Kentucky Wildcats 5 for Wednesday: Why is ESPN ruining college basketball?
By Paul Jordan
Seriously, what is ESPN doing with college basketball? Last night’s telecast featured a new “innovation”, the obscenely obnoxious “skycam” which covered most of the action high above the Rupp Arena court. Granted, some shots were mildly interesting, yet the camera was shaky at times and seemed to distract greatly from the flow of the game for the viewers at home. Twitter was flooded with complaints from even Seth Davis who threatened to turn the game off because of the ridiculous vantage point. Come on, ESPN. This isn’t hockey. We don’t need gimmicks to go with the coverage. Just show the damn game.
And let’s put an end to these incredibly awkward in game coaches interviews while we are at it as well, OK?
What in the name of Gene Chizik is going on with the University of Auburn football program? First, we have the Cameron Newton fiasco and now, comes their version of “Twittergate”. Auburn football player Jordan Spriggs appeared to solicit his Twitter followers to write a paper for him and let them know that he pays. Fellow Auburn players Antoine Carter and Daren Bates chastised Spriggs over Twitter.
ESPN’s Chris Lowe is counting down the Top 25 players from the previous SEC football season and Wildcat Danny Trevathan has come in at number 24 after not being ranked in the preseason. Here is what Lowe had to say:
Making the case for Trevathan: His consistency was one of the things that set him apart. The 6-1, 223-pound Trevathan closed the season with double-figure tackles in nine straight games, the first Kentucky player to accomplish that feat since Marty Moore had 13 consecutive double-figure tackle games in 1991-92. Playing weakside linebacker in the Wildcats’ scheme, Trevathan used his speed and improved instincts to become a magnet around the ball. And when he got there, he meant business. Against SEC competition, he led the league with four forced fumbles. His best game came against eventual national champion Auburn during the sixth week of the season when he recorded a career-high 17 tackles. Against arch-rival Louisville in Kentucky’s season-opening 23-16 win against the Cardinals, Trevathan had 3.5 tackles for loss. Kentucky coach Joker Phillips challenged Trevathan to become more of a vocal leader last season, and Trevathan also answered that call. The energy he plays with is infectious.
Randall Cobb continues to wrack up the adoration of ESPN’s Todd McShay when it comes to the NFL Draft. McShay not only has listed Cobb as the third best WR in the draft, but as the fourth best RB in the draft. With that kind of buzz, it’s hard to see Cobb not selected in the first two rounds. McShay currently projects Cobb to the Ravens in the first round.
The honors continue for the 2011 recruiting class as it was announced that Marquis Teague, Anthony Davis, Kyle Wiltjer, and Michael Gilchrist will all appear in the Jordan Brand Classic Game on April 16th. It was previously announced that all four would also participate in the McDonalds All American Game. The winner in all of this is John Calipari and Kentucky recruiting. The loser is the Derby City Classic in Louisville, which will feature no Kentucky commit due to limit in the number of All Star Games.
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