Lexington, KY Sports Columnists from the Lexington Herald-Leader

Sports Columnists

John Clay: Five things to talk about when you're sipping iced tea by the pool

It is Memorial Day weekend, which means school is either out or about to be out. The weather is warmer. The skies are brighter. The days are longer. Summer is here.

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Archive by category ''Sports Columnists

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

John Clay: ESPN trolling for football fanatics and Finebaum is right man for job

ESPN reportedly laid off nearly 400 employees earlier this week, but on Thursday the World Wide Leader announced a hire that sets the tone for the future.
BASEBALL

John Clay: Baseball Cats a big disappointment this year

After Kentucky's 4-1 loss to Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament on Tuesday, the UK baseball season has to be characterized as a huge disappointment. After starting the year No. 11 in Baseball America's pre-season poll, the Cats are unlikely to get an NCAA Tournament bid after going 11-19 in the SEC ...
COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Mark Story: 'Confusing time' for Kentucky NCAA schools not named UK or UofL

At our state's NCAA Division I schools that are not in the "upper-crust" college conferences, how much do they worry about being "left behind" if the big boys bail?
HORSE RACING

John Clay: Calumet's return to racing prominence is a welcome one

Saturday's Preakness Stakes was a great big welcome back to a trio of horse racing's most important names: D. Wayne Lukas, Gary Stevens and Calumet Farm.
KENTUCKY DERBY

John Clay: Racing world craves greatness from Orb

The Preakness runs at 6:20 p.m. on NBC-18. We have not seen a Triple Crown winner since 1978, but for some reason, maybe because we are optimistic and sentimental fools when it comes to horses, even with two legs of the Triple Crown remaining, this year feels different, as if there really is more...
MARK STORY

Mark Story: Can UK's Air Raid 2.0 produce one-year offensive turnaround Mumme did?

Is it realistic to expect Kentucky's Air Raid 2.0 to produce in 2013 the type of dramatic reversal of offensive fortunes that Hal Mumme's original operating system did in 1997?
JOHN CLAY

John Clay: What Calipari said, what he meant

John Calipari held a "summer press conference" on Wednesday where the Kentucky basketball coach addressed last season, the state of the program and his incoming freshman class.In the interest of helping you the reader, we bring you the annotated John Calipari.
RECRUITING

John Clay: Calipari can't win 'em all

Andrew Wiggins' decision to sign with Kansas proves UK Coach John Calipari can't get every top recruit, though one might wonder if that isn't within the realm of Calipari's capabilities.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Mark Story: Andrew Wiggins faces a lot of scrutiny next year

Also discussed in notes column: Future of UK-WKU football series, how UK benefits from Kentucky-Louisville football rivalry and Kentucky Speedway, which has a race (sort of) coming up among area police chiefs.
LOUISVILLE CARDINALS

Mark Story: The area where UK and U of L basketball need to work together

The state of North Carolina has played host to NCAA Tournaments 10 times already in the 2000s. Teams from North Carolina are 30-1 in NCAA games played inside state lines this century. UK and U of L should work together to bring more NCAA tourneys here and give teams from our state the same advantage...