Felix Baumgartner's Tuesday News and Views

On3 imageby:Drew Franklin10/08/12

DrewFranklinKSR

Professional daredevil Felix Baumgartner will make history on Tuesday morning when he breaks the speed barrier without the use of a vehicle. The only thing left to find out is if he'll be alive and still in one piece when his body reaches almost 700 mph. Baumgartner will rise in a balloon to 120,000 feet above New Mexico before he steps out and takes the plunge back down to Earth. The mission, called Red Bull Stratos, will shatter the marks for fastest freefall, longest-duration freefall and highest manned balloon flight.  If things go as planned, the Stratos team hopes to gather information that could contribute to the development of life-saving measures for astronauts and pilots. If things don't go as planned, well, I'll let you imagine how the scene will look when Baumgartner meets the ground. For those of us who will be sitting safely back here on Planet Earth, Red Bull will broadcast the freefall live on its YouTube account at around 8:30 a.m. This is crazy.    The quarterback situation at Kentucky has gotten so bad, Joker Phillips is taking a true freshman walk-on to Arkansas in case the unfortunate string of luck continues. Patrick Towles is out with that high-ankle sprain, as Matt discussed in his Monday evening notes, so Jeff Witthuhn from Bowling Green will dress against the Razorbacks. It'll be an exciting day for Jeff Witthuhn and Jeff Witthuhn only. I think I speak for all of #BBN when I say we're not thrilled about having to send a fifth quarterback, with zero experience, on the road as a backup to the backup plan.   In order for Kentucky to avoid a beatdown in Fayetteville, Joker Phillips needs to see Jalen Whitlow get rid of the ball quicker than he has done in his previous two games. When asked about what Whitlow needs to do against Arkansas, Joker said, "Getting the ball out of his hands quicker. Again, decisions, he has to make decisions a lot quicker.  Is he open?  Is he open?  No.  Let's go.  Go.  Run it.  Throw it.  Get it out of your hands.  Let's not get ourselves in a broken play situation." Getting rid of the ball means taking less hits, which means less of a chance of needing Morgan Newton or Jeff Witthuhn. Please, please, please, please stay healthy, Jalen.   Arkansas is currently favored by 17-points over Kentucky, according to most offshore gambling websites. Remember, Arkansas has already lost home games to Louisiana-Monroe and Rutgers this season.   The fine people over at Cats Illustrated spoke to Huntington Prep head coach Rob Fulford and he told them he is uncertain if Andrew Wiggins will attend Big Blue Madness or head home to Toronto for the three-day weekend. "With our fall break this weekend and practice starting next week this might be the last chance that he'll have to come home until the season ends," Fulford told the Rivals site. "He hasn't given me any indication yet that he's going home this weekend, but obviously he wants to see his family." If Wiggins chooses to go see his family, which would be completely understandable, Fulford wants UK fans to know it has nothing to do with the Cats and won't have any impact on his recruitment. He said, "I'm sure he'll be there soon if he doesn't make it this weekend. If Kentucky fans don't see Andrew this weekend there is absolutely no reason to hit the panic button. There's no doubt that Andrew will get down to Kentucky for at least one game this season." Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving; that could be even more of an incentive to go home and see his family.  The Charlotte Bobcats and the New Orleans Hornets will go head-to-head Tuesday night, meaning Michael Kidd-Gilchrist versus Anthony Davis with a side of Darius Miller. The game will not be televised but I plan on scouring the internet for any kind of a live feed. I'll make sure the link gets posted on here if I come up with anything.   Eric Lindsey over at CoachCal.com has an article on how Kentucky's up-tempo style plays perfectly into Kyle Wiltjer's game. Calipari said, "He’ll be behind the ball all the time, so now he’ll take it out, we are flying, and if he rebounds it, he’ll be behind it. If he doesn’t rebound it, he’ll still be out ahead and he’ll be fine. And we still may try him into a dragging screen. What I like is we fly and as the ball comes back, it’s coming back to his hands. Now you have a skilled player.” Cal expects Wiltjer to average somewhere around 15 points per game for the Cats in 2012-13.  Kentucky target Jahlil Okafor shared a great quote from Coach Cal over on his blog at USA Today's high school basketball site. It went like this: When I talked with coach (John) Calipari after practice it was cool because it was my first time talking with him. He offered me a scholarship and he reminded me of how well he did with the last two big recruits from Chicago —Derrick Rose and Anthony Davis — and how they were both No. 1 picks. He told me he didn’t think I’d be any different. That was pretty big for me. Coach Cal is just really cool. I liked him. One thing that he told me that I thought was cool was when he said he’s 50-something years old and that he doesn’t need to call me every day. He said he would if I needed him to, but then he was like, “What do we really have to talk about? I want you at my school and that’s that.” It just showed me how laid-back he is. That's so Cal.   REMINDER: Kentucky Sports Radio radio is giving away Big Blue Madness tickets all week so be sure to tune in to the show if you'd like to attend the greatest spectacle in the history of basketball practice. It's almost here, folks. It's almost here.

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