It wasn’t long ago that the “Big 3” headlining the University of Kentucky athletic department was comprised of Director of UK Athletics Mitch Barnhart, men’s head basketball coach John Calipari, and head football coach Mark Stoops.
The final piece of the trio changed on Monday, when the university announced that J Batt was coming to Lexington to replace Barnhart, who is retiring at the end of the month. Batt comes to Kentucky after just one year serving as Vice President and Director of Athletics at Michigan State University. He arrives on campus with a well-respected national reputation as an innovator in the ever-changing world of college athletics, and his new title at UK is officially the Chief Executive Officer of Champions Blue LLC and UK Athletics Director.
It will be interesting to follow Batt and exactly what his plans are to lead the efforts to improve the stature of UK Athletics. There’s no doubt his highly anticipated arrival features a resume that promises success, and before he officially assumes the reins this summer, he indicated he will spend the next several weeks listening and talking with UK leaders, Athletics staff, donors and other stakeholders.
To this observer, the leadership change will bring much-needed excitement and enthusiasm to UK Athletics, with the 44-year-old Batt leading the way. It cannot be denied that Barnhart accomplished a great deal while serving as the AD, but Batt is a solid choice to lead the program in a positive direction in the future.
New head football coach Will Stein, men’s head basketball coach Mark Pope, and women’s head basketball coach Kenny Brooks were brought to Lexington by Barnhart, and they will likely not be going anywhere anytime soon. Stein has UK football fans anticipating a positive turnaround as he continues to sign highly touted players, while Pope and Brooks have each brought in excellent classes as well.
There could be one caveat with that however. Oftentimes, a new athletic director has a strong desire to bring in his own preferences when it comes to a program’s most visible coaches, meaning it will also be interesting to see just how the school’s football and basketball programs fare in the near future. Could that mean that Pope’s seat in particular will become even warmer? Stay tuned; but at the present time, he and his staff appear to making positive inroads with some of the most talented high school prospects in the country.
Do or die time for Reds?
As of this writing on Tuesday morning, the Cincinnati Reds appear to be on the brink of either making a run (unlikely at best) or becoming sellers at the trade deadline as they continue to struggle. Monday’s 12-0 win over the inept New York Metropolitans notwithstanding, the Reds have suffered setback after setback since their surprising start to the season. It seems like a long time ago now, but this team was actually leading the National League Central Division with a 23-13 record on April 30. Since then however, the Reds are a paltry 11-24 and in last place, 10 games behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers.
Injuries have been an issue all season long, giving the team a bullpen that is shaky at best, to go with a mostly lackluster offense that is obviously missing Elly De La Cruz. EDLC should be returning soon, but will his presence be enough for the Redlegs to make a legitimate run at the Brewers?
That of course remains to be seen, but it seems to be an extremely difficult proposition, unless a few other bats suddenly come to life, and the bullpen quits imploding with regularity. Again, the 12 runs scored on Monday were an aberration. After all, the Mets are simply a bad team with a banged-up pitching staff and an underachieving offense. Cincy does not have the luxury of playing lesser competition in the coming days and weeks, with a daunting schedule looming.
For example, the Reds head to the Big Apple to take on the other New York team in the Bronx this weekend, before returning home to face the Brewers. Following that pair of three-game sets, they head to Pittsburgh for three and Milwaukee for four, and we know all too well how the Reds have fared against divisional foes. Thus far, they’re 2-13, and they haven’t even played the Brewers yet.
Not good, Bob.
It isn’t impossible for this team to go on a positive run, but in order to do so, the bullpen has to give a mostly impressive starting staff proper support, and the offense has to quit squandering scoring opportunities. Even the defense has had its share of ugly moments in recent games, and for this Reds team to have any chance at all, they have to rely on pitching and defense.
The unfortunate overall mood among Reds fans is that after 71 games this is yet another season of hope turning into disappointment. After a promising start to the season, recent trends suggest that is certainly a viable argument. If this team cannot make a decent run before the All-Star Game on July 14th in Philadelphia, we may be seeing roster changes galore before the August 3rd trade deadline.
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“Does the human being reason? No; he thinks, muses, reflects, but does not reason… That is, in the two things which are the peculiar domain of the heart, not the mind – politics and religion. He doesn’t want to know the other side. He wants arguments and statistics for his own side, and nothing more.” – Mark Twain
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