Bob Barker's Wednesday News and Views

“The Price is Right” was a staple in our household growing up. As sure as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, the television flicked everyday on at 11 a.m. to the familiar fanfare of Bob Barker, Rod Roddy, and of course, the Beauties. While other children spent their mornings playing with Barbies or GI Joes, I learned the value of a can of baked beans, a “neeeeeeeeeew” entertainment center, and the all-important “$1 bid.” With his slim mic and fabulous head of white hair, Bob Barker became somewhat of a hero to me, aside from that whole sexual harassment thing.

Barker retired from “The Price is Right” in 2007, handing the mic over to Drew Carey. As someone who has seen “The Price is Right” Live Show three times, I can attest that many will try (looking at you, Joey Fatone), but no one can putt that ball quite like Bob in “Hole in One (or Two).” (Maybe that wasn’t just a game he played with the contestants…)

Anyways, happy 89th birthday, Bob. Be sure to help control the pet population and have your pets spayed or neutered.

Let’s do this.

— John Schlarman is officially the Cats’ new offensive line coach. Schlarman was in charge of the offensive line and running game at Troy, where he worked with Neal Brown and Chad Scott, who is expected to be named the running backs coach in the coming days. Schlarman played for the Cats from 1994-1997, and coached at Bourbon County, Campbell County, and Newport High before taking the job at Troy. At Troy, Schlarman worked with both Brown and Scott in the Air Raid offense, so he brings instant familiarity with the system, along with an impeccable reputation with his players. Welcome home, Coach.

— We also learned that Vince Marrow, a Nebraska grad assistant, may join the staff as the new tight ends coach. Marrow and Mark Stoops were high school teammates in Ohio, and footballscoop.com went as far to report that Marrow had taken the job Tuesday morning, but according to The Lincoln Journal-Star, Marrow hasn’t made his decision yet. His son is a junior fullback on the team and he’s heavily involved in recruiting. Remember all those good times you and Mark used to have, Vince? “We’re the best of friends…having so much fun together…”

— Two football Cats received All-American honors on Tuesday: Larry Warford, who was named Third-Team All-American by the Associated Press; and Bud Dupree, who was given Sophomore Second-Team All-American honors by CollegeFootballNews.com. Warford is Kentucky’s first All-American lineman since 1989 and is projected to be a second-round pick in the NFL draft. Dupree led the Cats in quarterback sacks and tackles for loss. Boys, thanks for giving us something bright in an otherwise dismal season.

— With the dead period beginning next week, all eyes are on the football recruiting front right now. On Tuesday, Neal Brown stopped by Trinity High School to watch James Quick and may visit Ryan Timmons on Thursday. Timmons has also been invited to tour campus on Saturday, meet with the staff, and attend the UK/Lipscomb game. Quick will take his official visit to Louisville this weekend, but plans to also take officials to Kentucky, Oregon and Tennessee. He has already visited Ohio State. Stoops has also convinced Trinity DE Jason Hatcher, who is currently committed to USC, to visit the Cats in January.

Stoops has said the staff will make landing in-state talent a priority, and from the looks of it, they are doing just that. Signing Timmons would be a huge get for the program, and while Quick and Hatcher are probably long shots, Stoops’ increased interest sends a message to other schools in the area (ahem, Louisville) that Kentucky will do all it can to keep its own.

— Believe it or not, but the first Bracketology of the season was released on Tuesday, with the Cats as the dreaded five seed in the West Bracket, facing off against Bucknell. Lunardi’s four number one seeds were Indiana, Duke, Florida and Michigan, with Louisville as the number two seed in Indiana’s bracket. This, of course, means nothing since it’s only mid-December.

— In the afternoon notes, Drew told you about “Going Big,” ESPN’s latest installment in the SEC “Storied” series that will chronicle Sam Bowie’s career. In a sneak peek, Bowie reveals that he lied to the Portland Trail Blazers about feeling leg pain days before they picked him second in the 1984 NBA Draft.

“I can still remember them taking a little mallet, and when they would hit me on my left tibia, and ‘I don’t feel anything’ I would tell ’em. But deep down inside, it was hurting. If what I did was lying and what I did was wrong, at the end of the day, when you have loved ones that have some needs, I did what any of us would have done.”

The documentary will air on December 20th on ESPNU.

— The only real news on the current team we got on Tuesday came from Coach Cal’s mailbag. Cal said that he’s wholly focused on figuring this team out, something which he told Joe B. Hall may not happen until February. And if you think he’s being especially hard on the guys right now, you’re right: “I have to be hard, and right now I’m being really tough on guys. I’m even trying to embarrass guys during games to get them to change. But it’s still about them. My job is to care about them. Their job is to care about each other.”

With most of the team finishing finals on Tuesday, the Cats will focus on nothing but basketball for the next few weeks, which Cal relishes. It will give him and the staff plenty of time to tweak things and work on the fundamentals that have plagued them, such as turnovers and offensive rebounds. #CampCalEffect

— It’s been a while since we’ve done a recruiting roundup, so get ready…

ANDREW WIGGINS: After receiving the finest hospitality from the coeds at Florida State, Wiggins is planning to take official visits to Kentucky, North Carolina and Kansas in the spring. He plans to take a fifth official visit, but hasn’t decided which school will get the honors (odds are its either Ohio State or Syracuse). If you want to see what all the hype is about, you can watch Wiggins play in the Boyd County Roundball Classic Friday and Saturday. It’s totally worth it, I promise.

JULIUS RANDLE: The only thing we’ve heard from Randle about Kentucky lately is that Coach Cal offered to let him be his assistant if he could never play basketball again. Randle fractured his foot over Thanksgiving and just got off crutches, so the odds of that actually happening are slim, but it was a nice gesture by Cal all the same. Randle will visit NC State on January 26th, Texas on February 9th and Kansas (for the KU/Texas game) on February 16th. Pardon me from reading too much into things, but Randle recently posted a picture of himself throwing up three goggles on Instagram:

AARON GORDON: Gordon will play the Harrison Twins’ team live on ESPN Thursday at 8 p.m. We haven’t heard much about Kentucky’s prospects at landing Gordon lately, but Arizona coach Sean Miller watched him on Tuesday.

DAKARI JOHNSON: The big guy with the big smile has been a recent favorite of Cal’s. After watching him play over the weekend, a group of Kentucky assistants went to Florida again on Tuesday to see Johnson, along with coaches from Georgetown and Missouri. Is the increased attention from Cal a sign that Kentucky’s chances with Julius Randle are cooling?

TREY LYLES: The 2014 PF has two visits planned to watch the Cats in the coming month: the Kentucky/Louisville game on December 29th and the Kentucky/Texas A&M game on January 12th. Despite many thinking he is leaning towards picking the Cats, Lyles’ father told Cats Illustrated that the rumor Trey is about to announce his decision “simply wasn’t true. Not true at all.” He just wants to take his visits first, right?

TYUS JONES: Cal saw Jones play twice last week, which means the heat is on for the number one player in 2014. Coach K and Bill Self are expected to watch the talented point guard play on Wednesday as well. Remember who loves you most, Tyus.

— Here’s a teaser for Wednesday’s radio show:

Eventful night of info on UK FB renovation issue ending in convo with Greg Stumbo on phone on issue. Great stuff to discuss on show tomorrow

— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) December 12, 2012

That’ll do for now. Be back soon.