Beverage group: 18 mayors wrong on sugary drinks
Posted: 06/18/2013 - The American Beverage Association says efforts by the mayors of 18 cities to stop food stamps from being used to buy sugary drinks won't make the nation healthier.
Give Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban credit. Two owners, with egos the size of Texas, put their heads together and came up with an NBA All-Star plan that has resulted in a world-record for attendance at a basketball game.
Sunday's announced attendance of 108,713 fans for the NBA All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium breaks the old record set at Ford Field in Detroit, when Kentucky and Michigan State met in a game on December 13, 2003. On that day, 78,129 fans showed up, many wearing the blue and white.
Ironically, the old NBA All-Star record was set in Texas, during the 1989 season. 44,735 fans attended the game that season at the Houston Astrodome.
Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, is the mastermind behind the world's largest domed stadium. At a cost of $1.3 billion, Cowboys Stadium also is one of the world's most expensive to build. For NFL games, the stadium seats 80,000.
Cuban is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, the host for this year's NBA All-Star game.
GameDay attendance record falls
Kudos to UK fans. 22,144 members of the Big Blue Nation attended Saturday's ESPN College GameDay at Rupp Arena, establishing a new GameDay record.
More than 23,000 tickets were distributed.
The GameDay crew, consisting of Rece Davis, Hubert Davis, Digger Phelps and Jay Bilas, all were blown away by the size of the Rupp Arena crowd and the atmosphere created for the one-hour GameDay show.
"Best ever," Bilas said afterward.
"I'm from North Carolina," Hubert Davis said during the show, "but nobody does it like Kentucky."
The day's most memorable moment came when Phelps, the former Notre Dame coach, got up and walked over to the UK Dance Team, and began dancing.
Wildcat reunion, of sorts
It was good to see some of the former Wildcats attending Saturday's GameDay festivities, and later, the matchup against Tennessee.
12 former players and Joe B. Hall were introduced after ESPN's College GameDay show ended. Jack Givens, Kyle Macy, Kenny Walker, Richie Farmer, Cameron Mills, Jared Prickett, Scott Padgett, Tony Delk, Derek Anderson, Wayne Turner, Chuck Hayes and Jodie Meeks were saluted by the Rupp crowd.
When asked of this year's version of the Wildcats, Chuck Hayes didn't mince words.
"He's got some studs," Hays responded.
Rap mogul in the house
Hip hop producer and founder of The Inc record label, Irv Gotti, attended Saturday's UK game against Tennessee. Gotti, who's real name is Irving Lorenzo, sported a blue John Wall jersey and was accompanied by his son.
Gotti is another in a long line of celebrities associated with UK coach John Calipari. Already this season, UK fans have seen rapper Drake, Ashley Judd and LeBron James attend UK games.
Gotti has been associated with entertainers Jay-Z, DMX, Ja Rule and Ashanti.
Overwhelming response to Indiana boy
Kentucky fans never cease to amaze me.
After posting the story here on this blog about John Calipari's visit to Indianapolis, to meet with critically ill UK fan Kevin Massey, UK fans responded in overwhelming fashion. Coach Cal took notice, even posting a link to our story here on his Facebook page.
Kevin's guestbook page at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kevinmassey/guestbook is now up to 52 pages, thanks to the UK fans who have gone to the site to post their best wishes.
I even saw a poster with Kevin's picture at ESPN GameDay. Wow.
The latest update on Kevin is not good. His brother writes that doctors have discovered bleeding in Kevin's brain stem, which is where the tumor is located.
On a personal note, thanks to all who read the blog entry and went to Kevin's page. I'm hoping Kevin's family has been pleased with the support of all who left messages and can take comfort in knowing there are so many out there pulling for his recovery.
Those are the highlights... Stay tuned.
Posted: 06/18/2013 - The American Beverage Association says efforts by the mayors of 18 cities to stop food stamps from being used to buy sugary drinks won't make the nation healthier.
Posted: 06/18/2013 - After initially defying federal regulators, Chrysler now says it will recall some older-model Jeeps with fuel tanks that could rupture and cause fires in rear-end collisions.
Posted: 06/18/2013 - Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Wednesday.
Updated: 06/19/2013 - On Tuesday, new details were released into the investigation of Officer Jason Ellis' murder. He and his family were also honored at the Cincinnati Reds game on Tuesday.
Updated: 06/18/2013 - Just weeks ago, he was badly injured after falling from a helicopter in a military exercise, now he's able to walk away from a truck crash with his wife.
Updated: 06/18/2013 - Investigators say it sends a clear message that drugs will not be tolerated. More than 20 inmates at the Whitley County Detention Center face new charges after they failed drug tests.
Posted: 06/18/2013 - Heavy rains caused major problems in the Perry County community of Big Creek, after flash flooding swept away cars and flooded an elementary school.
Updated: 06/18/2013 - A woman faces charges after, police say, she neglected a disabled man she was supposed to be taking care of.
Updated: 06/18/2013 - Central Kentucky Bariatric and Pain Management used to be located on East Side Drive in Georgetown, but a little over a year ago, it was forced to shut down because of legal issues. Now, a doctor who used to work here has plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute Oxycodone.
Posted: 06/18/2013 - The group from Texas even gave the Eubank church a sizable donation to cover some of their material costs.