Get your child support ready
The Terrell Owens we once knew is no more. Gone are the days of acrobatic catches and a dominating presence on the football field. Now, it's all child support and baby mamas -- and the appearance on Dr. Phil that those two aspects of life create. Owens reached rock bottom (even lower than a season with the Bills) on Tuesday when he appeared on the popular CBS show to tell Dr. Phil all about his problems outside of football. To sum it all up: He's broke; he has four kids, all by different women; he owes 50K per month in child support; and he can't find a job that'll pay him enough to handle it all. Sadly, Owens is just another name in the long line of pro athletes to write such a tragic story in life outside of sports. I think he's the first to do Dr. Phil, though:
It seems like just yesterday he was doing crunches in the driveway. Let this be a lesson to all you future pro athletes out there.
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If you're letting Pete Thamel's latest anti-UK project get under skin, don't. Don't let him get to you. There isn't much to the report he released about the NCAA talking to Noel's high school administration -- not yet, at least. The conversations that transpired between Noel's principal and the NCAA directors of enforcement are common these days in recruiting and shouldn't raise any red flags for Kentucky fans. The NCAA was just checking in to see how everything went down with the reclassification and a couple of the unofficial visits. Nerlens isn't the first person the NCAA has looked into -- it comes with being the No. 1 recruit -- and he certainly won't be the last. It is more of a precautionary measure to prevent future troubles than a look into something that is already there. We have nothing to worry about from the NCAA for now. Let's hope that doesn't change.
Kentucky fans could, however, have a few small worries about Nerlens Noel's academic eligibility. Noel's extremely late reclassification could have an affect on his eligibility if he can't complete the necessary coursework and tests to graduate. But the headmaster at Tilton High School said Noel's teachers have his "feet to the fire" and he expects him to graduate with no problems. Evan Daniels of Scout.com told cn|2 Sports that he also believe Nerlens will be just fine at the end of the day and playing for Kentucky next season.
We say we're clear from the NCAA for now, but Pete Thamel is doing everything he can to dig up something the NCAA can use against Kentucky and Nerlens Noel. I usually tend to avoid the "We're Kentucky, everyone hates us" mentality, but this guy clearly has a malicious agenda when it comes to Kentucky and John Calipari. What is his problem??? Does he even bother looking into this if Nerlens Noel goes to Providence? I don't think he does. This is the third consecutive summer he's spent chasing around a UK recruit. Go to the beach or something, man. Go live your own life and quit trying to ruin the life of a teenager.
One more Pete Thamel note and then I'm done for the evening. He was on Scott Van Pelt's radio show on Wednesday and it went a little something like this...
Van Pelt: "If you're guessing right now, do you think (Noel) plays at Kentucky in the fall?"
Thamel: "I don't know."
Listen to the podcast here.
Someone in Lexington just cancelled their subscription to the Herald-Leader.
The UK/IU series is over, but it still won't go away. On Wednesday, Tom Crean continued to defend the Hoosiers' side of the story during an IU Athletics tailgating event at Lucas Oil Stadium. He told reporters Indiana refused to accept Kentucky's offer to play in Indianapolis because the Hoosiers already play a game in Indy next season and they're trying to get as many games as possible in Bloomington. Indiana plays Butler at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on December 15.
So, you're tell me he'd rather play in Rupp Arena than have to play twice in Indianapolis, at two different venues??? I'm not buying it.
Crean also discussed Assembly Hall and his hope to make it the largest collection of assholes in America most hostile environment in college basketball. He said, "Some people said our place wasn't friendly. If that changes, give your tickets up. Give them to somebody that's crazy. We want to have the toughest, most obnoxious crowds in Indiana history and I'm looking at people here that are going to do it."
Calipari chases NCAA title history. Crean chases obnoxious history.
That's enough talk about Indiana for one evening. Let's move on to some recruiting news where it sounds like it's between Kentucky and Purdue for Julius Mays, although he's still considering Michigan State and Illinois. Purdue stands a strong chance because Mays grew up a Boilermaker fan in Marion, Indiana, while Kentucky is in the picture for obvious reasons, including the former Wright State guard's relationship with Ryan Harrow. Mays hosted Harrow on his visit to NC State and the two clearly hit it off, considering Harrow signed with the Wolfpack that summer. Mays says he's in no rush to make a decision, but he hopes to do it sometime soon.
Someone else in Lexington just cancelled their subscription to the Herald-Leader.
According to his high school coach, Amile Jefferson will announce his decision by next Wednesday. There are the two longtime frontrunners in NC State and Duke, and then there is Kentucky with available playing time, proven history of developing talent, tradition, and the most passionate fanbase in all of sports. We'll find out within the next week which team is the winner.
If you didn't get a chance to listen to Herald-Leader editorial cartoonist Joel Pett's radio interview on Wednesday's radio show, I encourage you to take 10-15 minutes to do so. It was interesting, to say the least. Check it out.
While you're at it, KSR College has a great post mocking a day in the life of Joel Pett. You might as well check it out, too.
Last but certainly not least, the final round of the KSTV Casting Call is in LOUISVILLE ON MAY 12 at SAM SWOPE HONDA WORLD from 8-11 am. It is your chance to become a Kentucky sports reporter and cover the Cats for the next year as one of Matt’s co-hosts on KSTV. We have already done casting calls in Florence and Lexington and have a number of semifinalists ready to move on to the next round of competition. But first we have to look at the Louisville group and get our final group of semi-finalists. We hope to see you there.
Cats.
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Are you ready to relive Sunday yet? Me too. The geniuses at UK Sports Video just dropped a behind-the-scenes video of Mark Pope's introductory press...
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