Haiti instead of Hoops

One of the more proud moments since I've been at this University. Click here to see a video of president Obama thanking the UK basketball team for their efforts in organizing and running the "Hoops for Haiti" benefit. Cool stuff.

Back in the throne

After a seven-year drought since the University of Kentucky found itself at the top of the polls, the 19-0 Wildcats are back on top. What is more amazing is to take a step back and realize that 10 months ago this was a reeling team losing in he NIT. Such is the impact of John Calipari. This time last year the Cats were 16-4, but would finish out the season with a 6-10 record from that point on. This year, they instead find themselves undefeated at 19-0 for the first time in 40 years, and the unanimous number one in the ESPN and AP polls. The slideshow says it all. Superb freshman, and equally fantastic coaching has this team back where it's hungry fanbase wants it. As Pat Forde put it, 7 years is a long time in Cat years.

Below is the Kernel slideshow, which also may I add the UK cheer leading team claimed its 18th championship this year. They have only missed out on the title 2 times in the last 15 years.

Check out the great pics

Back in the spotlight

For just the 20th time ever, Kentucky has taken its place on the cover of Sports Illustrated. In my opinion this is the first huge sign of Calipari making UK a brand once again. The cover features John Wall, likely the number one overall pick of next year's draft. What I like best, is that just like ESPN and all the rest of the outlets, analysts are focusing on him and forgetting about the rest of the firepower on the squad. Sure he is the glue that holds it together, but without DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson, this team wouldn't be 15-0. The way I see it, I'm fine with teams putting all their focus on Wall. Everyone has so far and we have fared just fine. Hopefully this team can keep its momentum going and keep working towards that one number that matters. 8.

You're on Pandora

I've purposefully waited to post my thoughts on James Cameron's Avatar. I saw the movie on its opening night, and again 3 days later, both times in IMAX 3D. I'm going to avoid any subtlety. The film was absolutely fantastic. It is one of the best if not the best film of the year (only competition coming from Inglourious Basterds). The reason I waited to post my thoughts on the film was simply to wait and see if things progressed in the manner that I thought they would- the film did not start out with immense popularity, mostly due to what I would speculate to be the skeptical feelings towards the "blue people". However, I went to see Sherlock Holmes weeks later and sure there was a good amount of poeple there, but the line for Avatar was out the door, despite a release 3 weeks earlier. Word is spreading, and it should be.

Lets clear some things up. This film is not animated. The CGI is captured and the entire film was acted out. Instead censors and motion capture were applied to the actors using more advanced technology than had ever been used before, and went so far as to develop a system in which Cameron could use a camera that would show him a rough image of what the scenes would look out while they were being acted out. It is tough to explain in detail but you can click here to watch the behind the scenes, which is extremely intriguing. I would've attached a video but the embedding was disabled.

Cameron creates an entire world, unlike anything I have seen before. The color palette is exquisite. The visual affects are stunning and "creative" is a gross understatement to describe the world of Pandora created by Cameron.

When it comes to the films story, it isn't entirely unique. However, the fresh twists, anti-imperialistic undertones, and the loves story all lace together to form one of the best movies of the decade.

I don't want to sit here and give away the story or over-hype the film, but I highly recommend you see it while it is still in theaters, and if you can in 3D. The 3D is by no means necessary but it is something that should be experienced once. I can garuntee that even if the plot lines aren't quite down your alley, you've never seen anything like Pandora. Don't miss out on that, just because you think the cast look like blue cat-people. I can assure you by the end, you won't notice or care.

For those who want to watch the new extended trailer that actually paints an accurate picture of the films plot, the video below does so rather well.

As the Commonwealth turns...

For the past two years Lousiville had begun to surpass its big brother in the world of college basketball. Enter John Calipari. The heated rivalry was drenched in gasoline with the addition of Coach Cal and the first 45 seconds of this game saw more intensity than I have seen from a sporting event in years. Elbows, knees, 6 fouls in 45 seconds including 2 technicals. But what matters most is that despite poor shooting and emotion, the Wildcats downed Lousville 71-62 and moved to 15-0, their best start in over 40 years. I'm hoping now that some of the marquee games are behind them, the Cats can focus on trying to run the table in the SEC. They have a home game against Georgia next Saturday, but 3 days later must travel to Gainesville to take on the Gators. Getting past that game would be a huge step for this rapidly improving, young team.

On on U of K.