The WUKY SportsPage

Jim Williams served as director of publicity/communications at Keeneland for 38 years (1971-2009). He worked with racing’s greatest jockeys and trainers as well as media members from around the world who covered racing at Keeneland. He was also involved in the preparations and activities for visits by dignitaries, including Queen Elizabeth II, who attended races at Keeneland on October 11, 1984. This conversation covers changes at Keeneland through the years, Jim’s memories of prominent people in the racing business and of course, the day the track hosted the Queen.

In celebration of Opening Day in Cincinnati we present this conversation between Keith Elkins and Reds play-by-play announcer John Sadak. The two discuss his long and varied sportscasting career which now includes calling the action for professional baseball's oldest franchise.

Tom Hammond recently retired after a distinguished career in sports broadcasting with NBC. A University of Kentucky graduate, he got his start on radio in his hometown of Lexington, and began his television career as sports director at WLEX-TV in the late 1960s.This conversation covers, among other topics, the early assignments he handled in Lexington, the variety of events he broadcast to a network audience, and some of the partners he worked with over his 34 years with NBC.

In the mid-1990s, Brooks Downing was the sports information director for men’s basketball at the University of Kentucky, where he worked closely with coaches Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith during a run that included two national championships. Today, he’s a sports entrepreneur, the founder and president of bdG Sports, a marketing and event management company that has established a strong presence in college basketball and professional golf with events across the U.S. and in the Bahamas. He’s a UK graduate and a Lexington native.

Cameron Mills was a member of two national championship teams at Kentucky. He began his college career as a walk-on, but became a key contributor with his outstanding shooting. He still holds the UK record for three-point field goal percentage for a season (53.2, 42-79 in 1996-97). As of this season, he realized a long-term goal in his broadcasting career, joining the UK Sports Network radio team on the basketball pregame show. This conversation covers his development as a player, which was guided early by his father, former Wildcat Terry Mills, as well as his experience at UK. Coach Rick Pitino delivered an unexpected type of motivational message in their first conversation after Cameron joined the team, but success and championships followed under Pitino and Tubby Smith. Mills’ faith has always been an important part of his life, and today he continues to bring that message to a wide range of audiences through Cameron Mills Ministries. His dedication to his broadcasting career — with many high school game broadcasts and a seven-year run for his own talk show to his credit before joining the UK Network — has assured his continued connection with the UK fan base and Wildcat history.

Michael Blowen is the founder of Old Friends, a retirement farm for thoroughbreds located in Scott County, Kentucky, north of Lexington. The stars in residence at Old Friends include 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Silver Charm; Touch Gold, whose win in the 1997 Belmont Stakes denied Silver Charm the Triple Crown; two longshot winners of the Belmont, Sarava, who won at 70-1 in 2002, and Birdstone, a 36-1 winner in 2004; and several winners of Breeders Cup World Championship races. The big winners draw visitors from around the world, but Old Friends is also home to horses who had little success on the track. All are able to live out their later years in a peaceful setting in Central Kentucky. He speaks one on one with SportsPage host Keith Elkins.

COVID-related decisions, changes in technology, the introduction of new sports activities — that’s just a small sample of the endless variety of challenges Julian Tackett has faced in his 12-plus years as commissioner of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association and 39 years overall with the KHSAA. In this conversation with Keith Elkins, he talks about those issues, as well as his background, which was influenced by his work with sports figures such as former University of Kentucky football coach Jerry Claiborne, longtime UK sports information director Russell Rice, and former Transylvania basketball coach Don Lane, among many others.

This week on the WUKY SportsPage Keith Elkins chats with new UK Athletics Hall of Famer Derek Bryant who played baseball for the Big Blue and then a successful career in Major League Baseball.

Jay Shidler was a fan favorite during his basketball career at the University of Kentucky. Known as the Blond Bomber in reference to his blond hair and long-range shooting skills, he was a starter as a freshman in 1976-77, and was a member of the 1978 national championship team. He was a high school All-American in Lawrenceville, Illinois and led his team to a state championship there. He and co-author Paul Corio wrote “Blonde Bomber: A Ride with Shide,” in which he is open about the ups and downs of his basketball career and his life since then.

As Kentucky’s quarterback, Pookie Jones helped lead the Wildcats to the 1993 Peach Bowl. He is a former Kentucky Mr. Football from Calloway County High School, and was recruited by Penn State, Nebraska and Tennessee among others before choosing UK. He was also a UK baseball star, and played professionally in the Colorado Rockies organization. In this interview, he talks about his two-sport UK career, the Wildcats run to the Peach Bowl, life in baseball’s minor leagues, and his current part-time coaching position at West Jessamine High School, where his son Jacob is a highly regarded college prospect.