPN Top 100 Rank: 15

“Teague’s brother, Jeff, is coming off a fantastic playoff run for the Atlanta Hawks, but most scouts think Marquis is an even better draft prospect. Like his brother, Teague is a blur on the floor and thrives getting to the basket. But, like his brother, he also struggles as a jump shooter. The difference is that Marquis is more of a true point guard at this point in his career and will have to be one at Kentucky. With so many scoring options, Coach Cal needs him to think pass-first.”

If the UK freshman live up to the hype and help lead Kentucky to a deep NCAA tournament run, we could see another NBA Draft feature five first rounders from UK. The only question now is can Calipari get Eloy Vargas drafted?