Knocked it out of the park, didn't he? You think anyone in Big Blue Nation is upset with UK hiring John Calipari? I loved the part about how he's no savior and has 'no magic wand' to fix Kentucky basketball. "I told Dr. Todd (school president) and Mitch (Barnhart, UK AD) that if they're looking to hire someone to turn this around overnight, they're talking to the wrong guy". Calipari's news conference today was a revival, tempered by realism.

Great joke someone told on my radio show this past Sunday. You know what they call a pervert in Kentucky? Someone who like sex more than basketball.

But. like everything, there are dissenting opinions on the Calipari hiring. Pat Forde, from espn.com has this take on the hiring.

April 1st reminds me of one of the greatest April Fool's Day jokes every pulled in sports. In fact, it happened only last year and the brunt of it was Philadelphia Phillies pitcher, Kyle Kendrick.

Check it out:


The Reds are actually going to talk with Gary Sheffield? Believe it. Dusty Baker will visit with the former Tigers slugger tomorrow in Sarasota. Detroit is paying Sheffield's 2009 contract, all $14 million of it, just to go away. So if the Reds sign him, they get him for the major league minimum, about $400,000. Geoff Jenkins will visit the Reds, as well. But statistically, both have fallen off the map. Still with 499 career home runs, it'd be kind of cool to see Sheffield hit #500 in a Reds uniform. And Sheffield is only a year removed from a .265 25/75 season. But too many reports say he's finished. But, even though Jonny Gomes and Chris Dickerson have had a decent spring platooning in left field, the Reds have been weak this spring in the area I said they would be: run production. I'm sure that's why Sheffield and Jenkins are coming in for visits.

Just booked for my Sunday Morning Sports Talk show on 700 WLW: former National League MVP Dave Parker. I'm on from 9am-Noon. Parker will join me at 10:00am. If you don't live within the coverage area of the "50,000 watt flamethrower", you can always listen on line.

More on Thursday....and a fresh Broo View Podcast then, on www.kenbroo.com

OK, so John Calipari is the new head basketball coach at UK. Not a bad hire. But if you're a UK fan let me ask you this: why didn't you AD hire him two years ago? What made Coach Cal so attractive now? Is it because he got to the Final 4 (championship game) last season and was on the verge of signing the nation's top recruiting class this spring at Memphis? Were you scared off two years ago, because Calipari has this habit of signing 'one and done players'. And maybe that's not the way you want your basketball program to navigate?

Do you ever think Mitch Barnhart will come clean about any of this?

Calipari is a 'basketball character'. And his rivalry with Rick Pitino will make the Commonwealth one of the nation's hot basketball territories again. It's all good theatre again in Kentucky.

Who follows Calipari in Memphis? His close friendship with Xavier's Sean Miller has espn.com thinking that Memphis AD RC Johnson may be making a trip to Victory Parkway soon.

Meantime, over at cbsports.com, our buddy Gregg Doyel has this take on Calipari's move.

Opening day is this Monday. (Yikes, rain and 55*????). To fire you up, Freekbass will be in studio this Sunday night on Sports Rock on Channel 5 at 11:35pm. Enjoy this!

You get the feeling he's a Reds fan?