Kentucky Sells Out Rupp Arena For College Gameday

We all know how great College Gameday is for football, but the basketball show must be gaining popularity. So far this season, the show has broken attendance records three times.

First, Clemson brought nearly 7,000. A week later, Manhattan, Kansas broke the record with over 8,000.

And just last weekend in Lexington, the Kentucky faithful sold out Rupp Arena for almost, gulp, 24,000 people! That's the Gameday attendance record for both football and basketball!

The College Gameday football record is debatable. Many say the record is held in Lincoln, Nebraska in 2001 for the Oklahoma/Nebraska game which was No. 1 vs. No. 2, about 20,000. Manhattan, Kansas (again) boasted a crowd of roughly 18,000 during the Bill Snyder era.

But 24,000! That record will not be beat anytime soon. Remember this is attendance for a 11am EST television show leading up to a prime time game 9 hours later!

One thing's for sure, they love their basketball in Kentucky, along with Bourbon, Moonshine and Meth.

I think the loudest the crowd was during the show was when they showed a graphic of Rick Pitino-imagine 24,000 booing their hearts out.

One other thing, John Wall is the real deal! There hasn't been a freshmen run the court so smooth since, Derrick Rose. I mean really, watch out for Kentucky come Tourney time.

The best part of the game may have been everytime Tennessee's J.P Prince had the ball, the crowd shouted, "Tayshaun's better!"

Here's the sold out crowd for College Gameday.



And here's a little treat for you-the Kentucky dance team!

Jeff Jordan Did Get His Dad's Ups

I've been meaning to get this out (and a lot more other things).

A couple of weeks ago, I made my first venture to Champaign, Illinois for the Sparty/Illini basketball game. It was in the back of mind, but I had totally forgot Michael Jordan's son, Jeff plays for the Illini. You would think this would get more publicity than it does.

Probably doesn't get as much pub because, well, Jeff just isn't that good.

In his third season with Illinois, young Jordan averages 1.7 points a game! No, this time that's not a typo.

Jeff looks nothing like his father. Jeff is listed at 6-1 (he might be 6 ft), obviously doesn't have his father's game.

But when it comes to ups, you can easily understand where the boy came from.

I watched the Illini during pregame warmups. At one point, the team shows off to the Illinois faithful by attempting crazy dunks. This video is of young Jeff and it's pretty cool to watch. The dude's eyes get above the rim.

Enjoy.

Not Quite the Picture the Dolphins Drew

After watching the legend of Drew Brees grow to astronomical proportions, this past season may have been one of the worst for fans of the Miami Dolphins.

In the last couple of weeks, it has been well documented the Dolphins passed on Brees for one Daunte Culpepper.

After going 9-7 in 2005, the Dolphins' missing piece to a championship was the quarterback position. Miami passed on Brees in favor of Culpepper. Both players were coming off of serious injuries. Nick Saban felt Brees' shoulder was a career threatening injury so made the fateful decision to go with Culpepper.

Culpepper was coming off the 2005 season having started only 7 games and throwing 6 TDs to 12 INTs. Brees was coming off another consistent solid year.

At the start of the 2006 season, the Dolphins were 10-1 favorites to win the Super Bowl. However Culpepper didn't pan out to be the stud that Drew Brees eventually became.

Culpepper went 1-3 for the Dolphins in 2006.

Nick Saban did his patented vanishing trick and left the Dolphins and the entire franchise in shambles.

Of course this led to the disastrous 1-15 2007 train wreck.

Could you imagine if the Miami had taken Brees prior to the 2006 season? Brees would have been surrounded by talent such as the likes of Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams, Chris Chambers, Wes Welker and Randy McMichael. Oh! That hurts!

As the new decade begins, Nick Saban wins a National Championship in January. And now in February, Drew Brees becomes the face of the NFL and the savior of New Orleans.

On the positive side, this past season the Dolphins played both the Colts and Saints. Both games were played on the Miami's home field, yes the same site as the Super Bowl, and the Dolphins had a legitimate shot of defeating both Super Bowl teams.

In Week 2, Miami lost to the Colts on Monday Night 27-23. The Dolphins had a chance at the end but Chad Pennington was intercepted in the end zone as time expired. Miami seemingly dominated the game as their offense had the ball for 45:07!

Fast forward to Week 7 against the Saints. New Orleans overcame a 21 point deficit to remain unbeaten.

For a Miami Dolphins fan, something positive to take away from the Super Bowl is the fact Miami had both Super Bowl teams up against the ropes but couldn't deliver the knock out punch. The Dolphins just seem to be missing one piece to a championship team, a quarterback. Someone like, uh, maybe Drew Brees.