Watching a baseball game at a Major League big yard via television then, click the remote to a game in Williamsport, Pennsylvania brings to mind another of those “only in America” moments.

First, the big people recognizable mostly by whiskers of various fullness and lots of spitting and hitting glove adjustment. Click! Presto, the Lilliputians from Gulliver’s Travels. In a moment, never mind the pennant race in the NL Central, put down the remote.

From Williamsport, Rick Kelley, manager of the Bowling Green East All-Stars: “To come here, be here, and then get a win is just huge,” he told the Bowling Green Daily News.

Click: Big Leaguers play a kids game for money and fame. Yawn.

Click: Little Leaguers (starry-eyed) play for pals in the dugout, Mom and Dad, friends at school, and a some-day-dream-maybe.

Kids decked out in fancy baseball duds playin’ ball at a Never-Forget-Place at a special time of life.

√ For the kids, bonding (on national television too).

√ For us, children revel in success and learn how to handle the other kind (on national television too).

√ For kids, in our instant digital age, Bowling Green East Little Leaguers get the opportunity to show the best-of-who they are.

√ For us, when games are done, tournament finished, and star-struck kids are back on the school bus, there are the delicious residuals – photographs, videos, newspaper clips and memories brought home from Williamsport.

For Bowling Green’s baseball best, for all their lives, priceless.

America, I love this place!

KENTUCKY FOOTBALL

Things we can say with certainty about the Kentucky Wildcats?

√ Large. Across its front, offense and defense, UK is. Can they run and be SEC quick enough?

√ Quarterback is Patrick Towles whose mouth came open last week and out came bravado everybody wanted to hear, but few have nerve to say. Goal is being in Atlanta in November.

√ Polls. In August are locker room bulletin board fodder.

USA Today rankings D-I teams in Kentucky are kinda perfect.

• At No. 26, Louisville opens with No. 3 Auburn in Atlanta.

• At 37th, Western Kentucky opens at Vanderbilt.

• At 77th, Kentucky opens at home with La. Lafayette. Ragin’ Cajuns are ranked 61st.

Finally …

√ If the coach ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. Last week Mark Stoops wasn’t.

LOUISVILLE-IU PERESTROIKA

Universities of Louisville and Indiana will play football and basketball three times each beginning next year.

Perestroika – restructure made fashionable in 1980s – UofL and IU officials found the reset button in the no-go-zone made by University of Kentucky CEO John Calipari who said ‘nyet’ to an IU reset three years ago.

Bully for Cards and Hoosier fans and forward-looking school officials. After all, River City-to-Bloomington is geographically natural for any fan-passionate rivalry, isn’t it?

FOOTBALL. As ridiculous as it is, this series will begin during second term of the next U.S. president, September 2023 at Indianapolis.

Game II is set for Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium a year later, September 7, 2024. Game III will be at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington on Sept. 6, 2025.

Perestroika …

• Game sites: Indianapolis, Louisville and Bloomington, fan attractive.

• IU football prime ambition: an upgrade. Series with UofL is opportunity knocking, climb to where Louisville is.

• UofL stands at a reputation level where its program can afford a non-ACC intersectional marquee series.

• Ticket sales will be 50-50.

BASKETBALL. First game is New Year’s Eve, 2016. At neutral site Bankers Life Arena in Indianapolis. Game II, December 9, 2017, at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. Game III December 8, at Assembly Hall in Bloomington.

Bottom lines?

Officials arranging the Louisville-Indiana series are more profit-driven than noble. We get that. But a fan-interest-first is refreshing, a kind of Perestroika.

By contrast, UK decision-makers, by rejecting Indiana overtures, demonstrates no vision and ignores fans.

√ Kentucky and Indiana football need each other.

√ In basketball’s heartland no rivalry has higher interest nationally.

JURICH ON KENTUCKY SERIES

The Governor’s Cup would be more popular at the front of the schedule, Tom Jurich opined at a Louisville luncheon last week, but doesn’t think it will happen. But, “… only concern I have is that we keep playing.” because he thinks it’s good for the state.

Noble idea, but could be Jurich whilsting past the graveyard.

Says here, if, Louisville makes consistent its rise to national prominence, continues to beat UK, and wins recruiting battles for Jefferson County high school talent, when contract renewal comes up in 2020, we could see a new Plan A or Plan B from Lexington,

A. “Getting to the SEC title game, we don’t need a non-league game like this at the end of regular season.”

B. “… playing in the always-tough SEC, we need to go in another direction in our non-league games.”

And so it goes.