There was a letter from Sean, an inmate in a supermax prison in Florence, Colo. Sean is serving a 39-year sentence for fire-bombing a synagogue in 2001, but wrote that he has renounced his racist skinhead past. He saw Kevin Ware's leg snap on television, and he wanted to offer words of encouragement.

A sample of mail intended for Kevin Ware that Louisville recently received. (Yahoo! Sports)There was an avalanche of letters from mothers and grandmothers, including a postcard of the beach from Linda in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., reminding Kevin to take care of his own mom, Lisa Junior. "Mothers always worry," the postcard read. "Stay strong for her."

There were packets of letters from school classes, manila envelopes stuffed with dozens of sincere notes written in the curious cursive, bumpy print and fractured syntax of elementary-school children. "I hope you can come visit us one day because everyone in our class room loves basketball and we could compet [sic] against you," wrote Eric, a member of Ms. Michel's third-/fourth-grade class in Hanover Park, Ill.

There were

Read More »from Injured Louisville guard Kevin Ware receives huge support that comes in all shapes and sizes

When I saw Bill Self at the Final Four in Atlanta, I speculated that it was down to Florida State and Kentucky for the top player in the Class of 2013, Andrew Wiggins.

"We're still in it," the Kansas coach replied.

That was all Self could say, by NCAA rules, but he said enough. The confidence in his voice was not just false bravado. He believed the Jayhawks had a good chance at landing the 6-foot-7 wing player from Toronto by way of Huntington (W.Va.) Prep.

And Tuesday they did.

[Related: Andrew Wiggins decides on Kansas]

Andrew Wiggins is flanked by his parents as he announces his college decision. (AP)From what we know of the publicity-shy Wiggins, this was a classic move. He zigged when most people expected him to zag. (No, not to Gonzaga, which has several other Canadian imports.) The more everyone fixated on Florida State (where his parents went) and Kentucky (where seemingly every prep All-American goes), the more those around him started to wonder if he'd wind up at North Carolina or Kansas.

By Monday, word on the hoops grapevine was that Kansas looked like the

Read More »from Andrew Wiggins chooses Kansas; can he deliver on his enormous hype?

Harrisonburg, Va., and Huntington, W.Va., are separated by fewer than 300 miles of mountainous terrain. They are out-of-the-way Appalachian towns that don't normally command attention.

But they have had their moments. One (Harrisonburg) was the site of the first great basketball recruiting announcement, precursor of an era of increasing hype and hysteria. The other (Huntington) is the site of the latest greatest recruiting announcement, which ironically will be a throwback to quieter and simpler times. 

Andrew Wiggins has narrowed it down to Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Florida State. (AP)Between the two events is a 34-year span in which you can argue no sport changed as much as college basketball.

The connective thread between those two announcements is Leonard Hamilton.

In May 1979, Hamilton was the assistant coach at Kentucky who had his heart broken when the most celebrated prospect of his time, Ralph Sampson, stood behind a microphone in Harrisonburg and gave a half-hearted commitment to his home-state school.

“It came down to Kentucky and Virginia,” Sampson

Read More »from Andrew Wiggins' decision may weigh heavier on FSU's Leonard Hamilton thanks to his past

Joel Rosario aboard Orb (middle) leads the field down the final stretch at Churchill Downs. (USA Today)

Moments before Orb won the 139th Kentucky Derby, owner Stuart Janney quietly said a simple pre-race prayer. He says it every time one of his thoroughbreds runs.

“Come home safe.”

The 63-year-old Janney has been around racing his entire life. His prayer is rooted in sorrows past. 

He was a young man when he watched his father’s undefeated filly, Ruffian, break down horrendously in a nationally televised match race against Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure in 1975. Janney ran to the Belmont Park track after she broke a leg. Ruffian was euthanized shortly thereafter.

“It took a while (after Ruffian’s death) to get over a feeling of dread when the gates came open,” Janney said. “Then after a while, you get the memory in a different place, and you’re OK.”

But still, there is the pre-race prayer. The same one he will say Saturday, before Orb attempts to win the second jewel of the Triple Crown, the Preakness.

“I think it’s presumptuous to ask that I win,” he said. “But I don’t think

Read More »from For Orb's owners, winning is not everything

The Southeastern Conference keeps building add-ons to the mansion.

The SEC Network was announced May 2, a full-immersion media initiative that will close the revenue gap between America's best football conference and America's most lucrative TV conference (the Big Ten). The College Football Playoff is coming, and no league figures to gain more financially from that than the SEC. And there is one other underrated cash geyser soon to begin spraying the SEC's way – its whopper of a deal with the Big 12 to basically co-opt the Sugar Bowl, with ESPN paying a reported $80 million a year to televise.

SEC commissioner Mike Slive said the conference schedule will be discussed at league meetings. (AP)

That is new money and a new concept – not quite cutting out the middleman that is the bowl, but taking control of the property and the vast majority of the cash.

"We created what I might call a paradigm shift," commissioner Mike Slive said Thursday on the "Wetzel To Forde" show on Yahoo! Sports Radio.

And the $80 million annually in TV money that comes along with that shift?

"We were comfortable

Read More »from SEC needs to expand football conference schedule to nine games

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Kentucky Derby tends to wrench visceral reaction out of the winning connections. Men and women exult like giddy children when their horse surges into the lead in the home stretch. That moment when the winner hits the wire and the roses are won can produce an explosion of emotion.

And then there is trainer Shug McGaughey, who was nearly Vulcan in victory Saturday evening. The 62-year-old Hall of Famer and Kentucky native finally won his Derby, and what followed was a momentary silence. There was no screamin' in the rain from Shug.

"When I wake up in the morning, I might scream," he said a few minutes later, standing on the gooey Churchill Downs track where his colt Orb had roared from 17th to first in the final 3/4 of a mile.

This was a résumé-completing victory for McGaughey, who had won almost every other big race but was frustrated in his infrequent other appearances in America's biggest race. It's a race he fancied winning since he was a teenager and came to

Read More »from After Kentucky Derby victory, Orb has the look of a Triple Crown winner

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Here in Rick Pitino's perfect spring, where every day is kissed by karma and the good times never stop, it is easy to forget where the man was two years ago.

He was ready to hang it up.

It was March 2011, and Pitino was burning out on coaching and living in Louisville. His basketball team had maxed out in the Elite Eight in 2008 and '09, then been eliminated in the first round in 2010 and '11. Cardinals fans expecting a national championship since he arrived in 2001 were getting restless, especially with Pitino nemesis John Calipari growing dominant at Kentucky. During that time, Pitino endured the Karen Sypher extortion scandal and trial, which took its toll.

So Pitino called a few friends to get feedback on his retirement plan. Then he discreetly called Sandy Montag at IMG about getting a broadcasting job.

Pitino figured he could leave on good terms – he'd been at Louisville 10 years, the program was settled in its palatial new downtown arena, and he was handing his

Read More »from Rick Pitino pauses to smell roses at Kentucky Derby after unforgettable spring

Shug McGaughey talks after an excercise session in preparation for the 139th Kentucky Derby. (Getty Images)LOUISVILLE, Ky. – What has gotten into Shug McGaughey?

He stops. He talks. He tells stories, pouring his Kentucky drawl over the conversation like syrup.

He makes jokes. He has time for everyone. He opens up, a closed fist slowly unclenching.

"I have not been like this in a long time," Shug admitted. "Maybe ever, really. … I've enjoyed doing this as much as I have in a long, long time."

Imagine that. Enjoyment and the Kentucky Derby, forever mutually exclusive for Claude R. McGaughey III, are having a karmic convergence this spring.

Following Wednesday's post draw for the 139th Derby, the 62-year-old trainer now has the favorite in Orb – winner of his last four races, including the Florida Derby. The 3-year-old was installed as the early 7-2 favorite after drawing the No. 16 post. The handsome son of Malibu Moon has trained sensationally at Churchill Downs, becoming the buzz horse of Derby Week.

"Maybe," said three-time Derby-winner trainer Bob Baffert, "it's Shug's time."

If so, it's

Read More »from Shug McGaughey seeking first Kentucky Derby win