Report: NCAA President Myles Brand dies of cancer

Posted at 5:11 p.m. EDT - Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

NCAA President Myles Brand died Wednesday afternoon following a 10-month battle with pancreatic cancer, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Brand, the NCAA's head man since 2003, announced in January that he had pancreatic cancer.

Brand, 67, was the first university president to head the NCAA. He formerly served as Indiana University's president.

The link above will take you to the full story. From everyone at UK Athletics, our thoughts and prayers are with Brand's family and friends.

 

Live blogs tonight

Posted at 4:04 p.m. EDT - Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

We'll have a pair of live blogs going on at 7 tonight for the men's soccer game against Alabama A&M and volleyball team's match against Louisville in the Derby City. The live chats will be on the respective home team pages. Direct links below will take you there.

Kentucky-Alabama A&M live soccer blog

Kentucky-Louisville live volleyball blog  

 

Rich Brooks on the SEC teleconference

Rich Brooks is seeking his third straight win against U of L.

 

Posted at 2:54 p.m. EDT - Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

 

Can you comment a little bit on how you divide your time on the practice field?

"I kind of roam and go sometimes with the offense, sometimes with the defense, sometimes with the line when they're pass blocking and just rove all over really. I'm kind of on hands during the kicking periods, which we have two during practice."

 

What have you done this week to guard against being overconfident going into the game with Louisville?

"I don't know how we could be overconfident since we really haven't done a lot yet this year. We were able to beat an out-manned opponent in our first game, but all of a sudden the stakes are going to get higher. Anytime you play an archrival, an in-state rival, the emotions are going to run high, and we have to continue to get better as a football team, so that's what I've continued to try to stress."

As college football has become more big business, do you feel like fans have felt like they have more of a right to boo now?

"I think that fans are less patient than they used to be. Everything is gratification and satisfaction now. They expect their teams to play well. I think that the one thing that I have seen rise probably since I've been here, going into my seventh year, is they are more likely to attack players on their call-in shows, on blogs and on the Internet than they used to be. They've always had words for coaching and coaches, but now it's spilled over to players, which at this level I think is wrong."

 

Do you think that's wrong because they're 18- and 19-year-old kids or because the game is still for amateurs?

"I think both of those things. We've got a group of young men, that some of them are playing as freshmen, some are playing as redshirt freshmen. Whether or not the fans want to believe it or not, these kids are out there trying to do the best they can and sometimes their talent level may not be equal to their recruiting stars and that often makes it very difficult for young men. When they come in with high expectations, the criticism starts flowing quickly. The recruiting evaluations have proven that sometimes they can be very, very wrong."

 

How did you use this bye week to prepare for a big in-state rivalry?

"Initially, a week ago, we spent a lot of our time working on the mistakes we made in the first game, trying to make sure we improve as a football team before we started focusing on game plan stuff, which we did some last week and started in earnest on Sunday in a longer Sunday practice than we usually have. The preparation is a little extended. I would guess that instead of having another full week of preparation for the opponent, we got maybe another day and a half preparation while the rest of the time was spent trying to get better as a football team and fix us rather than who we are playing."

You're in your seventh year as a head coach. Talk about the difference from those first few years. I know you lost some scholarships due to the probation years, but it seems like you dealt with a lot of season-ending injuries, too. At times it appeared you barely had enough to even play.

"We were down on numbers, and unfortunately during those early years, we played some people - because they were the best players we had - maybe before they were ready to play in this league at this level and that probably increased injury risk because they weren't as strong or as big as they needed to be. Recently we haven't had to do that, plus we have better athletes and it seems like the better athlete you get the few injuries you accumulate. There is always that bad year when nothing goes right, but fortunately, recently, we haven't had one of those kinds and I hope this year isn't it. I just think the atmosphere has changed pretty dramatically. More people are positive. We still have negative fans who want us to win more SEC games like we all do, but the fact that we've been able to win three straight seasons in a row, which doesn't happen around here very often, win three (straight) bowl games, which has never happened here, and now we have an opportunity to do it a fourth year in a row. I think most people that understand the football that preceded me here feel pretty good about the program."

 

Report: Lanxter out for Louisville game

Posted at 11:53 a.m. EDT - Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

Didn't make it out to football practice this morning, but the incomparable Matt May from The Cats' Pause tweeted out an updated injury report.

It appears that wide receiver Kyrus Lanxter is out of the Louisville game with a hamstring injury. Cartier Rice, who has a hip flexor, is slated to play Saturday.

Head coach Rich Brooks just tweeted that offensive lineman Jake Lanefski injured his thumb and could not finish practice Wednesday. He said he's hopeful Lanefski can play in a cast Saturday.

 

Just get here already

Posted at 11:36 a.m. EDT - Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

This week seems to be just dragging by as we await the much-anticipated UK-Louisville Governor's Cup on Saturday. Surprisingly, it's a been a kind of slow news week with the annual rivalry game on the horizon, but to pass the time, I've compiled a list of all the UK-Louisville stories from this week, as well the two defining plays for the last two UK victories. Enjoy.

 

 

Lexington Herald-Leader

John Clay writes that U of L presents some fear factors

Chip Cosby says that the Cats' D-line must jell without Jarmon

Mark Maloney reports that two Cards relish return to Lexington as underdogs

Losses to UK stick with Cards' Kragthorpe, also from Maloney

Cosby writes that Lumpkin has lived both sides of rivalry

Mark Story hands out a Governor's Cup quiz

Cosby's feature on Kentucky's stable of running backs

Cosby also has the scoop on Jorge Gonzalez, who is still waiting for his opener

 

Courier-Journal

Columnist Eric Crawford writes that the Governor's Cup is losing its luster

Jody Demling on the longer U of L defensive line

Beat reporter Brett Dawson reports that the UK staff challenges defense to step up

C.L. Brown says the Cards won't name their kicker until Thursday

Dawson writes that low kickoffs make for his stress for Brooks

 

The Cats' Pause

Matt May reports that Cats, Cards set for Governor's Cup Battle

Video of Brooks talking about the rivarly game

 

Vaught's Views (Larry Vaught)

Rivalry special for Peter, Jeffries

Evans wants to show he can make plays

Lumpkin knows plenty about rivalry     

Brooks knows how big Louisville game is

 

On Thursday, I'll post the weekly scouting report on UK's opponent, so watch out for that.