Roy and His Ugly Ties Get Some Pub

Bad singer, great lyrics. Have a laugh or three.

Where’s Caltechgirl to take up for her man? [via KSR]

Former Eagle Working to Help Blacks in Philly

I know I post a lot of negative news on here. I’m honestly trying to post less but it just seems the world around us is just so screwed up. So anyway, here’s a positive piece of news from the FRC about a former NFL player working to improve things in his hometown of Philly.

Rev. Herb Lusk is a big man with an even bigger heart. The former Philadelphia Eagle has spent his retirement from football transforming Pennsylvania-and the nation-for Christ. As pastor of Greater Exodus Baptist Church, Herb has been a tremendous friend to me and a powerful ally in the movement for faith, family, and freedom. This week, he and his People for People organization are taking that outreach to a new level by opening the Hope Center for pregnant women.

In a city where half of all black babies are aborted, Herb is praying his clinic will empower women to make positive decisions about their pregnancies. “When I began to consider that the African-American population alone has declined in the past three years across the nation, I realized that we’re not procreating our own race; and that is a direct result of abortion…”

Just minutes from the local Planned Parenthood clinic, Hope Center offers pregnant women something the abortion industry does not-the truth. With free counseling, resources, and parenting classes, the Hope Center will give women the support they need to make an informed decision. While Americans are bracing for the most pro-abortion president in history, Herb is committed to changing hearts where it matters most-at the local level. Rev. Lusk’s work is an important reminder to us all that no matter who is in the White House, the efforts to protect the unborn go on. Congratulations, Herb, for inspiring all of us to keep hope alive.

Paulus Exhibits Why Rules Need a Changin’

The sad part is that Coach K teaches this stuff, and their trademark flop of course, all day long.

James Madison Last Second Win Over Villanova

You probably didn’t see this game. I didn’t. Stuff like this is why I’m a sports addict.

Ref Tackles South Carolina QB, Spurrier Implodes

What the heck was this guy thinking?!?

The Madness Starts Tonight in Rupp

Pat Forde does a good job capturing some of the essence that is Kentucky basketball. It all starts with the fans.

Tonight’s Big Blue Madness starts yet another wonderful year of Wildcat basketball and I can’t hardly wait!

Kentucky Greatest College Basketball Program

ESPN, completed a fun exercise back in July—ranking college basketball programs based on clear categorical data. Sounds fun right? Here’s how they weighted their rankings.

• National title … 25
• Title game loss … 20
• National semifinal loss … 15
• Elite Eight loss … 10
• Best W-L record in conference’s regular season … 5
• 30-plus wins in a season … 5
• Sweet 16 loss … 5
• Conference tournament title … 3
• AP first-team All-American … 3
• Losing in NCAA second round … 3
• Player in Top 10 of NBA draft … 2
• NCAA first-round win as a 12-16 seed … 2
• NIT title … 2
• AP second-team All-American … 2
• 20-29 wins in a season … 1
• NCAA tournament berth … 1
• Postseason NIT berth … 1
• AP third-team All-American … 1
• NCAA first-round loss to a 12-16 seed … -2
• Losing season … -3
• Ban from NCAA tournament … -3

Only problem is that they only went back to the 1984-85 season. This was when the NCAA Tournament field was expanded to 64 teams (and possibly when a majority of their readers were born). Here’s how their Top 10 fell out.

1. DUKE BLUE DEVILS
2. KANSAS JAYHAWKS
3. NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS
4. KENTUCKY WILDCATS
5. ARIZONA WILDCATS
6. CONNECTICUT HUSKIES
7. UCLA BRUINS
8. UNLV REBELS
9. SYRACUSE ORANGE
10. GEORGETOWN HOYAS

It’s hard to argue with the results. By why not go all the way back and find the true top program of all time? Well, that’s what Mike Miller of MSNBC decided to do. He used his own criteria:

Much like Street & Smith did a few years ago, I set up several categories and weighed teams against each other to see exactly how everyone stacked up. Historical success (overall wins and win percentage), NCAA Tournament results (titles, Final Fours, win percentages and appearances), conference titles, NBA players, NIT results and recent performance (dominant seasons and last NCAA tourney miss) were considered.

Using his weighting system, he came up with results very similar what D. A. Resler of Street & Smith did back in 2005. Here is Miller’s rankings with supporting evidence. The number after the school represents their score and like golf, the lower the better.

1. Kentucky, 64. ‘Cats among top 4 in 9 categories. Even if Billy Gillispie doesn’t reach a Final Four soon, UK isn’t dropping on this list anytime soon.
2. North Carolina, 87. Heels 2nd or 3rd in six areas. Only hurt by NIT, though they fared better than KU or UCLA there.
3. Kansas, 119. ‘Hawks were top 5 in 10 categories, including No. 1 in conference titles and recent dominant seasons. NIT showing kept it from No. 2.
4. UCLA, 124. Bruins’ 11 titles, 18 Final Fours and 72 NBA players were tops. Recent seasons, NIT showings were significant factors for fourth.
5. Duke, 127. Devils have best NCAA tourney win percentage. Speaks volumes for how dominant they’ve been lately. Need more conference crowns (21) to move up.
6. Indiana, 156. Five NCAA titles are behind only UK and UCLA. But Hoosiers could fall behind Louisville overall due to recent slippage.
7. Louisville, 166. Cards do it all well, ranking among top 30 in every category. Top 10 in five. Another Final Four or title would move them up.
8. Arizona, 189. ‘Cats haven’t missed NCAAs since ’84. Also don’t have an NIT win. What happens when Olson leaves?
9. Syracuse, 210. Overall consistency helps Orange. Recent NCAA misses and long run as independent (no conference titles) don’t.
10. Connecticut, 219. Multiple NCAA titles and recent excellence key to Huskies’ rise. So do 28 conference crowns.

So that settles it, right? My the most appropriate, non-emotional criteria, Kentucky leads the nation. Sounds about right to me.

For the complete list and more, read THE GREATEST PROGRAMS: A POSTMOTERM and this article about why Kentucky is the best—THE GREATEST PROGRAMS: NO. 1, KENTUCKY.

U.S.A. Wins the 2008 Ryder Cup

We saw some amazing golf these last three days. Very cool to have this event in hometown of Louisville! Great job U.S.A. team with Kentuckians Kenny Perry and J.B. Holmes coming up big on the final day.

Everybody Knows Duke Is the Worst

Wow. I’m surprised the Dukies didn’t send in some hitmen to take this lady out. No wait, she’s their legal counsel. LOL!

So great, I watched it twice. (via aSoB)

Donald Williams Becomes a Wildcat

Just a quick post to say that Coach G. just doesn’t sleep. It’s non-stop basketball with this guy. Donald Williams (08) is the latest to join the Wildcats and is a big surprise. Before this summer, few had been saying much about him but after his great play at the Bob Gibbons TOC, he flew up the charts.

Cuban Olympian Assaults Referee

Cuba must be tough on their athletes. Castro say, “Win or die trying!”

Amazingly, the AP short makes no mention about the ref needing complete, facial re-constructive surgery… or not.

Did You Know That China Was Fake, Fake, Fake?

Rick Reilly does a good job shining the light of truth on the image conscious Communists who don’t want the rest of the world seeing them for the royal fakes that they are.

[21stCenturyPaladin.com gets hacked by foreign nationalists in three... two... one... *zap*]

Lezak, Team Bring Home World-Record Gold for America

In one of the most amazing races ever (at least in my opinion), the American’s won the 4×100 Freestyle Relay both beating the favorite French who’d been smack talking before the race about how they’d “smash” the Americans and absolutely destroying the world record time by an astounding 4 seconds (3:08.24)!

Michael Phelps has been getting all the pub, and he deserves it, but the hero tonight was Jason Lezak. All he did was swim the fastest split time in history (46.06) when his team looked like it was have to settle for silver.

Down by a half-body length in the final 50-meters, he turned into an Evinrude and closed the distance to win by the smallest margin in the event’s history. If you didn’t see it go here now. Wow!

Update: I’m such a geek (you know this right?) so I wanted to see how the race played out time-wise. Of course, nothing communicates as well as video, but I thought it interesting how Phelp’s time wasn’t as fast as I thought it might be and Weber’s was faster.

Dunks Gone Wild

Ah man! I wish I had thought of creating this list!!

20 Ways to Die Trying to Dunk a Basketball

There’s some quality stuff there. My favorites, of course, are the ones where the person getting owned is clearly identified as a loser, poser or buffoon prior to the incident… this specimen in particular:

Be warned, some are tough to watch. I really thought that one guy was decapitated. Oww.

Kentucky Top Basketball Program Since 1939

Very interesting stuff going on here and here, at least to me—a stat geek and UK fan.

ESPN recently performed a study of college basketball programs since the 1984-85 season, the first year the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams. … An enterprising Kansas fan decided to go back to the 1st NCAA tourney in 1939 and see who is the best of all-time.

Yeah, I’m interested to! Plus, I have a hunch who’ll come out on top. *giggle*

1. Kentucky 1105
2. UCLA 926
3. North Carolina 892
4. Kansas 756
5. Duke 707
6. Indiana 526

Ahhh… now that’s the ticket.