Oh, Kentucky

Wikipedia (so great) lists six towns and cities of Union County: Breckinridge Center, Morganfield, Sturgis, Sullivan, Uniontown and Waverly. That picture of Morganfield is from the summer of 2010. This picture, from near Waverly on U.S. 60, is from 1993 or so.


The map of Union County that appears at the front of Union County Past and Present--a Kentucky Writers' Project/Work Projects Administration publication that was part of the American Guide Series and printed by Schumann Printing Co. of Louisville in 1941--does not show Breckinridge Center from the Wikpedia list but does include 12 other places: Arnold, Bordley, Boxville, Caseyville, Curlew, DeKoven, Grove Center, Henshaw, Herman, Hitesville, Pride and Spring Grove. This picture was shot in 2010, facing eastbound on Ky. 56, just after you cross the Shawneetown Bridge over the Ohio River (so terrifying) and before you get to Spring Grove.



And, so, the HP's cavalcade of Union County continues, with the UC High Braves tied with Campbell County for the lead in the KHSAA wrestling championships and action set to resume in Lexington at 8:30 Central this morning. Furthermore, the Kentucky desk is tuning back in "today's country and (my) all-time favorites" on Morganfield's WMSK 101.3 FM so as not to miss any of the interruptions with the state's only live radio coverage of the event at the Alltech Arena at Kentucky Horse Park.

Now, of course, the wrestling championships are not the only item of interest to the Kentucky desk this morning, but just those communities of Union County and the seat of Campbell (Alexandria) suck up all the label space for this post. So, we're going to go ahead and wrap up with a mention that UK's national-champion rifle team is today amid a qualifier to return to its NCAA tournament. This event is actually occurring at this very moment, and we can watch! (I'm not sure what's happening in this sport either, but ... wow! The Internet is so awesome.) This Brian Rickerd feature on the UK rifle team in Frankfort's State-Journal is pretty interesting. ("Take Anthony Davis. If I said to Davis, ‘Okay, there’s no time left and we’re down 99 points, and you have to make 100 straight free throws in front of 23,000 people.’ ...")

In conclusion: Hooray for Brian Rickerd, and hooray for the UK rifle team! Sorry to Frankfort for the lack of label. Hooray for WMSK, and hooray for Union County! Sorry to Campbell County, about which I don't have a lot of books and pictures and things because it's not where a lot of my wife's family is from. Hooray for the Internet, and, finally and as always, hooray for Kentucky!

Oh, Kentucky

KHSAA wrestling finals! 

KET News Quiz! 

An ex-WKU tuba star is coming home to Kentucky from New Mexico to lead the first Bardstown Thomas Nelson High School marching band of Generals. 

The rare Brohm to have not quarterbacked U of L is the first football coach. 

Bowling Green, Owensboro, Versailles and (almost) Jamestown are certifiably ready for good jobs news. Bad ahead for Olive Hill? 

Louisville loves its TV hoops. 

The bridge is re-opening! (No, not that bridge.) 

This might mean that La Grange will be getting its caboose soon. 

Preliminary Country Music Highway Road to Fame competitions kick off March 15 in Pikeville. 

Landline pullback? 

Draffens demolition. 

Of the "doctrinal commitments of the Elkhorn Baptist Association."

Ah, footbah

The new Kentucky high-school football season gets rolling in earnest tonight. Let's re-acquaint ourselves.

The Kentucky High School Athletic Association divides the state's teams into six classes--from the tiny As to the big 6As--and, within each class, there are eight districts--from the western 1s to the eastern 8s. A team advances to the playoffs, which are scheduled to begin Nov. 4, by finishing in the top four of its district. That means 192 teams (pretty much all of them) compete in the six playoff tournaments, which are planned to conclude Dec. 2 and 3 at Western Kentucky University's L.T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green.

The 2010 champs were Mayfield (Class A), Newport Central Catholic (2A), Louisville Central (3A), Boyle County (4A), Fort Thomas Highlands (5A) and Louisville Trinity (6A), and those teams are all expected to be awfully good again this fall. The state's "Mr. Football" honoree was Boyle County's Lamar Dawson, a linebacker who I learned today hails from Junction City. He is now a freshman at the University of Southern California. The two players getting the most attention in the preseason this year are Highlands' Patrick Towles and Edgewood Dixie Heights' Zeke Pike, who have committed to Kentucky and Auburn, respectively.

Now, those are the competitive basics. Of course, we all know that Kentucky is not thought of as an especially strong state for high-school football. And some folks find that spreading the shallow pool of teams and talent across so wide of a system of divisions and tournaments results in a snoozer of a season.

Well, to this I say pish-posh. When I went to high school, at Heath in the mid 1980s, the fun of football season was at least as much about getting out of Friday-afternoon classes for the pep rallies, hanging out with friends at home games and riding buses to and from the away dates as it was the football itself. And if the competition and individual talent level wasn't up to Georgia/Alabama/Texas/Ohio/Pennsylvania snuff, they were at least compelling enough to trick me into believing that this year was going to be the year that Heath finally upset Mayfield or that the Pirates' 1983 quarterback, Mike "The Rifleman" Colson, would eventually be starring in the NFL.

Things haven't changed a great deal in the 25 years since (Class of '86, represent!). I'm thrilled about the start of the new season. I'm ecstatic to think about where and what I might get to eat when I do actually go to games and to imagine the routes I would take to the games that I don't. And by the end of the season, I will have become tricked into believing that some team or some player whom I've been reading about all autumn is really fantastic and ready to rock the CW's world.

It's going to be great, and it gets started tonight. Here are some of the weekend's matchups that intoxicate me:

-- Mayfield at Bowling Green Greenwood (Fruit of the Loom Bowl)
-- Nicholasville West Jessamine vs. Somerset (Visitnich.com Bowl at East Jessamine)
-- Fort Thomas Highlands at Boyle County
-- Louisville Trinity at Brentwood Academy (Tenn.)
-- Caldwell County at Calloway County
-- Lexington Christian at Louisville Christian Academy
-- Owensboro at Daviess County
-- Newport Central Catholic at Edgewood Dixie Heights
-- Louisville Central at Louisville DuPont Manual
-- McLean County at Edmonson County
-- Henderson County at Evansville F.J. Reitz (Ind.)
-- Clarksville (Tenn.) at Fort Campbell
-- Christian County at Madisonville-North Hopkins
-- Franklin-Simpson at Monroe County
-- Owensboro Apollo at Owensboro Catholic
-- Lone Oak at Paducah Tilghman
-- Fulton County at Reidland
-- Buechel Fern Creek at Louisville Saint Xavier
-- Russellville at Trigg County
-- Pulaski County vs. Hopkinsville (Saturday, Don Franklin Bowl in Columbia)
-- Warren East vs. South Warren and Bowling Green vs. Allen County-Scottsville (Saturday, Rafferty's Bowl in Bowling Green)
-- Heath at Paintsville Johnson Central (Saturday)

Kentucky Minute

Today's episode comes live from Marion, where we just ate an ice-cream cake.