You survived

Congratulations.

The long, grueling summer without any big college sports is now over. We are back!

I'll be at the Louisville-Kentucky game as part of the College GameDay team across the street from Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on Floyd Street next to the new Cardinal Ticket Office.

Come out and say hi.

So far, my Saturday has consisted of a group meeting going over my new diet/workout regime that I've been going through for the last two weeks (tough, but rewarding), along with grocery shopping, going to Subway (6" turkey), working out, showering off, and watching all the college football I possible can.

So far, Pitt looks like the old Pitt, I'm guessing Carolina Steve will call in to our next show thanks to East Carolina's win over Virginia Tech, and the Hoosiers look solid in their opener.

Tomorrow, I've got Louisville beating Kentucky in a great game, 26-21.

Have fun, and feel free to post below!

Another reason why ratings/rankings are meaningless early

In my humble opinion, some of the best computer ratings out there are Jeff Sagarin's (fellow Indiana University grad) ratings.

But even Jeff Sagarin can have some skewed ratings sometimes. Especially when a game hasn't been played.

His preseason college football ratings have Louisville at 15th IN THE COUNTRY.

That makes them the second-highest rated Big East team going into the season, behind West Virginia (7th).

Compare that to:
23 - Texas Tech
26 - Arkansas
29 - Kansas
37 - South Florida
46 - Kentucky
49 - Pittsburgh
79 - Indiana

Why Notre Dame bugs me

Everyone wonders why I am so uptight about Notre Dame's football program.

I'll tell you why.

Because the NCAA puts their little paws in everything else, but somehow can't keep Notre Dame from their quest to not EVER PLAY A TRUE ROAD GAME!

The Post-Standard in Syracuse is reporting that Notre Dame and Syracuse are close to an agreement on a 10-game football series. One catch: Notre Dame will not play one of those 10 games at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.

Come on Syracuse. Why are you stupid enough to do this? Is the money really that great? If it is, find another team to do this. Jeez. Notre Dame is not good enough anymore to be playing them 10 TIMES in a row away from your field.

Big East Conference, get a grip. Help out or something. Don't let Notre Dame do this. It's ridiculous.

Erin Andrews is not only hot, but she's super-classy!

This is why I love her.

Erin was working a Cubs-Brewers game when the you-know-what evidently hit the fan.

GateHouse News Service columnist Mike Nadel went after Erin Andrews and her behavior towards players.

Erin Andrews took the high road for the most part. What a classy girl. This is about as opinionated as she got (from StarTribune.com):

“I think my overall reaction is that it’s really sad that in 2008 … I have
people watching every single move I make,” Andrews said. “When there’s a big
game between the Cubs and Brewers going on, it’s sad that that’s what their
focus is on. … And the last thing I had heard is that when you want to do a
story on someone, you contact them.”

You can read her interview with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune's Michael Rand responding to Nadel's column by clicking here.

Erin, I will rip everything off your bed with you. Please call me!

Off tomorrow...

Just a couple things I was thinking about tonight as I take the day off from the air.

I'm sorry, but I can't picture Pudge Rodriguez in a Yanks uniform.  I've always liked him, but will I be able to like him as a fixture in Yankee Stadium?

That's about all the baseball I can talk about since I'm finally ready to nail in the last hammer on the Reds and their wild card hopes (my hopes lasted longer than all other Reds fans, for better or worse).  But if you want to read about the Reds, the Red Reporter is always a good place.

So now onto college football.  I'm getting super-excited.  Even though UK and U of L are two teams that will have to fight tooth and nail to get to a bowl, I'm still excited to see both of them play each other.  Here's some more season previews (from CollegeFootballNews.com) on UK, U of L, and IU. And even a little Ohio State for you Big Ten fans.

Can't leave without a little Brian Brohm, who was successfully taught by my man Rocco Gasparro (U of L Media Relations Director for Football) how to avoid any tough questions.  That guy won't crack to the NFL media either.  He's going to represent Louisville great.

Louisville Football picked to finish 7th in the Big East

WOW!

According to the media, Louisville is only going to be better than bottom-feeder Syracuse in the big East Conference this year in football.

That hurts.

What I think is a bit surprising is that it's really not even close.

Louisville got 69 points in the poll. Sixth-place UConn received 97 points.

That tells me that LOTS of Big East media had Louisville this low.

The sliver lining is that no media member picked the Cards to finish last, as Syracuse got the lowest amount of point possible by the media.

If Tom Jurich's statement to the Athletic Association Board wasn't enough, now the expectations are even lower.


2008 PRESEASON BIG EAST MEDIA POLL
1. West Virginia (22) 189
2. South Florida (1) 149
3. Pittsburgh (1) 128
4. Rutgers 110
5. Cincinnati 98
6. Connecticut 97
7. Louisville 69
8. Syracuse 24

Which is football conference is better? Big Ten or SEC?

If you think the Big Ten is better, welcome to the lonely world.

I'll argue SEC is better, however I will agree with my colleague Rick
Bozich and Detroit Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg (our guest
on The Front Row Ticket today on ESPN 93.9 The Ticket) that the gap is
not that wide.

The SEC wins championships. And the league is more competitive.

I think that competitiveness is what blues the line in favor of the
SEC more than it should be.

"Everyone beats up on everybody in the SEC." Thats all I hear.

That doesn't mean the SEC is the Tiger Woods of football conferences.
It just means there's parity.

You got to take a look at out-of-conference games. And the SEC has
been less than perfect.

Mississippi State got drilled by West Virginia. South Florida won at
Auburn. Hell, Alabama lost to Louisiana-Monroe.

But they do win bowl games.

And they win championships lately.

The Big Ten is behind the SEC, but the gap is smaller than you think.

New things--they are a-coming

Well besides the All-Star game, more Derrick Caracter news, and still
laughing at what was an embarrassing display from Dave Ragone and
Scott Padgett in the Celebrity Home Run Derby, I decided to stop by to
tease the faithful Big EZ Show followers.

Keep your ears peeled to 93.9 The Ticket!

And we're back...

I don't know why I went away from Google for my blog (I love everything Google). But I did for about nine months. I went over to Wordpress and it just wasn't for me.

Now I'm back. Sadly, it doesn't look like any of my posts over the last nine months will make it over here except for a couple that I am going to manually copy and paste over here.

But it doesn't matter. The bottom line is we have the old bigezshow.com BACK! Welcome.

Of UK or U of L, which football program is more relevant right now?

I know I've been bouncing around as a guest host or guest co-host on different shows and it's tough to find me sometimes I know (just like I know all you listeners are desperately searing for me if you haven't found me yet). But, one of the topics we've been throwing out there as of late is which fooall program is more relevant nationally right now, Louisville or Kentucky?

I'm going with Louisville. They're more nationally relevant in college football.

Look, I know Louisville had a sub-par season last year. But, as a program, they've been talked about for the last 6-8 years in a much brighter light. Yes, I know Kentucky is on the uptick, and they defeated Louisville last year (not to mention # 1 LSU). That's a lot of good stuff to chew on as far as relevance is concerned.

But that's one year.

Louisville has been more relevant for longer. They've had good stuff to chew on for years. Kentucky hasn't. Sure, Louisville lost to the Wildcats last year.

But that's one year.

When you've been talked about seriously as a national championship contender in the last two seasons... guess what, you're more relevant than the third place finisher in the almighty SEC East.

Don't let your love for Rich Brooks cloud your judgment. Don't let the power of the respect-demanding SEC put you in a trance.

The Big East, while less powerful as a conference, is easier to climb up, although it may take awhile for U of L to reascend up that mountain. But in the SEC East traditionally, it's Georgia and Tennessee and Florida. Maybe if Urban Meyer and Mike Richt keel over, Kentucky has a chance to be relevant.

Fat chance.

And save the hate mail Kentucky fans. I don't hate UK. In fact, you may very well win your second straight game in the series in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on August 31st.

You're just not more relevant nationally... yet.

(Thanks to Mike Rutherford at Card Chronicle for the pic)

A good piece on Louisville Cardinal football (for once)

It's funny. If I see a picture of a Louisville football player on a blog or on an online newspaper in the summertime anymore, I think it's going to be another story on a suspended arrested dismissed football player.

So I thought I'd turn the tide a little bit. Amobi Okoye is the centerpiece of an ultra-cool column in ESPN The Magazine documenting what the kid was up to on his 21st birthday. A must-read for any Louisville fan.

Some good news for a change.

We've moved

On to bigger and better things...

Go to www.bigezshow.com

Happy Birthday Billy G!

(thanks to Mike Rutherford at Card Chronicle for the pic)

Well, that game Wednesday night was ugly. I retract my last post.

The defense was ridiculous, the turnovers were awful. Poor Patrick Patterson and Alex Legion are the two early leaders on this team, and they're freshmen.

Give it up to Ramel Bradley. At times, he looked like "Bad Ramel." But for most of the night, he was "Good Ramel." And that problem has been around before Billy G graced us with his presence. There are too many "Good" and "Bad" fill-in-your-favorite-player's-name-here. The inconsistency is the most frustrating thing a UK fan can go through. Another example: Tuesday night--"Good Joe", Wednesday night--"Bad Joe." Crawford is the epitomy of Wildcat inconsistency. Not the happiest of birthdays for Coach G, who turned 48 Wednesday.

But credit the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs. This was not a fluke. GW was ready--UK was not. Billy G claimed responsibility for the loss. I'm glad he did. Who knows if it's his fault, really, or not. But the bottom line is, when a team looks ridiculous for the first four minutes of the game, and trail 14-0 in a blink, I'll put that on the coach.

But the Bulldogs went Princeton on the Cats, and it worked. The backdoors, the crisp passing, the solid three-point shooting, the I-don't-give-a-damn attitude as the little six-footers penetrated their way to the hoop.

Is it true, with this year's squad, that as Mark Coury goes, so do the Cats?

Somewhere in Minneapolis, there's a guy named Tubby, silently laughing.

But, that all being said, I do have faith that Gillispie will turn this around. But, they may just have to play the freshmen all year. Maybe even Mike Williams too. I saw heart from those guys.

Early thoughts on UK hoops

Sorry I haven't been posting, but it's going to get better.

The Billy Gillispie era has begun, and I'm really enjoying what I see so far.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not sure about the talent on the acutal team. Crawford scares me sometimes. He's very inconsistent. Having Bradley at the point guard position just hasn't worked out at this point.

It's early, but I do like what Patrick Patterson has to offer, and it looks like he wants to be a leader on this team (which is one thing I've always enjoyed about Ramel Bradley as well).

That all being said, I enjoy the way Billy Gillispie does things. He sits kids who don't do the things right on the court, he loves conditioning, he loves defense. He knows a good possession when he sees one.

So far so good in my book...

But it's very early.

Some Tuesday Night Links

Just thought I'd start off the new blog campaign with some interesting internet links... at least they're interesting to me.

• Pitino has been very busy recruiting, and he's real close to the # 1 class in 2009. [ESPN Insider]
• An AP article that is interesting regarding how life isn't over for UK football just because BCS chances probably are. [AP]
• Pat Forde's weekly Forde-Yard "Dash" is a weekly must-read. And while UK football isn't talked about, he's got a great quote from UK play-by-play man Tom Leach. [ESPN]
• Out of all the local kids that I can't wait to see in the NFL. The one I truly CANNOT wait to see is James Hardy. I think he's going to be sickening good in the pros, and finally, I find a legitimate columnist that agrees with me, ESPN.com's Bruce Feldman. [ESPN Insider]
• Reds fans, like me, always knew the Big Red Machine was great... but guess what. The Machine thinks the Rockies are awesome. [ESPN Insider]
• Pete Fiutak at CollegeFootballNews.com is always a fun read. Very reader-friendly articles. And this is another one... breaking down the current BCS rankings. [College Football News]
• Colts fans, before you start talking to the fellow Colts and NFL fans about the Patriots game, read this. [Scouts]

That's all for now. Enjoy the show tomorrow.

Back at it...

Forgive me for not posting on the blog. I know it's not real tough to keep up with it, and I didn't anyway, so really my excuses are ridiculously bad.

Now, onto the excuses: I'm trying to get my personal life in order. Trying to mix pleasure with hard work on the radio show, and in the gym. I just started a workout regimen and hired a personal trainer. It was definitely time to do this, and I'll keep you updated on the progress.

But the bottom line is that the free time has definitely been few and far between, but as one of my favorite radio hosts (that I never get to hear anymore) has always said, you either get busy living or get busy dying. I chose the former.

But for now, back to some blog posts. They'll be coming very soon.

BIG THREE CHAMPIONSHIP: Game 21

Moving to the East Rutherford Region, our first game features a tournament favorite against a team that barely snuck by in its first round game. The #1 1996 Kentucky Wildcats pounded the #8 ’02 Indiana Hoosiers 83%-17% in its 1st round game. The Cats broke out to an early lead and never looked back. Behind the hot shooting of Tony Delk, the Cats won by the second largest margin in the 1st round. The starters were pulled very early in the 2nd half by Coach Pitino as he looked forward to the 2nd round. The #4 1953 Indiana Hoosiers did not have that kind of luxury in its 1st round game. The Hoosiers barely snuck by the #5 1958 Kentucky Wildcats in what turned out to be a thriller. The final score was 51%-49% in favor of the Hoosiers. Don Schlundt hit a big basket with only :05 on the clock to put the Hoosiers into the lead. The Cats had a chance to tie the game but Vernon Hatton missed a 15 footer as time ran out.

BIG THREE CHAMPIONSHIP: Game 20

The bottom game in the St. Louis region provides the tournament with another All-Kentucky match-up. The #6 1984 Kentucky Wildcats upset the #3 1983 Louisville Cardinals easily by a score of 74%-26% in their first round game. The game was never really close due to Kentucky’s interior presence provided by Kenny Walker and Sam Bowie. This dynamic duo scored 16 and 17 respectively and blocked a combined total of 12 shots. They prevented the Cards from establishing any kind of post play. The #2 1954 Kentucky team won its opening game 69%-31% over the #7 2005 Louisville Cardinals. Frank Ramsey and Cliff Hagan led the Cats offensive output, scoring a combined 30 points while providing a defensive spark against the high powered Cardinal offense. The two held Taquan Dean and Francisco Garcia to a combined 24% fg shooting from the field on their way to victory.

VOTING OVER!
ST. LOUIS REGION - REGIONAL SEMIFINAL
# 2 '54 Kentucky: 70%
# 6 '84 Kentucky: 30%
UPDATED BRACKET

BIG THREE CHAMPIONSHIP: Game 19

The first game in the St Louis Region of the 2nd Round features two teams from the 70s. One blew out their first round opponent while the other squeaked by in the closing minutes. The #1 1978 Kentucky Wildcats destroyed the #8 1972 Louisville team by a whopping 94%-6%. The game got out of hand quickly when Goose Givens and Kyle Macy poured in 15 points each in the first ten minutes of the game. The Cats defense was stifling and held the Cards in check all game. They advanced to the 2nd round where they will meet the #5 1975 Louisville Cardinals, who upset the ’98 Kentucky Wildcats in the 1st round. The Cards needed the entire 40 minutes to put away the “Comeback Cats” who clawed and scratched their way back into the game several times. The Cards finally put the last nail in the Cats coffin when Jeff Sheppard fouled out of the game with just 1:23 left. Allen Murphy drained two free throws to ice the game for the Cards who were led by Junior Bridgeman and Wesley Cox with each scoring 17 points and pulling down 7 rebounds. The Cards won 52%-48%.

VOTING OVER!
ST. LOUIS REGION - REGIONAL SEMIFINAL
# 1 '78 Kentucky: 92%
# 5 '75 Louisville: 8%
UPDATED BRACKET

BIG THREE CHAMPIONSHIP: Game 18

Game 18 of the Big Three Championship features two teams with many of the same players. The #6 1993 Kentucky Wildcats face off against the #7 1992 Kentucky Wildcats after a stunning upset. The ’93 Cats won their opening round game 70%-30% over #3 ’86 Louisville. Jamal Mashburn dominated the Cards scoring a game high 25 points. Travis Ford knocked down a couple of late 3-pointers to widen the margin of victory. The ’92 Cats pulled away late from a tough ’87 Indiana team. The Hoosiers led most of the game but faltered midway through the second half when both Keith Smart and Steve Alford picked up their fourth fouls and had to sit on the bench for a while. During that stretch, John Pelphrey and Richie Farmer drained numerous 3-point shots to put the Cats into the lead. Once Smart and Alford returned, they were shut down and the Cats pulled away, winning 63%-37%.

VOTING OVER!
PHILADELPHIA REGION - REGIONAL SEMIFINAL
# 6 '93 Kentucky: 63%
# 7 '92 Kentucky: 37%
UPDATED BRACKET