Blog Interview: Aaron's UK Basketball Blog

Today's blog interview comes from Aaron of Aaron's UK Basketball Blog, one of the eccentric UK Blogs out there that is on top of UK News. I was glad to hear Aaron was going to do this email interview, here's what he said,

1) Why did you get started with your blog/forum covering UK and has it been everything you'd hope it to be?

“as an alum, i am obviously a huge UK sports fan. about a year ago i realized i was sending a lot of uk basketball article links to my friends from college. instead of sending so many individual e-mails, i figured it would make more sense to start a blog and have them all in one centralized location that friends could visit.

the blog has exceeded my expectations. i've received almost one million page views in about one year's time. on a good day, the blog will get several thousand unique visits and 10,000 page views. as i mentioned, the blog was started with a few friends in mind. some people forwarded the link to places like catspause and kentuckysportsradio and it just took off.”

2) What's your home-state and how did you become a UK fan?

“I grew up in Florida, but now live in Atlanta, GA. I attended and graduated from UK. I spent a total of six great years in Lexington.”

3) What are your expectations going into the 07-08 football and basketball campaigns this season? Care to give predictions?

“I think the football team will do about the same of hopefully a little better than last year. The schedule is a little tougher, but many of the most difficult games are at home. It might be a little unrealistic to say we'll compete for the SEC title, but a good bowl game would be great. I think we certainly have the right returning nucleus of players to do it.

I think the basketball team will challenge Tennessee for the SEC Championship. They should be a little better than last year- the Sweet 16 or Elite 8 would be good for Gillispie's first year. I think we need to give Gillispie a few years so he can get his entire system in place.”

4) Like I just had a dream where Rajon Rondo refused to give me his autograph after I coached one of his practices ... any weird and wacky dreams involving UK you care to admit to?

“I had a dream that UK won it's eight NCAA Championship- hopefully it will come true soon.”

5) If you were to rate BCG on his recruiting and coaching efforts thus far, based on a scale of 1-10, 10 being best, how would you rate his performance?

“10. It was great that he was able to get Patterson and Legion so quickly. He's already got great recruits like Liggins, Ross-Miller, and Euton locked up way in advance. While he didn't get everyone, he didn't put all his eggs in one basket and has viable back-up options for each position/year. Recuiting under Tubby got very frustrating during the last few years. We were losing two and three star recruits to prep schools and inferior basketball programs. The Kanas game really showed that our guys just couldn't compete with the athletes of the top-tier programs.”

6) Andre Woodson is a Heisman Hopeful going into this season and everyone's expecting big things from the best QB in the SEC, however, in your opinion is there anyone else on the roster you think deserves being mentioned in Heisman conversations also?

“No. I think I read something that Keenan Burton is the fifth or sixth best receiver in the country. While this is great, it's obviously not Heisman material.”

7) How many UK hats, t-shirts, and jerseys do you currently own?

“One Hat, Several t-shirts, but no Jerseys. I also have UK cufflinks and slippers.”

8) Do enjoy playing UK on video game consoles and if so, are you currently playing? What level and how good are you? Do you think you could beat me head to head?

“No, unfortunately I can't find the time for any videogames, including ones involving UK.”

9) Favorite beverage and food item while watching UK play?

“Miller Lite and Buffalo Wings.”

10) Name one player from the football team and basketball team who you think will have a huge season in 07-08 and state why.

“I think Patrick Patterson will gave a great year, especially for a freshman. The reports about him this summer have been very positive. He apparently has a great work ethic and excellent leadership skills. UK is obviously undersized, so he should get a lot of playing time and bring down many rebounds.

Kind of the obvious answer, but I think Andre Woodson will have a huge season. He has so many offensive weapons returning from last year and I hope he handles the spotlight and pressure well. It's hard to believe UK has the best quarterback in the SEC and a heisman trophy candidate.”

Thanks Aaron for participating, much thanks. One thing I forgot to ask or add: Aaron, how do you stay on top of late breaking UK news so quickly? You the man!

LINK

· Aaron's UK Basketball Blog

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