Bidwell's Blog

Does basketball season ever end?

2008-05-08T21:27:00Z

The college basketball season has been "over" for more than a month, and yet it seems like the news never ends. Billy Gillispie has had a busy recruiting week. Not only did he get a verbal last night from Madisonville's Jon Hood, he also got a pair of commitments from a California 8th-grader and an Ohio 9th-grader. I'm still not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, he's officially getting his claws into these kids early. They know he's serious about them coming to Lexington...if serious...(read more)

Friday ramblings...

2008-04-18T21:58:00Z

From the day late and a dollar short department... It's been 11 days since Kansas knocked off Memphis in the national championship game. I had the privilege to be in San Antonio to see my first ever Final Four with my dad and brother. I've had the chance to attend a bunch of incredible events thanks to my job, but the Final Four had always alluded me. We bought tickets, sat in the upper deck of the Alamo Dome and had a phenomenal time. The entire Final Four weekend was...(read more)

Day 3 at the NCAA Tournament

2008-03-23T22:15:00Z

12:48am Update Our NCAA Tournament trek is all but over at this point. The alarm is set for 6:00am so we can head for the airport. Then it's time to head home. I'm ready to see the wife and kids...especially after having to miss spending Easter with them. The attitude in the locker room after the game was somewhere between sad and proud. The Racers represented themselves well, and have every reason to leave College Park with their head held high. With OVC player...(read more)

Day 2 at the NCAA Tournament

2008-03-22T21:02:00Z

7:16pm Update I guess it's been there all season, but the Murray State website has a song put together by three of the Racers. The collaboration could almost be considered the "We are the World" for the 21st century. Almost. Of course without Lionel Richie leading off...Michael Jakcson wearing one of the top ten most amazing coats of all time...and Kenny Rogers showing off his phenomenal beard...the bar can only be set so high. I listened to it, and I not only had my head bobbing a...(read more)

Day 1 at the NCAA Tournament

2008-03-22T04:08:00Z

11:12pm UpdateI swear I could write a book about how NOT to travel across the country. It starts with remembering your coat when going somewhere where the the temperature dips into the 30s at night. Oh right...I didn't remember it. The lesson as always, I'm a dope. Our day started at noon as he headed to Nashville to catch our plane to Baltimore. We stopped in Cadiz to grab a quick bite to eat. As we pulled out of the restuarant parking lot, Chad...(read more)

The SEC had no choice...

2008-03-15T17:44:00Z

Well, this will certainly be an SEC tournament to remember, eh? Friday's severe weather that swept through Atlanta not only forced Kentucky to possibly play two games on Saturday, but also put the SEC in a lose-lose situation. During the delay Friday night, people in the newsroom were wondering if the SEC would push back the UK game until Saturday. I didn't think that was remotely feasible. With all that is on the line, especially for a team like Georgia who has no at-large possibilities...(read more)

Food for thought for Racer fans...

2008-03-04T01:35:00Z

While looking at the latest NCAA Tournament projections on ESPN.com, something struck me as a possible stunner. The opening round game, or "play-in" game between the 64th and 65th teams in the tournament is currently projected to be UNC-Asheville vs. Alabama State. By definition, those are the two lowest-ranked teams in the tournament. So what happens if Murray State wins the OVC Tournament and gets into the NCAA Tournament? Let's crunch some numbers. UNCA's RPI is 131 Murray...(read more)

Girls Region Tournament Guesses, er, Predictions

2008-03-02T20:24:00Z

March is officially here, so let's jump into the 1st region brackets. We'll break it down game by game and give you guys the chance to get worked into a lather. Here we go. 1st Region Quarterfinals: Calloway County vs. Lone Oak. This is our first "no contest" of the tournament. Calloway is as good as this region has to offer at 26-5, while the Flash are definitely in "we're just happy to be here" mode at 7-22. Calloway wins big...but we ALL win big if Coach Sivills...(read more)

Region Tournament Preview

2008-02-27T05:41:00Z

The fields are now set for the KHSAA 1st and 2nd region tournaments. Obviously we don't know where teams will fall in the draw...but we certainly know who is looking good right now. I'll be back this weekend with more after the district title games are over and the brackets are set. As for now...the floor is yours to chime in with your early thoughts and predictions as to who will be making the trip to either Rupp or Diddle....(read more)

Making My NCAA Tournament Case for UK

2008-02-26T20:14:00Z

As we come down to the last two or three weeks of the season, the debate will certainly be heated as about 10-15 teams fight for the last 5 or 6 at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. As of February 26th, there may be no more suprising team in that discussion than the Kentucky Wildcats...especially when you look at where they were even a month ago. Part of this exercise is going to rely on some hypotheticals. Kentucky is 15-10 and has little margin for error down the stretch,...(read more)

The BracketBuster is Busted...

2008-02-19T23:54:00Z

5 years ago, the idea of the BracketBuster was a good one. Give some of the best "mid-majors" a chance to play each other giving them the opportunity to get a win against a team with a good RPI. In 2003, 18 teams took part in the BracketBuster...which meant, realistically, those 18 teams could at least be in the discussion for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Of course, the games also gave an opportunity to these "mid-majors" to eliminate themselves from the at-large discussion with a late...(read more)

So much to be thankful for...

2008-02-15T03:01:00Z

I hope everybody is recovering, slowly but surely, after a wild week of weather. Tuesday at my house started with my wife finding the basement had started to leak. Tuesday ended with the power going out for nine hours. It started get a smidge chilly in the Bidwell estate. In the end, though, I was one of the lucky ones. Tonight Massac County's girls basketball team beat Nashville to advance to the IHSA Class 2A state quarterfinals...but basketball certainly took a backseat...(read more)

How I voted...

2008-02-11T23:23:00Z

It was just me again this week, so Greg is off the hook from any barbs thrown from your direction. After 3 dominating wins last week, I've moved Calloway County back into the Top 10. BUT...due to a snafu with the Associated Press, when you open the paper tomorrow, that vote was not recorded. Apparently, none of my votes were recorded. Super Duper. Anyway, here's how my girl's poll looked. 1. Lexington Paul Dunbar 2. Lexington Catholic 3. Louisville...(read more)

A good night of high school hoops...

2008-02-08T23:46:00Z

We've got some good games tonight I'm looking forward to. I'll be over at Lone Oak as the suddenly resurgent Purple Flash can clinch at least a share of the 2nd district title when they host Heath. I've been to more than one Lone Oak/Heath game at Lone Oak, and the atmosphere is always awesome...and the building is always incredibly hot. It should be fun to watch. Graves County coach Terry Birdsong makes his return to his old stomping grounds tonight when he takes his Eagles to...(read more)

Are you kidding me?!?

2008-02-07T04:39:00Z

So I get a frantic call from my wife tonight telling me HBO's "Inside the NFL" wasn't coming back on the air. I calmly told her that football season was over and that the show always shuts down until the the season starts again in the fall. My lovely bride then emphatically told me she just finished watching the show tonight and they said this was the last one ever on HBO. So I did a little quick internet research and found this. What?!? One of my all-time favorite...(read more)