Sports

The Big Blue Nation invaded the East Room of the White House Friday afternoon as President Barack Obama honored the 2012 National Championship team in front of a packed room filled with cheering fans, family members and friends. Obama especially commended the players' ability to play as a team and said because of that ability, they were able to "do something special right away."

In a last minute move to the finish I’ll Have Another won the 138th Kentucky Derby, upsetting a top contender who held the lead most of the race. “It’s beyond belief,” said trainer Doug O’Neill after the race. “Somebody asked me earlier in the week what would it be like to win the Kentucky Derby. I used Bubba Watson’s quote when he won the Masters: I never dreamt this far. I never in a million years thought we could do this,” he said.

Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari and assistant coaches Orlando Antigua, Kenny Payne and John Robic have signed multi-year contracts with the University of Kentucky, UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart announced on Friday. “It’s rare, in this day and age, to be able to keep a staff together that has helped produce a national championship and back-to-back Final Four runs,” Barnhart said in a statement released by the UK athletics department. “We want to show them how appreciative we are of their hard work and dedication, and how much they mean to this program.”

It may not be the most stunning trophy in the sports world, but the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team isn’t shy about showing off its national championship trophy. Over the past month the wood and gold-plated trophy has been kissed by the players, sat in the Cincinnati Reds dugout, and this week a Lexington baker even made a cake that looks like the trophy. It's made stops across the state from Ashland to Paducah.

Bodemeister has been made the early 4-1 favorite for the Kentucky Derby, with Union Rags the second choice in a full field of 20 horses. Trained by three-time Derby winner Bob Baffert, Bodemeister was assigned the No. 6 spot at the post position draw today at Churchill Downs. Six horses have won from that position, the last being Sea Hero in 1993.