Kentucky clashes

AUTHORITIES SAY the Kentucky-Louisville basketball rivalry boiled over at a Kentucky dialysis clinic when one patient punched another during an argument about the teams.

Police Lt. Robert Swanigan said the altercation at the Georgetown, Ky., clinic began Monday with a verbal exchange between Ed Wilson, a 68-year-old Kentucky fan, and Charles Taylor, a 71-year-old Louisville fan.

The men were arguing about who will win Saturday when Kentucky (36-2) plays Louisville (30-9) in the Final Four for a berth in the national title game.

"I think this is a first at a dialysis center," Swanigan told a Kentucky television station.

Swanigan says Wilson, who already was hooked up to the dialysis machine, flipped off Taylor, who was waiting his turn.

That's when Taylor punched Wilson in the face.

"He just happened to think U of L would beat UK and he started to run his mouth," Wilson told WKYT. "That's what started it."

Taylor said he was actually talking about the matchup with someone else.

"He was meddling," Taylor said. "And told me to shut up and gave me the finger. I went up to him and I hit him. Didn't hit him that hard, but I hit him."

Swanigan said he thought tensions would rise as Saturday's game approaches, but the fight at the clinic was stranger than they expected.

Georgetown is about 13 miles north of Lexington, where the University of Kentucky is located.

Wilson declined to file charges, and Georgetown police say the case is closed.

At Ohio State, spring football practice started Wednesday as the Buckeyes' basketball team prepared for its second trip to the Final Four in the last 6 years.

In the last few months, the city has been consumed by the hiring of Urban Meyer to resurrect a program that's banned from bowl eligibility for 2012.

All-America forward Jared Sullinger knows that even during March, most Ohio State fans would rather talk about TDs than threes.

"We're never going to beat coach Urban Meyer," Sullinger said. "He brought the most buzz to Columbus, Ohio, in a long time."

But lately, the basketball team is generating a little of its own.

The Buckeyes (31-7) will play Kansas (31-6) in the national semifinals on Saturday night. They won their only national basketball title in 1960, part of a run of three straight trips to the title game.

For at least one week, hoops is grabbing its share of the attention around town, even though Buckeye sports websites still count down the number of days until the annual football game against Michigan.

"The buzz we brought, being known not only as a football school but as a basketball school, is great," Sullinger said. "But at the same time, we don't want the train to stop at this particular moment. Hopefully we can keep it rolling."

Could Ohio State be known just as much for basketball as football? "I probably doubt that will happen," Sullinger said.