Kentucky Sports Radio

Doug O’Neill, the trainer of “I’ll Have Another”, is a controversial figure in horse racing and is accused of having a checkered past. Three of his previous horses have failed tests for having too high of a carbon dioxide level. According to regulators, this is evidence of “milkshaking”–the process of running a tube (filled with baking soda, sugar, and electrolytes) from the nose to the stomach of a horse, which apparently is a performance enhancer.

This is what Doug has to say about these allegations, according to the New York Daily News:

“It’s been a distraction but we play by the rules. I’m vigorously fighting the previous allegations and once everything is settled I’d love to have you guys over for a cocktail and share a lot of stuff, but I’ll Have Another and every horse in our barn go through a real intense physical exam and blood and urine exams. We run pure horses.”

Doug had this to say to the Washington Post:

“We had some people in charge of California racing I think didn’t like a few of us that were doing well. Anyway, it’s all being heard by the courts and I’m very confident everything will be fine.”

And after Doug’s horse won the second leg of the Triple Crown this afternoon, taking the Preakness Stakes, he talked about being a “C” student in high school and wanting to buy a swimming pool with his winnings. I’m not sure if Doug O’Neill is guilty of anything or not, but nevertheless, he’s a very entertaining and likeable guy. Let’s hope that Doug is cleared of any wrongdoing and in three weeks we can all celebrate ”I’ll Have Another” after a successful quest for the Triple Crown, while Pete Thamel conducts interviews with horses who have been trained by O’Neill.

If you missed today’s race, you missed a thriller. You can watch it again right here:

Now, let’s move on to some more late night notes:

–UK softball stayed alive this afternoon with a victory over Valparaiso. Their reward: a nationally televised contest with Louisville this evening. Despite being no-hit through 4 innings against the Cards, UK fought back and made it a 3-2 game, but fell short in the end. Congrats to the softball team on another successful season. You’ll hear from a Louisville fan bragging about Softball in 3…2…1…

–UK baseball ended the 2nd best regular season in school-history in an extremely disappointing fashion, going 0-4 in a 4-game road-trip that started Tuesday at Murray State, before the team traveled to Starkville for a 3-game series with Mississippi State that concluded with an 11-3 loss this afternoon. With South Carolina and Florida losing today, UK was playing for a #1 seed in the SEC Tournament and a share of what would have been only the 2nd SEC title in school history. Instead, they will head to Hoover, AL as a #4 seed and will face Ole Miss at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

–On a related note, UK 2-sport star Brian Adams has announced he will not play football next season so that he can concentrate on baseball. Adams, who struggled getting his swing back after last football season, has found himself back into UK’s starting lineup and has played very well of late. Based on potential, Adams is expected to be drafted in this summer’s MLB Draft and he could forgo his senior year at UK on the baseball field as well if he is offered a nice signing bonus to play professionally.

–Basketball recruiting guru Evan Daniels tweeted that 2014 prospects Shane Hall and Davell Roby will take an unofficial visit here in Lexington tomorrow, following the Kentucky State AAU games.

And last but not least, some NBA notes…

–Eric Bledsoe only scored 2 points today and the young Clippers blew a 27 point lead to the veteran Spurs. San Antonio has a 3-0 lead in the series and will attempt a sweep over the Clippers tomorrow night at 10:30. Meanwhile, the Thunder are currently trying to extend their 2-1 series lead on the Lakers and you can check out the game right now on TNT. Tomorrow, former UK basketball student-manager and JV basketball player Frank Vogel will try to take a 3-1 lead over the Miami Heat at 3:30 tomorrow on ABC. Frank was one of “Bill’s Boys” and I am sure Mr. Keightly is smiling down from above, very proud of Vogel’s coaching job with the Pacers this season.

(Getty Images)

Basketball nuggets of news have been few and far between over the last several days, but there is something out there on our beloved Wildcats. Andy Katz has an update on the NBA draft projections, confirming what we already knew: Anthony Davis is the clearest clear-cut No. 1 pick there has been in a while. Not that NBA scouts haven’t seen enough of Davis to know, or that enough drool hasn’t been spilled over his game, but the sky is truly the limit for his development.

Kentucky’s Anthony Davis is so clearly the No. 1 pick that there isn’t even a close second. Davis still doesn’t have an agent as he works out with Kentucky assistant Kenny Payne. Davis’ father, Anthony, said there is no rush. And every team agrees, saying that all Davis needs at this juncture is for someone to work on marketing deals.

One spot below Davis, the race is a little tighter. But it includes another former Cat fighting for next-best. The draft combines in New Jersey and Minnesota over the next couple of weeks will likely add some separation between these two.

The battle for the second pick is probably between Florida’s Bradley Beal and Kentucky’s Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Kidd-Gilchrist’s motor has the personnel buzzing. But Beal’s physical stature and his ability to make shots mean he’s ready to contribute.

The rest of the Cats up for the draft were mentioned by Katz too, and he hinted that Marquis Teague might work his way into the first round after all, simply out of other team’s desperation.

Kentucky’s Marquis Teague will climb when teams realize the need for a point guard. Teammates Doron Lamb and Darius Miller will have to work their way into a solid position in the first round.

He mentioned Terrence Jones as a name that “NBA personnel can’t agree on.”

Read the full article here and see what Katz has to say about all the top draft picks.

Kentucky will have some visitors on campus tomorrow. Recruiting guru Evan Daniels tweeted that 2014 prospects Shane Hall and Davell Roby will take an unofficial visit here in Lexington following the Kentucky State AAU games.

2014 prospects Shane Hall & Davell Roby will take unofficial visits to Kentucky tomorrow once the KY State AAU’s are complete.

— Evan Daniels (@EvanDanielscout) May 19, 2012

Hall is a three-star power forward from Paintsville, Kentucky and has interest from Indiana and Louisville. Roby is a four-star point guard from Memphis, and has interest from a host of SEC schools, including Arkansas, Florida and Tennessee.

Still need some souvenirs to commemorate #8?  Did you forget to buy the mouse pad when you rushed to the store after the game? You lost your coffee mug, didn’t you?

Don’t worry. We got you covered.

We’re giving our readers 25% off all National Championship accessories at the KSR Shop online. That’s cups, decals, banners, pins, seat cushions, key chains, sock monkeys and anything else you can think of that has space for a UK logo on it.

Just head over to the site, click what you want, and the discount will automatically be taken off. No coupons or secret passwords required.

Go Cats.

Kentucky head football coach Joker Phillips says in a statement today that Brian Adams, the two-sport star for the football and baseball teams has called it quits on the gridiron.

Adams was a wide receiver for the football team and is currently an outfielder for the baseball team, but has recently focused more on his development on the diamond. It has been speculated that this decision might come, especially after he opted out of spring football practice this year.

He thanked Joker Phillips and baseball coach Gary Henderson in a statement, saying, “It has been a tremendous honor to play two sports here at Kentucky.”

Adams was drafted in the 45th round by the Cincinnati Reds out of high school, and will be eligible for the MLB draft again this June where he is projected to be selected and assigned to a minor league team. He was named the “best athlete” in the SEC prior to the start of the baseball season.

(UK Athletics)

Kentucky baseball went into the weekend on top of the Southeastern Conference standings, but after a pair of losses to Mississippi State on Thursday and Friday, the Cats took the field this afternoon down one-half game to South Carolina. Needing a victory in game three and an LSU win over the Gamecocks to clinch a share of the regular season SEC title, (and a No. 1 seed for the SEC tournament) Kentucky came up well short. They were blown out by the Bulldogs in Starkville 11-3. And to make the afternoon even sourer, the Tigers did their part to help the Cats, beating the Gamecocks before the Kentucky game went final.

It was a day of firsts for the Cats; with the loss comes the first series sweep the Cats have suffered all season. And Kentucky’s stud sophomore southpaw, Corey Littrell picks up his first loss of the season, allowing seven hits and seven runs. The team falls to 41-15 and 18-12 in conference.

What the loss does to their overall NCAA tournament seeding remains to be seen, because their stock has certainly fallen over the last few games of regular season play. However, the team is still poised to make a run, and with a deep push into the SEC tournament, that could re-energize not only the team, but their national seeding consideration as well. Earning a top-eight national seed means you are automatically secured to host a Super Regional if you advance past the first Regional round. Needless to say, it’s a huge advantage to play all your games at home before going to Omaha for the College World Series. It’s time to regroup. With their weak close to the season and a quick out in the SEC tourney, that opportunity to be a top-eight team could go out the window.

But first thing’s first: The SEC tournament is the next step for Kentucky baseball, and they could potentially be seeded as low at fourth. But that’s just a number, because this team has already beaten the best, and they can surely work their way out of the ten-team tournament to win their first ever SEC crown if they can pull things together.

The tournament begins next Tuesday and continues through the 27th with the championship game televised on ESPN2. Don’t give up on the Cats now, because there’s a lot of ball to be played, and it’s a new season starting today.

(David Phillip/AP)

We’re only a half-hour away from the 137th running of the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. Of course, the Derby winner I’ll Have Another is in the field of eleven horses in the ninth post, flanked by other Kentucky Derby runners Optimizer on the outside and Daddy Nose Best on the inside. Other familiar names in the field are Went the Day Well, Creative Cause, and the horse that nearly took the garland of roses two weeks ago, Bodemeister.

Bodemesiter is the morning line favorite at 8/5, with I’ll Have Another close behind at 5/2. It is likely betters have favored Bodemeister today, as the Preakness is half of a furlong shorter than the Derby, so if the Derby race is any indication, Bodemeister might have the edge. His solid lead coming down the stretch to the finish was surpassed only by I’ll Have Another and his late push to just beat him by a nose. But horses are temperamental creatures, and crazy things can happen.

Big Brown was the last horse to come close to winning all three races in 2008. He won the Derby and Preakness, but lost to a longshot in the Belmont. Here’s to hoping I’ll Have Another makes a strong showing and keeps the interest in horse racing this season, outside the Bluegrass, alive for a little bit longer.

Post time is scheduled for 6:05 and coverage is on NBC. If you’ve made bets, good luck to you. Or, you can take Colin Cowherd’s advice.

I’ve never bet on anything that sleeps standing up but you go ahead. #preakness

— Colin Cowherd (@ESPN_Colin) May 19, 2012

(Chet White/UK Athletics)

I know many of you reading this probably aren’t interested in baseball, much less the women’s adaptation of the game. There’s a stigma that often surrounds the ladies variety of any sport, and that’s especially true when it comes to “second-tier” sports or below. But in the words of John Lennon, I encourage you to “give softball a chance.”

The ladies lost a heartbreaker last night to Michigan in the bottom of the 7th in the first round of the NCAA regionals. The Cats came back and took the lead in the top half after trailing the entire game, and the momentum was clearly on the Cats side heading to the final frame. Chanda Bell pitched an incredible game against some Michigan hitters who can flat-out knock the cover off the ball. The wheels fell off the in bottom of the 7th, though, and the Wolverines advanced to play Louisville in the winners bracket of the region.

Softball is an interesting game, and plays so much differently than baseball. Believe it or not, their game plays faster with shorter fences and bases. And the pitches are almost whiffleball-like with nasty breaking balls and off-speed pitches where the bottom compactly falls out. Softball is modeled after baseball, and many of the principles are the same, but the game plays so much differently.

If you haven’t watched a high-level division I college softball game before, now is your chance. It’s win or go home for Kentucky, and their backs are against the wall. They must beat Valparaiso today at 5 o’clock on ESPN, come back to beat the loser of the Michigan-Louisville game at 8 o’clock, then beat the winner of that game twice on Sunday to advance to the Super Regional.

Kyle Wiltjer is the only Cat returning with any sort of playing experience next season and he’s already soaking up his role as a Kentucky star. He was profiled by one of the television stations in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. In the piece they talked National Chamionship, WBA and his mom even threw him an alley oop. It’s a cool feature on a guy that we learned more about through his goofy YouTube exploits than his play on the court.

Next season will be Kyle’s chance to really step into a huge role for the Cats. He was always instant offense off the bench in the NCAA tournament and if he continues his improvement with regards to his quickness and defense, he could be one of the most dangerous players in the country next season. There is simply no one else with his combination of size and shooting touch. With Ryan Harrow getting into the paint and distributing and Nerlens Noel often occupying the team’s tallest defender, there’s no reason to think that Kyle won’t be raining threes on shorter players all year long. We welcome the zone next season.

There hasn’t been a recent UK player drafted into the NBA that I’ve wanted to succeed more than Brandon Knight. I just think he’s the best kind of ambassador for this program. Now, he’ll probably have to settle for second-place once Michael Kidd-Gilchrist hits the league, but until then he’s my top guy so I was happy to see that his coach, Lawrence Frank, was praising the rookie guard for his hustle this season. The worst part about Knight’s situation is that he’s in Detroit but there are some pieces there and you can’t count out the magic of the lottery just yet. At this point, every point guard on teams in the bottom half of the league are making Faustian bargains to have the opportunity to throw lobs to Anthony Davis next season. If that worked out for Knight, he’d have the distinct pleasure of individual praise as well as team success to look forward to in 2012-2013.

Knight finished eighth in voting for Rookie of the Year after starting 60 of 66 games and finishing with averages of 12.8 and 3.8 in points and assists, respectively. When Coach Frank was asked to give his opinion on Knight’s play, he only had positive things to say about the young guard:

“It was all through merit,” Frank said. “Brandon came in, his work ethic — I would say both he and Ben Wallace are consistently our two hardest workers. He just had a great aptitude and just soaked everything in. He just earned it.

“He didn’t start the first six games. We started Rodney Stuckey and Ben Gordon. Rodney got hurt, and really from that point on, Brandon had the keys. He learned through trial and error but continued with his work ethic and his preparation.”

Frank was asked whether he was he was happy with the team’s 21-21 finish after a 4-20 start, leading to a 25-41 record.

“You’re never happy, especially when other teams are playing and you’re not,” he said. “But considering the really tough start and just dealing with all the things everyone deals with — the lockout — and just to see the growth, you saw the potential. To go .500 after a 4-20 start, there’s definitely some positives with it. Yet at the same time, we’re not blind enough to know we have a lot of work to do.”

With the trust of his coach behind him, the sky is the limit for Knight. However, the team will need to see a real improvement in the next season or Frank might not be around long enough to see Knight into his best years.

Dick Vitale is a huge proponent in the fight against cancer. Last night was the seventh annual Dickie V Gala and, like clockwork, he drew in big names from the world of sports and even bigger donations to go toward the fight against the disease, especially related to the disease in juveniles. Vitale became very close friends with Jim Valvano right before he lost his battle to cancer and since then Vitale has worked tirelessly for the Jimmy V foundation, that has raised over $100 million to go toward cancer research, and his own, fledgling foundation which has raised over $6 million dollars to this point with that number likely to grow after the gala last evening.

The event raised over $1 million and featured, in addition to Calipari, names the University of Louisville’s Rick Pitino, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Butler’s Brad Stevens, South Carolina’s Frank Martin, Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton and Baylor’s Scott Drew. Vitale is known for his good work and we at KSR are proud to associate with such a worthy cause.

If you want more information or would like to learn how to donate, you can visit his website here.

Just a little something to look at this morning. Julius Randle is a man among boys. He makes this look effortless.

Yeah it’s a stretch, but it’s early

- Not much in the world of mainstream Kentucky sports that you didn’t hear yesterday. The big news from Friday was that Montrezl Harrell finally received his release from Virginia Tech. Now Harrell wants to take a few visits before he makes his new college decision. He plans to visit Louisville first, presumably to see what all the fuss is about. After he’s got that out of his system, all we can do is keep our fingers crossed and hope that he’d rather win championships than just watch them.

- While it seems that Rajon Rondo would be the kind of point guard that would thrive in a fast-paced game, the former Kentucky point man said that he regrets letting the Sixers push tempo in the last game, a Celtics loss in which they blew a huge, early lead. Rondo is the kind of guard that can play fast or slow, but if the Celtics hope to advance, he’ll need to take over the next three games – which we all know he is capable of.

- Possibly one reason the Celtics need to slow it down is because they just simply aren’t athletic enough to compete. ESPN ranked the athleticism of each team left in the playoffs, and while Eric Bledsoe and Rajon Rondo were noted for their individual aptitude, the lack of said ability in their teammates dropped their teams to six and seven in the rankings, respectively. The positive for both our guys is that they’ve come to play this postseason. That only bodes well for their careers here on out, no matter if they make it to the conference finals or not.

- Heartbreak all around for Kentucky teams that we don’t usually cover as much. The tennis team finished a fantastic season with a Sweet Sixteen loss to Stanford. While the team portion is over, four UK tennis players, Eric Quigley, Alex Musialek, Anthony Rossi and Panav Jha, will stay in Athens to compete in the singles and doubles championships. Quigley, Musialek and Rossi will compete for the singles title and Quigley and Jha will challenge for the doubles crown. Congrats to the team on a great season!

- The baseball team dropped the second game in their season ending series against Mississippi State in Starkville. For the Wildcats to win or share the SEC title, they’ll need to win the final game against the Bulldogs and hope that LSU beats South Carolina, who currently holds a half a game edge over the Cats.

- The softball team also lost yesterday. after taking a lead on Michigan in the top of the seventh, the Wolverines rallied in the bottom to seal the 3-2 win. The Cats are now on the elimination side of the bracket and will need to win four games to advance to the Super Regional. Their first match will be against the loser of Louisville – Valparaiso.

Instead of saluting Malcolm X on his birthday, I figured that I’d pay respects to the fact that the weather is nice. I don’t know how it’s been for you guys in Lexington or elsewhere around the many corners of the world that the KSR readership inhabits, but in Evanston it just got nice and it looks like the weather will probably stick around. It probably won’t, but it’s nice to hope. There’s nothing I love more than when it’s warm outside and if I had my way then there would be absolutely no precipitation. Just hot, sunny days all year long. Get on that, mad scientists.

- Generally, no news is good news except when you write for a blog serving a very niche market that prides itself on posting on the hour seven days a week. However, there isn’t much else to expect from the offseason so we take what God gives us, like warm weather.

- Montrezl Harrell finally got his release from Virginia Tech and he was immediately contacted by UK. According to Harrell’s father, he has been in touch with Orlando Antigua and said that Coach O told him that the Cats would like to ‘throw their hat in with the other schools’ pursuing him. I have to imagine that UK’s hat dwarfs the other hats. The Cats could certainly benefit from Harrell’s size and highly aggressive play. As of now, it seems like nearly every piece is in place except another reliable big man. Put that hat on, Montrezl. You know you want to.

- In other news, Matt tweeted out a picture from Nike welcoming Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to the brand. The best thing about that is that Nike makes a shoe that I would actually buy. If MKG gets a shoe deal, it’s sure to be a more appealing product than whatever Reebok could do for John Wall. Plus, if he tears his ACL in a playoff game, no shoe designers will mock him.

- Andy Katz wrote on what Coach K had to say about what Anthony Davis could bring to the US national team:

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Kentucky’s Anthony Davis — the consensus No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft — brings shot-blocking, something the U.S. Olympic team may need this summer in London. Davis’ chances have risen due to the injury to Orlando’s Dwight Howard. Krzyzewski said Davis isn’t “trying out” for the team; rather, Davis is now in the pool of players who may be selected. Krzyzewski said it would be good to get Davis indoctrinated right away into USA Basketball. “He’s a great talent and a good kid,” Krzyzewski said. “Hopefully we don’t get any more guys hurt.”

Could you imagine if Davis were to make the team and possibly win a gold medal? Would there be a 19-year-old that had a more awesome year in the entire world? I doubt it.

- Apparently the ACC is dead.

- Last year, Danny Trevathan and Stuart Hines went on a service trip to Ethiopia with Joker Phillips and Mitch Barnhart as well as some others in the athletic department and both were profoundly affected by the experience. WKYT is reporting that the trip will be happening again this year with Mikie Benton, Larry Warford and Matt Smith making the trip. This is a really cool opportunity and I’m glad our guys get a chance to serve as ambassadors for the Big Blue Nation on an international stage. Be safe, fellas.

Well, I guess there was some news, but not that much. We’ll be generating some great stuff for you guys tomorrow. Enjoy the nice weather if you’ve got it and if you don’t, make your way to somewhere that does.

According to InsideTheVille.com (If people stopped saying “The Ville” altogether, I wouldn’t be upset), Montrezl Harrell will take his first official visit to Louisville. Apparently Harrell’s father, Sam, also told the site that the Cardinals are the “frontrunner” for his sons services. Considering Harrell’s high school coach is now on staff at Louisville, it’s not terribly surprising that the Cardinals might be the early favorite. Louisville will likely try to build on their early edge after getting the first visit, though I’m not sure he’ll have time to do much else on his visit other than meet all 19 of his potential teammates.