Uk Sports

LEXINGTON — Martin Newton was more than John Calipari’s director of basketball operations when the Kentucky Women’s Basketball Clinic ended recently and he found out more than 40 cars belonging to clinic participants had been towed. He helped make sure the women had a way to get to their cars were and no one was stranded after a towing company towed their cars and it took $112 to get each vehicle out of the impound lot. Newton shares his thoughts the parking woes and a few other things about the clinic that attracted 500 women to meet coach John Calipari and his staff and players.

Mahan Manor, now Blackfish Hunt and Golf Club, is ready to kick off the sports season at the University of Kentucky. The course will host a UK Sports kickoff Glowball event Saturday. The cost is $60 per player and $240 per team. Registration and warm-up will be from 5-6 p.m., a twilight 9-hole scramble from 6-8:15 p.m., a cookout with live music by the “The Velvet Water Band” from 8:15-9:30 p.m. and a 9-hole glow ball scramble at 9:30 p.m. Prizes will be awarded to the top three teams.

University of Kentucky junior Randall Cobb was one of four players named Monday as “Paul Hornung’s Most Valuable Performers of the Week” by the Louisville Sports Commission for his play in UK’s 37-34 loss to Auburn last week. The LSC is sponsoring the inaugural Paul Hornung Award for the most versatile player in college football. Cobb had two short scoring runs, threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Aumiller and caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Mike Hartline.

LEXINGTON — Boston University coach Patrick Chambers was a Villanova assistant when the Wildcats used a small, four-guard lineup and became one of the nation’s best teams. His team also played No. 12 Villanova earlier this year before losing to Kentucky on Tuesday night in Rupp Arena. So how would he compare Villanova and No. 10 Kentucky this year? “That is a great question. They are very similar. The speed is there,” Chambers said. “The drivers and shotmakers are there.

Tom Leach, the play-by-play voice for the UK Radio Network, will be in Danville Sept. 22 at Kroger on Skywatch Drive to autograph copies of his new book about Kentucky football coach Rich Brooks. Leach will sign books from 6-7 p.m. "I know that is a big UK area, so I hope a lot of folks will come out to get the book or just to have me sign the book if they already have one," Leach said. ?Larry Vaught

WDKY-TV news anchor Jennifer Palumbo got her start as a sports reporter and remains an avid Kentucky football and basketball fan despite a not-so-pleasant incident not long at a previous job. When Kentucky won the national championship under Rick Pitino in 1996, Palumbo, who had been hired only a year earlier by WKYT-TV, says she was the “low man” on the staff and drew the fan celebration assignment. She got hit on the head with a beer bottle thrown by a fan on top of a pay telephone booth.

LEXINGTON - Tickets for Kentucky basketball's alumni charity game at Rupp Arena Sept. 15 will go on sale Aug. 31 at 10 a.m. Tipoff for the game featuring Wildcats currently playing in the NBA will be at 2 p.m. All seats are reserved and priced at $100 (premium lower level), $40 (lower level) and $20 (upper level). Tickets can be purchased only at the Rupp Arena box office, online at Ticketmaster.com, at any Ticketmaster Outlet or by phone at 1-800-745-3000. There is a four-ticket limit per person.

During a season when the University of Kentucky men's basketball team has lost several games, including a couple by blowout margins, more than a few Final Four-or-else Wildcat faithful have declared that the team has gone into the toilet. For 29-year-old UK fan Alan Shepherd, each season of every UK sport is in the toilet. No, Shepherd is not a fair-weathered fan. Far from it. He probably would rank in the top 10 of UK fans. And his toilet is not the focal point of a disparaging comment about the Cats.

University of Kentucky president Lee Todd remains an avid football fan and likes what coach Rich Brooks has done with the UK football program. He shared these thoughts recently with sports editor Larry Vaught on the Kentucky football program. Vaught: A year ago might have been within one more loss of Rich Brooks being dismissed. Instead, he survived and took UK to a bowl game. How does that make you feel? Todd: "One thing I really admire about him is that he never gave up. The year before was a tough year for him. He had 39 surgeries (on the team)

More than 100 community members gathered on a chilly and windy Thursday morning to honor a man - a Marine - most had never met, and whose story most had never heard. Matthew Bradford was 20 years old when, in January 2007, an improvised explosive device in Iraq took his left leg and his eyesight immediately. His right leg later had to be amputated. The blast also left him with limited use of his hand after breaking several bones.  On Thursday, Bradford and his family were honored at a groundbreaking ceremony by helpingahero.org, which is having a home for the Marine vet built in Jessamine County.

For the last three years, Neal Brown has been the offensive coordinator at Texas Tech and helped the Red Raiders have one of the nation's top overall offenses. Now the former Boyle County High School three-sport standout is set to come to Kentucky as offensive coordinator. Mike Graham, staff writer for RedRaiderSports.com and the Dallas Morning News, has covered Texas Tech football and offered these insights on Brown: Question: What are your impressions of Brown and his offense?

The Sporting News columnist Mike DeCourcy, one of the nation's top college basketball writers, recently helped select the preseason TSN All-America team. He shares his thoughts on Kentucky freshmen Alex Poythress and Nerlens Noel being honored as well as other aspects of UK¿coach John Calipari's team as the Wildcats get set for Big Blue Madness on Friday night: Question: What prompted you to select Alex Poythress as a second team preseason All-American? What do you like best about him?

LEXINGTON - Tickets for Kentucky basketball's alumni charity game at Rupp Arena Sept. 15 will go on sale Aug. 31 at 10 a.m. Tipoff for the game featuring Wildcats currently playing in the NBA will be at 2 p.m. All seats are reserved and priced at $100 (premium lower level), $40 (lower level) and $20 (upper level). Tickets can be purchased only at the Rupp Arena box office, online at Ticketmaster.com, at any Ticketmaster Outlet or by phone at 1-800-745-3000. There is a four-ticket limit per person.

WDKY-TV news anchor Jennifer Palumbo got her start as a sports reporter and remains an avid Kentucky football and basketball fan despite a not-so-pleasant incident not long at a previous job. When Kentucky won the national championship under Rick Pitino in 1996, Palumbo, who had been hired only a year earlier by WKYT-TV, says she was the “low man” on the staff and drew the fan celebration assignment. She got hit on the head with a beer bottle thrown by a fan on top of a pay telephone booth.

When Megan Dills went to Bloomington, Ind., to watch her favorite team, Kentucky, play basketball in December, she never envisioned how that game would impact her life. She was knocked down when Indiana fans stormed the court after the 73-72 victory and injured her ankle so severely that it caused her to miss work. However, the story was picked up not only nationally, but also internationally because she happened to also be a Playboy model. Now she says there's “probably no way” she cannot be in Atlanta Friday when UK and Indiana play again - this time in the NCAA Tournament South Region.

There is talk of building a new place for UK to play its basketball games. Why can't they build it next to or near Commonwealth Stadium? Then, they could have a place for lots of True Blue fans to park and not have to scurry all over downtown - as now is the case - for a place to park before the games? I know this wouldn't sit well with the group commonly known as “The Downtowners,” but it is the blue collar fans who need to be thought of. Where would UK sports be without all the blue collar folks who follow UK athletics?

Sprinter Tyson Gay grew up a huge Kentucky basketball fan in Lexington before eventually heading off to Arkansas to begin his record-setting collegiate and professional track and field career. “I grew up a UK fan. I still keep up with UK sports. Ever once in a while I am torn between the Arkansas Hogs and UK, though,” Gay said Monday during an appearance at the Maximum Velocity Track and Field Academy at Centre College. “It is fun. I love both schools. I grew up kind of in that Rick Pitino era. I liked basketball players, football players.

LEXINGTON — Boston University coach Patrick Chambers was a Villanova assistant when the Wildcats used a small, four-guard lineup and became one of the nation’s best teams. His team also played No. 12 Villanova earlier this year before losing to Kentucky on Tuesday night in Rupp Arena. So how would he compare Villanova and No. 10 Kentucky this year? “That is a great question. They are very similar. The speed is there,” Chambers said. “The drivers and shotmakers are there.

HOOVER, Ala. — Kentucky football players have been quick to credit strength coach Ray “Rock” Oliver for changing their workout habits and helping make them believe they can compete with any Southeastern Conference opponent. However, Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari says Oliver has been important for more than just football since coming to UK earlier this year. “For the whole weight program, what he has done is that he takes no crap. As a coach, what you want is stuff taken off your plate.