KSR Today: Kentucky is Officially in Omaha
The eagle has landed. For the very first time, the Kentucky baseball team has arrived in Omaha for the College World Series.
The BBN provided the Bat Cats with an exceptional send-off from Kentucky Proud Park on Wednesday, shortly after Nick Mingione was named National Coach of the Year by Perfect Game. It’s an award he also won in his debut season back in 2017. In addition to Mingione’s hardware, Ryan Waldshmidt received Second-Team All-American honors from Perfect Game and Nick Lopez received the same title from the National College Baseball Writers Association.
The Bat Cats will get their bearings today in Omaha with practice and media day. Nick Mingione and his crew will take the podium for a press conference at approximately 3:15 pm EST and KSR will have you covered with everything you need to know.
Kentucky begins its quest for a College World Series title on Saturday at 2 pm EST against NC State on ESPN.
Kentucky gets Clemson in the ACC-SEC Challenge
Quickly, name the first Clemson basketball player you can think of. Don’t use Google. Try to think of one person who’s ever played basketball at Clemson, I dare you.
Still thinking? Me too. That’s because Clemson might be the most irrelevant college basketball program in the Power Four.
Oklahoma has been to Final Fours. Boston College at least had a gambling scandal. What does Clemson have? About a dozen NCAA Tournament appearances, the last of which got them all the way to the Elite Eight in surprising fashion in the spring of 2024. Brad Brownell has done a fine job, but for the second straight year, this made-for-TV non-conference matchup has given Kentucky a boring opponent.
Kentucky is 12-4 all-time against Clemson, winning the last meeting in November of Kentucky’s 1998 National Championship season. On the women’s side, Kenny Brooks’ squad will travel to Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina.
Kentucky Football Camp Season Ends
Over the last two weeks, Mark Stoops hosted a half dozen camps for prospective prospects in the high school ranks. We saw a ton of talented underclassmen get evaluated by the Kentucky coaching staff. Adam Luckett was there for the final event on Wednesday and shared a few thoughts on everything that happened. More importantly, we’ve collected plenty of intel over the last two weeks about this year’s upcoming team and the future of the program. We will share it today on KSR+ and you want to make sure you’re signed up for that scoop.
What’s next matters significantly more for the future of Kentucky football. After getting off to a solid start last weekend, the Wildcats are doubling the number of official visitors this weekend. We’ll share the guest list and preview them all this afternoon.
The US Open at Pinehurst Begins
You know how people always said, “There will never be another golfer who dominates like Tiger Woods.” Well, Scottie Scheffler is getting close, at least in the gambling world. Tiger made it all the way down to -120 odds to win. Scottie is getting close at +280 after winning five of his last eight events.
The long-drivers are probably his toughest competition this weekend, guys like Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele, and Rory McIlroy. As they say, drive for show and putt for dough. The hot temperatures will make the turtle greens at Pinehurst even slippery along the fast grass, making for an entertaining watch for Dads throughout Father’s Day weekend.
We’re already off to a hot start. Tiger Woods birdied the first hole of the tournament, creating a leaderboard image we haven’t seen in quite some time.
NBA Finals
The Dallas Mavericks are a complete joke. We were sold on a series that was supposed to be one of the better NBA Finals matchups in years. Even without Kristaps Porzingis in the lineup, Boston went on the road and captured game three.
The Celtics had an answer for everything. Kyrie Irving shook off the rust from behind the three-point line and scored 20 first-half points. It didn’t matter. The Celtics outscored the Mavericks 35-19 in the third quarter, which ultimately decided the game, despite a valiant fourth quarterback comeback by the Mavs.
The story of the game is ultimately Luke Doncic and his constant complaints to officials. He fouled out early on a stupid play, then blamed it on the refs. Brian Windhorst put Luka on a spit and roasted him in a postgame conversation with SVP.
Grimace is Back
The McDonald’s mascots went by the wayside for a few years. Ronald McDonald may have frightened one too many children. Now the characters who recruited me to the PlayPlace in the 90s are making a resurgence, none more so than Grimace. The purple goofball showed up to throw the first pitch ahead of the Mets game and delivered a ball that would make 50 Cent blush. Well done, Grimace. Keep on Grimacing.
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