I have not heard anyone mention this, but I ran across this post I did last summer… “Over the weekend Coach Cal attended the Dick Vitale Gala in Florida.  The event was created by the “Court jester of College Basketball” in order to raise money for the Jimmy V Foundation.  Besides cal’s Tweets about how great Dick Vitale is for college basketball, humanity, the oil spill (made that one up), and the war on terror (that one too), Cal Tweeted that he and Bruce pearl had auctioned off some tickets for the UK vs. UT basketball game in Rupp next year.  One of the folks involved in the winning bid was Tennessee “Super Fan” and the love of my life, Kenny Chesney.  I am admittedly a huge Chesney fan, I have seen a lot of live shows from all different genres, and no one puts on a better live show than the man from Tennessee.  I catch some grief from  most of my friends for being such a big fan, and it is probably well deserved, it’s creepy that a guy could love another guy so much that isn’t kin to  him somehow.  The tattoo of Kenny’s face that covers my entire back is probably a bit much, but you only live once.

Love him or not, Kenny Chesney is the biggest name in country music right now.  His summer tours gross more money annually than any other tour world wide.

Cal also Tweeted that Chesney said he would be using the tickets that were auctioned off during Dick’s event. “Could Kenny be making an appearance in Rupp tonight?  Will he do the ‘y’? Will he be booed?  Will I break into a sweat just knowing he is near me?  Stay tuned TGR!

The big news over the night is a story coming from the sports by brooks website that says University of Kentucky Athletics Director, Mitch Barnhart, is one of 3 final candidates for the Kansas AD job.

What is surprising in the whole matter is that he is currently salaried at $475,000 plus bonuses. Retiring Kansas AD Lew Perkins made upwards of $4 million dollars in in his final year at Kansas, it’s said his stated salary was $800k/yr and the rest of his earnings were bonuses achieved. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’d love to make $475,000 dollars a year, but being eligible for a $4m raise? If that is the case then more power to Mitch and his family, go for it!

Personally, I don’t see Mitch going anywhere, much less Kansas. If he wants a raise the university will likely vote to keep him here and grant him one. Now, when a new University President is named that might be a complete oversight.

Rumors are bubblin’ like Rob’s Zima and Jolly Ranchers that the Kanter situation will be resolved this week. We don’t know anything, you don’t know anything and anybody that says they do probably just told you a whopper.

Logic tells us that decisions like the Kanter situation are not normally delayed into the season, it’s typically the NCAA’s view to resolve it’s processes prior to the season. And, with Kentucky’s first game on Friday, this could be the week we get some answers. After all, it’s taken all this time, it only makes sense.

If anybody knows anything let me know. Otherwise I will just wait until the real decision comes down. Let’s hope it’s this week.

Just a rumor on the mill, but there is quite the Buzz that UK president Lee Todd is stepping down. More as it comes.

UPDATE: It appears news sources are claiming a split in the board members on his performance on the job.

The speculation concerning the status of Kentucky’s Darnell Dodson has come and gone since the season ended in march.  The rumors have ranged from he is off the team and has left campus completely to he is still at UK, he has joined student government, and is considering joining the few fans who paint their entire body’s blue at football games in the fall.

The guys at Bluegrass State Basketball posted this rumor yesterday concerning the Dodson situation.  I am posting this because this is similar to what I have heard over the past couple of weeks. Here is what they posted…

“I was told over the weekend that Darnell Dodson is still a member of the University of Kentucky basketball program, but will not play during the 2010-11 season… If he is able to improve in some areas, he will reportedly have an opportunity to play in 2011-12. We will call this an unverified report for now, but something to keep an eye on as the summer progresses.”

According to everyone close to the situation, this is not an academic related issue. To me, if it were, he would have already left the team and transferred to another school. Either way, I hope it works out for Darnell and the “shooter” will be able to show the Kentucky fans while wearing the blue and white that he is exactly that, a shooter.

We have tried to avoid posting any of the negative rumors and speculation surrounding the Kentucky program since we started in March. As I have written before, Kentucky fans don’t like to hear it and it does the program, and this site, no good at all. But, this one, I am going to post. The normally celebrity chasing TMZ, posted on their site late last night/ early this morning that the University of Kentucky is being investigated by the NCAA for possible improper contact with professional agents by 4 former and current players.  This is an excerpt of the TMZ article…

“According to a source who was interviewed by an NCAA investigator, the agency is interested in at least four players — two current and two who were just drafted by NBA teams… In the case of one former Wildcat, we’re told the NCAA wants to know about his relationship with his current agent. We’re told the investigator asked about.. multiple meetings the agent allegedly had with the player dating back to the player’s senior year in high school. The insinuation is the agent had an arrangement with the player before he went to Kentucky. It is a violation of NCAA rules for a student athlete to receive anything of value from an agent — or to have any agreements, verbally or in writing, with an agent. Just ask USC, Reggie Bush or OJ Mayo. The NCAA and Kentucky have not returned our calls yet.”

I have chosen to address this because, first of all, TMZ is rarely wrong about things like this. They just recently started reporting on “off the court” sports stories, and most of it began with the Tiger Woods incident in November. They are very good at what they do. Whether or not you believe it is the right thing to do when they report on Brittany’s lack of panty coverage, they are normally fairly accurate when reporting on this nonsense.  I guess what I am trying to say is, I am a fan of their work.  Whether it involves Hanna Montana’s bikinis, Tom Cruise nutty religion, or Tiger’s marital back swings, I find this stuff fascinating. They normally nail their stories and have a seemingly unlimited number of creditable sources.

In this case of agents, high school guys, and shenanigans, their “source” could be 1 of 2 people. It could be an entirely credible witness, who indeed did speak with the NCAA concerning misdoings of agents with UK players. The “source” is completely telling TMZ the truth and has no underlying beef with the Kentucky program or it’s players.

The other option of who the “source” is simple. It is someone with a bias against UK for one reason or the other. This could be a fan of a rival; the parent of a recruit not recruited by Kentucky or who might have had a scholarship offer revoked, or even a fan of a school whose coach left them high and dry for the bluer pastures of Lexington. This person would have to have an extraordinary imagination and an ability to lie with complete confidence. TMZ checks out their sources with a fine tooth comb, they ain’t any geek off the street.  They would have to actually be intelligent, although deranged, which removes thoughts of the “source” being a Tennessee fan.

I hope it is the latter, although, it is hard to believe TMZ would get something so wrong. It is another case of taking the good with the bad with coach Calipari.  Whether or not this story has legs, these types of stories and rumors will not stop as long as cal is around these parts. I hope someone shoots this one down soon, I want to be able to laugh at Pitino’s trial without any guilt in the back of my mind.  Hollar at your people!

Honorary member of the Big Blue nation, Pete Thamel of the New York Times (the douche nozzle who has been hidingout in Eric Bledsoe’s mom’s bushes), just sent out a very interesting Tweet.

-Big 12 AD confirms to the NY Times that Texas is on cusp of committing to Big 12. He said, “The musical chairs will stop.”-

If this is true, and Texas stays in the Big 12, what a bunch of nothing over nothing.  I love ‘change’ in certain situations, my marriage not being one of those, and a huge mix up within the conferences had me a little bit charged.  Now, and I do mean now because this is changing by the hour , literally, the Boulder Hippies and Corn Suckers are the biggest moves in the BCS conferences.  Not that exciting when you are an SEC fan in central Kentucky.

Another page in Kentucky lore changes this summer as the season has been long over. Recruiting is wrapping up with the Cats currently ranked #2, and possibly better. Finals are over and graduation takes place this weekend. So what do we do as fans to keep the fuel going?

Unfortunately when you are back on the map, and on top, the rumor mill gets going. Well, technically, it doesn’t matter what time of year it is for BBN, somebody has a source that tells them something. They share that info on Facebook or a text to a buddy where that info gets skewed and they run and tell their whole office. We are all guilty of it in some way, shape or form.

So, let’s deal with the most current ones we know of:

- Hot and new off the presses…. Brandon Knight is thinking of going to Europe and playing instead of attending UK in the Fall. WRONG. Coach Cal recently tweeted, “Wow, I hear the latest rumor has Brandon Knight going to Italy. Am I going w/ him? Come on folks. What’s next, I’m headed 2 Turkey to coach?” Earlier today Brandon Knight’s dad was interviewed by Zag’s Blog and stated, “That’s not true… All that is is people trying to mess up Kentucky’s recruiting.”

- Daniel Orton is coming back next season. WRONG. Larry Orton, Daniel’s father, spoke with Alan Cutler today squashing all hopes of a comeback and he will likely stay in the draft.

- Eric Bledsoe’s stock in the draft has slumped recently and he will most likely come back. WRONG. Though his stock has fell quite a bit, he has given no indication as to what he will do at this point.

Here are some others I have heard:

Feel free to give us some you’ve heard in the comments section.

Rumor Report – Darnell Dodson will not return to UK next season.  Heading to the Draft, REALLY?

Update: DeMarcus Cousins told DraftExpress.com tonight that Dodson will be leaving and Calipari is expecting four Kentucky players to return next season.

Beldsoe, Wall and Cousins on the side lines in Columbus attending the McDonald’s All-American game…..

I am sad too little guy.

I received two texts today about our beloved Frosh.

1. Orton to enter NBA draft but not hire an agent.
2. Cal tells source all freshman will go to the NBA there will be 9 open spots on the roster next year. This means one transfer. Hood or Dodson?

Update: Orton says “I have not declared for the NBA Draft. I’m currently weighing my options and will make a decision prior to the deadline.”

Courier-Journal link…here