Hard Times Are Knocking
Never let it be said we don't "tell it like it is."
Fact is, these are not the best of times around the Kentucky football and basketball teams.
Kentucky's last second 17-15 loss to Virginia Tech put a crushing blow to the Wildcats' chances of a winning season during a fall many expected to bring a post season bowl berth.
And in the early going, basketball hasn't fared much better.
First things first.
Jerry Claiborne's most heartbreaking loss of his coaching career at Kentucky had to be the setback in Blacksburg Saturday. The loss ran the UK losing streak to four games and puts the Cats in a position of having to pull off a miracle to finish above .500 for the season.
Kentucky played well, but just well enough to get beat.
Bill Ransdell enjoyed his finest passing afternoon of the season, but still stood on the short end of the score when the final second ticked off the clock.
Mark Higgs showed signs of exhibiting the talent his name has been noted for, but he was still a loser after 60 minutes of action.
Clearly outplayed on the field and in practically all the statistical columns, Virginia Tech still battled back and won the contest.
It's been that kind of a season for both teams. Tech is playing like a team of destiny, enjoying all the breaks in Bill Dooley's last season while being tossed out by the Tech higher-ups. It looks like Dooley will go out on a winning note and a Peach Bowl trip.
Kentucky appears headed in the other direction.
What many predicted would be a 7-4 or better season has developed into a nightmare. A win over Tech and UK could have salvaged anywhere from a 5-5-1 season to perhaps a 6-4-1 or even 7-3-1 if the Cats could have performed a miracle.
With Vanderbilt coming to town Saturday, the Cats ought to win their fourth contest of the season. After that, it'll be tough sledding.
Some believed Florida could be upset in Lexington but that was before the Gators exploded against Auburn last week. Tennessee has been just the opposite of last year's Sugar Bowl club, but the Cats will be underdogs in the season finale at, Knoxville.
The oddsmakers now say UK will finish 4-6-1 on the season which would be one-half game worse off than last season's 5-6. That's bad when you consider that this was a veteran team with a fifth-year quarterback.
There have been some injuries, but not the magnitude which could justify the current won-loss record.
Just a couple years ago, everyone (including coaches) were pointing to 1986 as the season that Kentucky would truly be a very fine football team.
Even legendary voice of the Wildcats Cawood Ledford has often said that the true
gauge of a coach comes during a coach's fifth year at a school, a time when a new program has recruited all its players.
This is not to write off this particular team oi this era.
True, the future isn't especially bright considering the recent four-game streak. But with a break or two here or there, things may have been different. Of course, some times it sounds like a broken record. How many times were the Cats just a minute away from victory under Fran Curci.
Vanderbilt comes to town with a 1-7 record, having lost to previously winless Memphis State last Saturday. A loss to Vandy Saturday would just about wipe out any hopes for a solid football future at Kentucky. Jerry Claiborne and his Wildcats won't allow that to happen.
Vanderbilt, it could be argued, is in a worse position. But one must point out that Mack Brown is still in his first year and hasn't had time to decorate his surroundings, much less recruit a complete team.
For Claiborne and his staff to keep their heads above the water and eye a bright future, the Cats must win two of their three final games. A solid win over Vandy and an upset victory over either Florida or Tennessee would give the Cats the upbeat to move on to bigger and better times. Anything less and you would have to wonder the more times change, the more things stay the same.
Can you believe Kentucky and Vanderbilt on national television this Saturday?
Yep, WTBS-TV in Atlanta will televise the game over the SuperStation beginning at 12 noon. The game will actually kick-off around 12:30 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
According to reports, WTBS was limited in which teams it could show. Alabama and LSU are set for ESPN at 7:45 p.m. while ABC-TV has picked Auburn and Cincinnati for a regional game at 3:30 p.m.
The Georgia-Florida game can not be televised because Florida is still under a television ban. That left WTBS with only the Kentucky-Vanderbilt game and the Tennessee-Memphis State show.
According to one reliable source, WTBS officials felt obligated to put Kentucky on because the Wildcats haven't been on this fall yet.
WTBS is contractually committed to put each SEC team on television at least once a season. However, WTBS' committment to UK was fulfilled when WTBS offered to televise both the UK-LSU game and the UK-Georgia contest. UK refused to move either game from night to day because of Keeneland racing.
You can bet WTBS get a lot of complaints over this one.
Col. Harvey Schiller, the newly appointed commissioner of the Southeastern Con ference, will make his first official visit to
UK this weekend and will attend the Kentucky-Vanderbilt football game.
Col. Schiller was named to the post after the retirement of Dr. Boyd McWhorter earlier this year.
He's wasted little time in making his presence known around the nation's col-legeiate circles. Already, he has been a key figure in negotiations for a new SEC football television package which could bring the SEC more than $40 million in revenue over a four-year period.
Schiller came to the SEC from the Air Force Academy where he was chairman of athletics at the time. He played a major role in the successful 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
He is known as one of the most highly respected people in college athletics today. In fact, there are some who believe his stint with the SEC is only a stepping stone to the top job with the NCAA in Shawnee Mission, Kan.
While the Kentucky basketball team was reeling from the loss of AI1-SEC candidate Wintson Bennett for the season due to a knee injury, Eddie Sutton's program took another tough blow with the news that junior reserve Todd Ziegler had been charged with shoplifting from a Lexington retail store.
The case is expected to go to court sometime this week in Lexington.
A UK sports program which has suffered in recent years has been baseball, but coach Keith Madison hopes to change his program's direction in the near future by going to night baseball.
In fact, UK athletics director Cliff Hagan has announced a fund drive to install lights at Shively Field. The $175,000 project will be funded by private donations which will be matched by the UK Athletics Association.
"Collegiate baseball is growing rapidly in popularity throughout the country and here in the Southeastern Conference," said Madison. "Until recently, only two conference schools had no plans to install lights before 1987Vanderbilt and Kentucky. I am happy that Kentucky is no longer a part of that statistic.
"Without lights, we have had to schedule afternoon games, which conflict with the class schedules of our players and student fans, as well as being an inconvenient time for our faps who work in Lexington and the surrounding area. We have had to compete in night games on the road with the tremendous disadvantage of not being able to prac tice at home under the lights."
Hagan says the project has been in the plan ning stages for several years and he believes "the ability to play night games will allow us to generate bigger crowds and to host television games, which are both important for the continued growth of our baseball program here at UK."
Madison's program must raise $87,500 in private funds to be matched by a similar amount by the UKAA. Anyone interested in making a donation to the baseball program can do so by sending a check payable to UK athletics. Baseball Fund-Raising Drive, UK Athletics Association. Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0019.
FIRST AND TENS ... You can bet the
Kentucky Wildcats won't be welcomed in Knoxville when the Cats do battle with the Tennessee Vols two weeks from today. Knox->ille News-Sentinel sports columnist Jimmy Hyams, in a column after the Kentucky-LSU battle a few weeks ago, stirred up the coals by saying that LSU players were seething after the Tigers' win over UK. Said Hyams, "that's because eight Tigers were helped off the field by trainers in the first half." Hyams quoted LSU noseguard Henry Thomas as saying, "Kentucky is a bunch of sorry, cheap-shot SOBs. Where did they lean to play? The wrestling ring? The coach who coaches their cheap shots ought to have his license revoked. He should be shot." Hyams went on to say that LSU Coach Bill Arnsparger told his players, "point a finger at the scoreboard and walk away." Hyams said LSU wasn't alone in pointing fingers, quoting UK's Vic Adams as saying, "They (LSU) tried to intimidate us right away. At the bottom of piles there was a lot of scratching and biting and trying to poke your eyes. It happens every game, but nothing like that." . . . Reports out of New York last week quoted ABC-TV officials as being very impressed with former UK coach Joe B. Hall in his taped audition a few months ago. One SEC official said he was told that Hall surprised even his most ardent critics with his announcing style. An ABC spokesman said his network is very happy with landing Hall now because it feels he has a bright future in the business . -.- . Last week, Louisville coach Denny Crum was quoted in The Sporting News about midnight practices such as the highly successful UK Cats' Night Out. Said Crum, "I don't believe in all that hoopla. I want my kids to be fresh and able to go to class at 8 o'clock. I'm not trying to be critical. I just don't think it's in the students' best interest." Humm. Perhaps the key phrase is "all that hoopla". If 12,000 Cardinal fans would show up for a midnight UL practice, I bet Denny would have a change of heart. . . Guess what, we've found a subject that Denny and Eddie Sutton agree on. From that same issue of TSN, we go to the issue of coaches income. First Sutton says, "A coach's first responsibility is to his family. There has never been a time when coaches have had as much pressure on them as now. Whatever we're paid isn't enough." Now, let's turn to Denny. Crum said, "that (proposed NCAA legislation to control coaches' income) is not fair. This country is founded on the free-enterprise system. All colleges have professors who serve as consultants. If they take money from coaches, they should also take money from professors. I don't think that's going to happen."