Thread: just thoughts on UK fans and Duke

Many of the Nation of blue realize, as it is so obviously pointed out by everyone, that we haven't won a national title since 1998.I am like most of the Kentucky fans passionate about our program and sometimes cross the line of objectivity with that blind passion.Now that i have stated that, i was wondering what makes Kentucky fans the best in the nation? what separates our fan base from the the rest of the country? Many college analysts have gone on record as saying we are the most passionate and supportive fan base in the nation. and although i am not a blog writer, i just wanted to delve into the mind of a kentucky fan, so i choose my own to explore.

OK lets start.

I find it hard to come up with any one fact that makes me hate Duke. The more i think about it the more i decide that it's a number of factors. To be honest Winning is one of them.Although i do admit winning is a reason, i have to elaborate.Alot of teams win, and win alot of games and do it well. My example here would be Michigan State. Somehow i don't feel the same way about MSU as i do about Duke. We have played MSU with Izzo as a coach. So. i ask my self why do i not like Duke winning? Well let's dissect this.

1) It's not that they win, It's HOW they win. When Duke is winning they are pure class and can be admired for the effort they put in. It's how Duke handles close games and games they lose that i can't stomach. When faced with adversity in big games, Duke responds with questionable plays, henderson, laettner,the Florida State debacle, all in close games.Add the fact that Coach K has no apologies for his players actions just hits me in the gut as immoral. Letting people like JJ Reddick behave with a blatant lack of sportsmanship shows me he holds his players above the rules.

2) The fans contribute to the feelings. Being a Kentucky fan who has attended games, i can say we,at times, have been without class at games. But Duke fans take that to a new level in college sports, and they hold themselves in high esteem for deriding other players.they have no regard for the history of the sport. (maybe this is because historically they aren't as good as other "blue blood" programs)

4) Hypocrisy, i think this is the biggest thing about the Duke program i cannot stomach. From the coaches to the players to the fans. In 2004 Coach K was on record after the acc tourny as saying he doesn't work the refs.. yet at the begining of his Duke career he went public with saying there was favoritism in calls for Dean Smith. is this not a public working of the refs? After the loss in the 2004 ncaa tourny he left the floor screaming at the refs, you cost us the (insert F bomb here) game. his players commit what amounts to assault on the court and he calls his players victims (see henderson and laettner). there are other examples i could use but in the interest of length i shall move on.

Now with that being said, here is the hard part for me. As it would be for anyone. An honest look at Kentucky Fans.

We are insane.. yes i said it..a different kind of insane..we have UK basketball in the blood like a disease. No State follows one team quite like the Kentucky fans follow Kentucky.I am guilty, i admit it. I have my superstitions. Part of that is sustained success.I have seen Kentucky win titles, my dad has seen it, his dad has seen it.and his dad has seen it.
I think as a Kentucky fan, it is hard for any other fan base to understand that we have won titles in 4 different decades. you here who cares what happened in the 40's and 50's? Well my response to that is, someone cared they kept the stats.Kentucky basketball really isn't a past time for entertainment to most UK fans. It's a way of life.Right or wrong that's how it is.I don't think the rest of the nation takes it as seriously as we do.there is as much disdain for UK fans as much as there is admiration. The main difference i see in UK and Duke fans is this, UK fans are rabid about Kentucky. We do not care if you bring in an NBA caliber team. We root FOR Kentucky not against other teams. When UK plays i don't say things about opposing players personal lives.I am more interested in how UK is playing and what they are doing good and bad.Maybe that's the pompous nature of Kentucky fans.We know when we play good noone can beat us.Where as Duke fans want to make other teams play bad to win.. We don't need cheer sheets. For a fan base that is so highly intelligent , it seems they need a jim jones like atmosphere to be able to be original. We are arrogant about our history. When we speak of History we are actually discussing our entire history. I know this and fellow Kentucky fans know this, but not many programs can come close to our history or have a devotion to their program to be able to discuss the tradition, or simply don't have a tradition.Win or lose Kentucky fans fill the arena.I think Kentucky has a different view of being a fan from the rest of the country.Not all of the country. Kansas fans are there through thick and thin. Just one example. This is a much debated topic and you could write a book on it, but i shall end my diatribe with this closing thought. It is often said teams mirror the coaches attitude, So, when Coach K is gone will people still hate Duke? i'm not so sure i will.

Originally Posted by addicted2

I was sitting at my computer tonight thinking about Kentucky basketball and what makes it so great. Many of the Nation of blue realize, as it is so obviously pointed out by everyone, that we haven't won a national title since 1998.I am like most of the Kentucky fans passionate about our program and sometimes cross the line of objectivity with that blind passion.Now that i have stated that, i was wondering what makes Kentucky fans the best in the nation? what separates our fan base from the the rest of the country? Many college analysts have gone on record as saying we are the most passionate and supportive fan base in the nation. and although i am not a blog writer, i just wanted to delve into the mind of a kentucky fan, so i choose my own to explore.
OK lets start.
The first thing i want to do is rule out the built in rivalries that i have as a native Kentuckian. In order to do that i have to remove the natural rivalries we have. to me that eliminates my objectivity in discussing Louisville, Indiana, and Tennessee. All 3 of these programs have a wonderful history and merit their own individual analysis concerning Kentucky.But to be realistic, I have 40 years of prejudice and biased ingrained in me from birth, and i cannot give a true introspective look at each one of these schools. I will say that Indiana is probably the school i loved to beat more than any other for the simple fact that, as great of a coach as Bob Knight was, the slap on Joe B Hall way back when, showed exactly the kind of personality he has, brash and demanding. Anyway, eliminating those programs, i find myself with two schools left, Duke and North Carolina. Now having served in the military and being stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, I have had a chance to see UNC fans in everyday life.The experiences i came away with were mostly very positive. So for the purposes of this "article" i choose Duke. Why Duke? Well, in the spirit of "Rivalry" and i'm not even sure it's even a rivalry, The disdain i feel for that program makes me question why i feel so strongly against that team and their fan base.

Upon reviewing my inner self, I find it hard to come up with any one fact that makes me hate Duke. The more i think about it the more i decide that it's a number of factors. To be honest Winning is one of them.Although i do admit winning is a reason, i have to elaborate.Alot of teams win, and win alot of games and do it well. My example here would be Michigan State. Somehow i don't feel the same way about MSU as i do about Duke. We have played MSU with Izzo as a coach. So. i ask my self why do i not like Duke winning? Well let's dissect this.
1) There is a write up that is a few years old that was widely distributed on the internet called the anti duke manifesto. This write up explains alot of what the rest of the nation including myself feels .Anti-Duke Manifesto alot is said here that rings true in my heart.
2) It's not that they win, It's HOW they win. When Duke is winning they are pure class and can be admired for the effort they put in. It's how Duke handles close games and games they lose that i can't stomach. When faced with adversity in big games, Duke responds with questionable plays, henderson, laettner,the Florida State debacle, all in close games.Add the fact that Coach K has no apologies for his players actions just hits me in the gut as immoral. Letting people like JJ Reddick behave with a blatant lack of sportsmanship shows me he holds his players above the rules.
3) The fans contribute to the feelings. Being a Kentucky fan who has attended games, i can say we,at times, have been without class at games. But Duke fans take that to a new level in college sports, and they hold themselves in high esteem for deriding other players.Rarely do you see a Duke fan congratulate other teams on hard play and good games. In the spirit of competition they want to throw up ambiguous facts that rarely pertain to the game being played or college basketball in general. And they have no regard for the history of the sport. (maybe this is because historically they aren't as good as other "blue blood" programs)
4) Hypocrisy, i think this is the biggest thing about the Duke program i cannot stomach. From the coaches to the players to the fans. In 2004 Coach K was on record after the acc tourny as saying he doesn't work the refs.. yet at the begining of his Duke career he went public with saying there was favoritism in calls for Dean Smith. is this not a public working of the refs? After the loss in the 2004 ncaa tourny he left the floor screaming at the refs, you cost us the (insert F bomb here) game. his players commit what amounts to assault on the court and he calls his players victims (see henderson and laettner). there are other examples i could use but in the interest of length i shall move on. The fans of Duke love to point at graduation rates and fine outstanding young men. Admirable qualities of any program, and Duke does graduate at a high rate.What irritates me about that is they never point to the lower standards that athletes have for admission. You want to classify the athletes with the rest of the student body as overly smart, but you have lower standards to admit them.You chastise Dean Smith for pointing out that he had players with higher combined SAT scores than you had. He only admitted facts.. never revealed any personal information.it also happened that the one of the ones he pointed out was one of the people the fan base derided as illiterate.

Now with that being said, here is the hard part for me. As it would be for anyone. An honest look at Kentucky Fans.

We are insane.. yes i said it..a different kind of insane..we have UK basketball in the blood like a disease. No State follows one team quite like the Kentucky fans follow Kentucky.I am guilty, i admit it. I have my superstitions. Part of that is sustained success.I have seen Kentucky win titles, my dad has seen it, his dad has seen it.and his dad has seen it.
I think as a Kentucky fan, it is hard for any other fan base to understand that we have won titles in 4 different decades. you here who cares what happened in the 40's and 50's? Well my response to that it.. someone cared they kept the stats.Kentucky basketball really isn't a past time for entertainment to most UK fans. It's a way of life.Right or wrong that's how it is.I don't think the rest of the nation takes it as seriously as we do.there is as much disdain for UK fans as much as there is admiration. Sometimes i wonder how people can be bandwagon fans. Yes, we have them too. Being raised the way i have, and i include Louisville fans in the same light, it's hard to fathom how a person could not want to come here and see what it's going to be like to be a celebrity in the pros. The main difference i see in UK and Duke fans is this, UK fans are rabid about Kentucky. We do not care if you bring in an NBA caliber team. We root FOR Kentucky not against other teams.I have found myself rooting for Duke to lose though. When UK plays i don't say things about opposing players personal lives.I am more interested in how UK is playing and what they are doing good and bad.Maybe that's the pompous nature of Kentucky fans.We know when we play good noone can beat us.Where as Duke fans want to make other teams play bad to win.To me there is a distinct difference on the way we root for our team and the way Duke fans root against other teams. We don't need cheer sheets. For a fan base that is so highly intelligent , it seems they need a jim jones like atmosphere to be able to be original. I have also found out you cannot have a decent discussion with most Duke fans about basketball. This is a personal experience and i know their are exceptions, but Duke fans, and i am generalizing, love to flaunt and be arrogant. Kentucky fans are the same way, but on a different basis.We are arrogant about our history. When we speak of History we are actually discussing our entire history. I know this and fellow Kentucky fans know this, but not many programs can come close to our history or have a devotion to their program to be able to discuss the tradition, or simply don't have a tradition.Win or lose Kentucky fans fill the arena. Duke fans will abandoned their team in bad years.This was witnessed with the empty student seats during the down years in the mid 90's.I think Kentucky has a different view of being a fan from the rest of the country.Not all of the country. Kansas fans are their through thick and thin. Just one example. This is a much debated topic and you could write a book on it, but i shall end my diatribe with this closing thought. It is often said teams mirror the coaches atitude, So, when Coach K is gone will people still hate Duke? i'm not sure i will.

Why did you have to write a book? It may interest to know that Duke got upset tonight by FSU.
When the morning of Mon. Jan. 17 dawns, they will no longer be #1. Breaks my heart.

sorry, i shortened it.. was just putting my thoughts out there. I saw they lost. thinking about hitting beef o brady's for saturday's game.

Originally Posted by addicted2

sorry, i shortened it.. was just putting my thoughts out there. I saw they lost. thinking about hitting beef o brady's for saturday's game.

That's ok man. I was a little over the top with the question. Sorry too.

Originally Posted by addicted2

sorry, i shortened it.. was just putting my thoughts out there. I saw they lost. thinking about hitting beef o brady's for saturday's game.

thats fine addicted2. sure your post was more like a article but very interesting. if we only had more passionate fans on here like you we could build the site faster and faster. i'm looking forward soon to pushing the growth of the "groups" section as its a great layout of groups with members and the discussions can be started about the groups certain subject. pictures can be added to your group as well. it will be even better after some growth. put out the word and check it out. members are welcome to open new groups and they can even be "invite only" if they choose so. i'll be making an announcement soon on my intended growth and i hope all the NOB family will take advantage of the setup. thanks for the contributions. GO CATS!!!

Originally Posted by BigBlueNation502

thats fine addicted2. sure your post was more like a article but very interesting. if we only had more passionate fans on here like you we could build the site faster and faster. i'm looking forward soon to pushing the growth of the "groups" section as its a great layout of groups with members and the discussions can be started about the groups certain subject. pictures can be added to your group as well. it will be even better after some growth. put out the word and check it out. members are welcome to open new groups and they can even be "invite only" if they choose so. i'll be making an announcement soon on my intended growth and i hope all the NOB family will take advantage of the setup. thanks for the contributions. GO CATS!!!

Good follow up, BBN502.

I know exactly why I don't like Duke--two names --Laettner and Hurley. Now I have the greatest respect for Coack K..but their players and fans, well that's a different story. As far as UK fans being the best, and why we are the best...it's simple, WE ARE KENTUCKY!