Kentucky again to challenge for NCAA Basketball National Championship

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Bad News for UK Haters

What we learned from Kentucky's first exhibition against Ottawa

By Justin_Hodges  @justin_hodges22 on Nov 2, 2015, 9:36p

Kentucky looked about as impressive as a team could in an exhibition opener.

Basketball season is back, folks!

Your Kentucky Wildcats took the floor against Ottawa University for their first game of the season tonight and put on an excellent performance, winning the game 117-58. Deeper than the score, let's dive into some of the aspects we learned about this brand new Kentucky team.

These boys are hungry

If we saw one thing out of these kids tonight, it is that these Wildcats play with energy, unselfishness and effort. They've shown a will to learn and a hunger to become better. Most kids come into Kentucky with a set of skills that they use effectively. These kids seem to be different; they allow Cal to work on them and learn to play ways that Cal knows will help them win basketball games.

Jamal Murray is well deserving of #23

You can remember at the UK-UNC alumni game, Anthony Davis went over to John Calipari and said, "you let him have 23?!?!" about Jamal Murray. Cal responded with, "your number ain't retired yet! I hope he's better than you so we can retire his instead of yours." Now, is anybody ever going to be as good as Anthony Davis was at Kentucky? Likely not, but Jamal Murray looked excellent tonight. Tallying up 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists at halftime, Murray finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists for a near triple double.

Cal is looking rather spry

Over the years, it's been noticeable how much the stress of leading Kentucky can have on a person. Lately, we've seen Cal growing gray hair, showing those aging aspects. Today, he looked a little different. A full head of black Italian hair, a lot of energy, turning the clock back a little bit, probably because this is the most fun he's ever had with a basketball team. Cal has guys that play to the same style he loves for really the first time in his career. Cal always preaches for his kids to have fun; it's nice to see the ol' coach having a little fun himself.

The guards will get to the rim

Coach Calipari loves for his players to get to the rim, especially his backcourt players. Over the years, Cal has had mostly guards that do work outside of the paint. Not this group of kids; Tyler Ulis, Isaiah Briscoe and Jamal Murray love attacking the rim and are so good when they get there. With 66 points in the paint, 26 fast break points and 32 assists tonight, this has the looking of a team that is absolutely perfect for Calipari's scheme. That is scary to think about.

Alex still isn't all the way back

As we thought would be the case, senior forward Alex Poythress clearly isn't all the way back from his ACL rehab. Anytime you're dealing with a ligament tear, it's going to be a long road to recovery, and while Poythress showed flashes of his beastly self, it was clear he's not all the way back yet.

That's also why junior Marcus Lee got the start at the 4 spot over Poythress. It may end being where Poythress coming off the bench as the sixth man is best for this team, and as long as Poythress gets back to 100%, this will be a true championship contender.

Different team, same fundamentals

A lot of new faces are coming into Kentucky this year, but tonight's game made it appear evident that it's going to be a lot of the same fundamentals as it always is in Lexington moving forward. Kentucky's going to play stout defense, garnering 9 blocks, 10 steals and holding the opponent to 26%FG shooting.  They're going to throw lobs and slam them as Marcus Lee and Skal Labissiere did numerous times tonight. They're also going to stretch it behind the three point line, going 12-22 from range today with Tyler and Murray making 4 each. The bench is going to deep as well, just like last year; the bench unit provided 39 points today.

Overall, a great first performance by your Kentucky Wildcats. This team looks like it's going to be very good in hopes for our ninth national title.

Kentucky Wildcats Basketball No. 1 in Preseason Top 25 Poll

By Jason Marcum  @marcum89 on Sep 7, 2015, 

The Kentucky Wildcats will likely once again have one of the best teams in college basketball when the upcoming season begins.

While the 2015-16 season doesn't open for another two months, UK is already having high expectations placed upon them with top-five rankings in just about every preseason poll you'll find. That's the case with Athlon Sports, who have the Cats No. 1 in their preseason top 25:

The Wildcats might not challenge 40-0 again, but Tyler Ulis, Skal Labissiere and Jamal Murray should contend for the Final Four.

Here is the entire Athlon Sports 2015-16 College Basketball Preseason Top 25:

1 Kentucky

2 Duke

3 North Carolina

4 Maryland

5 Virginia

6 Kansas

7 Iowa State

8 Arizona

9 Oklahoma.

10 Villanova

11 Gonzaga

12 Michigan State

13 Cal

14 Wichita State

15 Vanderbilt

16 Purdue

17 Indiana

18 UConn

19 Wisconsin

20 Butler

21 Oregon

22 Michigan

23 Louisville

24 SMU

25 Texas A&M

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NASA Brings Star Wars to reality with secret EM Drive Thruster - Warp Speed Breakthrough

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Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens to premiere December 18 while NASA cracks secret to interstellar space travel in labs!

 

NASA tests WARP DRIVE capable of blasting ships from Earth to the Moon in just FOUR hours

NASA is believed to be testing a Warp Drive which could one day blast a manned spaceship FASTER than the speed of light.

Tue, Nov 3, 2015, 10:31AM EST -

In a new round of testing, NASA confirms yet again that the 'impossible' EMdrive thruster works

By Rick Stella 

Engineer Roger Shawyer’s controversial EM Drive thruster jets back into relevancy this week, as a team of researchers at NASA’s Eagleworks Laboratories recently completed yet another round of testing on the seemingly impossible tech. Though no official peer-reviewed lab paper has been published yet, and NASA institutes strict press release restrictions on the Eagleworks lab these days, engineer Paul March took to the NASA Spaceflight forum to explain the group’s findings. In essence, by utilizing an improved experimental procedure, the team managed to mitigate some of the errors from prior tests — yet still found signals of unexplained thrust.

Isaac Newton should be sweating.

Flying in the face of traditional laws of physics, the EM Drive makes use of a magnetron and microwaves to create a propellantless propulsion system. By pushing microwaves into a closed, truncated cone and back towards the small end of said cone, the drive creates the momentum and force necessary to propel a craft forward. Because the system is a reactionless drive, it goes against humankind’s fundamental comprehension of physics, hence its controversial nature.

On the NASA spaceflight forums, March revealed as much as he could about the advancements that have been made with EM Drive and its relative technology. After apologizing for not having the ability to share pictures or the supporting data from a peer-reviewed lab paper, he starts by explaining (as straightforward as rocket science can get) that the Eagleworks lab successfully built and installed a 2nd generation magnetic damper which helps reduce stray magnetic fields in a vacuum chamber. The addition reduced magnetic fields by an order of magnitude inside the chamber, and also decreased Lorentz force interactions.

However, despite ruling out Lorentz forces almost entirely, March still reported a contamination caused by thermal expansion. Unfortunately, this reported contamination proves even worse in a vacuum (i.e. outer space) due in large part to its inherently high level of insulation. To combat this, March acknowledged the team is now developing an advanced analytics tool to assist in the separation of the contamination, as well as an integrated test which aims to alleviate thermally induced errors altogether.

While these advancements and additions are no doubt a boon for continued research of the EM Drive, the fact that the machine still produced what March calls “anomalous thrust signals” is by far the test’s single biggest discovery. The reason why this thrust exists still confounds even the brightest rocket scientists in the world, but the recurring phenomenon of direction-based momentum does make the EM Drive appear less a combination of errors and more like a legitimate answer to interstellar travel.

At this time, it’s unknown when Eagleworks Laboratories intends to officially publish its peer-reviewed paper, however, hearing of the EM Drive’s advancements from one of its top engineers bodes well for the future of this fascinating tech.
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American Pharoah wins Breeders' Cup Classic by 6½ lengths in last race

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ESPN News

Associated Press October 31, 2015

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Hail and farewell, American Pharoah.

The Triple Crown champion won the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic by 6½ lengths Saturday, taking charge out of the gate in his final race before retirement.

The 3-year-old colt ran 1¼ miles in a track-record 2:00.07 as the sentimental 3-5 favorite among the crowd of 50,155 at Keeneland. Fans stood 20-deep all along the rail, cheering and snapping cellphone photos of the superstar horse and jockey Victor Espinoza.

Except American Pharoah didn't hear them. He wears ear plugs to muffle any sounds that might startle him.

"This was for Pharoah," trainer Bob Baffert said. "We wanted him to go out the champion he is."
American Pharoah took on seven rivals after Smooth Roller and champion mare Beholder dropped out. Beholder had the speed and the class to potentially make the race a contest, but a lung ailment sidelined her on Thursday.

It probably didn't matter how many faced American Pharoah on a cloudy, cool day in the cradle of American horse country.

He smashed the old track record of 2:05.36 by more than five seconds.

"The winner is one of the most amazing things I've seen," said Irishman Aidan O'Brien, who trained last-place Gleneagles.

It was a feel-good moment for a sport that has been battered and bruised -- all the troubles of declining attendance and drug controversies were wiped away in two magical minutes.

"It's a horse racing fairy tale and I just happen to be in it," Baffert said.

American Pharoah was moving easily under Espinoza, keeping Effinex a length back in second for the first half-mile. Effinex was never a threat, though, and American Pharoah extended his lead to 3½ lengths turning for home.

"I was trying to open it up as much as I can," Espinoza said. "I saw the wire maybe 20 yards [away], and for me it was not coming fast enough because I want to cross that wire and get it over with."

After easing across the finish line, Espinoza took the colt far up the first turn before slowly walking past the grandstand to the winner's circle, accompanied by raucous cheers all the way. The champion even had his own military escort walk him back to his barn.

The fans knew they had just witnessed history, the final chapter in a story that may never be repeated.

Victor Espinoza rode Triple Crown winner American Pharoah to a $5 million victory in Saturday's Breeders' Cup Classic, the final race of the horse's historic career. Pharoah topped the old track record of 2:05.36 by more than five seconds. Richard Mackson/USA TODAY Sports

American Pharoah put an exclamation point on a brilliant career in which he lost just twice -- in his debut last year at Del Mar and again in the Travers on Aug. 29.

In the Classic, he paid $3.40, $3 and $2.40. The win, place and show pool wagered on the race was $8,269,736.

Effinex, a 33-1 shot, returned $14.20 and $6.60. Honor Code was another 4½ lengths back in third and paid $3.40 to show.

Keen Ice, who vanquished him at Saratoga, finished fourth in the Classic. Tonalist, the 2014 Belmont winner, was fifth, followed by Hard Aces, Frosted and Ireland-bred Gleneagles.

Frosted unexpectedly pressed American Pharoah on the lead in the Travers, leaving him vulnerable to the rally by Keen Ice.

This time, no one could keep up with the champ.

"It's a lot of pressure to train a horse like this because I didn't want to let the horse down and I didn't want to let the fans down," Baffert said. "I'm just so proud of him; it's like watching my child out there."

American Pharoah won nine of his 11 career starts, including the first sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont in 37 years this spring. He earned a total of $8,650,300 for Ahmed Zayat, the Egyptian-born owner who chose to keep his popular horse in training so fans could see him run.
"We wanted him to go out as a winner," Zayat said. "He is a winner."

American Pharoah had already ensured his place in history by ending the Triple Crown drought. He won the Derby by a length and then easily handled a sloppy track in the Preakness to win by seven lengths. In the Belmont, he led all the way en route to a dominating 5½-length victory.

After winning the Haskell Invitational in early August in Zayat's home state of New Jersey, American Pharoah took his show to upstate New York to run in the Travers. His loss by three-quarters of a length raised the question of whether he had peaked, and an emotional Zayat considered retiring him.

But the colt went back to his Southern California base with Baffert and regrouped. He quickly showed he was regaining his old form in training, in between entertaining visitors from children to Julia Roberts alike at his Santa Anita barn.

In a sport rife with jealousy, Baffert earned kudos from his rival trainers for how he handled the horse. Fellow Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas popped into the post-race news conference to congratulate Baffert.

"I knew he'd break their heart at the half-mile pole, and he did it," Lukas said. "You had him ready. On behalf of every trainer who gets up and tries to make a living, I want to congratulate you."

American Pharoah was a remarkable blend of exceptional talent and a winning personality. Unlike most high-strung, unpredictable thoroughbreds, he was friendly and patient with fans who wanted to pet and pose with him.

"The kindest, friendliest, happiest, easiest, most brilliant horse I've ever seen in my life," Zayat said. "He connected with people. He loves people. I knew he got it."

Next up for American Pharoah is a new career as a breeding stallion at a farm in Kentucky bluegrass country near Keeneland.

"It's going to be sad to see him go," Baffert said. "But I think he's done enough. He's proved enough."
Turning to his 10-year-old son Bode, the trainer said: "We're going to miss him, aren't we, buddy?"

Triple Crown's Lasting Legacy

American Pharoah followed in the steps of these four Triple Crown predecessors by winning the final event of his racing career in Saturday's Breeders' Cup Classic.

American Pharoah 2015

Affirmed 1978

Seattle Slew 1977

Secretariat 1973

Citation 1948
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Kansas City Royals take World Series - gain redemption for 2014 loss!

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The Royals stunned the Mets by scoring two runs in the ninth inning to send the game into extra innings, then devastating the Mets with a five run explosion in the 12th inning.  Just when it looked like there was magic in the air for the Royals, there was.

Here is an exceptional account of the magical run by the Royals by Bob Nightengale from USA Today Sports.

KC Power and Light Mall

Nightengale: Royals find fitting end to World Series title

Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK — The Kansas City Royals, their bodies drenched in champagne, and joyful tears in their eyes, had a simple question Sunday for everyone not wearing a uniform, and crashing their celebration.

Ok, now do you believe?

The Royals, who a year ago refused to take a gamble and were left 90 feet away from a World Series championship, this time doubled down, took the riskiest of risks, and seized that 90 feet.

Eric Hosmer’s daring dash for home in the ninth inning will be the defining moment of their World Series championship, stunning the New York Mets, 7-2, in 12 innings, and capturing their first championship in 30 years.

The Royals, the team that refused to go away, defying the greatest odds night after night this postseason, will go down as one of the most relentless teams of this generation.

The way it ended last year, with everything that happened,’’ Hosmer said, “it was such a magical run. You knew it couldn’t end like that. The ending of that story had to be way better than losing Game 7.

“Just to have the opportunity to come back with the same core group of guys, and have another chance to compete for a world championship is special in itself.

“We believed in each other, and we definitely made the most out of the opportunity.

Kansas City Royals, manager Ned Yost

“We refused to quit.’’

Oh, how they were relentless.

Four times the Royals trailed in the eighth inning or later in this World Series, and three times they won.

The Royals had eight comeback victories this postseason, including seven times they trailed by two or more runs, setting another record.

Salvador Perez Named 2015 World Series MVP

They scored 40 runs in the eighth inning or later. No one else produced more than five.

 “They were as determined a group as I’ve ever seen,’’ Royals manager Ned Yost said. “They were going to get back and they were going to finish the deal this time. So from Day 1 there was no doubt in my mind that they wouldn’t accomplish it.

“And the cool thing about this team is everything these guys set out to accomplish, they did.

“They wanted to win the division. They won it by 11 games. They wanted to win home-field advantage for the playoffs. They did.

“They wanted to win the World Series.’’

Yep, they did that too.

This night was the most glorious of all their comebacks, starting in the ninth inning against ace Matt Harvey, when Mets manager Terry Collins had his Grady Little moment. They tied it with a two-out daredevil dash by Eric Hosmer. And won it in the 12th when a guy drafted three spots ahead of Harvey, Christian Colon, gets the go-ahead hit with his first plate appearance of the entire postseason.

“I think we had some angels on our side,’’ said Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas, one of three Royals’ players who lost a parent in the last two months. “We knew the only way to get rid of last year’s feeling, was to go out there and finish the deal.’’

Oh, how they did just that.

The Royals were shut out for eight innings. They were losing 2-0. They had only four hits. And just three baserunners since the third inning.

“Harvey pitched unbelievably,’’ Yost said, “but it never entered my mind that we were not going to score two or three runs and take the lead at that point.’’

The sell-out crowd at Citi Field chanting his name, Harvey talked Collins out of pulling him in the dugout, and raced out of the dugout, skipped over the foul line, and took the mound.

“If he'd taken him out,’’ Mets third baseman David Wright said, “he'd have probably needed to fight 44,000 people.”

The joint was jumping, and Harvey again was on the verge of storybook heroics. This would be his Jack Morris moment, adamantly refusing to come out of this game, leading 2-0, with his team facing elimination.

“That’s the thing,’’ Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain said. “Even though Harvey pitched a great game, we wanted him to come out in the ninth. We wanted hm. We didn’t want to face anybody but him.

“That was the mind-set of our team.

“We kept saying, “We’re going to get him. We’re going to knock him out of the game.

“We’re going to knock him out.

“We got him, didn’t we?’’

Cain started it with a walk. Collins thought about taking Harvey out of the game, but decided against it. Hosmer followed by drilled a 94-mph fastball into the left-field corner for a double, scoring Cain.

This time, Collins came out.

One batter too late.

I try not to let the crowd influence me,” Collins said. “I just trusted him. He said, “I want this game. I want it bad. You’ve got to leave me in.’ I said, "You got it. You've earned this. So go get 'em.’;

“So it's my fault. It's not his.’’

Closer Jeurys Familia, who had already blown two saves in the series, entered the game, and induced a grounder by Mike Moustakas, moving Hosmer to third base. Now, with the infield in, Salvador Perez, who made that final out of Game 7 last year, hit a little dribbler fielded by third baseman David Wright.

Wright picked it up clearly, looked back towards Hosmer, and threw to first baseman Lucas Duda for the second out.

The moment Wright threw the ball, Hosmer took off running.

“I just saw his head turn towards first, decided to take another shuffle,’’ Hosmer said, “ and as soon as he went to throw it, I just decided it was a good time to take a chance. It was an opportunity to steal a run.

“But as soon I left, I thought I should turn back. But it was too late.’’

Duda caught the ball, saw Hosmer racing towards home, and threw home. If he makes a good throw, he’s out by 10 feet. A decent throw, he’s out by five feet.

It was an awful throw, the ball sailing five feet past catcher Travis d’Arnaud, tying the game at 2-apiece.

“I would have been shocked if Hos didn’t try that,’’ said Royals baserunning coach Rusty Kuntz. 

“That’s his nature. And we were going to keep doing it until they screwed it up. That’s us.

“It’s all about pressure at this level. How many teams have 20-year-old somethings all over the field?

When you have that, you use what they were gifted with, and that’s energy and speed.

“They use it. And don’t fear failure.’’

And if Hosmer was thrown out?

“We would have done it again in Game 6,’’ Kuntz said. “Look, there’s a handful [of first basemen] that you would do it. And there’s a handful of good first basemen out there. But Duda, bless his heart, he’s a good bat.

“Wide left.’’

Said Duda: “That took some [guts] for him to do that. Down one out, with one out to go, that’s be the third out. But the way they run the bases, you can; be shocked by anything. That’s kind of their game in a nutshell. Put pressure on the defense. They did that the entire series.’’

It was another piece of brilliant intelligence the Royals’ advance scouts provided to the team. They told them that Duda has trouble throwing the ball. And they reminded them that Wright is playing with a sore shoulder, and throws almost side-arm to first base.

“I tell our people all the time,’’ said Royals GM Dayton Moore, praising his scouts, “We’re not smarter than anybody else. We don’t work harder than anybody else. But we have to care more than anybody else.’’

The Royals took full advantage.

Once again.

“And once we tied it,’’ said Alex Gordon, the Royals’ captain, “we knew we had it. It was like, “Here we go again.’ We weren’t going to lose the game. No one can match up with our bullpen."

The Royals’ bullpen, which allowed just one hit and two baserunners the final six innings, suffocated the life out of the Mets’ offense. The Royals’ offense exploded in the 12th inning off Addison Reed, highlighted by Cain’s three-run double, making it the most lopsided extra-inning victory in World Series history.

 “When we scored all of those runs, I went out there in the outfield,’’ said Gordon, their longest-tenured player, “and started looking at all of the fans, all of the smiles, all of the joy. I’ll never forget that moment as long as I live.’’

“It had been so long. It was getting kind of old just seeing the highlights of George [Brett] and Frank [White]. We cherish what they did, but we wanted to make our own memories.’’

Oh, and how they did, reminding everyone that this is a young man’s game. You don’t have to hit the most homers. You don’t need a staff full of 20-game winners. Just put the ball in play on offense, play great defense, and always, but always, stay aggressive.

Now, this same franchise that had 17 losing seasons in 18 years, that lost 100 games three consecutive years, is sitting proudly atop the baseball world once again.

“This is the damndest thing I’ve ever seen,’’ said Hall of Famer George Brett, the franchise’s greatest player. “People in Kansas City are going bonkers over this organisation. I’ve never seen anything like it.

“When we were losing all of those games. I would tell people I never worked for the Royals. Now, I tell everybody. It just means so much to me because I still live here. I played here, and never left.

“Tell me a player who still lives in the city they played in? Nobody. I’m the guy who still lives in Kansas City. Where does Derek Jeter live? Florida. He doesn’t live in New York.

“I’m so proud to say I live in Kansas City.

“These guys, have made us all proud again to be a Royal.’’
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