Brandon Tartikoff's Thursday News and Views

Good morning again, beautiful friend.  And what a morning it is.  Thursday marks a day of important decisions and discussions by the suits that govern the game we love so dearly, so it's only fitting that we first stop and pay tribute to a suit that delivered so much televised enjoyment for us all.  Thursday would have marked the 62nd birthday for the late Brandon Tartikoff, a television executive who brought hits like Cheers, The Cosby Show, Miami Vice, Night Court, The A-Team and Seinfeld into our simple lives.  He passed away in 1997 from Hodgkin's Disease, but he'll forever live on in syndication and on Nick at Nite (is that still around?).  Plus, we'll always know that there's no hope with dope.  So, on this day, we salute you, Brandon Tartikoff.  Now onto some UK notes...   - This normally wouldn't be a point of interest for UK fans, but you better believe that there will be a number of Wildcat ears, including a presidential pair, turned to San Antonio as Mark Emmert gives the State of the NCAA speech.  While it has the potential to go a little something like this, most believe that Emmert will not speak specifically to the criticisms the organization received lately, but could make a passing reference to Cam Newton.  Instead, he is expected to talk about maintaining the focus on academics that Myles Brand championed (*cough* ENES *cough*) and discuss stronger enforcement for rules violations (*cough* everyone not named Enes *coiugh*).  For all the Cards fans reading this, the discussion of athletes and domestic violence was yesterday at 4pm.  - Along that same note, the NCAA's Leadership Council will meet to discuss recruiting and amateurism issues within college basketball.  The discussion will center around the "makeover" promised a few weeks ago.  Not on the agenda:  discussing why the point guard for Kansas drives a nicer car than the everyone on the council.  - Anoteher issue that is up for voting on Thursday is a new proposal that would restrict offering a player a scholarship prior to the summer before their senior season.  The new rule would require a player's academic record on file with the NCAA before the offer could be made and gives July 1 as the official day the offers could be made.  If nothing else, it means no more speculation from BTI on five-year olds getting scholarship offers.  - One of the big rumored pieces of changes will not be on the docket as it was reported Wednesday that there will be no emergency legislation regarding the "Cam Newton loophole".  So, remember all you fathers out there, your wife might say your kids are priceless, but the NCAA disagrees.  Capitalism is your friend.  Shop that littel guy around.  The NCAA endorses it.  - Not a lot coming out of the basketball facility Wednesday as the Cats get ready for LSU.  Brandon Knight did get some good news, however, as UK's point guard was named as a finalist for the Cousy Award.  They say it goes to the nation's best point guard, but they gave it to Greivis Vasquez last year, so who knows.   - Some exciting news in the world of UK football as Jabari Johnson, Tim Patterson and Max Smith enrolled as grayshirts.  That's right, I said grayshirts!  Joker Phillips said that Smith would compete for the starting quarterback job and Patterson and Johnson are expected to factor into the rotation pretty heavily as freshmen.   - According to Jody Demling, Jon Davis will not visit Louisville this weekend.  But, don't get too excited yet.  He'll probably visit next weekend.  The UK commit said he's still committed, but considering the Cards and Illinois, as well.  Basically, he has the type of relationship you all wish you had.  - It's never a bad night when Duke loses, but it's particularly exciting when the team is starting to generate the talk of an undefeated season and loses to a team that fell to Auburn.  The Devils went in and lost to former UK assistant Leonard Hamilton and his Seminoles.  I repeat, Duke lost.  You can thank Matt for not letting you pick them in the contest tomorrow morning on the radio show.  - At the risk of being called names that would make my children cry if they saw it, Tim Tebow's commercial that aired during the game showcases exactly why people hate him.  It talks about how "they" doubted his skills and said he couldn't play D1 football and couldn't win a Heisman and couldn't win a National Championship.  Awesome.  The only problem?  "They" are about as elusive as the real killers that OJ's been searching for.  Tebow was the #1 quarterback in the country out of high school and went to a team that won a title with him as a backup quarterback his freshman year.  I'm not saying "they" don't exist.  Just that "they" are obviously a minority and insanely stupid. That's it for now.  Stay tuned throughout the day as we get you all the UK information your little heart has ever desired and root for whatever team you picked in the contest to lose.  The fun gets going at 10am on Kentucky Sports Radio on Talk Radio 1080.  In the meantime, try to figure out why DeMarcus Cousins got all cleaned up and started doing Verizon ads.     See you in a few...