Like most of you, my friends usually give the entire scope of reactions when anything maybe happens. Take yesterday’s dismissal of Curtis Pulley, some of them were in shock, some of them thought we just lost our season, some thought it was for the best and others didn’t care.

But we made our position on Pulley awhile back and here’s a reminder:
Pulley constantly pisses away his talent and personally if I was Brooks, I’d cut his ass. Yeah, he’s not that good to the team if he’s a constant distraction. But I’m sure both Fidler and Pulley will just see temporary suspensions, which is fine.

We wrote that on Monday, July 28. And a big thank you to Rich Brooks to listening and taking the required action. We’re here for more advice if you need it.

But enough about Pulley. The Mike Hartline Era has begun. And there is nothing to worry about.

During yesterday’s media day, Brooks told the room full of media that Pulley was gone, before he even told the team. The team found out after the team picture and 30 seconds later, Hartline was fed to the wolves (and boy was I a hungry one!). And you know what, Hartline handled it like a champ. Pulley was his summer roommate. Hartline hated to see him go, but you know what… Hartline became a leader that day, saying the team had to continue without distractions for the Louisville game.

Combine that was a good performance in the spring, where he threw well and ran well… and UK isn’t doomed at quarterback. The fact that UK will actually be able to run the ball to set up the pass makes things easier.

All young quarterbacks have questions. No one saw Andre Woodson blossoming into what he became two years later. And Hartline has more weapons than Woodson did originally.

The bottom line is simple: The Mike Hartline era has begun and UK football is better for it.

And besides, he wants to beat Louisville. That still means something, right?

Finally, the day has come. After a long wait, football players report to school today with their first practice/walk-through today. That officially means football is here, the summer dead period is over and the smack talking may begin.

Therefore, I’m going to provide you with the top 10 things I think you should pay attention to before the Louisville game on August 31st.

1. How quickly is Mike Hartline named the starter.
Yes, I’m assuming he will be named the starter and the reasons are obvious. First, Joker Philips said earlier in the summer that Hartline was being a leader this summer and Pulley was not. Then Pulley gets arrested, twice. Yes, Brooks left the door open, but I think it’s to challenge Hartline more. The key will be how quickly Hartline is named the starter. If it isn’t quickly, maybe the QB situation will be worse than everyone thought.

2. Alfonso Smith.
The junior running back has sat on the depth chart and battled with injuries his whole career, but he had a breakout game during the spring game. Tony Dixon is the starter and Derrick Locke showed potential last year, but I believe Smith will be the breakout back this year. He’s waited long enough, feels that everyone forgot about him (they did) and that his time is now. He’s was the speedster before Locke came along and they both run the same 40 time.

3. Randall Cobb
Everyone will be talking about Aaron Boyd sliding into the slot or No.2 receiver position, crowning the freshman the first chance they get. But if you want to know the guy to really watch for, it’s Cobb. Remember two years ago when Dicky Lyons Jr. would line up in the slot, hit the post, beat the safety and score at least twice a game? I expect the same from Cobb this year.

4. Impact Redshirts
Last year, there were quite a few talented freshmen that were redshirted and now are expecting to challenge for jobs. Stuart Hines is one such player and there are others that will establish themselves in fall camp. These guys could be the keys to replace the departed seniors.

5. E.J. Adams
The former corner showed great ability in the spring, doing well in the scrimmages. But Brooks called him sloppy and Adams needs to learn the routes better. But he showed huge playmaking ability and if the Cats line up four-wide with Adams in the middle, get ready to cheer.

6. Micah Johnson’s dominance
Two years ago, Johnson was the second coming of Jesus in linebacker form. Best recruit ever for UK. But he’s played off and on for the past two years behind Braxton Kelley. Well, Kelley has moved over and Johnson is the guy in the middle. Time to prove you deserved the hype, big fella.

7. Defensive line: the X-factor
Everyone knows about Jeremy Jarmon, who is sure to get all kinds of double teams and confusing blocking schemes thrown his way. And if they are healthy, people know that Myron Pyror and Corey Peters can clog up the middle as defensive tackles. But the X-factor to all of this is going to be the guy on the other side rushing the end. With the other three anchoring the line, chances are his guy will be getting one-on-ones. If whoever steps up there can capitalize, UK’s defense WILL be good.

8. Paul Warford
One of the best tacklers in the secondary, but saying that reminds me of something I was told as a kid in little league football: son, of course you can be the best tackler in the league if you always let your opponent catch the ball. That is the essence of Warford. Great tackler, but needs to improve his coverage. If he can help Trevard Lindley in being shutdown corners, that’s going to create a lot more turnovers and coverage sacks.

9. T.C. Drake
The heir to Jacob Tamme’s throne, it will be interesting if Drake will primarily block or be as reliable as Tamme was. Tamme was a key player last year, with key catches. Drake caught one touchdown pass against LSU last year. While a good blocking TE is good, a TE who also opens up the middle of the field is better.

10. Brooks’ confidence level
All off-season, the head coach has touted his defense and his trust in all three quarterbacks fighting for the starting job. But Brooks doesn’t pull punches when he thinks the team is practicing badly. This team doesn’t have as many clear senior leaders as last year. Watch the boss man’s quotes to see how this year will play out.

Since spring football opened, the quarterback position has been a wide open race according to Rich Brooks.

sophomore Mike Hartline and junior Curtis Pulley have been switching between running the first and second team offenses. They played each other to a virtual tie in the spring game. It’s a dead heat.

Brooks has even constantly put sophomore Will Filder into competition as well, even if no one else will. But now, Brooks should name a starter.

Why? Because, the two quarterbacks in competition with Hartline have discipline problems. Fidler was arrested over the weekend for disorderly conduct, a.k.a. someone was drunk and got into a bar fight. It’s a first offense for Fidler, but still a stupid offense. With that one arrest, Fidler should officially regulated himself to holding a clipboard all year as the third-stringer.

Pulley, on the other hand, has plenty of problems. In the same situation two years ago, Pulley pissed away his chance to start after beating out Andre Woodson. Pulley lost focus during the summer, lost the job, quit school and then came begging back. As punishment, he was regulated to the scout team all last year. Now, he has had run-ins with the law twice in the past two months. Caught with weed in Louisville and caught speeding 50 mph over the limit, on a suspended license, with suspended registration and tags, in Elizabethtown.

Just writing that makes me disgusted. Pulley constantly pisses away his talent and personally if I was Brooks, I’d cut his ass. Yeah, he’s not that good to the team if he’s a constant distraction. But I’m sure both Fidler and Pulley will just see temporary suspensions, which is fine.

But Brooks needs to come out and name the starting quarterback. The only quarterback who hasn’t had run-ins with the police this summer. A guy that Joker Philips said was leading the team during summer workouts. A better drop-back passer, a decent runner… Brooks should name Mike Hartline the starter at the same time he announces the suspensions for his other two quarterbacks.

Hartline has earned it and should thank his teammates for screwing up so bad that Brooks has to confirm it. Pulley obviously is not a leader and someone who makes questionable decisions. Not quarterback material, so line him up at wide out. Fidler should hold a clipboard all year.

And Mike Hartline should start. No more waiting.

WLEX 18 in Lexington reports that Pulley was arrested for possession of marijiuana last month in Louisville, while also being arrested this week in Elizabethtown.

The recent arrest was for driving on a suspended license. Brooks confirmed to the TV station that Pulley now faces loss of playing time, among other actions.

And for me personally, this was just a time bomb waiting to blow. Pulley has been called out for not being a leader, in addition to the widely known past problems the junior has had.

It’s time for Pulley to go away. His off the field decisions proves that he will not be an able leader at the most crucial position on the offense. If he can rebound from these incidents, line him at wide out, if needed.

But obviously, Curtis Pulley is always going to be a trouble-maker. I think UK will just be better off without him. He is not that great of a talent to deal with his problems. The boy needs help that playing football will never give him.

And for those of you worried about the position.. Hartline will be fine. At least we know he’ll have a clear mind on the field. And stay away from the police.

The great quarterback debate has been a hot topic this summer, if you count the soft whispers between UK fans (really, we’ve been over this… speak up).

Which will it be? Curtis Pulley or Mike Hartline.

Neither has much experience, although I guess you could say Pulley has the edge in that department. But Pulley hasn’t played a live game in a year. At least Hartline has that.

But breaking in a new QB after having the rocket arm of Andre Woodson is part of the reason why UK fans are so quiet going into this season. Uncertainy at a key position will quiet a fanbase and QB is the key of any offense.

But ladies and gentlemen, I ask you to worry no more. Why? Because we are just one of MANY schools breaking in a new quarterback. Pat Dooley of The Gainesville Sun breaksdown all six (including UK) SEC teams that are breaking in new quarterbacks.

And SEC East foes South Carolina and Tennessee both have new signal callers. Tennessee seems to have things under control with Jonathan Crompton, but you never know with new guys. He’s as experienced as our two QBs, so what edge does he have?

And South Carolina is a mess at Steve Spurrier’s favorite position. The most talented guy gets in too much trouble and the rest don’t have the Ol Ball Coach’s confidence. He’ll yank them around and the offense will sputter.

So rest easy everyone. We aren’t the only one’s breaking in a new QB. We’ll be fine with whoever gets the job… or even if they split the snaps. There are worse situations (South Carolina) and the same uncertainty (Tennessee), just in our own division.

So it’s ok to talk about it now. Breaking in a new QB isn’t always a problem. And definitely not a problem when Randy Sanders and Joker Philips are at work.

Rest easy guys.

ESPN has recently been releasing previews on all 12 SEC teams. The East preview was two days ago; the West previews were yesterday. Sadly, they were all “insider” content, meaning you better have a subscription that you pay for already or cough up some dough. Otherwise… no preview for you.

Until right now! That’s right, here’s a look into the preview that you don’t have to pay for. You can thank us whenever.

Blue Ribbon gives a hat tip to Brooks and the advancement of the program, seemingly buying into what the coach is selling. Definitely a good thing, since every other preseason mag has predicted doom and gloom for the Cats this year. Blue Ribbon takes it all with a grain a salt. They have hope, but not much.

From there, they basically break down every player in every position. It’s stuff you already know. We’re skipping it for the good stuff, which is the rankings they provide at the end.

Grading the Wildcats
Unit Grade
Offense C
Special teams B
Defense B-
Intangibles C

The Blue Ribbon guys aren’t convinced that an improved o-line is going to be able to sustain our running attack when 9 are in the box. And with no quarterback set and Dicky Lyons as the only big returning WR, they grade the Cats at a C. I’m not so sure that will be the case this year. Joker’s a great OC, Sanders a great QB coach. Look at the last two years… they made those guys, not vice versa. But understandably, the offense is graded as middle of the pack.

Special teams? Eh… I could care less. Seiber still needs to get consistent.

Defense. Blue Ribbon tries to give UK the benefit of the doubt when the coaches said the defense will be improved. Most of the other mags usually laughed. I think that’s why Blue Ribbon gave the defense a B- instead of a more likely B. I think the defense is a strong B, leaning to B+. But like I said, you aren’t going to get anyone outside the state to take that view.

Intangibles. The C rating is deserved. Why? The defensive and offense leaders were lost. Potential defensive leader Jeremy Jarmon sat out most of the spring and the lack of a quarterback leads the offense faceless. Dicky Lyons Jr. has tried to become that offensive leader during the summer, so we’ll see. As for the defense, Marcus McClinton and Jeremy Jarmon could step up. Until they do, I think a C rating is good.

And I’ll leave you with the final remarks from the Blue Ribbon crew:

Many doubt if UK can play in a bowl again this year. But Brooks has a deeper, faster team and one that goes into this season with much more confidence thanks to two straight bowl wins. Kentucky will need a few breaks and a big upset like the ones it pulled the last two years against Georgia and LSU to win seven games, but a seven-win season is not an impossible task

Rich Brooks’ reaction every year to the pre-season haters

First off, hope you enjoyed Father’s Day. We did and figured we would take the day off on a slow news weekend to spend time with good ole Dad. But we’re back, never fear!

And back with force too! You see, we’ve already bashed Lindy’s College Football Notebook and took it a little easier on Athlon. We haven’t picked up Phil Steele’s mag yet, but it’s coming and so is the review of it. Of course, Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader already has Rich Brooks’ thoughts on these pre-season mags.

And, in typical Rich Brooks fashion, he politely says they are all trash. We agree Rich. All three have picked UK to finish 5th in the SEC East. It’s a lazy pick that happens every year. Let’s just stick UK in the 5th spot and Vandy in the 6th. Or if we’re feeling real lucky, let’s swap them! Please.

It’s a tough job to preview all the teams in Divison 1 (bowl subdivision, what?) so I could see where laziness could set in. But it also makes you look like a fool. Just ask all the magazines last year how wrong they were. Oops.

Of course, the big reason for these mags to predict the lazy pick is because the offense basically left. You know the names. But UK has turned a corner depth-wise. The running back stock is full and the two quarterbacks, Pulley and Hartline, are serviceable with the chance to be good. The wide receivers are young, but talented, and the line is solid and deep, finally. Nevermind the defense is going to be sick: SEC-style.

So keep picking the easy way out and keep looking stupid magazine writers and editors. Rich Brooks loves proving you wrong and I must admit, we like to point out just how wrong you are too. Gives us something to write about. I fully expect no drop off with this year’s team. Bowl bound for a third straight year. Maybe we should write our own magazine….

Mark Story is a columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Some people like him, some don’t. And he has some questions for the long, boring summer months.

And since it wasn’t that long ago that Mark Story said I had potential to be governor some day (no joke, I’ll provide the link if you ask), I’m going to answer his questions.

20. Who will quarterback the University of Kentucky football team? Curtis Pulley

19. Even if UK finds a capable quarterback, will there be anyone not named Dicky Lyons Jr. to whom to throw? Yes, a few guys named Ford, Lanxter and Boyd

18. Who will quarterback the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team? Kevin Galloway, if Liggins doesn’t qualify

17. Will Kentucky basketball fans pray every day — or just three times a week — that Patrick Patterson’s ankle (stress fracture) and Jodie Meeks’ sports hernia heal completely? Everyday, 3 times a day. Facing Rupp Arena.

16. Having lost leading scorers Samantha Mahoney and Sarah Elliott from a team that struggled mightily on offense, how will the UK women’s hoops team ever score in 2008-09? Carly O. Look her up. Hot.

15. Will Steve Kragthorpe continue to appear to be the first miss for Tom Jurich in his major coaching hires at Louisville — or will the reputation of the U of L football coach enjoy a Rich Brooks-style bounce-back in 2008? Strike out for Jurich.

14. Is relying on nine new junior-college transfers — as U of L’s football program is in 2008 — a quick fix or fool’s gold? Yeah, not a good sign.

13. Will Hunter Cantwell actually turn out to be a more coveted NFL prospect than Brian Brohm? Hahahahahaha, Silly you, Mark.

12. Having wooed Earl Clark back from early entry into the NBA Draft, can Rick Pitino find a point guard of sufficient dependability to allow Louisville to make a legitimate national championship bid? Let’s hope not, but probably so.

11. Can the Louisville women find a point guard of sufficient dependability to allow the marvelous Angel McCoughtry to lead U of L to its first-ever women’s Final Four trip? See above.

10. Will there be life — well, basketball — on The Hill now that Courtney Lee and Crystal Kelly are no longer Hilltoppers? Sorry, don’t care.

9. Can this fall’s final installment of the Eastern Kentucky-Western Kentucky football series produce something so memorable as to be an appropriate send-off to an ancient rivalry? Hope so, it’s the second best rivalry in the state.

8. This was going to be: After a year in which UK, U of L and Western Kentucky all made the NCAA baseball tournament, can our state’s schools hold on to the coaches who are making the commonwealth relevant in college baseball?

Late Friday, John Cohen answered that one for us. And he answered wrongly….

7. Even though he is becoming the most significant Kentuckian in major-league baseball since Hall of Famer Jim Bunning, if Brandon Webb walked down Main Street in his street clothes in Lexington or Louisville, would five people recognize him? Yes. That goatee is easy to pick out.

6. Will Bruton Smith’s proposed purchase of Kentucky Speedway go through to finalization? If it does, it means a Cup Series race at last is likely to come to Kentucky because, otherwise, why would Smith buy the track? For giggles?

5. Will the heightened public and press scrutiny of horse racing this spring lead the powers that be in the sport in the commonwealth to tighten our state’s shamefully lax drug rules? Just race ‘em, boys.

4. Coming off a year in which public high schools won four of six state football championships and both the boys’ and girls’ basketball state titles, will the drive to split Kentucky high school sports into public and private school divisions lose steam?

Probably, until they cheat again. Looking at you St. X and LexCath.

3. Will the backing of what is sure to be a boisterous Kentucky crowd at Valhalla in September at last motivate Tiger, Phil and the U.S. Ryder Cup lads to stop playing the Washington Generals to Europe’s Globetrotters? Probably not, but we can watch anyway.

2. Has the University of Kentucky football program finally — finally — started turning the proverbial corner? Or did Rich Brooks catch lightning in a bottle with one class that included an unnaturally high number (think Woodson, Burton, Tamme, Little, Woodyard) of difference-makers? Corner has been turned, sir.

1. Judging from discussions I’ve had around the state, many Kentucky fans aren’t thrilled to see the commonwealth’s flagship university emerge as the national symbol of colleges wooing middle-school basketballers.

Billy Gillispie is an unconventional coach holding down the ultimate in Old School coaching jobs.

How that plays out remains fascinating in the extreme.

Where’s the question there, Mark?