Today, DeWayne Peevey and John Hayden of the UK Athletics Department, have sent out a warning for all fans purchasing tickets from 3rd parties to be aware of fraudulent tickets. There have been several instances recently that fans have been denied access to the games after purchasing tickets from places other than Ticketmaster or the UK Ticket Office.

UK has not warned against scalpers by name, but be careful. Fans be aware that scalpers are not always the most reliable people! Scalpers are only out to charge you as much as possible and make money at YOUR expense. Even if you have been purchasing tickets from scalpers for years, in this day and age you need to be extra cautious as there are a lot of people trying to make a few extra bucks off of UK’s success this season.

GO CATS!!!

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DeMarcus Cousins had more great interviews last night continuing to make the media laugh during his time with them.  Rick Bozich has a great video of DeMarcus Cousins talking about his game and how he is taking a beating on the court.  Cousins does compare himself to Shaq, but in regards to how much he gets fouled.  Although the video is entitled “Cousins compares himself to Shaq”, don’t be mislead.  He does have a very valid point about getting fouled frequently and also that teams cannot “hack a Cousins” because he hits his free throws.

As far as the rest of the team it could be said that John Wall draws a lot of contact as well.  The other teams are trying to do what ever it takes to slow him down.  Daniel Orton and Patrick Patterson are two guys that have been bumped around pretty good as well.  One big change that we are seeing take place in college basketball is the emergence of very physical play.  Of course last Saturday against Vandy is a horrible example as there were a ton of fouls called.  The game lasted over 2 hours and was dominated by the ref’s.  I do not think that UK is the only team that has experienced physical play as it is becoming more of the norm for college basketball.

Check out Tom Leach’s videos with John Wall and Coach Cal discussing the recent comments.

Here is what Coach Cal had to say about John Wall and his comments following the UK/Vandy game.

Cat Scratches Blog

Following the Vanderbilt game on Saturday there started to be reports of John Wall’s comments.  Much like any interview that takes place you have to see the full interview and not just part of the quotes.  While I was standing in the media room listening to various interviews I was not present for the John Wall comments that got Alan Cutler and Kentucky Sports Radio so concerned.  After reading Cutler’s article on LEX18.com I was a little concerned but wanted to see more of the comments and not just a little piece of the interview.  Larry Vaught shed some more light on what was said and it makes a lot of sense and should calm down anyone who is worried about where Wall stands.  Larry Vaught’s article is a must read and much more insightful with a bigger picture of what Wall was saying and the proper context.

John Wall is a very humble basketball player with a very high basketball IQ.  There have been different reports wondering how the emergence of DeMarcus Cousins has impacted the rest of the team.  While Cousins has shown he is one of the top players in college basketball and arguably the top big man in the country, John Wall and Patrick Patterson have not had their typical games.  Some have argued that when Cousins plays well the rest of the team struggles suggestion that Cousins does not compliment the rest of the team.  I do not agree with that at all and feel that there could be two different things going on.  First, I believe that Cousins has picked up his game when the other players are not playing well.  Instead of getting his normal double double he is dominating the game in all facets.  Second, which I don’t think is correct at this moment, is the other players don’t like to play second fiddle.  Wall has never played second fiddle, but I do not think he minds being out of the spotlight.  He and everyone else knows how great of a ball player he is.  He also knows that great players go through slumps and his slumps leave him still outplaying most all players on the court.

Right now Kentucky has two of the top players in the country.  Going into the season all we heard about was Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins and how they were the best players in college basketball.  Now DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall is the best point guard/big man combination in the country.  Lets not forget Patrick Patterson and his impact on the game.  Patterson has not been himself, but do not expect that to last much longer.  Patterson always gives 100% and that can never be questioned and it is only time before he has a break out game.

Over the last year I have enjoyed to write on my blog and discuss UK basketball.  There have been times that I have been very frustrated with comments talk show hosts as well as other bloggers.  I have even had one instance that I was very mad at Colin Cowherd and said some things that probably were not the nicest.  However, how far is too far?

The more I read blogs and one in particular the more I realize that I do not want to be associated with bloggers.  With some recent comments made on one of the most popular UK blogs about Rick Pitino and his bad decisions.  Sure I understand giving Pitino a hard time, but referring to his son Richard as the son who was not aborted is taking it too far.  Also, cussing a fan out at a UK game because he calls you out on something you got wrong?  How far is too far?

Information is great when fans get it first, and that is what fans want.  In speaking with a very very good recruiting analyst lately he backed up everything that I have thought all along.  As far as recruiting information that comes from non-premium sources (blogs) compared to premium (rivals, scout, Kentucky Ink, etc) is not any different just more watered down.  The information that does come from blogs is not bad but in most cases it is not from the source and not 100% accurate.  At this point of the year with the recruits there is very little happening other than being able to give stats from their games.  When the information does come out you can guarantee that the premium recruiting websites will have it first.

All in all, the biggest issue that I personally have certain blogs is that they take away from the image of UK basketball with their arrogance, treating fans and other media with unprofessional behavior as well as making comments that are extremely offensive.  It would be great to see bloggers act with professionalism especially when they are given press credentials by the University of Kentucky.  So in closing, treat the University of Kentucky with respect and all of those around you.

Sunday ESPN’s Outside The Lines is going to be focused on some former UK players that chose not come back to UK because of Coach Cal being honest with them about their playing time.

Here is the preview….

This show will be interesting as it is another way in which it seems ESPN likes to question Coach Cal and some of his tactics.  While it is not the view of all ESPN analysts there are a good number of those who are more than open about their opinion of Coach Cal.

On one hand you have ESPN showing every possible highlight they can get of John Wall because everyone knows he is the best college basketball player in the country and he is also a very likable kid.  On the other hand Bob Knight, Pat Forde, Cowherd and many others use their platforms to take every possible shot at Coach Cal and University of Kentucky basketball program.

Getting back to the Outside the Lines show coming up this Sunday…while Kevin Galloway and Matt Pilgrim both wanted to play for UK and finish their careers at UK, Coach Cal was very honest with them.  Is it bad that we have a coach that wants to win with his players? Was it wrong of him to tell kids up front that they would not get playing time? With the amount of talent that Coach Cal had coming in both of those players as well as Michael Porter, Donald Williams, Jared Carter and AJ Stewart were probably not going to see much time at all.  The honesty that Coach Cal had with these kids was the right way to go about business.

Sunday will definitely be interesting as this seems to be just another time when ESPN is taking a shot at Coach Cal and UK yet again.

Chip Cosby of the Lexington Herald Leader had challenged Michael Wilbon from ESPN’s PTI three years ago to a race in the 40. Wilbon has never taken Chip up on this challenge but it was brought up today on PTI. I think Chip would win this race going away. Chip has reached out to Wilbon through email but nothing has ever come of it. Heres to hoping Wilbon takes Chip up on this challenge.

You can hear the podcast here at the 19:40 mark.

UK has some great events going on this weekend for Halloween. Homecoming weekend always brings a lot of alumni back to campus and there are plenty of fun things going on. Tonight do not miss the Wildcat Roar featuring special guests along with Coach Brooks and Coach Cal.
Tomorrow will be UK vs Miss St. in the homecoming football game. If you are attending the game please wear black to support the blackout. While many look for this to embarrassing and think this is not going to have a good turnout, I encourage all fans to take part in this.

Of course Sunday will give all of the UK fans in Louisville and the surrounding areas to get a chance to watch a UK basketball practice at Freedom Hall.

Enjoy your weekend and support your Wildcats!!!

Hand carved UK pumpkin by Sarah