The Season Never Ends Friday News and Views

Yes, you still have time to order the Kentucky Basketball calendar in time for Christmas. Because we're not amazon.com, we can actually ship the day after you order. That means if you order Friday, Saturday or Sunday, your calendar will arrive by Christmas. So what are you waiting for? Matt Jones has one. Kige Ramsey has one. So does Beezner. And Hunter Campbell. And Kenny "Sky" Walker. And Jeff Sheppard, Larry Vaught, Rupp Runt Thad Jaracz, the entire Herald-Leader sports department, and if you're reading this, Ashley, one is being sent to your publicist. Visit www.ukcal.com to order yours. Only $14.99. Free shipping when you order three. Also available at the following stores: 
All Sports, Alumni Hall, Blue Zone, Fan Outfitters, JD Becker, Keeneland Gift Shop, Kennedy’s, Kentucky Korner, Kentucky’s Best, The Campbell House Gift Shop, Transfer Station Sportswear and [email protected] Paducah! Call ahead to make sure they aren't out before you go, because they are moving briskly. Thank you and go Cats. -------------- Now that we've gotten that we've gotten our bills taken care of and you've popped on over to ukcal.com to purchase your Season Never Ends calendar, let me properly welcome you to Friday's News and Views and the 12th anniversary of the Festivus episode of Seinfeld.  While the official Festivus holiday isn't until December 23rd, several of you took the time to spend Thursday airing your grievances with the KSR staff, almost forcing us to take to Twitter with a #moreapprovedthanbti tag.  Fortunately for you, all of your grievances were noted and they certainly will make us all strive harder to make sure this thing we sacrifice our social lives and free time for even better for you guys.  You deserve it.  Except the guy who follows me on Twitter and thinks I'm starving for attention.  You're an idiot and you don't make any sense.  Sorry, I guess I should have saved that one for the 23rd.  Without further ado, onto the news (which we're going to do very quickly)...  (1)  The late news making the biggest waves was a speech from Bobby Knight questioning John Calipari's (and college basketball's) integrity.  The General was speaking at a fundraiser for the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and said this:

"We've gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking and that's why I'm glad I'm not coaching. You see we've got a coach at Kentucky who put two schools on probation and he's still coaching. I really don't understand that."

Interestingly enough, his point regarding the questionable integrity of college basketball could have been better made had he said the last two national champions were a team on probation (Kansas) and a coach (Roy Williams) partially responsible for them being there. But, Calipari continues to be a convenient scapegoat a la BTI. At this point, as a Kentucky fan, you just have to be pretty much immune to it. These types of statements pop up every few weeks or so and you just wait for a stupid Bleacher Report article to pop up and then let it blow over. Then repeat. I'm sure these things will only increase as the Cats march to the Final Four. (2)  Speaking of the Final Four, the media seemed to kick things up a notch, as they are often forced to do during slow weeks, and the discussion of an undefeated season for the Cats captured some internet space on Thursday.  KSR buddy Gregg Doyel was the one to most blatantly make mention of perfection in his story on CBS Sportsline, which focused more on what a great story it would be if it happened.  His payroll-mate, Seth Davis, wrote eariler in the week that he expected Kentucky to be the last undefeated team standing this year (losing at the fake USC on Jan. 26), but stopped short of any discussions of season-long perfection.  This, of course, did not stop some of UK's fine fans from speculating on the subject, which isn't surprising given the excitement surrounding the program right now.  Obviously, any talk of running the table is completely premature at this point, but you can't blame anyone for at least thinking about it - even if it's in the waaaaay back part of their mind.  Conventional wisdom (and really any type of wisdom) says it won't happen.  History just dictates it to be too hard.  And, despite having such an infinitely talented team, Kentucky just has too many holes right now to really consider this a possibility.  (3)  The UK football team dished out their end of the year awards Thursday, with Randall Cobb winning Offensive MVP and Corey Peters winning Defensive MVP.  Cobb was named the overall MVP.  Here's the full list of winners from UKAthletics.com. (4)  Kentucky fans have never been content with just sitting around and waiting for next year.  Let's talk about the year after that!  According to Rivals' Jerry Meyer, the 2011 recruiting class could potentially be very strong for the Cats.  Meyer says the Cats have a "pretty good" chance of landing the top three players in 2011, Michael Gilchrist, Marquis Teague and Quincy Miller.  Gilchrist is still believed to be between Villanova and the Cats, according to Meyer, and Teague is intrigued by the dribble-drive and the point guards who have succeeded in it.  Miller's recruitment is the most open of the three, but he's visited the Cats (UNC game) and plays on John Wall's old AAU team. (5)  I don't think this really needs to be reiterated, but the death of Chris Henry is beyond heart-breaking.  It seems that a guy who had found himself in so much trouble throughout most of his career had not only found a place as a valuable rule-abiding member of a team he had once disappointed, but was finding some happiness and peace in his personal life with marriage to the mother of his kids on the horizon.  Not knowing any of the details of the "domestic disturbance" occurring right before he ended up in the back of a truck, one can only hope that those facts are exaggerated.  We've seen several times (usually in college athletics) that a suspension from a team can sometimes leave an individual who so badly needs his teammates and that family environment in a  far worse situation when they are separated from it.  If Henry's trip to the injured reserve and subsequent distancing from that family environment that has seemed to strengthen him factored into his situation in the slightest, it becomes even more heart-breaking.  A very sad story. That's it for now.  We'll continue to bring you all the UK football and basketball news in the most ridiculous manner.  Only this time, we'll try not to suck as much as so many of you apparently think we do.  And remember, you won't get your Saturday posts until someone pins Turkey Hunter.  See you in a few...