Reedley Community College (Calif.) offensive lineman Abdul Kuyateh and Grossmont Community College (Calif.) lineman Charles Millenbah both committed to play football for Steve Kragthorpe yesterday.
The 6-foot-4, 295-pound Kuyateh is expected to earn his associates degree from the Reedley this summer and wil be eligible to play for the Cardinals this fall. Millenbah won't join the team until January.
Kuyateh came to Reedley as a defensive lineman, and is still learning how to play on the other side of the ball. He is billed as an agile big man who runs a 4.9 40, and will immediately add depth to the Cards' front line.
"He's got that nasty attitude that you love in an offensive lineman," said Reedley Head Coach Michael White. "He loves the weight room and works really hard and is very, very coachable. Coming from the defensive side, he has the athleticism you want for a guy to pull and get out on running plays and still has very good strength."
Charles "C.J." Millenbah is a 6-foot-5, 305-pound Cali native who is also advertised as both nasty and agile. Millenbah chose U of L over Arizona State, Texas A&M and Kansas among others.
Eric Crawford weighs in on the UL/UK TV debate, saying that the choice to move the game was the worst television decision since CBS replaced Dan Rather with Katie "I think Navy Seals rock" Couric.
From a program-building standpoint, it's not about UK fans getting to watch. Brooks felt the Wildcats could be better prepared to meet their in-state rival with a couple of games under their belts.
I don't buy it. UK would have been at a huge advantage in an opener against U of L this season. If the Wildcats couldn't have been ready to play, they have more pressing issues than the schedule.
Imagine if UK does end up winning this year's game. Think of how much less attention recruits, not to mention the rest of the nation, will pay to the result than if the game had been played on Labor Day Sunday and been televised ESPN. Now if the Cats pull off the upset of a top ten team, they're going to be overshadowed by at least two or three other games between bigger name schools. The potential exists for everyone to be a loser this season.
Speaking of the Battle for the Governor's Cup, Bobby Brockman of the Central Kentucky News-Journal shares my belief that the eventual termination of the modern football series is all but a formality.
It's just a matter of when, not if.
Kentucky has realized the series has done nothing but help improve U of L's football fortunes and now that the Cardinals are a much-better program, UK has nothing to gain other than to get humiliated on a regular basis.
How do they get out and save face?
It will be something like they couldn't agree on a date and UK will say they want to play more of a "national" schedule.
It's a game that has really helped the popularity of football in the state. It has made playing the gridiron sport more popular.
UK needs to drop the series soon because after starting with a 6-0 lead in games played from 1912-1924, U of L has won nine of the 13 battles since the series resumed in 1994 and that includes the last four and seven of the last eight.
The early college basketball Top 25 lists keep a-comin'. The Cards have checked in at #5 on Gary Parrish's list, #6 on Andy Katz's and #8 on Jeff Goodman's. U of L is also a #1 seed taking on Cornell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Joe Lunardi's latest installment of Bracketology.
According to SI's Stewart Mandel, the Cards will be playing in two of the ten biggest college football games of the 2007 season.
Once again, this figures to be the Game of the Year in the Big East, and at least one of the two is likely to enter the contest with its national-title hopes still in tact. ESPN has once again slotted the game for a Thursday night, providing a showcase opportunity for Heisman hopefuls Brian Brohm, Steve Slaton and Pat White.
10. Rutgers at Louisville, Nov. 29
In a rematch of one of last season's most thrilling contests, the Cardinals could be playing for a BCS berth. So could Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights, 11-2 a year ago, play all of the other toughest foes on their schedule -- Maryland, Cincinnati, USF, West Virginia and Pittsburgh -- at home.
Kyle "Dirk Minniefield" McAlarney held a press conference yesterday to talk about his decision to return to the Notre Dame basketball team after his dismissal from the school in January.
The Chicago White Sox are apparently pretty high on Logan Johnson, whom they selected in the 20th round of the MLB Draft.
"Hopefully we have a diamond in the rough. I like him at second or third. We hope he can play the middle infield because that will only add to his value. We think he can. We'll send him out and see where he fits in. But his bat is the key."
Finding a comfortable position for Logan on defense has always been an issue, but when you swing the lumber as well as he does you're still liable to get paid to play baseball for quite a long time.
Another team high on a now former Card is the Washington Nationals, who feel like they may have gotten a steal when Boomer Whiting fell to them in the 28th round.
"A lot of guys can fly, but it's not usable speed. But this guy's speed seemed to be usable. I think he has a chance to be a basestealer. Some guys who have long strides, it takes a long time for them to get to top speed, but not him. I thought there was a place for him on our ballclub."...
"He might be as fast as anyone in the draft," Rizzo said. "He can be a Bip Roberts-type of guy in the future. He has a chance to be a good big-league player. He can really cover ground in center field. He's a contact hitter that sprays the ball well. And he's a pest at the top of the batting order.
"He's one of those leadoff guys with speed who, in pro ball, chokes up and peppers the ball around. He's my kind of player, like the Dan Ugglas of the world who I've taken late in drafts that know how to play the game."
SMQ tackles the consensus that West Virginia will beat out Louisville for the Big East title as only SMQ can.
Undrafted Louisville relief pitcher Kyle Hollander signed a contract with the New York Yankees yesterday. Terms of the deal were not released.
Lastly, for those of you who stopped watching the College World Series after the Cards were eliminated, North Carolina defeated Rice 7-4 Thursday to set up a miraculous Championship Series rematch with Oregon State. It's truly astounding that with the strenuous postseason format and all of the parity existing in college baseball, that the same two teams could make the finals in consecutive seasos. Kudos to both programs.
Be sure to check Building the Dam (who's in Omaha) and Carolina March for updates throughout the series.
If you're going to go out, you might as well go out to the eventual champs, so go Heels.