Jaleel White's Friday Notes

I was trying to decide which of the many "This Date in History" notes that I should use on the day after Thanksgiving. I nixed Pope Urban II starting the Crusades due to the Holiday Spirit...I nixed the 1940 Romanian Revolution due to lack of knowledge...and I nixed Gordie Howe's 600th goal because it was hockey. That left me with birthdays, which left me saying Happy 32nd to Jaleel White. You know Jaleel better as "Urkel" and whether you want to admit it or not, if you are over 25, you watched him at some point on the TGIF lineup on ABC. Beginning with Mr. Belvedere's generation on to Perfect Strangers/Full House era and then moving to Family Matter, Step by Step, etc, TGIF was the standard bearer for lame comedy in the 1990s. If you had a show with canned laughs and wacky situations, ABC would show it on Friday night. Urkel might be the most memorable character from the era, and his trademark (the hiked up to the nipple pants) havent been topped since. While I personally hated Urkel, I liked what he represented, the character of the "wacky neighbor", best epitomized by Skippy on "Family Ties." I have no idea what White is doing now, but I bet cashing checks from his days as Urkel is part of it. Some notes from a Turkey Day.... --- The Cats returned from Cancun and celebrated Thanksgiving in the Bluegrass. The players who live close to Kentucky all spent it with their families, while the other players had Thanksgiving dinner at the Calipari household. The win in Cancun was the first tournament win at UK for a coach named Calipari, and chances are it will not be the last. --- If you missed the site on Thursday, Tucker Max's last report was very solid and included an interesting tidbit about how Calipari engages in "constructive yelling" as opposed to denigration of his players. That is a good observation by Tucker as is something I have noticed a great deal this season. Calipari corrects without putting down...something not all coaches do, but players certainly appreciate the response. --- Kentucky football did workout today and the only news is that Justin Jeffries has moved from not playing to maybe playing. Having Jeffries on the line could be huge for the Cats on Saturday and what his final status will be, could be of major importance for UK in running the football. --- If you missed it on Wednesday night, Will Fidler will give up his final year of eligibility after graduating this May. Fidler has decided not to return for his Redshirt Senior season, and thus the three-way QB battle will not include him this Spring. Fidler is a good kid and a great teammate and his fellow players will miss him. --- It is worth understanding just how special this Senior class for UK football truly is. It will be the first in 100 years to play all four years with winning seasons. Think about that...they deserve quite the applause on Saturday. --- Sam Bowie was admitted to Idle Hour Country Club, which was of little surprise after the public story broke. Now the question is...how can Sam Bowie play golf with his crazy height? I would like to see that in person. --- Andy Katz sent me a text on Thanksgiving. He has officially moved into the "I like him" category. --- Good for Tubby Smith tonight with the win over Butler. Great guy and the oddity of seeing a big goofy white guy named "Iverson" on his team. --- Best Twitter message of the day came from our own Drew Franklin's Twitter account, when he said, "I hear the Pilgrims were beasts." --- It is unreal how empty the gyms are for these preseason tournaments. Unless the game is in Maui or UK is invited, no one comes. How can they afford to have them? --- There will be an open practice in Louisville Sunday and then a pep rally for the Cats on Monday. We will have more info on both on here tomorrow. --- Start watching over the next couple of weeks and you will begin to learn the names of JUCO players UK will be recruiting. I expect the Cats to take at least 2 Juco guys in the 2010 class. More all day as we get ready for UT...Drew has a CRAZY good (and long) UT preview and there should be more UT hate....it is always fun to dislike the Vols. And to get you started on your day, here is a UK and KSR fan in Kandahar, Aghanistan being visited by Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band for the Holidays. The UK fan (in the center on the bottom row) got Sinise to hold a UK flag...thats a UK guy through and through. And oh yeah, the solider next to Sinise is quite the looker: <