RIP, Alysheba

The Kentucky Girls extend their deepest sympathies at the passing of 1987 Derby winner Alysheba.

Where Were You When Jodie Meeks Broke Dan Issel's Scoring Record?

Kentucky basketball is all about records.  Seven National Championships. Thirteen Final Four Appearances. Forty-three regular season conference titles and twenty-five Conference tourney titles.  We learn these stats as small children, the way other kids learn their ABCs or their numbers.  I guess there's something about all those retired jerseys and championship banners hanging from the rafters that just makes us expect more of the same. Sometimes, the statistics seem a little convoluted (e.g., 694 straight games with at least one successful three-point goal). Last Wednesday night, however, we saw a record-breaking statistic that was truly historic: Jodie Meeks scored 54 points in a single game, breaking the great Dan Issel's record.

Now, there are some arguments to be made that the scoring records of these two great players truly aren't equivalent.  The game was so different back in Issel's day; it was offense-driven and all field goals were for two points.  And they wore those crazy shorts. On the other hand, the present sport is driven by hostile defense and larger, quicker players. Whether or not 53 points in 1970-points falls short of 54 points in 2009-points Meeks put on an incredible performance.  Fifty-four points are an amazing amount to score in a college basketball game.  This feat will will surely solidify Meeks' place in the pantheon of great Kentucky players.

As the sportscasters began to speculate that Meeks was nearing Issel's record, there was an exciting feeling among Big Blue fans that we were witnessing Kentucky basketball history.  I thought of my dad's often-told story of listening to the 1966 Championship game on the radio: "It doesn't matter how Hollywood depicts it. We lost because Larry Conley had the flu that night. We didn't have a full team of well players." I realized that, sometime in the future, my beau and I will have a similar story for our own kids: "This player must be amazing to beat Jodie Meeks' record.  I can remember watching it on our old big-screen HDTV, which was 'cutting-edge' back then.  We were actually living in Rocky Top at the time, which made us cheer against Tennessee that much more..."

It may not have been in groovy Issel-style shorts, but it was a historic feat of athleticism. Bravo, Jodie.