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No Need To Check This List Twice
Who Would Want An 'I Love Bobby' Button?
Dear Santa,
How are things up north ? / hope Mrs. Claus, the elves and the reindeer are all doing well. I've been a relatively good boy this year, but I don't really want much for Christmas.
		
	0	Dan Brandenburg Cats' Pause Columnist
		
You see, I got my best present, a son, about a month before your scheduled arrival this weekend and that will about cover the gift-giving season for me. OK, a new pair of Nikes would be nice. Size 12, Wildcat blue, if you please.
However, now that I've got your attention, there is a lengthy list of my friends and associates who have been especially well-behaved this year.
Since I'm pretty well satisified with the way things stand at my end now, why don't you use the time you would normally spend on me to stuff a little something extra into the stockings of those mentioned below.
I've enclosed a list of suggestions, also, and, as always, your milk and cookies will be under the tree. Have a safe trip.
Yours truly,
Danny Brandenburg, the 27th most revered sports columnist in Kentucky
For University of Kentucky basketball coach Eddie Sutton: I don't understand why everyone has been wanting to give Eddie a ticket to Kansas City in the spring. I flew over Kansas City once and it didn't look especially enticing. I think a voice-alteration machine that attaches to his car phone would be more appropriate.
For UK guard Ed Davender: A Rodney Dangerfield mask to go with his goggles. You see, Santa, Ed is the best defensive player in the country and not too shabby on the offensive end, either, but because of Rex Chapman, Winston Bennett and a crew of talented freshmen, he just doesn't get any respect.
For Herald-Leader sports columnist John McGill: An "I V Darrin Van Horn" button.
For Herald-Leader sports columnist Billy Reed: Less reverence. And an"I Bobby Knight" button.
For Sports Illustrated writer Curry Kirkpatrick: Even less reverence. And a necktie that's some other color besides pink.
For Sports Illustrated writer Frank Deford: Recognition that he is simply the best sportswriter in the country, much less at the revered SI.
For Cats' Pause publisher Oscar Combs: A warehouse in which to store his baseball cards. On second thought, I think I have a little extra space...
For UK center Rob Lock: A national free throw shooting title.
For UK guard Rex Chapman: A close-up of his face on the cover of yet another basketball magazine. Lord knows he needs the publicity. But it's not that he doesn't deserve the ink, it's just that teenage girls all across the Commonwealth don't yet have quite enough photos of him to cover all four of their walls.
For "Swoop," AKA Cedric Jenkins, the resurgent UK forward: A standing ovation and a very nice frame for the degree he managed to earn in only 3'/2 years at UK Not bad for a jock, huh Santa?
For sports personality Earl Cox: A nice, warm home for that small furry creature he has befriended on his television show.
For UK football coach Jerry Claiborne: Enough bodies, perserverence and good luck to survive that killer schedule he hasin '88. A winning record might be too much to ask for.
For UK assistant SID Joey Howard: a lifetime appointment to the UK sports information staff. He was a dream
this year.
To Dave Parker, formerly of the Reds: a Saks Fifth
Avenue credit card. Not valid at K-Mart, of course.
To Larry Vaught, assistant sports editor at Danville: another year as president of the Kentucky Associated Press Sports Editors Association.
To Indiana University: Someone with enough gumption to take control of Bobby Knight.
To UK guard Derrick Miller: A successful three-point attempt  he was 0-8 going into the UKIT  and a little more patience. His time will come.
To UK forward Winston Bennett: Continued progress toward a successful return to his pre-knee surgery form.
To Alabama coach and GQ coverboy Wimp Sanderson: A navy blue sportscoat. I would even settle for a solid-color sportscoat. Just skip the checks and plaid.
To Mark Higgs, Jerry Reese, Dermontti Dawson and the rest of the senior Wildcats: professional football contracts.
To Henry Harris, UK fan extraordinare: A Kentucky T-shirt featuring a Spuds MacKenzie look-a-like saying "Go, Cats, Go."
To former governor and baseball commissioner Happy Chandler: Many more opportunities to sing "My Old Ken-
For Rob: A Free Throw-Shooting Title
tucky Home" at UK's final home basketball game each season.
To Dick Vitale, Keith Jackson and most sportscasters in general: Less volume and more substance. Everybody wants to know what the score is, how much time is left and what is happening on the field or court  not what Joe Football's mother did in high school.
To the University of Kentucky Athletics Department: No Proposition 48 casualties among the new recruits.
The Southeastern Conference has just released its first statistical package of the season and several Wildcats figure prominently in some of the categories.
Through games of Dec. 12, Rex Chapman was ninth in the league in scoring at 19.0 points per game and Ed Davender was 13th at 17.5.
Davender was also fifth in three-point percentage, hitting 3 of 5 for 60 percent; 11th in assists, 4.0 per game; fourth in steals with 3.0 per contest and ninth in free throw percentage, on 25 of 30 for 83.3 percent.
Kentucky had four representatives among the top 10 SEC free throw shooters, but no one in the top 15 in field
[Continued On Page 22]
UK Gets More lst-Place Votes, But Arizona Edges 'Cats For The Top Spot
Although Kentucky defeated Miami of Ohio and North Carolina-Charlotte to keep its record unblemished in six starts, UK lost ground in the Dec. 21 Associated Press poll, falling to No. 2 behind 9-0 Arizona. Kentucky received 29 first-place votes to just 26 for Arizona, but Lute Olson's Wildcats edged Eddie Sutton's Wildcats 1,096 to 1,088 in overall votes.
While Kentucky was slipping past Miami (85-71) and UNCC (84-81) Friday and Saturday in the UKIT, Arizona was busy burying Washington 110-71 Sunday, something that had to influence the pollsters.
Florida, which was 6-1 prior to a date with South Florida Dec. 23, moved from 11th to eighth. Norm Sloan's Gators was the only SEC team besides Kentucky to crack the poll.
AP Top Twenty  . i_
r 1 Points Pvs
1. Arizona (26)........................1,096 2
2. Kentucky (29).................1,088 1
a Pittsburgh (2).....................1,004 3
4. North Carolina......................942 4
5. Wyoming..............................825 6
6. Temple.................................804 8
7. Syracuse..............................694 9
a Florida.................................659 11
9. Duke....................................653 10
10. Purdue.................................565 12
11. Michigan...............................540 13
12. Oklahoma.............................511 14
13. Indiana.................................473 5
14. Iowa......................................374 7
15. Nevada-Las Vegas................357 15
16. Iowa State............................308 20
17. Missouri................................260 16
18. Kansas.................................252 17
19. Georgetown..........................185 18
20. Memphis State.....................105 "9
Sutton Talked' Madison Into Playing Well In Game With Charlotte
Following are Eddie Sutton's postgame comments after Kentucky's 84-81 victory over North Carolina-Charlotte in the championship game of the UKIT last Saturday night at Rupp Arena:
Question: Your thoughts of the contest.
Sutton: It was a great college basketball game. I'm just glad we won. For a spectator,
1 1 n m
Richard Madison
to watch a game like that it was truly a spec-tical. I've never seen three-point shooting like those guys (UNCC) did tonight. I kept thinking: "Gollee, they're going to miss pretty soon." That's a fine basketball team.
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