-  Albert Pujos to the Angels was not necessarily about the money (although 10 yrs, $254 million is not “chump change”) as much as it was about the Cardinals not showing a lot of initiative to re-sign him. The fans in St. Louis are upset and rightfully so but they can’t or shouldn’t be upset with the player in this instance. This is more about management maybe being a little hesitant to give a great player a contract that would take him into his early 40s when they were probably eyeing maybe something around a 5 year offer. So with the defending champion Cardinals now without its two faces of the team (Pujos and Tony LaRussa), you have to wonder where the organization goes from here. As for the Angels, the sky is the limit provided Albert stays healthy and can continue to produce for them the way he did for St. Louis.

-  The brawl this weekend between the Xavier Musketeers and the Cincinnati Bearcats was one of the ugliest in recent years for College Basketball and certainly it could have been a lot worse. Obviously with both of the teams in Ohio and not very far apart, the animosity in this rivalry has picked up over the last couple of years. But what occurred Saturday was just inexcusable and it shows the immaturity of the Bearcat squad. Even when Bob Huggins was the coach, it was know that the Bearcats were a very physical team that had players that actually looked as though they belonged on the “gridiron” rather than the “hardwood”. Who can ever forget the incident when form Bearcat hoopster, Art Long was arrested downtown Cincinnati (outside of a club) for punching a police horse…..yes I said a police horse. But the rivalry has spilled over to “Twitter” where UC players have allegedly being tweeting that the Xavier players were not good, specifically Xavier guard Tu Holloway and that if he was at UC, he wouldn’t even make the squad. Well I am not sure that is a true statement but then Holloway’s assessment of the incident in the post-game conference was not much better when he proclaimed “…..we have gangsters in our locker-room…..”! At this point, I am not sure that the six-game suspension handed down to UC PF, Yancy Gates was enough as he was the most serious offender in the brawl, as he literally knocked-out Musketeer big man, Kenny Freese with a stingy right hand. But I do know that as the Bearcats head into Big East play at the end of this month; this may not be the only on-court incident so coach Mick Cronin would be best served to get this under control now.

- The craze and the criticism that surrounds the new phrase: “We Got Tebowed” has merit no matter which side you are own. Tebow has helped elevate the Denver Broncos from a season to be lost to now possibly AFC West Champions and a play-off berth. Tebow is simply just a “winner” and always has been. He is not a prototypical QB and by no means will he ever be but he is a believer and a winner. The majority of the Bronco faithful are all in with the Tebow craze but they shouldn’t be completely secure for the future of the franchise unless a few things happen. #1 is that the Broncos need to make sure they give him a great QB coach that can continue to help him try and improve as much as possible. #2, the Broncos need to start to improve on the offensive line and add more talent (at the skilled positions) around him, particularly in the area of wide receiver. But for all it is worth, you have a guy just living out his dream of playing QB in the NFL and he is enjoying every bit of it.

- David Stern’s veto of the trade that would have sent Chris to the Los Angeles Lakers upset a whole lot of people but in reality, Stern was looking out for the NBA owned Hornets. Without Paul, and now with David West a pick-up the Indiana Pacers, who would have been even tougher to find an interested buyer for a Hornets franchise with no “name” player on its roster. The fact is simple, while “small market” teams are already behind the “big market” franchises in terms of money and fan support, the one thing small market teams hang their hat on is having a at least one star player to lure fans in. If Paul is in fact moved at some point, the Hornets will definitely need to recoup some young, serviceable talent in return as well as a stockpile of draft picks.

- Robert Griffith III was the correct pick for the Heisman based on the voters but he may have not been the popular pick by the people. Andrew Luck would have been just as deserving but it is hard to argue with what RGIII did against good competition. He opened the season with a bang when Baylor beat TCU. He was able to continue his play against the rest of the non-conference slate on into the Big 12 season. But what he did to Oklahoma (of course the Baylor’ “D” had a hand in it too) and Texas, both games toward the end of the season put him on the mind of a lot of voters as opposed to Luck. In fact, with Baylor playing the last weekend of the regular season and Stanford and Luck being off probably was just as key as anything. RGIII had the stage all to himself to make his bid for the Heisman. Now the talk that he could rival Luck for the #1 overall spot or at least the overall #1 QB taken in the 2012 NFL Draft is foolishness. While Griffith is definitely worthy of being one of the Top 5 QBS taken is one thing but Luck is NFL ready now in terms of almost every aspect of the game. In fact, the Indianapolis Colts may be so fortunate as to be able to draft Luck and still have Peyton Manning around for 1 or 2 more years. The Colts nor any other franchise looking to pick a QB in the draft should not be fooled into putting Griffith ahead of Luck. In fact, Griffith’s talents may best fit with a team like Kansas City Chiefs, the Seattle Seahawks or the Miami Dolphins. The Colts and the Washington Redskins would both be disastrous fits for RGIII if he was chosen either of those teams.

Source:  WLEX

LEX18 is reporting that UK guard Stacey Poole was involved in a minor car wreck around 2:30 a.m. this morning.  Poole, who is taking time to think whether or not he wants to be on a team chasing number 8 was a passenger in a black Escalade.  Poole and the driver were both taken to the hospital as a pre-caution, but police describe the injuries as minor.

If Poole is going to stay on the team, he might want to consider taking it to the house a little earlier on the night before game day.

The folks over at the Card Chronicles have taken the high road to the rivalry week by creating a list of what Kentucky means to them. Yep, utilizing “Kentucky” the state they live in and are a part of. Not the “University of”.

Could they be any more clever? What are they trying to do? Psych us out? Is this some sort of Charlie Strong diversion tactic?

Whatever it means, we need to punch right back in their chin strap.

So, what does Louisville, I meant UofL, mean to you?

Ready to get rowdy for the game this weekend? Then head on down to Big Blue Country for the UK vs. UL Pre-Game Bash and Rally, this Friday Night at 7PM.

Details can be found on the Big Blue Country facebook page.

Be there or be square.

The Cardinal Hill Junior Board is a group of young professionals dedicated to the support and promotion of the innovative services at Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital.

The primary goal of the Junior Board is to raise money for a new therapeutic pool.

For tickets click here. If you cannot attend Junebug but would like to donate, please visit www.cardinalhill.org/donate

I stumbled upon the below video this morning and thought it was a must post. University of Oregon football players Darron Thomas and Cliff Harris get pulled over driving 118 MPH while smoking some dope. The officers lets these gentlemen drive off with no citation and even asked to see his PAC 10 Championship ring.

We all know athletes get special treatment but damn!

Today we celebrate our freedom but most importantly give thanks to those who have fought and given their lives for it. Everyone eat a lot, drink a lot, just don’t blast your pinkly off.

Be safe!