Well, they won, didn't they?

The Wildcats, that is. The University of Kentucky Wildcats managed to beat the University of South Carolina Gamecocks with a score of 79-66. They hit like crazy from beyond the arc in the second half. Sparks tied his season high before Coach Tubby Smith sent in Rekalin Sims, Preston LeMaster, Shagari Alleyne, Adam Williams, and Jared Carter with 19.5 seconds in the game remaining.

Bon Jovi is still rocking with hits. Jon Bon Jovi is a great musician and has one heck of a band.

The whammy-bar histrionics and tousled hair of "Runaway" (their first hit song) has long since evolved into the mature sight and sound of 2000's "It's My Life" and current hit, "Who Says You Can't Go Home."

Consider this: Nearly 20 years since their first heyday, the New Jersey rockers' ninth studio album, Have a Nice Day, debuted at No. 2 on the charts last year and has sold more than 1 million copies so far.[...]

"We can stand up there and sing songs that, you know -- I remember what I was listening to the first time I made out with somebody, Eric Clapton's `Layla,' " Sambora told the Observer.

"We've been able to (do that) with songs like `Livin' on a Prayer,' `It's My Life,' `I'll Be There For You,' and some of the bigger hits. And now `Have a Nice Day.' "

But the guitarist also contends that if the group's current music wasn't up to snuff, fans wouldn't hang around very long.

"I think people really relate to the songs that we write," he said. "You're singing a song to someone that becomes the fabric of their lives. That's one of the big privileges that we have, not only as songwriter, but as a band."

If so, current hit "Who Says You Can't Go Home" is Exhibit A. The band recorded it in two versions on its latest album: once as a standard Bon Jovi track and once as a country-flavored duet, with Jennifer Nettles, lead singer of the country trio Sugarland.

The group has released both takes as singles, and the duet version has become a Top 20 hit on country radio.

But their hit of today isn't that far removed from one of their signature songs from 1987 -- the acoustically driven "Wanted Dead or Alive."

"There was such a big absence of acoustic guitar in rock 'n' roll music back then, and I brought that 12-string and said, `Man, let's try to do something real crazy like this,'" Sambora said.

Despite my operating a prominent blog, I will have a some sort of role in Kentucky politics and I don't think I will take down this blog just like the blog mentioned in the Vermont Senate race.

Why the heck would Russia give weapons to the PA?

Why am I not surprised at this finding? It would be nice to see a Kentucky school on that list but I feel it will take time for that to happen.

New York University has the most Jewish college students of any U.S. school, according to Hillel.
It’s the first time the national Jewish student organization has put together such a list. NYU has 6,500 Jewish students, followed by University of Florida in Gainesville and University of Maryland, College Park, with 5,400 each. Next are Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., with 5,000.

The list is based on raw numbers rather than percentages, which is why Brandeis University doesn’t show up but the University of Central Florida, a largely non-Jewish college, does.

Hillel was a major factor in why I went where I originally went. However, I transferred due to family and personal issues that will not be discussed here except for the guilt I had in November 2003 when I checked The Courier-Journal website over and over that one Tuesday night.

El Al has installed missile-defense systems on all of it's aircraft. That's another reason for me to feel safe this summer when I go to Eretz Yisrael.

In early March, NJDC will host Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley for an event with the Jewish community. Mayor O'Malley is a candidate for Governor of Maryland. He has my endorsement.

If Senator Bayh is looking to get a head start in Iowa, he is doing a good job.

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) added a young veteran of the IDP's vaunted field operation to his PAC staff. Chris Hayler, who served as Kerry's SE IA regional field dir, starts next week and will staff the midwest political desk. Bayh is well-recieved by IA Dems, even those working for other candidates. He was in IA last week and plans another IA trip soon.

Ex IDP Exec. Dir. Jean Hessberg and Ron Parker, current chief of staff IA State Sen Dems, are being courted both by advisers to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN).

Also, it looks like Senator Bayh will be spending a whole week in California. This should help get some more people interested in his campaign.

The latest Paul McCartney newsletter shows that PAUL MCCARTNEY: CHAOS AND CREATION LIVE AT ABBEY ROAD will premiere on Monday, February 27, 2006 on PBS. I was afraid I would miss this showing due to the Olympics but no more worries on that anymore.

One of the many anchors of the Olympics, Jim Lampley, has some words for Bill Maher.

It's a bit difficult to tell from Maher's cryptic post exactly what his objection to the Olympics is. It's even more difficult in light of his appearance on Jay Leno's set last night, comfortably seated next to snowboarding halfpipe gold medalist Shaun White. Did Maher take advantage of the opportunity to inform White that the Games are "insipid"? Did he use the platform of "the network of the Olympics" to establish for White that he isn't really an athlete because gravity figures into his sport's dynamics? Uh, not exactly. But then that isn't really the culture of the Tonight Show, is it? As yet another fatuous, self-involved, egomaniacal exhibitionist like Maher, I can identify with the urge, and with the way the game is played.

Of course no one should expect a career cynic like Bill Maher to get it about something as self-consciously high-minded as the Olympics. Truth is, to a mind like that this surely appears to be as easy a target as Dick Cheney. But in focusing on what he sees as the absurdity of the events at the Winter Games, Maher totally misses the point. It doesn't matter what Maher or anyone else thinks about snowboarding or cross-country skiing or hockey or luge or skeleton. It isn't the games that drives the appeal of the Games. This is about flags and anthems, about communion across borders, about an elusive dream that the world can be better. If Maher doesn't get that, it's because he doesn't want to.

Braden Looper likes his new role with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa calls the Looper signing "probably the most important thing we've done all winter." St. Louis lost two potential set-up men in Julian Tavarez, who signed with the Red Sox, and Al Reyes, who is out for the season after having elbow surgery.

Looper, who was drafted out of Wichita State by the Cardinals in 1996 and traded to the Marlins after the 1998 season, could blame some of his struggles last season on a bad shoulder. He had surgery following the season and threw on schedule Friday, the first workout for pitchers and catchers. He will be watched closely by the team.

"It's really a smart move on his part because once you're in that closer role, there are days you just got to go, you got to risk it," La Russa said of Looper's role switch. "But here we can protect him better. For him and for us it makes a lot of sense."

Who can you find on TV tomorrow? Evan Bayh on FOX Sunday.

Well, I guess I won't find any more clips on YouTube.com with regards to anything on NBC. The Internet was what gave SNL a rebirth. What would help is to release all the seasons on DVD. But legal problems such as copyrights would prevent that from happening. I'm a bit disappointed because a lot of the classic shows aren't aired that much anymore.

More on the Cardinals and recent developments.

The Redbirds had a morning workout in Jupiter, Fla. that was missed by pitchers Ricardo Rincon and Juan Mateo, who were held up by visa problems in their native countries. Rincon, a left-handed reliever, is from Mexico; the right-handed Mateo is from the Dominican Republic.[...]

After the workout ended -- following morning physicals -- the team announced it had signed 12 young players to contracts for the 2006 season. No terms were disclosed.

The list includes pitchers Carmen Cali, Randy Flores, Tyler Johnson, Chris Narveson, Adam Wainwright, and Mateo. The position players who signed include first baseman-outfielder Chris Duncan; outfielders John Gall, Skip Schumaker and Reid Gorecki; and infielders Travis Hanson and Brendan Ryan.

Also, catcher Yadier Molina switches from #41 to #4 now that Einar Diaz has been let go from the team.

Here is a must read on State Rep. Peter Sullivan, a candidate for Governor Congress.

Jon Stewart is getting ready for the Oscars. I'll be busy that day. It's senior day at Rupp Arena and the Oscars that night.

Jon Stewart just won the Heisman - the comedians' version. As host of the Academy Awards, Stewart joins an elite group that includes Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, Bob Hope and Johnny Carson.

"It doesn't mean you're going to have a good pro career, or even do well in the bowl game," Stewart says, sitting in his Manhattan office behind a desk cluttered with papers. "But to get to that point means something. Now you're in the club."

Membership requires entertaining a television audience of more than 40 million, plus getting laughs from some of the most powerful people in Hollywood.

Stewart's up for the challenge. It's why he took the gig. The huge audience. The intense glare.

"For a comedian," he says, "it feels like the ultimate stage."

But between preparing for the Oscars, hosting Comedy Central's award-winning fake news program The Daily Show and caring for his newborn daughter and 19-month-old son with wife Tracey, Stewart is going for a record-breaking season.

This may be the first Awards show that I actually tape!

So Junior Spivey is a Cardinals fan?

The Cardinals signed Spivey as a free agent Dec. 23, following a season that included stops as a member of the Brewers and Nationals.

"This is the first place I wanted to go," Spivey said. "I was originally drafted by the Cardinals out of high school in 1995. I'm from Oklahoma and I grew up a Cardinals fan."

Back shortly with highlights from the Olympics!