UFL Update

The (Washington) D.C. Defenders and Louisville (Kentucky) Kings have advanced to the United Football League championship, scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern Saturday at Audi Field in Washington. I will be rooting for the Kings, which started their debut season with three straight losses, each of which I watched parts of (I think). I don't think I've seen a live second of the UFL season since, but I do hope to check in on United Bowl 2026 and see if Louisville can punctuate "one of the most remarkable turnarounds in UFL history."

I added the italics in that quote, by the way.

On this Day in 1976

The Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association played their last game.  They were beaten by the Denver Nuggets four games to three in the semifinals of the ABA playoffs.

The Colonels played nine seasons in the ABA, from 1967-68 to 1975-76.  They finished with a regular season record of 448 wins and 296 losses, for a winning percentage of .602.  They went to the ABA finals in 1970-71, 1972-73, and 1974-75 -- winning in all in 1974-75.

The Denver Nuggets, New York Nets, San Antonio Spurs, and Indiana Pacers were all invited to join the NBA when the ABA collapsed, and they are all still going strong.  But the Colonels disappeared, and Louisville hasn't come close to getting a major pro sports team since.

12 Teams Left

Because I am writing this post in Japan, I was unable to see today's matchups in the KHSAA Boys' State Basketball Tournament.  But thanks to the Internet, I have the scores, and here they are:

(4) Lou. St. Xavier 75, (1) Cov. Catholic 61

On paper, these were two of the best teams in the tournament.  But Cov Cath could not hang with St. X, which played a dominant game today. 

(16) N. Laurel 52, (3) Warren Cent. 38

Warren Central is almost always a tough out in this tournament, and I definitely thought they would win this game.  But North Laurel not only won, they made it look easy.

Grayson Co. 73, Taylor Co. 64

Probably not significant in the long run, but a nice win for the Third Region.

Great Crossing 57, Danville Christian 37

The defending champs are on a roll.

16 Teams Left

Here is the draw for next week's KHSAA Boys' Basketball Tournament:

Wednesday, March 18:

(1) Cov. Catholic Colonels (31-2) v. (4) Lou. St. Xavier Tigers (26-7)

(3) Warren Cent. Dragons (26-3) v. (16) N. Laurel Jaguars (28-7)

Taylor Co. Cardinals (26-9) v. Grayson Co. Cougars (25-6)

Danville Christian Warriors (23-7) v. Great Crossing Warhawks (23-11)

Thursday, March 19:

(19) Lou. Butler Bears (26-5) v. Hazard Bulldogs (24-10)

(5) N. Oldham Mustangs (25-5) v. Lyon Co. Lyons (29-6)

(6) Geo. Rogers Clark Cardinals (29-4) v. Johnson Cent. Golden Eagles (28-5)

(10) Boyd Co. Lions (29-6) v. Marshall Co. Marshals (24-8)

Every team in this year's State Tournament has won at least 23 games, and the great majority have been to the tournament within the last five years.  It should be very competitive.

70 Teams Left

Only two games on Friday, but they were big ones -- the Seventh Region semi-finals:

SEVENTH REGION SEMI-FINALS (at Valley H.S.):

(4) Lou. St. Xavier 61, Lou. Trinity 46

(9) Lou. Ballard 75, (12) Lou. DuPont Manual 55

118 Teams Left

Here are the results of last night's Boys' Regional Games (MaxPreps rankings in parentheses):

FOURTH REGION QUARTER-FINALS (at W. Kentucky):

Barren Co. 77, Clinton Co. 49

(3) Warren Cent. 67, Franklin-Simpson 27

SIXTH REGION QUARTER-FINALS (home teams listed first):

(19) Lou. Butler 83 - 52 Lou. Pleasure Ridge Park

Lou. W.E.B. DuBois 71 - 59 Bullitt Cent.

Lou. Fairdale 61 - 78 (13) Lou. Jeffersontown

Lou. Moore 85 - 95 Lou. DeSales

SEVENTH REGION QUARTER-FINALS (home teams listed first):

(4) Lou. St. Xavier 105 - 50 Lou. Central

Lou. Trinity 64 - 63 Lou. Eastern

(9) Lou. Ballard 78 - 76 Lou. Male

(12) Lou. DuPont Manual 60 - 51 Lou. Waggener

Note:  Christian Academy-Louisville, ranked 14th in the Commonwealth on MaxPreps, was eliminated by Lou. Eastern 80-65 in the semi-finals of the 28th District.  So, CAL did not qualify for the Seventh Region Tournament.

Lots more action on tap tonight.

KHSAA Update

OK, now we're down to the quarter-finals.  Forty-eight teams are left -- eight teams from each class.  All games below will be played on Friday, November 21.  The home teams are listed first, unless otherwise noted.  Each team's number is its MaxPreps ranking.  Top 20 teams in bold:

CLASS 6A:

(3) S. Warren (11-0) v. (72) Henderson Co. (6-6)

(2) Lou. St. Xavier (9-3) v. (23) Lou. Male (8-4)

(1) Lou. Trinity (10-2) v. (20) Madison Cent. (8-4)

(12) Lex. Frederick Douglass (8-4) v. (15) Ryle (9-3)

CLASS 5A:

(10) Owensboro (10-2) v. (94) Lou. Fairdale (8-4)

(35) Lou. Atherton (11-1) v. (25) Bowling Green (6-6)

(11) Pulaski Co. (10-2) v. (53) W. Jessamine (9-3)

(13) Woodford Co. (11-1) v. (16) Scott Co. (9-3) (at Falling Springs Park, Versailles)

CLASS 4A:

(18) Franklin Co. (12-0) v. (60) N. Oldham (10-2)

(14) Pad. Tilghman (11-1) v. (26) Logan Co. (10-2)

(7) Boyle Co. (11-1) v. (5) Cov. Catholic (9-3)

(6) Ft. Thomas Highlands (10-2) v. (21) Corbin (9-3)

CLASS 3A:

(4) Christian Academy-Louisville (12-0) v. (66) Union Co.(7-5)

(27) Murray (12-0) v. (37) Lex. Catholic (9-2)

(39) Erlanger Lloyd (12-0) v. (56) Russell (10-2)

(17) Bell Co. (11-1) v. (31) Lawrence Co. (11-1)

CLASS 2A:

(22) Owensboro Cath. (11-1) v. (34) Somerset (11-1)

(29) Lex. Christian (9-3) v. (24) Mayfield (10-1)

(19) Belfry (11-1) v. (55) Breathitt Co. (10-2)

(30) Beechwood (10-1) v. (33) Prestonsburg (12-0)

CLASS 1A:

(42) Kentucky Country Day (10-1) v. (105) Newport (8-4)

(41) Campbellsville (10-1) v. (83) Newport Cent. Cath. (8-4)

(28) Raceland (10-1) v. (91) Paris (7-4)

(36) Pikeville (9-3) v. (54) Middlesboro (11-0)

Here's what happened to the two top 20 teams not listed above.  They were both defeated last weekend:

Number 8 Johnson Central lost to Covington Catholic, 36-29.

Number 9 Lou. DuPont Manual lost to Lou. Male, 15-14.

U.C.F.C. Update

Here's a complete list of all the Unofficial College Football Championship Games played so far this season.  When the year began, Florida held the U.C.F.C.:

(Home teams listed first):

08/30/25:  Florida 55 - 0 Long Island U.

09/06/25:  Florida 16 - 18 S. Florida

09/13/25:  Miami (Fla.) 49 - 12 S. Florida

09/20/25:  Miami (Fla.) 26 - 7 Florida

10/04/25:  Florida St. 22 - 28 Miami (Fla.)

10/17/25:  Miami (Fla.) 21 - 24 Louisville

10/25/25:  Louisville 38 - 24 Boston Coll.

11/01/25:  Virginia Tech 16 - 28 Louisville

11/08/25:  Louisville 26 - 29 California (OT)

California becomes the fifth team to hold the U.C.F.C. this year.  Four separate holders have lost the Big Gold Trophy this season, and three of them lost at home.  That is extremely unusual.

Cal holds the U.C.F.C. for the first time since 1993.  The Bears will take the Big Gold Trophy to Stanford on November 22 for The Big Game, which will be an even bigger game this year with the U.C.F.C. on the line.

MaxPreps KHSAA Top 20

Here is the latest MaxPreps top 20 for KHSAA Football:

1.  Lou. Trinity:  6-2

2.  Christian Academy-Louisville:  8-0

3.  Lou. St. Xavier:  4-3

4.  Boyle Co:  6-1

5.  Ft. Thomas Highlands:  6-2

6.  Cov. Catholic:  5-3

7.  S. Warren:  7-0

8.  Johnson Cent.:  8-0

9.  Lex. Frederick Douglass:  4-3

10.  Woodford Co:  6-1

11.  Lou. DuPont Manual:  4-3

12.  Ryle:  4-3

13.  Pad. Tilghman:  6-1

14.  Cooper:  4-3

15.  Franklin Co:  8-0

16.  Lou. Male:  4-3

17.  Corbin:  4-3

18.  Owensboro:  5-2

19.  Pulaski Co:  5-2

20.  Scott Co:  6-2

Trinity's two losses are both to teams from Ohio.  On September 5, Cincinnati Moeller beat Lou. Trinity 24-21.  On October 3, Cincinnati St. Xavier beat Lou. Trinity 17-14.  But Lou. Trinity is undefeated in the Commonwealth, with a 35-24 win over Louisville St. Xavier on September 26.

College Baseball Tournament

The NCAA Baseball Tournament began today with 16 different double-elimination tournaments.  Here are the scores we have so far (numbers represent a team's overall seed):

E. Carolina 11, Florida 6

(5) N. Carolina 4, Holy Cross 0

Remember that today, every team is playing its first game.  So no one will be eliminated until tomorrow.

In Nashville, Louisville leads E. Tennessee St. 8-2 in the bottom of the 7th.  This weekend's battle between Louisville and Vanderbilt will be extraordinary.  These two play each other every year, and U of L always gives Vandy fits.  In fact, U of L beat Vandy a few weeks ago.  In 2019, Vandy had to beat Louisville twice -- 3-1 and 3-2 -- at the College World Series to win the National title.  They were two of the most nerve-wracking baseball games I've ever seen.  If Vandy can survive Louisville, they will be dangerous the rest of the way.

In Clemson, Kentucky leads W. Virginia 3-0 in the bottom of the 5th.

In Oxford, Georgia Tech leads W. Kentucky 3-0 in the bottom of the 1st.

86 Teams Left

The Manual fans claimed that they were fouled at the buzzer in regulation, but that the referees refused to call the foul because it would have decided the game.  It is very hard being a basketball fan.  Anyway, DuPont Manual becomes the first team in the MaxPreps top 20 to be eliminated from the State Tournament.

SEVENTH REGION SEMIFINALS (at Valley H.S.):

(10) Lou. Manual 55 - 60 Lou. Trinity (Overtime)

Lou. Ballard 55 - 90 (1) Lou. St. Xavier

116 Teams Left

Here are the results from last night's boys' basketball regionals.  The score I had for Frederick Douglass last night was wrong -- they have not been eliminated.  MaxPrep rankings in parentheses:

SIXTH REGION QUARTER-FINALS (home teams listed first):

Lou. Pleasure Ridge Park 61 - 47 N. Bullitt 

Lou. Butler 71 - 66 Lou. Fern Creek

Lou. Moore 86 - 52 Lou. Western

Lou. Jeffersontown 79 - 74 Lou. Fairdale

SEVENTH REGION QUARTER-FINALS (home teams listed first):

(10) Lou. Manual 65 - 61 Lou. Male

Lou. Trinity 74 - 48 Christian Academy-Louisville

Lou. Ballard 83 - 62 Lou. Atherton

(1) Lou. St. Xavier 95 - 46 Lou. Central

ELEVENTH REGION QUARTER-FINALS (home teams listed first):

Great Crossing 81 - 51 Lex. Christian

(5) Lex. Bryan Station 82 - 47 Berea

Lex. Catholic 72 - 59 Western Hills

Madison Cent. 52 - 62 (3) Lex. Frederick Douglass

XXXIII Olympic Summer Games, Paris 2024 (Days 14-16 Before Closing Ceremonies)

Vive la France!

Medals leaders:

1. United States 30 gold, 38 silver, 35 bronze (103 total)

2. China 29, 25, 19 (73)

3. Australia 18, 14, 13 (45)

4. France 14, 19, 21 (54)

5. Great Britain 13, 17, 21 (51)

6. South Korea 13, 8, 7 (28)

7. Japan 13, 7, 13 (33)

8. Netherlands 11, 6, 8 (25)

9. Italy 10, 11, 9 (30)

10. Germany 9, 8, 5 (22)

Previous reports:

-- I Olympic Summer Games, Athens 1896

-- XXX Olympic Summer Games, London 2012 

-- XXXI Olympic Summer Games, Rio 2016 

-- XXXII Olympic Summer Games, Tokyo 2020

-- XXXIII Olympic Summer Games, Paris 2024 (Day -2-Day 8)

-- XXXIII Olympic Summer Games, Paris 2024 (Day 9)

-- XXXIII Olympic Summer Games, Paris 2024 (Day 10)
-- XXXIII Olympic Summer Games, Paris 2024 (Day 11)

-- XXXIII Olympic Summer Games, Paris 2024 (Day 12)

-- XXXIII Olympic Summer Games, Paris 2024 (Day 13)

PGA Championship Round Four

Events prevented me from watching the final round yesterday, but it was apparently another thriller -- the fourth time in four tournaments that Valhalla has put on a dramatic PGA Championship.  The Golf World is having a big fight over whether Valhalla is "too easy" to host the PGA, but I'd rather watch a close and competitive tournament won by a great player than a high-scoring tournament won by a mediocre player.  So I would definitely return to Valhalla in the future, if I ran the PGA.  In the meantime, here is a very strong top ten:

1.  Xander Schauffele:  -21 (62+68+68+65=263)

2.  Bryson DeChambeau:  -20 (68+65+67+64=264)

3.  Viktor Hovland (NOR):  -18 (68+66+66+66=266)

T4.  Thomas Detry (BEL):  -15 (66+67+70+66=269)

T4.  Collin Morikawa:  -15 (66+65+67+71=269)

T6.  Shane Lowry (IRL):  -14 (69+69+62+70=270)

T6.  Justin Rose (ENG):  -14 (70+67+64+69=270)

T8.  Billy Horschel:  -13 (69+69+69+64=271)

T8.  Robert MacIntyre:  -13 (66+69+66+70=271)

T8.  Scottie Scheffler:  -13 (67+66+73+65=271)

T8.  Justin Thomas:  -13 (69+67+67+68=271)

PGA Championship Round Three

Scottie Scheffler shot a 73 and falls back  to a tie for 24th place at 7 under.  Brooks Koepka shot a 74 and is mired in a tie for 47th place at 4 under.  But for the most part, we have a star-studded leaderboard.  Valhalla really has become one of the best tournament courses in the United States, and it will be a shame if this week's drama convinces the PGA to avoid a course that gives us such excellent tournaments.

For a long time, I thought the best way to judge a course is by how hard it is for the pros to make low scores.  But over time, I came to realize this is the wrong metric.  For years, the U.S.G.A. showed that you can trick up courses in ways that make it impossible for anyone to break par.  But if you do so, the results will not usually reward the best players.  What you want is a course that is good at distinguishing between the best players and those in the second tier.  To take just one example:  the players who can hit the ball the farthest should score better than the others -- and growing the rough in ways that punish long hitters is simply unfair.  

At Valhalla, Jack Nicklaus built a course that rewards great players.  Tiger won here in 2000.  In 2014, Rory McIlroy edged out Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler.  And in this tournament, Valhalla has once again done an excellent job of separating great players from the rest of the pack.  Here is the top 10 with one round to go, and as you can see it has an unusual number of stars at the top.  They have posted low scores -- not because the course is easy, but because they are very talented.  That's the type of result you want to see:

T1.  Xander Schauffele:  -15 (62+68+68=198)

T1.  Collin Morikawa:  -15 (66+65+67=198)

3.  Sahith Theegala:  -14 (65+67+67=199)

T4.  Shane Lowry (IRL):  -13 (69+69+62=200)

T4.  Bryson DeChambeau:  -13 (68+65+67=200)

T4.  Viktor Hovland (NOR):  -13 (68+66+66=200)

T7.  Justin Rose (ENG):  -12 (70+67+64=201)

T7.  Robert MacIntyre (SCO):  -12 (66+69+66=201)

9.  Dean Bermester (RSA):  -11 (69+65+68=202)

T10.  Lee Hodges:  -10 (71+65+67=203)

T10.  Justin Thomas:  -10 (69+67+67=203)

T10.  Harris English:  -10 (68+67+68=203)

T10.  Thomas Detry (BEL):  -10 (66+67+70=203)

T10.  Tony Finau:  -10 (65+69+69=203)

T10.  Austin Eckroat:  -10 (67+67+69=203)

PGA Championship Round One

It's really hard to complain about the first round of the PGA Championship.  The weather was great and the leaderboard is packed with stars:

1.  Xander Schauffele:  -9 (62)

T2.  Tony Finau:  -6 (65)

T2.  Sahith Theegala:  -6 (65)

T2.  Mark Hubbard:  -6 (65)

T5.  Rory McIlroy (NIR):  -5 (66)

T5.  Robert MacIntyre (SCO):  -5 (66)

T5.  Tom Hoge:  -5 (66)

T5.  Tom Kim (KOR):  -5 (66)

T5.  Thomas Detry (BEL):  -5 (66)

T5.  Maverick McNealy:  -5 (66)

T5.  Collin Morikawa:  -5 (66)

We normally stick to the Top Ten in these reports, but Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler are at 4 under par, Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland are 3 under, and Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are 2 under.  It's an excellent leaderboard.

According to the PGA Tour's web page, here are the players with the shortest odds to win:

X. Schauffele:  +275

S. Scheffler:  +400

R. McIlroy:  +500

B. Koepka:  +1200

C. Morikawa:  +1400

S. Theegala:  +2200

T. Finau:  +2500

If the next three days are like this, then golf fans are in for a treat.

The PGA Championship Returns to Louisville

A few weeks ago, the Kentucky Derby drew the highest T.V. ratings in 35 years, and tomorrow the sports world returns to Louisville -- this time to the East Side of town instead of the West Side -- for the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club.  This will be the fourth time the PGA has come to Valhalla.  The last two times -- Tiger Woods's thrilling win in 2000 and Rory McIlroy's finish in the dark in 2014 -- are two of my favorite major tournaments ever.

I like golf course scorecards, especially when the holes have names, so here's the scorecard for Valhalla, with lots of Kentucky references in the hole names:

1.  The Post (Par 4 -- 484 yards)

2.  Winning Colors (Par 4 -- 500 yards)

3.  Honest Abe (Par 3 -- 208 yards)

4.  Mine That Bird (Par 4 -- 372 yards)

5.  The Sun Shines Bright (Par 4 -- 463 yards)

6.  Long Shot (Par 4 -- 495 yards)

7.  Genuine Risk (Par 5 -- 597 yards)

8.  Float Like a Butterfly (Par 3 -- 190 yards)

9.  Twin Spires (Par 4 -- 415 yards)

OUT (Par 35 -- 3,724 yards)

10.  Big Red (Par 5 -- 590 yards)

11.  Holler (Par 3 -- 211 yards)

12.  Sting Like a Bee (Par 4 -- 494 yards)

13.  The Limestone Hole (Par 4 -- 351 yards)

14.  On the Rocks (Par 3 -- 254 yards)

15.  Julep (Par 4 -- 435 yards)

16.  Homestretch (Par 4 -- 508 yards)

17.  Straight Up (Par 4 -- 472 yards)

18.  Photo Finish (Par 5 -- 570 yards)

IN (Par 36 -- 3,885 yards)

TOTAL (Par 71 -- 7,609 yards)

Speaking of Posts and Photo Finishes, here are the odds to Win:

Scottie Scheffler:  +425

Rory McIlroy (NIR):  +700

Brooks Koepka:  +1400

Xander Schauffele:  +1400

Jon Rahm (ESP):  +1800

Ludvig Aberg (SWE):  +2000

4 Teams Left

In the late game last night, Evangel Christian beat Trinity 57 to 46.  So the semi-finals look like this:

(1) Great Crossing (36-1) v. (7) Lyon Co. (34-3) (10 A.M. Central)

(9) Harlan Co. (33-4) v. (11) Evangel Christian (31-6) (12:30 P.M. Central)

On paper, this is one of the strongest collections of semi-finalists I can remember.

64 Teams Left

Only four games tonight -- regional semi-finals in the Fifth and Seventh Regions.  In the Seventh Region, the public schools are making their last stand:

Seventh Region Semi-Finals (at Lou. Valley):

(5) Lou. Trinity (24-7) v. (15) Lou. Manual (28-4)

(4) Lou. St. Xavier (30-3) v. Lou. Seneca (16-15)

Girls' Sweet Sixteen, Saturday

Gameday, baby! Hopefully for our McCracken County High School Lady Mustangs: Gamesday!

— KHSAA RPI No. 4 Louisville Sacred Heart vs. No. 9 Winchester George Rogers Clark at 10 a.m. Central

— No. 3 McCracken County vs. No. 14 Henderson County at 12:30 p.m.

— State championship at 6 p.m. 

As you can see, it's going to be hard to maintain focus at West Area Workshops ...

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