Richie Farmer

Kentucky's search for a new basketball coach continues to progress as sources indicate that Memphis coach John Calipari will soon officially be the new UK coach. While there was some anticipation that the official announcement might come today, it now looks like it will be Wednesday -- and that is creating quite a panic in Big Blue Land. WLAP morning radio host Leland Conway kept saying he had a "queasy" feeling this morning because Calipari had not made it official. Then former Garrard County standout Jenny Teater Jessie sent me this e-mail from Taylor County.

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio - Larry Stamper is a retired school teacher living in Winchester with his wife and likes to spend his time either hunting, fishing or playing golf. However, for long-time University of Kentucky basketball fans, Stamper will always be remembered as one of the toughest, most physical players to play for the Wildcats during his three-year career from 1970-72. Stamper, who played on Lee County's 1968 team that beat Danville in the state tournament, is that rare player who had more rebounds (458)

Country music singer Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry loves Kentucky athletics and shares his thoughts in a question-and-answer with sports editor Larry Vaught: 1. How do you keep up with the Kentucky football and basketball teams? "I talk to people back home all the time. I read The Advocate-Messenger. Any way I can find to get information, I do it. We watch the games on satellite if we are not working. If the bus is not parked where the satellite will pick up the games, then we move the bus to where we can watch.

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio ? Larry Stamper is a retired school teacher living in Winchester with his wife and likes to spend his time either hunting, fishing or playing golf. However, for long-time University of Kentucky basketball fans, Stamper will always be remembered as one of the toughest, most physical players to play for the Wildcats during his three-year career from 1970-72. Stamper, who played on Lee County's 1968 team that beat Danville in the state tournament, is that rare player who had more rebounds (458)

Actor Ed Norton warned: “Fame is very corrosive and you have to guard very strictly against it.” Unfortunately for Richie Farmer, star guard for the 1992 University of Kentucky Wildcats, a new report by state auditor Adam Edelen indicates he did not guard very well against fame's corrosive nature - at least not during his eight-year stint as the commonwealth's agriculture commissioner. Edelen's audit of the Department of Agriculture under Farmer reeks of the hubris of someone who allowed his celebrity status and retired jersey number to lure him into thinking he was exempted from accountability to the employees and taxpayers he was there to serve.

Clark County voters followed the majority of voters statewide Tuesday in re-electing Democrat Gov. Steve Beshear to a second term as he handily defeated Republican challenger David Williams.   Clark County's voter turnout surpassed expectations, with about 30 percent of registered voters heading to the polls, Clark County Clerk Anita Jones said. Prior to the election, Jones predicted about 22 percent of voters would cast ballots, but Jones said unseasonably warm weather and increased interest in the state elections in the past few days both led to the higher than expected participation.

After months of campaign trips, ads and debates, the polls opened at 6 a.m. and will close 6 p.m. today to decide the outcome of the 2011 statewide elections. Six races are on the ballot: governor and lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, auditor of public accounts, state treasurer and commissioner of agriculture. Both the Republican David Williams and Richie Farmer gubernatorial ticket and the independent ticket of Gatewood Galbraith and Dea Riley challenged incumbent Gov. Steve Beshear on claims that he wasn't doing enough to add jobs, amid an overall unemployment rate of almost 10 percent.

LEXINGTON -- John Calipari already has his first win at the University of Kentucky. He was charming, engaging, informative and at times witty during his 50-minute press conference here today after he was named the new head basketball coach at Kentucky. "What command he had of this room? What about his presence in this room? If he can have command of this room like that, I can only imagine the command he'll have of his players and this program," said former UK player Bobby Perry.

Remember those radio sports call-in shows when the champions of the once chubbie sharpshoorter from the mountains would ask then-University of Kentucky basketball coach Rick Pitino if he was "gonna start Reechie tonat"? "Reechie" would be Richie Farmer, a member of the "Unforgettables," that assemblage of largely Kentucky boys who stuck around in the wake of another NCAA probation and gave their all to turn a mess into a magical journey to the 1992 East regional final only to lose on a last-second shot by that foot-stomping, dream-killing, anything-but-Christian Laettner.

John Calipari already has his first win at the University of Kentucky. He was charming, engaging, informative and at times witty during his 50-minute press conference here today after he was named the new head basketball coach at Kentucky. "What command he had of this room? What about his presence in this room? If he can have command of this room like that, I can only imagine the command he'll have of his players and this program," said former UK player Bobby Perry. Calipari alluded to Mr. Wildcat, Bill Keightley, early in his remarks and had invited the former UK equipment manager's wife and daughter to the ceremony as he is way of remembering the Kentucky tradition that was lost with Keightley's passing a year ago. He worked in a reference to former coach Adolph Rupp and had his family members here.