The wrong Billy (Gillispie) comes to Lexington.

ESPN's story here.
UK Athletics bio
This is no April Fool's. While many will say this is the wrong Billy, I am perfectly ok with this decision. Billy Gillispie will be announced as the new men's basketball coach for the University of Kentucky at 12:45 P.M. today, April 6.

He turned around a struggling Texas A&M program in two years.
Previosly 7-21, he took them to a 70-26 record over the past three seasons and a Sweet 16 birth in this years tourney. With our facilities and national prominence, he will obtain great recruits. He already has a head start after beating Louisville in Rupp earlier this year.
Congratulations Billy, I am looking forward to it.

Billy Donovan stays in Florida

Billy stays

Sorry everyone

Billy Donovan is the next coach at Kentucky (spoof)

Cannonball the movie

We are all Kentucky proud right? If you are from Kentucky, you take pride when something big happens here. Many films were shot in KY, including: Elizabethtown, Dreamer, and Seabiscuit. One you may not know of, Cannonball, was filmed here in Danville, KY. While it is still in post-production, it should be along soon.

Check out the trailer here: Cannonball the Movie trailer
Trailer on Youtube

It is a very unique sasquatch film. If you love sasquatch and Kentucky, this is a winner (just like Tony).

Billy Donovan next coach at Kentucky?

As reported on LEX 18 on Monday March 16 during the 11pm news, Billy Donovan has been offered the head coaching job at Kentucky. The alleged 7 year deal is worth $3.5 million a year with a bonus of another $3.5 million if he stays the entire 7. Their source, Catspause.com, is a pay site and I couldn't confirm it. The anchor Justin White said that UK is poised to announce Billy Donovan as the next men's basketball coach directly after the last game Florida plays in the tournament. I will post a link as soon as it is on LEX 18's website.

1:18 P.M. 3.27.07 Update: LEX 18 backs out of their statement and says it is only a rumor.

Free Gas from Shell

About 2 years ago, I was looking to build up a good credit history while saving money on gas. Shell offered a 10% cash back on all Fuel purchases for 3 months with their Shell Mastercard from Citi. After the 3 months, it reverts to 5%. I decided to sign up. It worked like a charm. I made all of my gas purchases on the card, received my statement online and paid the balance in full. It showed I earned around $15 in free gas during that month. The next month, there was an automatic statement credit of $15 towards any balance I had.

I used this card for gas purchases only for about a year. Then I got smart. Everything that I could pay with a credit card, I used my Shell Mastercard. While I only receive 1% cash back on all other purchases, it does add up. I am now married and my expenses have increased. My wife uses the card for her gas and purchases and my rebate increased substantially. What started out as around $15 a month for gas only, I am now averaging $45 a month statement credit. This is automatically taken off my balance. No points to accumulate, no waiting for a year, no minimums. Cold, hard, cash back for free.

I must stress that you pay off your balance in full every month. Shell will allow you to make up to 4 payments per month online. I pay my full balance at the end of every week so I do not get behind. This means they cannot charge me any interest and I reap all the rewards. If you do not pay off your balance, this strategy is useless. You will pay more in interest that the rewards you accumulate.

If you want free gas, go with the Shell Mastercard from Citi.
http://www.866getshell.com/

Credit swap

Transfer those balances. I have safely transferred balances from old credit cards to new cards for 5 years now. Find a credit card that offers no balance transfer fees and no interest for a year (15 months comes around too). The key to no interest is to not use the card! Transfer the balance and put it in the drawer. I would say cut it up, but sometimes you must provide the full card number when calling customer service. Three cards that I have used successfully are:

Discover Platinum Card
12 months no interest, no balance transfer fee
$5,000 initial credit line

Bank of America
not as good, only 6 months no interest, no balance transfer fee
$5,000 initial credit line

Citibank
12 months no interest, no balance transfer fee
$2,800 initial credit line

All three of these were very easy to apply for online and had no problems getting accepted. I also have a credit score 715-760 so it makes it easier. If you have bad credit, it might be harder to get approved and transfer the balances, but it's worth a shot.

I also do not recommend having a balance over $2,000 at anytime. It is easy to keep spending when you see that you have all that credit limit left, but you need to keep your debt to credit ratio below 20%. I try to keep mine around 15% at the most.