I love a great day of basketball, and yesterday was truly a full day of it. I live in Ashland and it takes 2 hours to get to Lexington, so I left around 10am to get to Memorial Coliseum for the UK Hoops game vs. Alabama A&M. I like to get there early so I can get settled in and I like being the only one in the gym. Now Rupp Arena is different. There are always media people there very early to tape radio segments, etc. Memorial is empty. So I walk in Memorial and it is like you can hear the ghosts from the past being in there by yourself. The stories that old gym could tell.
Yesterday was also a great day to reminisce with 39 former players at Rupp Arena for the Joe B. Hall reunion during the Mississippi Valley State game. I don’t think any fanbase appreciates former players as Kentucky fans do and the outpouring of emotion during halftime was awesome. The crowd stood the entire time as Coach Hall spoke of all the great relationships he has with his former players. Very good stuff that I won’t forget anytime soon.
The game itself was pretty uneventful except of course when Coach Cal got the boot in the 2nd half. I really don’t know of many coaches that get tossed up 30, but every guy has is reasons. The environment was unreal during the incident, as there is no place that I have ever been that sounds so awesome when 24,000 people are booing. When everyone is standing, or when everyone is booing, Rupp Arena is unparalleled in emotion.
Another great moment of the evening is when Randall Cobb and Danny Trevathan came to center court to inspire the fan base to travel to Birmingham for the Compass Bowl. There was another long standing ovation and the chat of “One More Year” as they both walked off the floor sent chills down my spine. It probably wouldn’t be a great idea for Cobb to stay , but I sure wouldn’t mind if he did.
While we are talking about football, I also got a chance to see the new football coaches and their press conference before the game. My first impression of Rick Minter(pictured top right) is he is a definite high intensity guy. I loved his enthusiasm and how excited he was to be at Kentucky. He seems very straight up, and one example of that was when he said he is “glad Joker didn’t win 10 games.” Of course he probably wouldn’t have had a chance to come to UK if he had.
Coach Steve Pardue(pictured bottom right) was a lot older than I thought he would be but he has already been on the recruiting trail in Georgia so I guess we will see what he can pull in.
Yesterday was definitely an eventful day and a great day for Nation of Blue. I wish the women would play more on the same day the Cats do that way I can enjoy a doubleheader of basketball action every Saturday. Guess I could always dream.
