[SIZE=2]Jeff Goodman had a piece today for CBS Sports, entitled, “My favorite irrational UK fan returns tonight”.[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]In it he says “in all seriousness, if Ashley Judd is UK’s No. 1 fan, then No. 2 could be a dead heat between Josh Hopkins or maybe World Wide Wes.”
First of all Jeff, I seriously question your qualifications for speaking on college basketball in general, let alone UK or its fanbase in particular. World Wide Wes? Yeah, if Cal left tomorrow that guy would not ever wear a blue garment again in his life.
With this article Goodman is able to kill two birds with one stone; trolling for clicks from the largest and greatest college basketball fanbase in America and giving his man crush a shameless plug. No offense to Josh Hopkins, you’ll never catch me disrespecting a Kentucky fan, unprovoked. But the whole thing has me thinking. Why are these celebrities considered superfans, anyways?
Ashley Judd, Josh Hopkins, Drake (blagh, the only ‘UK fan’ I may ever disrespect, unprovoked) the only thing that distinguishes them from the average fan is the fact that they can afford to fly from whatever remote location they happen to be getting their latest ayurvedic treatment at and purchase a seat front and center for a game that I couldn’t even find a ticket in the rafters for, let alone afford. (I did make a deal at the crossroads and was able to procure a ticket to the UNC game this year, to be fair.)
Now, I’ve seen Ashley Judd at the games and she is obviously a true fan who’s very wellbeing seems to ride on the tide of the Blue and White. And you couldn’t find a more beautiful representative of the fan base, both in feature and spirit.
My response to this whole notion of the celebrity superfan is this; the “superfans” of the Big Blue Nation do not have season tickets in the lower level of Rupp. They have never been to the Maui Invitational or anywhere but their couch (or maybe a friend’s) to watch UK cut down any nets.
The super fans of UK basketball are those who may have never bathed in the royal blue glow of Rupp Arena’s interior. They are probably working at their second job during most of UK’s games and can’t afford to buy an entire blue (or platinum recycled plastic) wardrobe of UK wears. They come from places like Harlan, Pikeville, and Grayson and beyond the Commonwealth (Hamilton, Ohio represent!)
Regardless of anything else that may be going on in their world, they bleed blue.
So Jeff Goodman, continue to blabber on as one of the many who know a little about a lot of things and a lot about nothing. . In case you haven’t noticed, we take Our Team and our Membership in the BBN seriously, so tread lightly…or you’ll never leave the Commonwealth alive.
[URL=”http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/34835036″]Source[/URL][/SIZE]
