Before you watch this video, keep in mind the host of this show, Mike Francesa, is the HIGHEST PAID SPORTS TALK SHOW HOST in the country.  He's makes over 1 million dollars a year.  With that in mind, I give you this stunner to UL fans:

Recently, Steelers wideout Hines Ward got into costume and became one of the zombies used on the hit AMC show "The Walking Dead".  So, we wondered what some of your favorite CC personalities would look like in their best zombie makeup and hair.  Below, you find the horrifying results.  See if you can guess which picture is who:

Photo courtesy of lacrosseplayground.com

-by Jordan Smith

Freedom Hall, no question, has been home to some great venues.  Though, since the exit of the University of Louisville basketball team, traditional competitive sports have been non-existent.  Occasionally you will come across a bull riding competition or a horse show, but team-organized competition has been absent.  

That is, until last year Freedom Hall opened its doors to a new horse show, but these horses are not prancing around for judges and pageantry.  No, these horses compete through grit and grime to be the best lacrosse team in the nation.

The breed is Stickhorse, and can only be found in Kentucky.

The Kentucky Stickhorses are the Commonwealth's only professional sports team, competing against other indoor lacrosse, or box lacrosse, franchises in the U.S.  Their inaugural season began in January of 2012 with an astounding 5-1 record, and their tenacity and hunger for another dominant season is already under way.  Currently the Stickhorses sit 1-1 as they prevailed  at home this past weekend against the Rhode Island Kingfish and dropped a close, season-opening game to the rival Boston Rockhoppers.

Now, you might be thinking, how does Kentucky host a professional lacrosse team?  We only care about basketball and football in this state.

Kentucky is becoming one of the fastest growing states for the lacrosse community.  Predominantly a northeast U.S. and Canadian sport, interest heightens as local and state teams are establishing lacrosse teams.  Bellarmine University is home to the state's only NCAA D-1 lacrosse team, and the University of Louisville and University of Kentucky have adopted club teams that have competed for numerous years.  Even Kentucky high schools in Louisville, Lexington, and northern Kentucky have sanctioned lacrosse as an official team sport.  With the spark in interest, Freedom Hall opened its doors to the Stickhorses to introduce a new, yet pre-existing, sports environment to the Commonwealth.

Lacrosse is not your everyday sport.  Sure, they compete for a championship at the end of the season, but the environment is quite unique.  Mix the physicality of football and hockey with the pace of a NASCAR event, and you have a product that will never leave you sleeping in the stands.  Outside the “box,” the Stickhorses provide opportunities for fans to enjoy the game if lacrosse is not necessarily your sport.  Starting this season, the team opened the Paddock Pub, which is a entertainment area where you can enjoy limitless cornhole and sit front row on the action, all at a $5 admission (not to mention it includes a bar).  For the kids, inflatable castle and obstacle courses are available, too.  More information about the team, tickets, and merchandise can be found at kentuckystickhorses.com.

The Stickhorses next home game will not be until February 1 when they host a double header weekend against the Baltimore Bombers.  So, get ready for this stampede to fill Freedom Hall in February and embrace a new era in Kentucky sports.

- Ian_On_Sports

By now we’ve all heard about Lance Armstrong’s interview with Oprah and his sort-of admission about using performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). The question is how do you feel about it? Does it taint your view of Armstrong? Does it taint all of the good that Livestrong did? It took me a while to get to my answers for those questions, but I think I have finally made it.

It all starts with cheating. My definition of cheating is breaking the rules to gain an advantage for yourself, your group, or your team. PEDs are by that definition cheating and I do not condone their use in sports. However, I know that they do exist in almost all areas of sport. I also know it is not my job to clean them up. As a fan, it is my task to watch the games, enjoy them, and evaluate them in the way I see fit when they are over.

When Armstrong was winning those seven Tour De Frances in a row, we all watched the highlights. We all enjoyed it. We all evaluated him to be the best cyclist on the planet. Now we know he was doping, but that doesn’t change my opinion of his feats.

According to the definition above, to be cheating an advantage must be gained. Cycling is probably the dirtiest sport on the planet where PEDs are concerned; therefore, one might argue that Armstrong only used them to “keep up with the Joneses.” He didn’t gain any advantage; he kept an advantage from being gained by others. Essentially, the playing field was level and he dominated the field. Why couldn’t he have won those races on a level, clean field? I think he could’ve and that’s why the fact that he was doping doesn’t diminish his accomplishments in my mind. Armstrong as a person though, that is a different story.

Early in his career, Armstrong was like any other new celebrity. We didn’t know the real person. Everyone thought he was great. He beat cancer and won some races. He was awesome.

After he gained fame, we started to see the person behind the image. The person who left his wife and the mother of his children for a celebrity. The person who would go out of his way to crush anyone who would question him or his athletic feats. For these reasons, his personal character and my thoughts about him have always been tainted. Anyone who could do that to their spouse is not a great person in my book. And ruining peoples’ lives to defend your Tour wins and clean image knowing all of the while you’re lying is not exactly a great character trait either. Steroids or not, I never liked the guy. I will not lump Livestrong in with him though.

Sure, Livestrong used Armstrong’s ill-gotten reputation to boost their profile, but are we really going to trash them for it? Are we really going to be mad at them for using a celebrity with a huge profile to further their message of living better and to help them raise funds for cancer research? So they picked the wrong guy. It happens. Everyone has made a bad choice here and there, but they have done some good. Give them credit for that. Don’t let whatever you think about Armstrong cover up their efforts. That wouldn’t be fair.

What would be fair is for me to allow you to respond to this. Well, feel free. Let me know what you think. Ianfromthefox@foxrocks.com is where you can find me.

Every year we try and name the five best NCAA players in our area, regardless of position. We come up with a pre-season team and then revisit it during the season and when the year is over. It helps track who has lived up to expectations and who has not.

As a reminder, here is our pre-season list, ordered alphabetically:

PRESEASON 1ST TEAM
Isaiah Canaan, Murray State
Archie Goodwin, Kentucky
Peyton Siva, Louisville
Christian Watford, Indiana
Cody Zeller, Indiana

PRESEASON 2ND TEAM
Chane Behanan, Louisville
Gorgui Dieng, Louisville
George Fant, Western Kentucky
Nerlens Noel, Kentucky
Alex Poythress, Kentucky

Now that the non-conference portion of the schedule has been played, it's time to update the list! Players again listed alphabetically:

MIDSEASON 1ST TEAM
Isaiah Canaan, Murry State
Nerlens Noel, Kentucky
Peyton Siva, Louisville
Russ Smith, Louisville
Cody Zeller, Indiana

MIDSEASON 2ND TEAM
Chane Behanan, Louisville
Gorgui Dieng, Louisville
Archie Goodwin, Kentucky
Victor Oladipo, Indiana
Christian Watford, Indiana

The toughest decision was Dieng over Alex Poythress for the final spot on the 2nd team. Others who just missed making the top 10 included IU's Jordy Hulls and WKU's T.J. Price.

If this list is accurate, the thing that jumps out is that UK has only two of the top 10 players in the area. For a team with so much supposed talent, that was surprising.

agree? disagree? feel free to comment below.

we'll revise the team one last time at the end of the season.

Tony Vanetti loved his 2012 Year in Review in Picture so much that he has continued building his picture gallery in 2013.  On a routine basis, Tony will submit pics highlighting key local events.  And this weekend, there may have not been a bigger local story than Trinity's James Quick announcing his committment to UL.  The wideout was Kentucky's Mr. Football this season.   

Just Awesome.  (H/T to Deadspin for Photo)