Bowl Game

With less than a month until kickoff of the second annual VisitNich.com Bowl, final preparations are under way to shore up plans for the start of the football season in the county. On Thursday, July 19, members of the Nicholasville Tourism Commission - the official sponsor of the bowl - met with school officials to discuss plans for the now-three-day event. This season, the Soccerama Showcase will follow Friday's football games on Saturday and Sunday. This season, the VisitNich.com Bowl will be hosted by West Jessamine High School, with East Jessamine playing Somerset at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17. At approximately 8:45 p.m., West Jessamine will play Tates Creek.

Nearly a year after the inaugural VisitNich.com Bowl, the Nicholasville Tourism Commission voted to donate money to boosters to make up for concession profits that boosters say they lost to free food in a hospitality area. During discussions about this year's bowl games last Thursday, July 19, commission member and school-district athletic director Ken Cox said the hospitality tent set up at last year's event fed many more people than intended. Commission treasurer Roberta Warren made a motion to donate $500 to the East Jessamine football boosters.

HOOVER, Ala. - Senior offensive linemen Matt Smith and Larry Warford - coach Joker Phillips calls them “two big boys” - appreciated having a chance to come to the Southeastern Conference Football Media Days on Wednesday. However, they would enjoy getting Kentucky back to a winning season and a bowl game even more after the Wildcats had their five-year bowl streak snapped last season when the Cats finished 5-7. “I think that it is something we took for granted that we would make a bowl game and have a winning record.

When he decided to become the title sponsor of Danville's season-opening bowl game, Bob Allen wanted to make sure he helped elevate the status of the bowl game not only for the team, but also for the fans. That's why the Bob Allen Pigskin Classic had a $5,000 Kick for Cash the past three years. In 2002, former Lincoln County kicker Daniel Renner not only had his name drawn to participate in the contest, but he also made the 35-yard field goal to win the $5,000 from Bob Allen Motor Mall.

MEMPHIS -- Jake Lanefski admits he's excited about having the chance to start in his first bowl game when Kentucky plays East Carolina Friday. However, the redshirt freshman offensive guard does have one regret about the success he's had. "I was hoping my year wouldn't turn out this way because that meant Jess (Beets) got hurt to give me a chance to start," Lanefski said. "I am glad I got a chance to get in there and play as much as I did. It was fun. I felt like I slacked off at the end of the season some.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky junior running back Alfonso Smith has a simple message for UK football fans about the Wildcats' appearance in the Liberty Bowl Jan. 2 in Memphis. "I would tell them to stay behind us and support us. We are going to come to bowl game prepared to win. It could be a celebration down there maybe like it was in Nashville (after Music City Bowl wins in 2006 and 2007) again. I think we need our fans to come and support us. That is a big thing that we really need right now," Smith said.

LEXINGTON - Senior offensive guard Stuart Hines has played on three bowl teams at Kentucky and has been named a finalist for the Sportsmanship Award presented to the Division I¿player who best personifies the spirit of sportsmanship and is also a finalist for the Danny Wuerffel Trophy given to the player who best combines exemplary community service with outstanding academic and athletic achievement. Hines is starting for the third season and has already graduated with a degree in finance (3.53 grade-point average)

Are you ready for some football? Well, ready or not, the 2012 high school football season is here, with the kickoff on Lincoln County High School's season Friday night in the annual PBK Bank Death Valley Bowl. The homestanding Patriots, led by coach Mike Settles, open their gridiron campaign in game one of the DVB doubleheader Friday, taking on Casey County. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. The Death Valley Bowl will also feature Danville and Simon Kenton in head-to-head competition in the second game of the evening, with the kickoff for the nightcap set for around 8.  Friday's game between Lincoln and Casey will be the first meeting between the schools since the 2004 season when the Patriots handed the Rebels a 20-12 loss.

Clearing out a couple of interesting e-mails from this week as we get set for another high school football weekend and the first weekend of college games. Reader Jerry Bodner took offense that I used a letter from Gene Bluder, a Boyle County fan, last week indicating that he felt Boyle's "unrealistic schedule" could result in the Rebels only winning three games and writing that a 5-5 season would be "great" for Boyle. "I am so sick of your biased approach to football between Boyle County and Danville.

SIMPSONVILLE - Jeremy Jarmon started 31 games during his three-year playing career at Kentucky and earned all-Southeastern Conference honors his junior year when he had 38 tackles, including 10 for losses and 4.5 quarterback sacks. The Tennessee native had his UK career cut short when he tested positive for a banned supplement he purchased as an over the counter dietary aid at a Lexington nutrition store, and the NCAA suspended him for his senior year. He entered the NFL supplemental draft and was taken with a third-round pick by the Washington Redskins.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky senior center Matt Smith knows the Wildcats are a two-touchdown underdog in Sunday's season-opening game at Louisville, but he's not let that change his approach to the season. “We have a lot of to prove and a whole new senior class ready to get us to a bowl game. We are ready. We want to go show fans that we have a lot of confidence after what we have done all summer. We just have to go out and prove it now,” said Smith Monday. Here's more of what he had to say about the game, quarterback Maxwell Smith and the offensive line: Question: How do you cope with the talk about Louisville being a two-touchdown favorite and Big East favorite and very little talk about Kentucky?

Are you ready for some football? Well, ready or not, the 2012 high school football season is here, with the kickoff on Lincoln County High School's season Friday night in the annual PBK Bank Death Valley Bowl. The homestanding Patriots, led by coach Mike Settles, open their gridiron campaign in game one of the DVB doubleheader Friday, taking on Casey County. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. The Death Valley Bowl will also feature Danville and Simon Kenton in head-to-head competition in the second game of the evening, with the kickoff for the nightcap set for around 8.  Friday's game between Lincoln and Casey will be the first meeting between the schools since the 2004 season when the Patriots handed the Rebels a 20-12 loss.

SIMPSONVILLE - A year ago Kentucky coach Joker Phillips playfully repeated a comment someone else made about “kicking butt” against Louisville - a game the Wildcats later lost 24-17 to Louisville in Commonwealth Stadium to start a 5-7 season that broke UK's bowl streak. Phillips wasn't about to make that same mistake Thursday at the Governor's Cup press conference promoting the Sept. 2 UK-Louisville game at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. “I¿am not going to say anything. I¿got a lot of e-mails telling me how cocky and arrogant I was last year,” said Phillips.

SIMPSONVILLE - A year ago Kentucky coach Joker Phillips playfully repeated a comment someone else made about “kicking some people” during the season - and then a few weeks later the Wildcats lost 24-17 to Louisville in Commonwealth Stadium to start a 5-7 season that broke UK's bowl streak. Phillips wasn't about to make that same mistake Thursday at the Governor's Cup press conference promoting the Sept. 2 UK-Louisville game at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. “I¿am not going to say anything.

SIMPSONVILLE - Jeremy Jarmon started 31 games during his three-year playing career at Kentucky and earned all-Southeastern Conference honors his junior year when he had 38 tackles, including 10 for losses and 4.5 quarterback sacks. The Tennessee native had his UK career cut short when he tested positive for a banned supplement he purchased as an over the counter dietary aid at a Lexington nutrition store, and the NCAA suspended him for his senior year. He entered the NFL supplemental draft and was taken with a third-round pick by the Washington Redskins.

With less than a month until kickoff of the second annual VisitNich.com Bowl, final preparations are under way to shore up plans for the start of the football season in the county. On Thursday, July 19, members of the Nicholasville Tourism Commission - the official sponsor of the bowl - met with school officials to discuss plans for the now-three-day event. This season, the Soccerama Showcase will follow Friday's football games on Saturday and Sunday. This season, the VisitNich.com Bowl will be hosted by West Jessamine High School, with East Jessamine playing Somerset at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17. At approximately 8:45 p.m., West Jessamine will play Tates Creek.

Nearly a year after the inaugural VisitNich.com Bowl, the Nicholasville Tourism Commission voted to donate money to boosters to make up for concession profits that boosters say they lost to free food in a hospitality area. During discussions about this year's bowl games last Thursday, July 19, commission member and school-district athletic director Ken Cox said the hospitality tent set up at last year's event fed many more people than intended. Commission treasurer Roberta Warren made a motion to donate $500 to the East Jessamine football boosters.

HOOVER, Ala. - Senior offensive linemen Matt Smith and Larry Warford - coach Joker Phillips calls them “two big boys” - appreciated having a chance to come to the Southeastern Conference Football Media Days on Wednesday. However, they would enjoy getting Kentucky back to a winning season and a bowl game even more after the Wildcats had their five-year bowl streak snapped last season when the Cats finished 5-7. “I think that it is something we took for granted that we would make a bowl game and have a winning record.

LEXINGTON - Senior offensive guard Stuart Hines has played on three bowl teams at Kentucky and has been named a finalist for the Sportsmanship Award presented to the Division I¿player who best personifies the spirit of sportsmanship and is also a finalist for the Danny Wuerffel Trophy given to the player who best combines exemplary community service with outstanding academic and athletic achievement. Hines is starting for the third season and has already graduated with a degree in finance (3.53 grade-point average)

BIRMINGHAM - Kentucky came into the BBVA Compass Bowl Saturday hoping to answer a lot of questions. The Wildcats may have got the answers, but not the ones they wanted, in a 27-10 loss to Pittsburgh that stopped UK’s streak of four straight winning seasons. Kentucky had a punt blocked, botched a fake punt attempt, got into a scuffle on the field, dropped passes, made bad decisions and lacked emotion far too much of the game. Instead of putting a strong stamp on the end of UK coach Joker Phillips’ first season, the Cats seemed to lack direction and the ability to execute just as they had in a disappointing loss at Tennessee to end the regular season.