Rocky Balboa's Tuesday News and Views

A surprisingly exciting Monday here at the Kentucky Sports Radio compound. You had news on Marshall Moses, the chatter over the Earl Clark rumor, people calling about a bizarre story that turned out to have no merit and the preparation for two big radio shows in the next two days (Episode 18 and the ESPN show). Nevertheless, we have to pause a moment and give a shout out to Sylvester Stallone as he prepares for the release of the newest "Rocky" movie. Folks when I heard there was a new Rocky movie, I literally shuttered. I saw Rocky V and it made me cringe and almost caused me to forget the glory that was Rocky IV. But as I saw the previews, it began sucking me in.....what if it is good, I thought.....knowing it couldnt be. But now it turns out that it may be good. Early reviews are uniformly positive and there is buzz that it may be the best one from a story standpoint since the first. Whether that turns out to be true remains to be seen, but credit still has to be given to Sly.....everyone thought he would embarass himself with this, and it turns out he didnt. Good for you Rambo! Now onto the news... (1) Big news of the day was the word from Marshall Moses that he DID NOT visit UK this weekend. There is a full story on this below, but there are a couple of points to add. First of all, Moses did not seem upset by the decision of UK to once again put him off on his visit until January. He said that Coach Hobbs thought it would be best to wait until school was in session, and he accepted that explanation. I still got the sense that the kid loves UK and that he is still very excited about coming to Lexington. In my view the reason for this delay is very simple.....qualification issues. Moses said to me that he has a qualifying test score and that the only issue would be his core high school classes. Come the January visit, those grades will be in and Kentucky will have a better idea if he will be qualified for 07. This is an understandable position for UK.....but one that still worries me I must admit. Moses is a talent.....if you saw the video in yesterday's post you know that. I just hope that opening the door with these delays doesnt bite us if he DOES get qualified. Still you gotta like UK's position here and the fact that Moses is still intent on making the UK visit his first. (2) Tough news today about Ricky Abren being dismissed from the team. Speculation is running wild as to what happened, but in this case I honestly have no idea. However it is difficult for the team to lose a player prior to a bowl game. A bowl game by the way that I am PUMPED UP for and hope that Kentucky Sports Radio fans will come see us in droves for our pre and post game show! (3) If you havent heard yet, Louisville Manual Sophomore Jacob Jenkins, who is likely the best player in his class in the state, is once again visiting UK for an unofficial over the break. That will make two unofficial visits already this year, confirming the kid's interest in UK and the school's desire to try and make this a recruitment that will pay huge dividends. Do yourself a favor and go watch this kid play. When I see him, I see a kid that if he continues to develop can be one of those high school talents that can get the state really excited. He is young and still growing....but he just has that look.....go see for yourself. (4) Speaking of seeing for yourself, I saw for myself Greg Oden this weekend. Folks, I am usually the kind of person who likes to go against the hype and play it down. Not on Oden. The kid is a man and is going to be an AMAZING basketball player. He is huge in person and likely has the best presence of any college player I have seen up close. He runs the floor with ease and simply is a man on the glass. What is even more amazing is that he is essentially playing with one hand......his left (non-dominant) hand. He shoots free throws left handed (like Bo Kimble) and uses the left hand to rebound and control the ball. HE is a machine. I sat with Gregg Doyel (who I know you all love) on the first row on Saturday and we both agreed, this kid is the truth....and is as nice a guy off the court as he is on. The Oden era is going to be long and strong. (5) Lots of chatter about the rumor we had on here this morning about Earl Clark. The folks at UL deny the rumor and Coach Pitino said it was untrue tonight on his call-in show (which he did not attend, but simply called in for). This does not surprise me (what did you expect, the school to say "yes that rumor is true and will be announced later when Earl decides to leave") and I actually hope that Clark ends up staying. I like the kid and think that he will end up being the most special COLLEGE player of that class. The individual who told me that Clark was considering leaving said that he was upset not only with playing time, but with other factors surrounding the team. Hopefully for both parties that will be worked out.....I am not a Cards fan, but transferring hurts a kid, by making him sit out, learn a new system, etc.....hopefully that wont happen here. (6) For the first of what will likely be many times, Jodie Meeks won an award from the SEC this week, this time for SEC Freshman of the Week. Meeks is still my favorite player in the class and is Keith Bogans reincarnate. He is going to be the go-to scorer for UK for much of his career and I love watching him gain confidence every game. I have said all along that by the end of the year, I expect the crunch time lineup to be Bradley, Crawford, Meeks, Perry and Morris......I still think that is the case, although Tubby has shown that he is not afraid to have Perry on the pine and Thomas or Jasper in his place. (7) Tubby hinted tonight that Ramon Harris may not be headed for a redshirt. He said that he was a tremendous athlete who he believed could help this team. Tubby has not redshirted anyone since he has been at UK....Harris would seem like an odd place to start. If you havent yet, scroll down and pick the first game in the Bowl Pick Em Game. Gotta play to win, and TCU-Northern Illinois has to get your blood boiling. We tape tonight, but look for a Santa Clara preview this afternoon and a new show tomorrow at lunch......enjoy.