Varying Inglorious Basterd's Movie Reviews Monday News and Views

This weekend was an interesting set of experiences as I confronted the mass of humanity that is the Kentucky State Fair and saw the movie "Inglorious Basterds." The first of those events left me with sore feet and a shirt that smelled like various farm animals. The second ended up being one of my favorite movies of the year and the best Tarantino film since Pulp Fiction. However my opinion is clearly not shared by everyone. When I got home from the movie, I went to the official Kentucky Sports Radio Twitter account (sign up here) and gave a quick recruiting update and movie praise. Within five minutes however, Papaw Rich Brooks, only the finest tomato grower this side of the Alleghanys, sent out a tweet to the Big Blue Nation. Brooks said that he surprised the UK football team today by cancelling practice and taking them to a movie. For some reason that I cant comprehend, they took the team to see Inglorious Basterds and according to Brooks it was "strange" and he wasnt really a fan...an opinion that was apparently shared by many on the team as well. This news was then sent to me by approximately 100 people and hurt my inner soul. Are Coach Brooks and I not movie kindred spirits? Is he not the Siskel to my Ebert? Oh well, you should go see the movie yourself and then vote as to whose movie opinion is correct...and either way, know that Christopher Walz as the head Nazi in the movie is getting an Academy Award nomination. (1): The basketball season is creeping closer and there was a decent amount of news that came this weekend. Most importantly for this season, the entire team arrived on campus for the fall this weekend. For the first time Darnell Dodson found himself in Lexington and Daniel Orton is returning from his California summer workout. The question of eligibility is still being asked by many and there hasnt been an official confirmation as to who is good to go and who isnt. But one of the worries that had been accompanying some who follow the team was that Dodson's non-arrival on campus spelled bad news about his eligibility. However that looks to be incorrect as he is now in Lexington and spent the weekend with members of the team. Expect pickup game reports to increase this week as the entire team plays together for the first time as one cohesive unit. It should be an interesting week. (2): There was also a great deal of recruiting news as the weekend went along. Two recruits found themselves in Lexington, one of which was a bit surprising. Eloy Vargas came to town fresh from the Florida Gators, where he spent his Freshman season. Vargas was in academic trouble there and is looking to potentially come to UK, a decision that seems on the surface a bit odd. Vargas was highly touted coming out of high school, recruited heavily by UL and only played sparingly during his Freshman season at Florida. But Calipari must see something he likes by having him come to visit UK. Also on campus was Marquis Teague, who took a tour of the campus on Saturday and spent time with team members during the weekend. Teaque likes UK a great deal and is part of a host of players that may be waiting on one person to make a decision so the others then fall in line. Also coming out this weekend was the news that Harrison Barnes, the player that some believe is the best in America, has eliminated UK from his recruiting process. This isnt a huge surprise as Kansas, Duke and UNC compete for his services. (3): We are 12 days away from the kickoff of football season and expectations are continuing to increase. The football team held a scrimmage on Saturday that was fairly uneventful for its news, but solidified some of the themes of the summer. The starting QB job is clearly Mike Hartline's and nearly everyone believes he has improved a great deal. What may be a bit surprising is that the season could start with Will Fidler in the backup slot. The coaches are publically optimistic about the improvement of the WR set but privately are a bit concerned about the production from the RB slot, which hasnt been quite as good as they had hoped. With Randall Cobb's back issues, RBs have to perform at a high level and the depth and explosiveness hasnt been what they had hoped. And kicking...well kicking is kicking. But at least when the season ends, Lones Seiber will likely be the all-time leading scorer in UK history. Whatcha think about that? (4): Finally, interesting news out of Stillwater where Matt Pilgrim has been ruled eligible for Oklahoma State. I actually think the Pilgrim saga will be one of the interesting subplots of the college basketball season outside of the UK nation. Pilgrim has a lot of fans among the UK internet fanbase and there is no doubt that the hype that accompanied his time in Lexington was legendary. Add to the fact that most of the vocal Billy Clyde defenders (who interestingly enough dont own up to that much often now) pointed to Pilgrim as the future success of the program, and his time in Stillwater will be very interesting to watch. I like Matt personally a lot and wish him success. But I expect debating his performances will be an internet hobby for many fans when UK is off this fall. Its been a crazy few days...the feedback on the Forde article was unlike anything I have ever experienced outside of the Billy Clyde article after he was fired. Fans and other media members gave positive feedback in droves and it is clear that Forde's work on Calipari/Pitino has struck a nerve. I have tried to contact Pat to get some response from him, but as of yet he has not responded. I hope that changes soon. This week, we will start getting ready for Miami OH, have the next round of the Blogger contest and potentially an announcement that could be great for the site and its fans (cross your fingers). Just for the record, I was on Google tonight and put in the search term "sports blog" and Kentucky Sports Radio was the fifth entry that came up. That is a testament to the power of the Big Blue Nation and how wonderful the fans of this site have been. Here is hoping that the reward you folks deserve comes. Stay tuned....