Sunday links: Florida roundup, rifle championship, Meyer and more

Similar to Guy Ramsey’s Web Wednesday, we’re going to put together a links post on here every Sunday to recap some of the best stories from the last few days.

Men’s basketball: Liggins lives life by simple credo (Matt May of The Cats’ Pause)

Maurice Davis was the latest basketball star to blossom on the Southside of Chicago. Long, lanky, equally adept at scoring and rebounding the athletically built 18-year-old senior was an honor student, captain of the Englewood Technical High School basketball team and on the radar of Division I-A college scouts. He was going to score a rare victory over the streets. And then, in the flash of a gun’s muzzle, he was gone. Another victim of the struggle. DeAndre Liggins was just 14 at the time, another youngster trying to steer clear of the violence and drug war that claimed so many of his friends and neighbors.

Men’s basketball: Another road game, another close loss (John clay from the Lexington Herald-Leader)

John Calipari said it again. “What we know is that we’re good enough to win,” the Kentucky coach said Saturday night, standing in the back hallway of the O’Connell Center. And yet, Kentucky can’t seem to win. Not on the road. Not in a close one.

Men’s basketball: John Calipari’s back-to-back magic is snapped (Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal)

John Calipari’s back-to-back magic is snapped. Chomped, you might say. Florida’s 70-68 win Saturday night at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center capped an 0-2 week for the University of Kentucky and gave Calipari his first back-to-back losses since he dropped four straight at Memphis in 2005.

Men’s basketball: UK’s small margin for error apparent again in Florida loss (Larry Vaught from the Danville Advocate-Messenger)

Kentucky had so much talent and depth last season that it had a much greater margin for error than John Calipari’s second team does. That’s why UK’s 70-68 loss at Florida Saturday night — Kentucky’s fourth two-point loss this season and second in five days — was so close to a huge, huge win for the Wildcats.

Football: 3 ex-Cats eager to coach (the Lexington Herald-Leader’s Chip Cosby)

Former Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson admits it hasn’t been easy accepting that his football playing days are over. But coaching is something Woodson believes can help him cope. Woodson and ex-UK receiver Glenn Holt have joined Joker Phillips’ staff as student assistants. Both have enrolled at UK for the spring semester. Woodson said he’s about two semesters away from a degree in kinesiology, and Holt expects to get his sociology degree in December.

Men’s basketball: Video interviews with Calipari, Knight and Jones following the game (The Kentucky Kernel)

Baseball: Meyer tries to turn around career (Conor Glassey of Baseball America)

Despite pitching well his senior season, Meyer’s commitment to the Wildcats was so strong that he fell to the Red Sox in the 20th round in the 2008 draft. Boston went all-in with their signings that year and made a hard push to pry Meyer away from Kentucky at the deadline. Meyer said turning down the Red Sox was the toughest decision of his life, but he never second guesses himself.

Baseball: Nidiffer hopes to be first Cat to play for Legends (Mark Maloney from the Lexington Herald-Leader)

Drumming up interest for their 11th season, the Lexington Legends did something at their annual publicity “caravan” Thursday that they’d never been able to do before — introduce a Kentucky Wildcat who very well could be on their opening-day roster. “That would be a cool thing,” Marcus Nidiffer said. “I’m ready to be the first.”

Women’s basketball: UK’s blowout of Auburn a nice warmup for Monday’s Tennessee game (Mark Story of the Lexington Herald-Leader)

Matthew Mitchell pondered the question for just a millisecond. On a scale of zero and Armageddon, where does No. 16 Kentucky’s Monday evening showdown with No. 5 Tennessee rank? Pounding the table for mock emphasis, Mitchell said with a smile “gotta go with Armageddon. This is big. Game of the Century.” OK, maybe not. But it is going to be big.

Rifle: Rifle topples No. 1 WVU, claims conference crownd (UKathletics.com)

The Kentucky rifle team road a school-record team score to a 4696-4680 win over No. 1 West Virginia, clinching the 2010-11 Great American Rifle Conference regular-season championship, on Saturday at UK’s Barker Hall. “I was really proud of the team, they really did great,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “This was the first step in our journey this year.”

Football: Kentucky’s Derrick Locke and Randall Cobb rising quickly (Todd McShay of ESPN.com)

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the extreme competitiveness and impressive football character Cobb and Locke display, which contribute to their rising stock. Kentucky’s defense was just okay in 2010 and the quarterback and offensive line were average at best, but the Wildcats hung around in a lot of games because of these two players. Locke could be seen lowering his shoulder while Cobb continued to make tough catches over the middle no matter the situation or score, and scouts notice that.

General: Athletes see ups, downs of social media (Elizabeth Merrill from ESPN.com)

But social media is here to stay, and it’s all over the news. In Egypt, Facebook and other forms of social media are being used by people on all sides of that nation’s crisis to spread information and show solidarity. Back here in the U.S., Twitter has been responsible for three of the biggest stories in the NFL postseason.

Football: Packers’ Masthay makes most of chance (Sean Leahy from USA Today)

Tim Masthay had an exit plan. Eighteen months ago, the punter for the Green Bay Packers was newly married but also out of a job. The Indianapolis Colts had sent him to the scrapheap of NFL specialists. And suddenly Masthay, then 22, had to confront the possibility that his future — and his income — would not be that of a professional athlete.

Football: Former Wildcat Masthay playing major role in Packers’ Super Bowl run (Guy Ramsey with Cat Scratches)

By the end of his stellar career with the Kentucky Wildcats, Masthay was well known to fans for his booming punts that so often flipped field position. Now in his rookie year with the Super Bowl-bound Green Bay Packers, Masthay is again being talked about for all the right reasons.

Women’s basketball: Video of Mitchell, Dunlap on the upcoming Tennessee game

Softball: Video interviews with softball’s Rachel Lawson and Rachel Riley

Gymnastics: Gymnastics team learning to overcome beam (My story on Cat Scratches)

If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to see a team collectively hold its breath all at once, watch the Kentucky gymnastics team during its beam routine. Historically an area of concern for UK, beam, one of four routines in a gymnastics meet, is once again the proverbial mountain to climb that separates the Cats from moving up the Southeastern Conference ladder. At season’s end, the team will likely look at beam as either the team’s key to a successful season or the anchor of disappointment.

Men’s basketball: Profile of signee Marquis Teague (USABasketball.com)