OSCAR L. COMBS
CATS' PAUSE EDITOR/PUBLISHER
Busy for the holidays ? There could be a bowl trip
This time next week, Kentucky fans just might be in the mood for making holiday plans which could include the game of football.
This time three months ago, a person would have been a prime candidate for the funny farm had he uttered such a dream.
Thanks to a 14-13 heart-stopping victory over Vanderbilt Saturday, Kentucky has positioned itself for a postseason bowl invitation if the 'Cats can defeat both Florida and Tennessee these last two weekends of the season.
Such an order is not impossible, perhaps not even improbable, if the Wildcats can prepare for them one game at a time. Again, a couple months ago, these two games appeared to be destined as sure-fire defeats for Kentucky this year. But a lot has happened since the opening kickoff back in the early fall.
Florida and Tennessee have puzzled their fans, to say the least. First, the Gators raced out to a 5-0 start, capped by a brilliant victory over LSU. What some people overlooked were lopsided wins over teams like Montana State and Indiana State. The other two wins came at the least of a couple SEC also-ransOle Miss and Mississippi State.
Since that stunning victory over LSU, Galen Hall's troops haven't won again. In fact, the Gators have now lost four in a row and could wind up the season with a six-game losing streak, unless Florida can beat Kentucky Saturday. Florida closes the regular season with a battle against arch-rival Florida State.
Although Florida's early season schedule was suspect, much of the Gators' problems mushroomed with the loss of offensive stars Emmitt Smith and Stacey Simmons, who were injured just as the Gators hit the 5-0 mark. Smith finally returned to action last Saturday, but his output was too little too late as Georgia mauled the Gators 26-3 in Jacksonville.
As one official of the Peach Bowl pointed out Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium, nothing less than a 7-4 record for UK will earn a post season bowl.
So, Kentucky cannot worry about Tennessee unless the 'Cats can handle Florida this week.
Still, folks have been thinking about the Vols for some time. For Kentucky, there is never a good time to hit the Vols. Just when it appears Tennessee is in the midst of a terrible slump, the Big Orange wakes up in time to knock off the 'Cats.
A couple weeks ago found Tennessee 0-6, the worst start in school history. Since then, the Vols have bounced back to beat Memphis State and Boston College. This weekend, the Vols have another opportunity to build more confidence as they take on Ole Miss in Oxford.
Regardless of the outcome in Oxford, if Kentucky ever expects to have a shot at beating the Orange, the opportunity certainly won't be any brighter than it will be next Saturday in Knoxville.
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Saturday's victory over Vanderbilt was anything but beautiful, except when glancing to the scoreboard after the final seconds ticked off the clock.
There's an old saying which has it that the mark of a good team is one which wins when it doesn't play well enough to win. Kentucky, obviously, lived up to that saying last week.
More importantly, Kentucky has followed its emotional upset win over Georgia with back-to-back victories over Southern Illinois and Vandy and has earned itself a shot at a very fine season.
Back in August, most everyone around the South agreed if Jerry Claiborne could win five games with the schedule he faced in 1988, he should be national Coach of the Year. Folks, victory No. 5 is already in the bag.
Before we pass out the hardware, one must admit the schedule hasn't panned out as tough as previously expected. Indiana looks to be even tougher than predicted and you can certainly make an argument for LSU, Auburn and Georgia. But, overall, the SEC is experiencing perhaps its weakest campaign in the past two decades.
We say this not to detract from UK's accomplishments this fall, but to merely state an obvious fact. To Claiborne and the 'Cats' credit, Kentucky has been embarrassed only once the entire season and that came in Bloomington.
This Saturday is a mighty big challenge for the 'Cats. The way most observers see this contest is that perhaps Florida still has a slight edge in talent, but the game is played at Commonwealth Stadium, a place Florida despises to visit in November. The colder the weather, the most likely of a Kentucky victory.
With the Wildcats knowing full well they have to win their last two contests, there will be no chance of the 'Cats looking past Florida. On the other hand, the Gators most certainly will be looking for revenge of their 10-3 loss at the hands of Kentucky the last time they came to Commonwealth Stadium.
Florida isn't totally out of the postseason bowl picture, but the future isn't very bright. The Gators find themselves in an almost identical situation as UKwin their remaining two games or hit the winter weight program early.
The Gators must beat both UK and Florida State, and the odds of winning both are pretty high. A split would give Florida a 6-5 mark and probably leave the Gators home for the holidays.
Losses to both teams could also be disasterous for Hall, who has been under heavy fire from Florida fans during the current losing streak.
It should be a dandy this week.
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Before we leave the subject of football, we've got to mention the 44,000 or so
fans who showed up for the night game against Vanderbilt.
As most of you know by now, the game was pushed back from its original 1:30 p.m. kickoff to accommodate the Breeder's Cup which was being staged in Louisville.
It's just as obvious there were very few fans who raced back to Lexington for the football game. Hopefully, this will be proof for UK officials to quit worrying about the thoroughbred industry and tend to matters which will help build UK football, and that includes not making football fans take a back seat to the racing interests around these parts.
The low turnout against Vandy (which includes some 3,000 or so Vandy fans) didn't go unnoticed by the Peach Bowl official. He noted the small crowd and wondered where all the fans were. The ability of a team to have a strong following on the road is one of the basic ingredients bowls use to determine which teams are invited.
Folks like to recall that famous Peach Bowl game against North Carolina back in 1976. About 20,000 Kentuckians made their way to Atlanta (the estimate has grown over the years to the 30,000 level now) as UK won 21-7. Of course, Kentucky enjoyed a jam-packed Commonwealth Stadium every game that year, also.
If Kentucky should find itself on the bubble for a better bowl during the next couple weeks (if UK can beat Florida), the difference could be the turnout for the Florida game.
Historically, Florida brings the fewest visiting fans to Commonwealth Stadium of any other SEC foe. There are a couple reasons: First of all, Lexington is the farthest point north for the Floridians and it's usually very cold or even snowing at times. Secondly, the UK game is always the week after the big Georgia-Florida blowout in Jacksonville and Gators fans are still recuperating from the partying of the week before. Last, but not least, Florida usually loses to Georgia and the fans are in no mood to travel the distance to Lexington after such an emotional loss as to the Dawgs.
If Kentucky is to impress bowl scouts with fan support, the 'Cats will have to do it without the help of an opposing team's fans. That means UK will probably have some 10,000 to 15,000 tickets available for sale this week.
Students at UK haven't used their entire allotment a single time this season. In fact, the students had almost 10,000 no-shows last week. Florida probably will bring less than 1,000 in comparision with Georgia which had almost 7,000 fans here three weeks ago.
You'll have no trouble getting a ticket for this one.
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On to the basketball scene, as the world turns.
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Another chapter was punched in last week when Shawn Kemp packed up his belongings and left town after an incident came to public light where city police said Kemp sold jewelry which had been stolen from Sean Sutton to a Lexington pawn shop.
There were all kinds of stories circulating about the incident and by the end of the week, Kemp had left town.
It was just another embarrassing moment in what continues to be one big problem after another.
UK's basketball problems have now advanced themselves all the way to the front page of the nation's No. 1 newspaper USA Today. Last Tuesday, the newspaper published a story on national champion Kansas being hit with probation (it will be the first team in NCAA history barred from defending its title since Kansas won't be allowed to play in the tourney for one year), but the headline centered on Kentucky being the next school which will be penalized by the NCAA.
Up to now. almost all the embarrassment has pointed toward the athletics department and basketball staff, but now there are some who are beginning to question president David Roselle's handling of all the problems.
Without question, the most serious challenge to the university's reputation was the USA Today article. Being flashed across the top of the front page gives UK's name the ultimate exposure it had just as soon forget.
And guess what Dr. Roselle's reaction was?
You guessed it, he was "saddenned" once again.
I've been one of Dr. Roselle's greatest fans since he arrived here more than a year ago. I've been most impressed by the way he has administered his office and dealt with all the problems relating to the athletics department. But I'm beginning to wonder if there isn't some feet-dragging going on these days.
I strongly believe Dr. Roselle is interested in having a quality athletics program at UK, one which adheres to all the league and NCAA rules.
Having said that, I'm not convinced he realizes just how important UK athletics, basketball in particular, is, to not only the citizenry of this state, but to the university itself.
When UK has a strong basketball program, the pride and tradition carries over to other branches of the university and certainly into the fund-raising aspects.
I say this because last Tuesday, I received over 30 telephone calls from subscribers (almost all of them outside the state of Kentucky). The message was sharp and strong: Kentuckians living outside the state are frustrated, embarrassed and ashamed of the UK program right now.
One gentleman from St. Louis was practically in tears. "I've been following the 'Cats for over 40 years," he said. "I (Continued on page 10)