Mid-Summer Notes...

Gomez here...

After a brief, unseasonably cool break for a few days last week, Kentucky's weather has returned to what we should all expect for July: hot, sticky and nasty. Its during afternoons like this that make the football and basketball seasons seem like they're still centuries away, but in reality, we're edging ever so closely to both.

First in line is the football season. All indications are that Joker's putting together all the pieces for another decent season. While we shouldn't expect a BCS bowl bid or anything, it seems quite possible that Kentucky could play their way into a fifth straight bowl appearance.

The schedule certainly looks to be in favor of this. The season kicks off with three very winnable games: at Louisville and WKU and Akron at home, with Louisville being the toughest of the three. The road gets a bit tougher after that with road games at Florida and Ole Miss to start the SEC conference games.

Then there's a crucial three game homestand against Auburn, Georgia and South Carolina. This little three game stint could be the determing factor as to what kind of season we can expect from our boys in blue. If the Cats could win two of three, then Joker's first season would most likely be considered a major sucess. After that homestand, there's a four game swing to wrap up the season, and all four are winnable games: At Mississippi State, Charleston Southern and Vandy at home, and then the annual regular season finale against Tennessee in Knoxville.

Trying to predict what record the Wildcats will eventually compile is nearly impossible and often serves as a receipe for extreme frustration. I say this because Kentucky almost always wins some games they should lose, while losing at least one or two games they could have (and probably should have) won. If that holds true, its difficult to say what the final record will be. I'm going to guess 7-5, but who really knows? Not me.

However, with all that said, there's always the possibility of a break-out season. One of these years, the stars are going to align, and we're going to win the games we should, while stealing all the evenly matched toss-ups, and win at least one big shocker, which would all work together to produce the coming out type season all of us have been waiting patiently for. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this year will be that type of season. You never know. It could happen.

Meanwhile, the tip-off to the basketball season is a bit further away. Still, it'll be Midnight Madness again before you know it, and there's plenty to be excited about. Sure, we lost a record five players to the first round of the NBA draft, but Cal has quickly reloaded. When the smoke clears and the dust settles, I think Kentucky could be just as good on the hardwood this season, and possibly even better by the time March rolls around. Considering our boys went 35-3 last season, won the SEC regular season and tournament titles and eventually advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA tourney, that's a pretty bold statement. Still, all the pieces are in place, and Cal is the best in the business at dealing with roster churn. Color me optimistic.

I guess our only concern should be whether or not there's any truth to the TMZ report last week that suggested the NCAA was in the early stages of an investigation of the UK program. So far, there's been little information to come out since that announcement, so if you're reading this, you know about as much as any of us here.

To be honest, this sort of thing should be expected as long as Cal is at UK. No, I don't think he's as dirty as some make him out to be, but he's going to bring in "the best of the best" and they'll often be "one and done" and quickly off to the NBA. Those kind of kids, while they might be smart and kind at heart, are still kids and are prone to make silly mistakes, as they dream of million dollar pay checks and big shoe contracts. In other words, its completely conceivable that any of them could take gifts or make illegal agreements with potential agents, no matter how careful Cal and his staff instruct them to be.

Again, its just the nature of the beast right now, and for whatever reason, Cal seems to have the bulls-eye on his back while other coaches get the free pass. Austin covered this yesterday and if you haven't read his article, you should scroll down a bit and take a few minutes to do so. Its good stuff and worth your time. What else are you going to do? Go outside and melt?

With that said, I'd rather take my chances with the best of the best instead of trying to win with no name talent that are undeserving to where the UK uniform. We just gotta hope that we stay clean and that the kids we recruit make the right decisions in the face of extreme temptation.

At any rate, as the temperature rises and the summer wanes on, there's plenty of stuff to be excited about as we anxiously await the return of the Wildcats this fall.

That's all for now. Stay cool.