UK-WKU `makes sense' for both schools

Posted at 6:14 p.m. EDT - Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- When Western Kentucky Athletics Director Wood Selig figuratively "camped out on Mitch (Barnhart's) doorstep one weekend," looking for a game, he might as well have brought Howie Mandel with him.

Deal, or no deal?

That, after two years of pleading and persuasive negotiations on WKU's part, was what UK's athletics director was faced when Selig proposed a series with UK, beginning with Western's inaugural season in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-A).

But what was probably running through Barnhart's mind was, "What's in it for UK?"

That answer proved to be easy.

Barnhart and Selig, along with UK head coach Rich Brooks, WKU head coach David Elson and Scott Ramsey, president and CEO of the Nashville Sports Council, announced a four-game football series during the 2010-13 seasons.

The Wildcats will host the Hilltoppers at Commonwealth Stadium in 2010 (Sept. 11) and 2012 (Sept. 15). The teams will clash at LP Field - home of UK's 2006 and 2007 Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl wins and the Tennessee Titans - in 2011 and 2013. WKU will serve as the home team in Nashville.

The announcement came at 1 p.m. EDT at LP Field in Nashville.   

As Selig said and Barnhart later echoed, "It just makes sense."

From a Western Kentucky standpoint, it's pretty obvious why Selig was knocking on Barnhart's door for the better part of two years. Besides the geographical logistics and the $500,000 guarantee WKU will receive when it plays at Commonwealth Stadium, it offers the program a chance to test its muscles against a quality non-conference opponent in its first year with the big boys.

"It's just one of the things that comes with the move we made to be a I-A member in the Football Bowl Subdivision," Elson said. "It gives us an opportunity, because we never had the opportunity to ever do this before. It's another added benefit. ... It's something that can really help us in every aspect we're trying to do from recruiting to national recognition and so on and so forth."

From the outside looking in, it looks like UK is doing WKU a favor (both Selig and Elson credited Barnhart and Brooks for making the deal happen), but it's a win-win situation for both.

For one, the game alleviates any schedule concerns UK had over the next few years. The Cats had a hole in their schedule through 2013. With it, UK is "in pretty good shape," through about 2013, Barnhart said.

"Scheduling is getting remarkably difficult out of conference," Barnhart said. "The cost of games and travel is at a very high end now, so regionalizing your schedule to a degree helps. The ability to secure a series where everyone knows what to expect is very helpful, and I think you've got to consider your fans in today's world. If you truly want to involve your fan bases, you've got to make it so they can get around and get to the games."

With a changing marketplace and a harder schedule process, Barnhart was faced with a dilemma to bring in money while providing the fans with a quality experience and opponent.

He found one in the UK-WKU series.

Playing in a pro stadium in a familiar city gives fans another opportunity to enjoy the amenities of a city UK has already had success in and a place UK knows its fans will come to enjoy. There's little doubt that Cat fans will pack LP Field in 2011 and 2013 because of its familiarity, its geographical proximity and the fact that it falls on Labor Day weekend.

In turn, that will create some revenue that the school could have potentially lost by losing a home game in those two years. Music City Bowl Inc., and WKU will receive the majority of revenue from the game in Nashville, but UK will have a large cut as well from the back end profits of filling half of the 68,000-seat LP Field.

"As we look at things, if we were going to give up home games, how do we replace that in our budget and in our revenue stream?" Barnhart said. "For us to go away from that opportunity, we need to have something sort of whole financially. This gives us an opportunity to do that."

And what money can't buy is the chance to market and sell your team to part of the state that maybe doesn't get to see them as much. Playing in Nashville offers fans in the southern part of the state and down into Tennessee a chance to watch UK, not to mention it brings more exposure to the far corners of the state and even into enemy territory.

"The exposure is in an area that is also a fertile recruiting area," Brooks said. "It's an opportunity in an away game that a lot of fans that maybe can't get season tickets are readily accessible to get to a one-game road game that they wouldn't otherwise be able to travel to, so I think it's huge. I think it's an opportunity to get a larger crowd because of the size of the stadium because both fan bases are within striking distance of Nashville, and it's a good place to come."

It just makes sense. 

Early returns from Nashville

Posted at 2:00 p.m. EDT - Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

NASHVILLE, Ky. -- UK and Western Kentucky just announced the four-year football deal between the schools in Nashville, Tenn. We're about to eat lunch and hop back on a plane for Lexington so I only have a few minutes to provide some bare bone facts. I'll have more later this afternoon/evening once I arrive.

• The teams will alternate home sites. UK will host in 2010 and 2012 at Commonwealth Stadium and Western Kentucky will serve as the home team in 2011 and 2013 at LP Field in Nashville, where the Cats won the 2006 and 2007 Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowls.

• The tickets will be split 50-50 when the game is in Nashville. UK will keep its normal ticket allotment when WKU comes to Commonwealth Stadium and UK will pay Western Kentucky $500,000.

• The deal "just makes sense," as both athletic directors alluded to at the news conference. As WKU moves to Division I-A, it's obviously a boost in exposure for Western and an opportunity to play an established and successful Football Bowl Subdivision opponent.

• To the outsider it appears like the deal benefits Western more, but Kentucky will get prime exposure in the southern part of the state and into Tennessee. When the game is in Nashville, it's in a place that UK fans across the state can get to, not to mention it's been a successful home to UK fans in the previous two bowl games.

• Rich Brooks on playing in Nashville: "The exposure is in an area that is also a fertile recruiting area. It's an opportunity in an away game that a lot of fans that maybe can't get season tickets are readily accessible to get to a one-game road game that they wouldn't otherwise be able to travel to, so I think it's huge. I think it's an opportunity to get a larger crowd because of the size of the stadium because both fan bases are within striking distance of Nashville, and it's a good place to come."

• UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart said this game alleviates schedule concerns over the next few years. He said UK is "in pretty good shape through about 2013."

• The games in Commonwealth Stadium will be Sept. 11 in 2010 and Sept. 15 in 2012.

Official Twitter accounts

Posted at 9:33 a.m. EDT - Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

Ask and you shall receive.

Many of you have asked about an official list of Twitter accounts from the UK staff and student-athletes. Well, UK finally has one for you, albeit a work in progress.

If you haven't already seen, UK now has an official Twitter page full of the official Twitter accounts of UK's student-athletes and coaches.

The Twitter accounts are the actual Twitter addresses of the UK teams, staff and student-athletes, as verified by the University of Kentucky media relations department. They are official Twitter accounts for each player and coach, but they are not endorsed by the University of Kentucky.

If a Twitter account does not appear on the list, it has not been verified as the actual Twitter account of a coach or student-athlete.

So what does all that mean?

It's basically a list of the people we know for sure have a Twitter account and play or work for UK. Now is it all of the Twitter accounts at UK Athletics? Certainly not, because the team's coach has to allow its players to post their names on this site, plus the student-athletes have to give us permission to use their name.

But what this list will tell you is who is for sure the real Patrick Patterson on Twitter or the real Ramon Harris. Any confusion as to who the real John Wall is (Wall has told us he does not have a Twitter account) should clear up that problem just a bit.

The list will be constantly updated as we learn more names and will include only current student-athletes and coaches. We're hoping to add more players as the year goes on, but that's all pending the respective coach's and player's approval.

Morning Coffee

Posted at 9:17 a.m. EDT - Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

I'm headed to Nashville, Tenn., in just a little bit for a special football announcement, but the live blog with Mike Hartline and Zipp Duncan will go on today at noon as scheduled. The UK media relations staff will pick up the slack in my absence and take over the live blog for me today. I'll check back in later this afternoon with a report from Nashville.

Not a whole lot of major headlines in the UK world, so we'll break this morning down into quick hits around Big Blue Nation. Given the time of the year, I guess it's only fitting that it's all football.

PLEASING THE RIGHT PEOPLE: Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive praises Rich Brooks in this Q and A with Larry Vaught from the Danville Advocate-Messenger.

"He is a good coach," Slive said, according to Vaught's Q and A. "He's a very good coach. He knows and understands football and the game. He understands administration. It is a trite phrase, but he is the full package."

JARMON INKS DEAL: Congrats again to former UK defensive end Jeremy Jarmon, who signed a contract with the Washington Redskins on Tuesday. Just weeks after the Redskins tabbed Jarmon with a third-round Supplemental Draft pick, the organization signed Jarmon to a reported four-year deal.

FRESH FACES: ESPN's Chris Low breaks down the fresh faces on the UK football team. Low looks at defensive tackle Mark Crawford, defensive end DeQuin Evans and wide receiver Chris Matthews.

'FUNNY PEOPLE' LIKE UK: Comedian Adam Sandler dons a Kentucky T-shirt in his newest movie, "Funny People." According the Lexington Herald-Leader story, though, Sandler isn't really a UK fan. The shirt was a "character-related choice," Nancy Steiner, a costume designer for the film, told the Herald-Leader.

Believe it or not, Mike Hartline returns as one of the veteran quarterbacks of the SEC.

SEC HIGHLIGHT - CONFERENCE LIGHT ON QBs: We've already discussed it a little bit on here, but Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal takes a closer look at the lack of star power at the quarterback position in the SEC.

In terms of experience, the league starts and stops with Florida's Tim Tebow and Ole Miss' Jevan Snead.

No disrespect to Kentucky's own Mike Hartline and South Carolina's Stephen Garcia, but the fact that they were chosen to the preseason All-SEC third team speaks volumes of the returning experience in the league.

What the lack of quarterback in-game training means is that Florida and Ole Miss are the obvious favorites to win the league. The quarterback position is the most important position on the field, and as the guy under center goes, so does the rest of the team.

It also means that the league is wide open. Who can step up at the quarterback position could separate what appears to be a clouded SEC picture.

What if Hartline comes out and does what André Woodson was able to do his junior year? That could be enough to put UK over the top in 2009. Maybe it's optimistic thinking, but there is no doubt that the quarterback position will be a difference maker in the SEC this season. Will Hartline be the difference?    

NATIONAL HIGHLIGHT - IT'S FINALLY OVER: YES! YES! YES! The Brett Favre saga is finally - finally! - over. The Star Tribune was the first to report Tuesday that Favre would not join the Minnesota Vikings and would remain retired. The phone call to Vikings' head coach Brad Childress ends months, er, years of the on-again, off-again Favre retirement speculation. Favre told ESPN's Ed Werder that he could no longer play at a level that was physically acceptable.

As excited as I sound for Favre to retire, it's meant as no ill will toward the future Hall of Fame quarterback. He is one of the all-time best - if not the best - and I, as will everybody that had the chance to watch him, appreciate the years of unbelievable football, courage and entertainment he provided us. (Favre's top 10 moments.)

But I think I speak for everyone when I say it's about time the Favre saga ended. The Green Bay Packers icon held the NFL hostage for three years as he mulled over his final years as an NFL quarterback. Last year's nasty parting with the Packers, subsequent retirement and then un-retirement was as big of an overhyped ESPN media circus as I've ever seen. This summer it forced me to skip over ESPN and NFL Live on purpose. Maybe, just maybe, I can finally turn back on the Worldwide Leader in Sports.

Favre's career will go down as one of the all-time greats. He'll be mentioned with Dan Marino, John Elway and Joe Montana. But will the retirement episode of the last few seasons tarnish an otherwise magnificent career? While no one can imagine what Favre had to mentally battle through over the last few years, his latest decision is certainly a punch in the gut to the Vikings.

I'm sorry, Minnesota, but it's my great pleasure to finally rejoice in the most overplayed media story in recent memory. Brett Favre is finally retired.

Ah, who am I kidding? Never say never with Brett Favre.