Welcome to Kentucky Jorts Radio

by:Thomas Beisner02/28/11

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"Every great movement starts with one man and I guess that's me."

Those were the words uttered by booger sugar maven Charlie Sheen in one of television's greatest interviews Monday night with Piers Morgan.  Though the phrase made little sense in the context of the interview, which actually made it a perfect fit, it seems to be more appropriately applied to the situation we have before us.  As we take a step into uncharted territory today and make updates changes to a site that has remained famously unchanged for far too long, we do so in tribute of a man who started a massive jean shorts revolution three years ago and, thus, opened a new chapter of Kentucky basketball.  Josh Harrellson started the Jorts movement.

On this Tuesday, we prepare ourselves to bid farewell to Josh Harrellson by offering a entire day dedicated to his accomplishments on the court and appreciation for the blogging fodder he's supplied during his career.  What started as a little joke about the fashion selection of a junior college target of Billy Gillispie turned into one of the most celebrated stories of this website.  The man we know as Jorts gave us the overly used free throw picture, which was, at the time, the only photographic proof of his existence.  He supplied us with some impromptu dancing.  He remains the first and only winner of the KSR Man of the Year contest.  He was in the inaugural KSR Hall of Fame class.  He gave us "The Carlton" at Big Blue Madness.  Most importantly, he gave us the Louisville game and nine rebounds per game this season.  He's a guy that wasn't scared off by a little toilet time, the likelihood of no minutes under a new coach or life without Twitter.  For that, we give him our hearts.  And Kentucky Jorts Radio. 

One day, we'll make it up to him for posting this picture.  His current mood is "vulnerable".

Now onto some other less-Jortsy notes...

(1)  How about some good late-breaking news right out of the gate?  Shabazz Muhammad will attend Jorts Day festivities, according to the Premier Ball's Twitter account.  Muhammad was scheduled to attend Louisville's game with Pitt Sunday but canceled due to a lack of scheduled denim.  He ranks as the #3 overall player in the class of 2012 and the top shooting guard.  If Cal can get him to wear jean shorts, you can assume it's a done deal.

(2)   Thanks to their victory over Florida Saturday, the Cats put themselves back into a position to earn a bye in the SEC Tournament and can clinch that spot by winning out and getting some help from Georgia.  Their quest for that bye starts Tuesday night with the Commodores.  In part because they've struggled against an SEC West that is inferior to their own division, the Cats hold the tie-breaker advantage over Vanderbilt, with whom they would be tied with a victory Tuesday night, along with Georgia.  But because Vanderbilt owns a better record in games played between the three teams, the Cats would also need the Dawgs drop one of their remaining two games (home against LSU and at Alabama) or have Vanderbilt fall again to Florida in their finale to eliminate a three-way tie.  No matter what, though, the quest for the first round by starts with a victory Tuesday night.  And Josh deserves that.  (3) Given the way he torched the Cats in Nashville, a lot of the pregame focus will be on how the Cats will stop potential SEC Player of the Year John Jenkins.  For the most part, Kentucky did a decent job in making his looks difficult in the first meeting.  Jenkins just made tough shots.  The logical assumption is that he will have a little more difficulty knocking those down away from Memorial Gym.  Regardless, history indicates that Jeffery Taylor is the player that needs to be shut down.  The Commodores are 15-1 in games where Taylor scores at least 15 points.  In their previous meeting, the Cats locked him down to the tune of four points on 1-7 shooting.  If they can piece together a similar game at Rupp Arena and Jenkins can come down to Earth a bit, they'll be sitting pretty.  Yes, I'm talking to you, DeAndre.  Time to make being pissed turn into productivity.  (4)  If you feel the air being sucked out of the room, it's because our dear friend The Good Doctor just hit us with his latest edition of Debbie Downer in print.  The real Jerry Tipton broke the news Monday night that Coach Cal is still 42 wins short of 500 career victories because the NCAA does not recognize the games that have been vacated.  While this all may be true and it's certainly within Tipton's beat, I sure hope he doesn't wonder why people hate him.  I do, however give him credit for embracing the villian role lately.  It's like he's thriving off of it.  His opening line of the story read: "On the plus side, Kentucky Coach John Calipari can celebrate his 500th college coaching victory again."  Boom!  You just got Tipton'd!   (5)  The victory that seems to be the most forgotten for the Cats this season looked even stronger Monday as Notre Dame put an old fashioned beating on Villanova on national television.  The Irish now look like a solid #2 seed for the NCAA Tournament and have emerged as Kentucky's best win of the season.  Given the way the Cats handled them fairly easily on a neutral court, it not only speaks to how much it will help their resume when it comes to seeding, but also serves as a reminder as to how crucial matchups are for this team.   (6)  If you're into reading into things and speculating, you have to be pleased with the relaxed confidence that seemed to be displayed by the Cats and John Calipari Monday.  Beating Florida did a lot to wipe away the frustrations from Arkansas and they seem to be ready to finish the season strong.  During their worst times, it was a bunch that looked confused and like they were afraid to make mistakes.  At their best, the were cool and confident.  They seem to have returned to that.  With two crucial games remaining, that's a good sign.  (7) In news that was probably broken by Jerry Tipton in an alternate universe, Kelenna Azubuike was released by the Knicks Monday after sitting out all season with a knee injury.  The former Cat remains injured and unable to play, but will likely land with someone next season.  In the meantime, he has plenty of time to kick it with Jesse Jackson.  That's it for now.  Make sure you stick around all day as we celebrate Josh Harrellson.  As usual, the fun gets going with Matt and Zach on Kentucky Jorts Radio at 10am on Talk Radio 1080.  In the meantime, just be like Charlie Sheen.  Get over here and enjoy the ride bro.  We're starting to win.  See you in a few..

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