Kentucky-Louisville baseball did rivalry the right way, and more random notes

Random notes:

▪ The way Kentucky and Louisville competed in last weekend’s super regional of the NCAA Tournament, then congratulated each other — U of L Coach Dan McDonnell was talking and shaking hands with UK Coach Nick Mingione while his team was creating the celebratory dogpile — is the way you should always conduct a collegiate sports rivalry.

▪ The Birmingham News’ 71st annual poll of SEC sports information directors picked Kentucky football to finish third in the East. The Cats were ranked 11th of the 14 teams overall. Linebacker Jordan Jones was a first-team selection on defense.

▪ Heading into Wednesday’s games, Cincinnati Reds pitchers had allowed a major league-high 101 home runs.

▪ As for the NBA Finals, LeBron James did everything he could.

▪ Hansel, the oldest living winner of a Triple Crown race, was euthanized Tuesday at Lazy Lane Farm in Virginia. He was 29. After Strike the Gold won the 1991 Kentucky Derby, Hansel won the Preakness and Belmont.

▪ If you have some money burning a hole in your pocket, the Chicago Cubs are selling leaves of ivy from last season, its championship season, for $200.

▪ Drake is the host for the 2017 NBA Awards Show on June 26. You have been warned.

▪ Michigan says the trip its football team took to Rome for spring break will end up costing between $750,000 and $800,000.

▪ The NCAA College Basketball Rules Committee approved a change that extends the coach’s box from 28 to 38 feet next season. Whatever happened to the seat belt rule?

▪ Courtesy of J. Keeler Johnson, this year was the first since 1926 that nine different horses finished in the trifecta of the three Triple Crown races.

▪ Ex-UK forward Mark Pope has always thought big. Now the head basketball coach at Utah Valley, his team opens the season with Kentucky and then Duke. The schedule should get easier after that. Surely.

▪ Fangraphs on Kentucky first baseman Evan White, taken in the first round with the 17th overall pick by the Seattle Mariners: “The downside is that he’s a first baseman, and the track record for college first basemen isn’t great. But White’s chipped in 15 steals between this year and last, which backs up the scouting reports about his athleticism.”

▪ Meanwhile, ex-UK first baseman A.J. Reed is hitting .260 with 11 homers and 40 RBI through 61 games with Fresno, the Houston Astros’ Triple-A club.

▪ According to our friends at Pro Football Focus, Western Kentucky quarterback Mike White led all returning quarterbacks in deep passing yardage last season with 1,762.

▪ If you missed it, former Jessamine County basketball star Chris Holtmann was introduced as the new head basketball coach at Ohio State on Monday. Smart hire by the Buckeyes. And not just saying that because the former Butler coach is a terrific guy.

▪ Gun Runner is the favorite for Saturday’s Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs. It will be his first race since finishing second to Arrogate in the Dubai World Cup in March.

▪ Make sure you are sitting before you read this: Virginia’s Kyle Guy has cut his man-bun. (He called it a “top-knot.”)

▪ This was the first NBA Finals in which no player who was called for a foul thought he had actually committed the foul. OK, maybe not the first.

▪ Jason Butt of the Macon Telegraph ranked Kentucky as the sixth toughest opponent on Georgia’s 12-game football schedule for 2017. Ranked ahead from 1-5: Auburn, Notre Dame, Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina.

This story was originally published June 14, 2017 at 5:51 PM with the headline "Kentucky-Louisville baseball did rivalry the right way, and more random notes."