James Joyce's Tuesday Notes

I am still sick, but that doesnt mean we cant stop to honor the birthday of the greatest author no one would ever actually read, James Joyce. Ask any Lit professor or graduate student what was the greatest novel of the 20th century and they will likely say “Ulysses”, “Finnegan’s Wake” or one of the other Joyce classics. Ask them to tell you why they are great and you will get a treatise on various themes, use of language, etc, all of which came out of their graduate school professor’s mouth in class or some lit critic’s study on Joyce. The truth that none of them will ever admit is that no one really reads Joyce and those that say he is their favorite author are either (a) lying or (b) crazy. Reading Joyce is like listening to Bobby Maze speak…you need a translator and you come away more confused than when you began. He is allegedly the greatest author of modern times, but I can admit to having never finished one of his works. Today would have been his 127th birthday, and pretentious types on college campuses everywhere are likely toasting their cappucino glasses in admiration.

To the notes:

— The story of the day was the supposed discontent between Wall and Calipari, a showcase that was more illlustrative of the practice of modern media than a statement about the two individuals. For their part, Wall and Calipari dealt with the 2 day old story by saying it was no biggie and that Wall expressed frustration that was taken out of context. The media took 48 hour old news, hopped on each other’s backs in a slow news day and tried to have something to talk about in he meantime. Notorious Calipari critics like Pat Forde and Pete Thamel took a clueless Jimmy Dykes quote, ran with it and all of a sudden the story was the 2nd lead on PTI. In the end, the PTI guys were correct…it was nothing and we can all move on. But the next time you read “explosive” news about other teams, remember this issue and note that it could be the case that they are as wrong about those issues as they were this one.

— Also, Coach Calipari made everyone excited when he announced that new uniforms are coming next week for the Cats, likely to debut against Tennessee for Gameday. My guess is that we will see a good dose of black in the new uniforms to go with the new Lebron shoes. I hope the Blue and White traditionalists are ready if that ends up being the case.

— Recruiting is the hot topic everywhere as The Cats Pause hired someone with a Louisville Cardinals line beard (and a great last name) to be their new recruiting guy. He did an interview with Marquis Teague in which he said nothing, but confirmed that the big three (UK, UL and IU) still lead for his services. The big news came from Jeff Drummond of Kentucky Ink, who did a story on Brandon Knight and Knight says he is close to a decision. The 2010 Point Guard is THE most important recruit for UK this Spring and if he makes the decision to come to Lexington, the ball just keeps right on rolling next year. A decision may come soon apparently and it is likely the final two will be Kentucky and Florida, although UCONN and Miami hope to play a part as well.

— If you havent seen the new Seth Davis show on CBS College Sports, you ought to watch it. Yes Seth Davis can annoy us all, but it is a good roundup of college basketball and Seth is a good interviewer….although the good doctor Jerry Tipton was one guest tonight. Davis will be at the UK-Ole Miss game tonight and I am sure to harass him about podcasts at some point.

— Signing Day is Wednesday and things dont look great on the Cats front. Tim Patterson is scheduled to make a decision on Wednesday between Kentucky and Louisville, but the buzz in Louisville is that the Cards may have closed strong to get the pickup. Miles Simpson is another Kentucky kid that the Cats want, but Jody Demling reports tonight that some believe Indiana is the leader with two days to go. The Cats need to close strong…we shall see if it happens.

— On “The Bachelor”, Scott Padgett moved on to the Final Four, ensuring that Kentucky will get to the Big Dance one way or the other this year. Vienna Padgett has all the moves necessary, combined with a dash of crazy, to stay to the end of the hottest reality show in the KSR Compound.

— If you havent yet, scroll down and read Beisner’s piece on the National Player of the Year prospects for Boogie. Beisner makes a strong case that Cousins should be in the mix and that his numbers compare very favorably to past winners who were big men.

— Matt Pilgrim and Marshall Moses almost got into a fight on their bench tonight during the Oklahoma State-Texas game. Both guys have Kentucky connections and could very well have been teammates here if things had gone a bit differently. Tonight shows why things worked out well for Kentucky on both ends (even though I do think Marshall was a Top 5 KSR podcast guest ever).

— If you havent listened to Episode 13 of the Podcast, please do. It is a good look at the life of a UK basketball player with Michael Porter and a lot of absurdity that we enjoyed producing. Aslo, please subscribe to the KSR Podcast on iTunes if you get a chance. We got up to #3 on the National sports rankings today just behind PTI and Bill Simmons. We appreciate all your support as we try to get Drew Franklin a job.

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We will have more all day as we get ready for tonight’s 7 pm start against Ole Miss. Stay tuned….