I explain to Louisville Magazine readers why Kentucky isn’t that great a place for basketball

Louisville Magazine decided its December 2011 publication would be The Basketball Issue—smart move given how basketball crazy its market is. I contributed two pieces to the cover package—less of a smart move given that I can’t stand Kentucky’s or Louisville’s basketball teams (or obnoxious fan bases).

My two articles in the “Why basketball is bigger in Kentucky” section were

• “Because UK and UofL fans love to hate each other”
• “Because you’ll go ballistic when you read this“

Download a .pdf of my articles here.

Thanks to my editors at the magazine for granting me a few inches to vent. In a related story, expect a reader or two to vent in an upcoming letters-to-the-editor section.

Photo: Courtesy Louisville Magazine

My Great Deer Hunt airs this weekend on KET; watch me shoot and kill

Me (top) and a 170-pound eight-point buck (bottom).

The photo to the right probably gives away the ending, but if you’re curious how I evolved from never having shot at a living creature to the slayer of this beautiful eight-point buck in just a few hours, my hunt will be aired on Kentucky Afield this weekend:

• Saturday, 8:30 p.m. EST on KET
• Sunday, 4:00 p.m. EST on KET
• Monday–Friday, 11:30 p.m. EST on Lexington’s CW-KYT

For those of you not fortunate enough to live in Kentucky, clips should be on YouTube shortly.

My article on the experience is now slated for the February 2012 issue of Louisville Magazine.

November 2011 posts for Louisville.com

Check below the jump for my Louisville.com articles from November 2011.

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Drinking Jocktails at Breeders’ Cup for BlackBook

Earlier this month BlackBook dispatched me to cover both the Jocktails party, part of the run-up to the 2011 Breeders’ Cup, and preview Downs After Dark, the sole night race of Churchill Downs 2011 fall meet:

“Two Breeders Cup-Inspired Jocktails to Down During Friday Night’s Downs After Dark Horse Race”

I didn’t follow the new wagering strategy I laid out in the article. As I failed to cash a single ticket though, perhaps I should have. Or perhaps I should stop wagering (down $467.17 for the year) and just roll up $20 bills and smoke them.

I brave the Paula Deen Buffet for Louisville Magazine

Weary of reviews of the same kinds of restaurants—exposed brick! farm to table! artisan cheeses!—Louisville Magazine dispatched me to check out the Paula Deen Buffet in Southern Indiana’s Horseshoe Casino. My article about the experience ran in the November issue:

• Download a .pdf of the article here
• Read the article on Louisville.com here

I was really hoping that the food would be decent. Alas, apparently it doesn’t matter whose name is attached to it: a downmarket casino buffet is a downmarket casino buffet. None of the other diners seemed to mine though (well, except for my daughter who passed on one of her favorite meals, mac n’ cheese, to instead lick ketchup off of her fingers).