Weekend Entertainment Guide

If you're a Cincinnati Reds fan depressed as I am right now, fear not, I'm about to provide you with a weekend entertainment guide to get your mind off tonight's monumental collapse and Wednesday's no hit performance.

Movies: "Secretariat" and "Social Network"

"Secretariat" should be a must see for any Kentuckian. Much of the movie was filmed right here in Kentucky, at various locations including Keeneland and Churchill Downs. I also include "Social Network" as a must see film in the coming weeks simply because of the impact Facebook and other social networking sites have had on all of our daily lives. Whether we want to admit it or not, it has impacted our lives more than any invention since the development of the Internet itself. Speaking of Keeneland and horses in general, if you're in Lexington, go ahead and add Keeneland and/or the World Equestrian Games to your entertainment schedule this weekend. I'd recommend heading out to Keeneland on Saturday morning before embarking over to Commonwealth for some tailgating in the afternoon. If you're a UK student, you can also check out the World Equestrian Games for free on Saturday with your student ID.

Books: "Beyond a Dream" by Mark Krebs

(visit http://www.beyondadreambook.com/ for more information)

I purchased this book yesterday afternoon and started reading it last night. I stayed up until 2:30 am last night, finishing the entire book without being able to put it down. That's saying a lot, because I've never read a book all at once like that in my entire life, or even in just a few days.

It starts from Krebs' very early childhood and goes through high school, his mom's battle with cancer, his freshman year at lowly Division III Thomas More College, and into his improbable career at UK. It started with a letter to Tubby and the odds he went through to just make the team, and stay on the team under three coaches, are incredible. It goes into great deal of everything behind the scenes from the day Tubby left to the first team meeting with Gillispie. It's VERY eye opening. Then of course it touches on the uncertainty of Calipari coming in with all the new recruits and another huge challenge to just make the team and then actually earn
a scholarship. There's a ton of info addressing "boot camp" and everything that went on under Gillispie and a deep look into all 3 coaches in a roller coaster ride from a walk-on redshirt, to a walk-on reserve player in the NIT, and culminating as a scholarship player on the #1 ranked team in the country.

Most importantly, the book chronicles the fight of Krebs' mother, Terri Krebs, to stay alive through the excruciating pain of Breast Cancer treatments for nine years to live to see a daughter get married, all three of her kids graduate from high school and go on to college, and to be able to be at center court of Rupp Arena with her son Mark on Senior Day at UK. I won't go into any more detail than that because you should really read it yourself...it's a MUST read for any UK fan. Scratch that, it's a must read for anyone.

College Football: SEC Matchups and how they pertain to UK

• Tennessee at Georgia: This should be interesting as it involves two traditional powerhouses going at it in a down year for both teams and desperately needing a win to stay out of the SEC East cellar. As a UK fan, you're intrigued at how this game plays out because you're actually expecting to beat both of these teams. The opportunity of beating Georgia for a third time in five years is exciting and, of course, Kentucky fans are feeling desperate to finally end that streak in late November in Knoxville. This game will tell us a lot about both teams.


• Alabama at South Carolina: Cats fans will be rooting for the Crimson Tide in this one. UK has the advantage of uneven scheduling in the SEC this season with South Carolina and Florida having much tougher inter-divisional games. The is a game that the Gamecocks need to lose and UK needs them to lose in hope of finishing high in the final SEC East standings.


• LSU at Florida: The Tigers are 5-0 but have won very unconvincingly and ugly. Florida has one loss and a second straight loss would make climbing that SEC East ladder to the top a POSSIBLE task for Kentucky, although still highly unlikely with 2 losses already and a very tough game tomorrow with Auburn.


• Then of course, there is Auburn at Kentucky: Auburn is 5-0 and Kentucky is 3-2. Last year, Auburn was 5-1 and Kentucky was 3-4 when they met at Auburn. The Cats REALLY needed a win to get the season turned around and they got it last year on the road and banged up with injuries. Here's hoping for a similar win tomorrow at Commonwealth.

That should be enough to get you through the weekend or at least until Sunday, when the Reds come back to Cincy with their backs against the wall at Great American Ballpark. I'll be in attendance cheering on the Reds, but it's depressing to think about the momentum this team would have coming back home if they had held on tonight and tied up the series. Instead, they're facing an elimination game and playing for a chance to face Roy Halladay again. Stranger things have happened, but it's not looking good.

October: the best month in sports?

We're officially less than a month away from Big Blue Madness and about 2 weeks away from the month of October. In this state, nearly everyone would agree that March is usually the best month in sports around here. March Madness in the bluegrass and the excitement of baseball season to come, nicer weather, and horses running at Keeneland is a great time of year. Some fans may argue that Christmas, New Years, college basketball, and the Bowl season of late December and early January is the "most wonderful time of the year". But I'm here to argue today in favor of the month of October, as the best month in sports.

As I sit here today watching the Reds play an afternoon game with the Diamondbacks, up 8 games on the Cardinals and gearing up towards an October playoff run, I've never been more excited about this month. Not only do you have the Reds in the postseason making a World Series run, but you have four great Kentucky football matchups against Ole Miss, Auburn, South Carolina, and Georgia. Those four games will make or break Kentucky's hopes for an SEC Eastern Division championship, and three of those games happen to be home games at Commonwealth. The month of October is the one month of the year where virtually every sport is playing. College football and the NFL is in full swing, MLB is winding down through the playoffs and heading into the World Series, the NBA and Hockey is just starting, Keeneland is running, and Big Blue Madness kicks off the always anticipated and unofficial start of the college basketball season in the Bluegrass.

USA Today has ranked Big Blue Madness (a glorified PRACTICE session) as one of the top 10 "must see live" sporting events in the World. But the week long campout, which brings out thousands of UK fans to campus for a chance at Madness tickets, is probably an even greater experience. In addition to Keeneland, you also have the World Equestrian Games in Lexington this year, of which I have no interest in. The event will, however, bring in tourists throughout the World to see the Bluegrass in a beautful time of the year as the leaves turn colors, the fall semester is at its peek at UK, and basketball season is near. This year October will particularly be special with not only the World Equestrian Games, but also playoff baseball in Cincinnati, which Reds fans have waited to happen for 15 years.

Just to get you a little excited, here's some videos from last year's campout! You gotta love October, go ahead and vote in our poll as well. What's the best part of October?