As a Miami Heat fan, it somewhat pains me to say...the Los Angeles Lakers are the 2020 NBA Champions! Beating the Heat four games to two, the Lakers clinched the title with last night’s game six win. After the tragic loss of Kobe Bryant earlier this year, seeing the Lakers as champions feels right.

In a unanimous vote (rightfully so), LeBron James was named NBA Finals MVP. This is LeBron’s fourth time to earn the award and he's the first player to ever do so with three different teams. With the win, the Los Angeles Lakers officially tied the Boston Celtics with most NBA Finals wins at 17.  This is only the beginning of many final firsts this year, as well as record breakers.

Another first goes to LA Laker Rajon Rondo. The former Kentucky Wildcat is the first player to ever win a title for both LA and Boston. 

Rondo didn’t stop there adding his name to the NBA record books. Rondo tallied up 33 assists in this NBA Final, helping him jump two more spots in all time playoff assists. He now sits at the number six spot passing Hall of Famers' Steve Nash and Larry Bird. In total, Rondo had 104 assists in the 2020 playoffs – the most off the bench since the 1970-71 season. Rondo brought some much needed veteran experience to this Lakers roster, but he wasn’t the only former Wildcat to do it. 

Anthony Davis is the first former Kentucky Wildcat coached by John Calipari to win an NBA title. Davis played a huge role helping Kentucky win the 2012 NCAA Championship.  The win feels right. 

Davis also became the eighth player in history to win an NCAA Championship, NBA Championship and Olympic Championship. James and Davis are the first dynamic duo in NBA history to average 25 points per game on 50% shooting in a postseason. Depending on Davis' approach to off-season free agency opportunities, if he resides with LA, there could be a dynasty brewing between James and Davis.  

Though this series didn’t make it to game seven, there’s no denying that the Miami Heat put up a fight. The Heat pulled out two wins in the series that showcased an impressive pair of triple-doubles from Jimmy Butler.

It's worth noting that barring injuries, the outcome might've been different. Two of their best players, point guard Goron Dragic and former UK Wildcat Bam Adebayo, suffered injuries in the first game. Dragic was sidelined until the finale. Adebayo came back in game four, but the injury did affect his play. While playing below his skill level, he did lead the team in points and rebounds in the game six loss with 25 and 10.

Miami Heat rookie Tyler Herro definitely made a name for himself in the playoff run. The former Kentucky Wildcat became the youngest player ever to start in an NBA Final at 20-years-old. He also ended the season with the most three pointers made by a rookie in both the playoffs and NBA Finals.

Herro scored double-digits in 20 straight playoff games – the longest streak by a rookie in NBA history. Miami ended the season losing the NBA Finals, but with Butler and the two young former Wildcats coming back...that's something to look forward to. The team may be a few pieces away with great potential to win it all in the next year or two.  

LA Lakers head coach Frank Vogel was a student manager and assistant video coordinator for the University of Kentucky from 1995-1998. He worked under Coach Rick Pitino and Coach Tubby Smith and was part of Kentucky’s 1996 and 1998 National Championships. This was Vogel’s first year as head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers and first NBA Championship. If Vogel’s career is anything like former Wildcat and Miami Heat President Pat Riley, he’s on the right track. 

In the 80's, Riley won his first NBA title as a head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and turned it into a dynasty with three more championships. Vogel could be coaching a Laker dynasty headed by James and Davis. Time will tell. 

2020 NBA Finals Schedule
Game 1: Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 9 p.m. ET
Game 2: Friday, Oct. 2 at 9 p.m. ET
Game 3: Sunday, Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m. ET
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 9 p.m. ET
Game 5*: Friday, Oct. 9 at 9 p.m. ET
Game 6*: Sunday, Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m. ET
Game 7*: Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 9 p.m. ET
* if necessary
** All games on ABC

Sixth Annual FootGolf Open in Paducah on Saturday, September 26

Draw Your Partner Doubles for Tennis Enthusiasts Tuesday, September 29

Paducah Parks & Recreation is hosting the sixth annual FootGolf Paducah Open on Saturday, September 26 at Midtown Golf Course located at 1122 Adams Street. FootGolf is a hybrid sport that has rules similar to golf as players attempt to kick a soccer ball into a cup in as few shots as possible.

The FootGolf Paducah Open is an 18-hole competitive tournament. Prizes will be given with first place winning $75, second place winning $50, and third place winning $25. People of all ages and abilities are welcome. Each participant needs to bring a soccer ball. Registration for the free event begins on site at 9 a.m. with a shotgun start for players at 9:30 a.m.

Since Midtown Golf Course has a nine-hole FootGolf course, participants will be completing the course twice for the tournament. Midtown Golf Course, located behind Jetton soccer field, offers a free nine-hole course where traditional golfers, footgolfers, and disc golfers can play at the same time with each hole having a disc golf basket and holes for golf and FootGolf.

​For more information about the FootGolf Paducah Open, visit www.paducahky.gov/footgolf-paducah-open or contact Recreation Specialist James Weems at 270-444-8538 or [email protected]. 

Paducah Parks & Recreation is hosting a social event for tennis enthusiasts. Draw Your Partner Doubles brings a unique style to traditional doubles tennis as partners for each participant will be randomly drawn throughout the evening.

The event will be Tuesday, September 29 at the Noble Park Tennis Courts with matches beginning at 6 p.m. Players may either attend as individuals or with a group. The free event is open to players 16 years of age and older. All playing abilities are welcome. Please bring your own tennis racket. Door prizes will be given out at the event to participants.

There is no pre-registration required. This event will be following the United States Tennis Association’s (USTA) COVID-19 recommendations for playing safely. The recommendations will be communicated with participants during the check-in process.

For more information from the USTA, visit https://www.usta.com/en/home/stay-current/national/ustastatement-on-safety-of-playing-tennis-during-the-covid-19-v.html.

​For more information about the Tennis Draw Your Partner Doubles, contact Recreation & Parks Superintendent Taylor Morsching at 270-444-1331 or [email protected]. Additional information about Paducah Parks & Recreation activities can be found at www.paducahky.gov. 

Who knew a global pandemic and a “bubble” with no fans would translate into some of the best NBA basketball. The bubble has everything a real basketball fan lives for like buzzer beaters, game sevens, underdogs, upsets, defense, and team basketball. One of the coolest things about this year’s playoffs is it’s packed with former Kentucky Wildcats. 
 
After one game into the conference finals, former Kentucky Wildcat players are making the University of Kentucky proud. They're blowing the stats out of the water with five ex-players still in the game. 
 
Technically, Boston’s Enes Kanter could be considered a former Wildcat bringing the total to six former players. Some are disputing his status since he never ‘technically’ played a game at Kentucky due to ineligibility. During his year at UK, he practiced with the team and his GPA factored into the team’s average. So, it’s up for debate. 
 
Aside from Kanter, former Wildcat players are ‘showing up’ for the university and dominating the game for their current professional teams. 
 
The Los Angeles Lakers are favored to win the entire tournament. The Lakers rule with 35 year-old-player LeBron James, considered the greatest player in the game today. LeBron has a sidekick this year that’s second to none. Anthony Davis, the 2012 NCAA champion and one of the best to ever play the game at UK under Kentucky Wildcat Coach John Calipari. The ‘two-headed monster,’ James and Davis, are the reason the Lakers are favored to take it all. Included in the Wildcat/Laker line-up is Rajon Rondo. Rondo played under Coach Tuby Smith. 
 
Jamal Murray is another former Wildcat under Head Coach Calipari. The 6’4 NBA player is a Denver Nugget. Murray just dropped 40 points in a game seven win against the LA Clippers. The Clippers were right up there with the Lakers in being favored to win the championship. No one saw Denver coming though. The Nuggets and Lakers will meet this weekend in the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2009. ​
 
The Miami Heat have two former Wildcats, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. I have to say, this team is my favorite. Both players catapulted their team to victory with late game clutch plays. Herro is the ‘go to’ guy for late three pointers.
 
Adebayo is an outstanding defensive player. One of the best defensive plays ever made in the NBA Playoffs happened Tuesday night. The Heat worked their way back into the game over the favored Celtics and forced an overtime. Towards the end of the game, Heat superstar Jimmy Butler scored an impressive basket giving Miami a two-point lead. The Celtics still had enough time remaining to tie or take the lead. 
 
This was one of those defining moments in the NBA playoffs when great players become immortal.  Boston puts the ball in the hands of their young, elite player, Jason Tatum. He drives to the basket and goes up for what should be a hard slam dunk, but then...BAM! No literally, Bam Adebayo blocks his dunk at the rim in the most amazing play.  
 
“Bam Adebayo’s block on Jayson Tatum’s dunk attempt was the best defensive play I’ve seen ever in the playoffs!!!!” tweeted NBA great, Magic Johnson. Being a big heat fan, I was on the edge of my seat during those final minutes. Watching  former Kentucky players make key plays was awesome. When Adebayo blocked that dunk I screamed and woke our baby up - the wife wasn’t too happy (I’m a new dad, by the way). The Celtics and Heat are setting the tournament up for quite the entertaining series. 
 
Here’s a crazy stat. Not only is a Kentucky player guaranteed to win an NBA title, but the player was coached by Calipari. As it goes, great players were drafted by flailing teams. Some players have been traded while others had teams built around them. And now, it’s paying off. 
 
Game two of the Eastern Conference finals begins tonight at 6 pm CST. Miami currently leads 1 - 0. Game one between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets is at 8 pm CST this Friday on TNT.  Go Heat and best of luck to all the former Wildcats!

​

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
License fees for Kentucky residents:
Fishing - $23
Combination Hunting and Fishing - $42
Sportsman's (Hunting plus Fishing, Trout, Deer, Turkey, Dove/Waterfowl - $95

Strength training for archery season
Any activity that requires strength and stamina should be taken seriously when considering a work-out regimen. Shooting a bow requires strength in your shoulders, lats( flat muscle in the back), back, core, and glutes. 

There are five great strength building exercises to keep your body and mind on the target. The exercises are:

The single arm dumbbell roll
Dumbbell side raise
Romanian deadlift
Rowing Machine
Forearm plank

Watch five - one minute videos on each exercise on the provided website:
https://www.archery360.com/2017/08/29/5-strength-conditioning-excercises-for-archery/

Beginning at 2 pm CST today, September 4, interested parties will be able to watch the Longines Kentucky Oaks racing events on NBCSN. The Longines is the premier race for three year old fillies (female horses). This feature race is a $1.25 million Grade 1 stakes race with the winner being awarded a garland of lilies.  The race is set to run at 5:45 p.m. CST.

Established around the same time as the Kentucky Derby, it dates back to May 19, 1875 by the founder of the Kentucky Derby, Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark.  

On race day, Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky is decorated pink in an effort to drive awareness and funds to support breast and ovarian cancer. As part of the Pink Out, Kentucky Oaks partners with the Breast Health Program at Norton Cancer Institute.

​

The official cocktail for the event is the Finlandia Oaks Lily (though I prefer Grey Goose).

Ingredients for two
​1 part Finlandia® Vodka                         
​1 part Sweet and Sour Mix
1/4 part Triple Sec
3 parts Cranberry Juice

Directions
Fill a stemless wine glass with crushed ice
Add in the ingredients and stir
Add a straw and garnish with blackberries and a lemon wedge

For the watch party by the pitcher
 Serves 88 ounces Finlandia Vodka
8 ounces sweet and sour mix or lemonade
24 ounces cranberry juice
1/2 ounce triple sec
4 ounces fresh water to make up for dilution of ice when hand-shaking or stirring
24 blackberries for garnish
Combine all ingredients. Pour into a tall glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with blackberries on skewers. Add sipping straws and enjoy.
Tip: This can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until serving time.

By ARNIE STAPLETON
DENVER (AP) — It wasn’t that long ago that the NFL nixed Tony Romo’s fantasy football convention at a Nevada casino because of the league’s strict policy against having anything to do with sports betting.

Now, the NFL is betting big on the once taboo industry, loosening its gambling policies just as the finishing touches were being made at Allegiant Stadium, the Raiders’ spiffy new home within earshot of the neon-soaked Las Vegas Strip.

When the league voted in May to allow teams to sign sponsorship deals with gambling entities, the first team to place its bets was the Denver Broncos.

The Broncos capitalized on a confluence of events: Colorado’s new sports gambling law that was approved by voters and the league’s lifting of its ban on sportsbook advertising.
​
During a pandemic when new sponsorship opportunities were nearly non-existent, the Broncos signed a trio of gambling sponsors: one with FanDuel Group that includes stadium signage, another with Betfred USA Sports that features a sports betting lounge at Empower Field and a sports betting app and lastly, one with BetMGM, which launched a full sportsbook at Saratoga Casino Black Hawk, about 45 minutes away in the mountains.

(Fans won’t actually be able to place wagers at the stadium betting lounges like they would at a sportsbook but will have to place their bets through an app, and the stadium signage won’t be showing up on broadcasts.)

“There’s sports betting, there’s daily fantasy, there’s casinos, so there’s a lot of different aspects to these businesses,” said Mac Freeman, the Broncos’ chief commercial officer.

“I think what you’ll find with us carving those first tracks through the field you’ll see other teams follow pretty quickly as states come on” board with sports gambling, Freeman said.

Freeman said the trio of deals with three very different gambling outfits is a result of the Broncos “bringing order to what was sort of a chaotic environment.”

“Because in the clutter just taking any deal you can get, probably no one actually gets true value out of it. So, I think we got a very favorable response from all of the partners and they were thrilled that we were going to limit these and then work hard to craft space for all of them so we No, the new gambling partnerships won’t make up for revenue lost during the coronavirus crisis, which has forced many teams, including Denver’s, to open the season without fans but with crowd noise pumped in instead.could deliver a real value for them,” Freeman said.

“It’s great that we were able to get these deals done. It’s material revenue for the organization,” Freeman said. “The reality is I think you know the other revenue (dips) we’re going to see this year will dwarf what probably we were able to do in this category.”

Another no is this one: the Broncos won’t benefit from any bets from their fans.
“No, we are not able to sort of participate in the actual betting volumes or revenue generated,” Freeman said. “No, this is a very classic sponsorship structure where they are paying a fee for assets that we will use to leverage their brands. So, no, there’s no share of any of the actual betting activity coming back to the team.”

Just six years after nixing Romo’s fantasy football camp in Las Vegas, the NFL is all in on gambling in 2020.

“The approach to the licensed sports betting has evolved as the league and teams entertain new fan engagement opportunities through commercial partnerships,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy told The Associated Press.

“What has not changed, however, is our relentless protection of the integrity of the game,” McCarthy added. “These new partnerships have no impact on the play on the field. We have continued to study the rapidly changing landscape and felt comfortable with clubs executing partnerships such as these.”

Even with integrity measures in place, the league and gambling interests are linked like never before.

“We’re all on a path to we don’t know exactly where but I’m as curious as anybody,” said NBC longtime play-by-play man Al Michaels. “I don’t know what the end game is here, I don’t know that anybody does. But I do think that it’s pretty fascinating that yesterday DraftKing announced that Michael Jordan is going to be part of their operation and on the board and the stock went up about 10%.

“It’s a fascinating dynamic that’s developing right now and I wish I could predict what’s going to happen here but clearly everybody feels that they want a piece of the pie, of the gambling pie,” Michaels said.

“People are interested in putting down a couple of shekels during the game or even inside the game, not just the end result and how many points will be scored and all of that. But this is a mystery. It’s a mystery right now. I don’t know where it goes. I do know the leagues are very excited to be a party to what could be a gigantic industry.”

Michaels’ broadcast partner, Cris Collinsworth, is the majority owner of Pro Football Focus, a subscription-based analytics service founded in England in 2007 that studies and grades every player on every play in every game.

“It’s kind of interesting. With PFF I have a lot of people who are from Europe that work here ... they laugh at us with all of this because it’s been such a part of their culture for so long that you could bet on anything,” Collinsworth said. “And when they see the gnashing of teeth and everything that we’re going through in this transition period, they just find it very, very entertaining.

“And for the rest of the world I guess this is just status quo, but it is very different for us.”

Betting odds change frequently throughout the day. To get the latest odds, go to: kentuckyderby.com/horses/leaderboard 

CoV-2 may have taken away our travel plans and large social gatherings, however, it hasn't taken away our ability to play. Being outside in the fresh air with a sport that's basically 'no touch' might be the perfect answer for companies and good friends to exercise and socialize. 

The 2020 Fall Coed Kickball League Registration is Underway. 

The Paducah Parks & Recreation Department is hosting an adult kickball league this fall for players at least 14 years of age.  The first games are set to begin September 24.  All games will be played Thursday evenings at Stuart Nelson Park.

Registration ends Wednesday, September 9 at 4:30 p.m.  To register a team, call the Paducah Parks & Recreation office at 270-444-8508.  By September 17 at 4:30 p.m., each team needs to submit the Team Roster and an Individual Waiver for each player. 

Team Rosters and Individual Waivers can be e-mailed to [email protected]. 
 These documents, including a fillable PDF version of the Individual Waiver form, can be found at paducahky.gov/adult-kickball-league.

Teams must be coed with a minimum of ten players, at least four of which must be female. The cost to register is $150 per team. A team may have no more than 20 players on the Team Roster. However, no more than 12 players will be allowed to participate per team on game nights.
​
For more information about the kickball league, contact Parks & Recreation at 270-444-8508.