Last night, the Kentucky Wildcats beat the Louisville Cardinals 40-34. Andre Woodson was brilliant and Roy and I shared a good laugh over our previous quarterback, Jared Lorenzen, who was too overweight to be the kind of quick, lean machine we have now. This was the first time Kentucky has beat Louisville since 2002 and the first time in 30 years that Kentucky has beat a top 10-ranked team. The fact that it was Louisville just made it sweeter.
No, you haven't stumbled in to the wrong blog. I am talking about (wait for it) football.
The truth of the matter is, it wasn't until I moved to Kentucky that I even understood the rules of the game. Last night, after Roy got up to let the dog in, I was able to inform him that the clock was stopped because it was a 1st down (because they always stop the clock at a first down.) Thanks to the dear and wonderful Greg Berry, I occasionally get to attend one of these games and will even deal with the awful traffic to do so. He is the one who patiently explained to me the finer points of "3rd and goal". God bless you, Greg, for your patience.
Not only that, but as a friend from Wisconsin once put it, "Kentucky Football must make you really excited for Kentucky Basketball." The last few years have been pretty rough for Wildcat football fans.
I've never been one for sports. Sure, I'd watch tennis with my dad and cheer for our winning soccer team in high school, but other than that, I just couldn't get in to it. Perhaps it was the... how shall I put this... lackluster sports teams that my alma matter is known for.
The tradition of the Kentucky Wildcats is impressive. I won't bore you with stats about our basketball team being the winningest team in the history of college basketball and how it ranks 2nd (to UCLA) in the number of NCAA titles, but I could. Trust me.
As I was jumping around my living room at 11:00 last night (well past my bedtime), hugging and high-fiveing my husband, rushing outside to enjoy the fireworks that were being set off on all sides of us, I though... wow. What the hell is going on here?
But I know exactly what it is. The Kentucky Wildcats are the home team. Sure, they're rooted for (and despised) all over the nation, but I pass Rupp Arena or Commonwealth Stadium nearly every day. We used to see Tayshawn Prince (who now plays for the Detroit Pistons) in the gas station. When players get arrested, it's by Lexington cops and we can look up their mugshots on the jail website!
These are my boys. I'll never forget finding out that I was pregnant with Sophie while the 'Cats were being destroyed by the Kansas Jayhawks in Tubby Smith's worst loss - hey, at least we got SOME good news! I like to fill out 2 brackets for the NCAA tournament so I can have one that lists Kentucky winning it all and Duke losing in the 1st round.
I wear my blue proudly.
Go cats!
3 comments:
Banana,
You ought to be a writer. When I'm interested in your football comments, then I know that writing is your gift. Pear
thanks for giving me a good laugh!
Interesting facts about the game.
The 70,857 (Commonwealth Stadiums's fourth largest) would have made the crowd Kentucky's third largest city.
Many argued that the Cardinals were in contention for the national championship. Those hopes have now been dashed. And they were dashed only 76 miles from home.
The last time Kentucky beat a top 10 team was the day I was born, October 1, 1977.
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