Misplaced Kentucky Fans In Louisville
One sure bet is that all the blue jackets and caps with the oversized K’s around town will disappear faster than they came out of mothballs if the University of Louisville basketball team beats Kentucky.
The observer has difficulty understanding why a native-born Louisvillian would be a UK fan, adopting something so foreign to the local culture. One can almost tolerate the transplants, people moving here for family reasons, but not long. It’s not natural to live in Louisville and favor Kentucky.
'A good percentage of them are the offspring of people who moved here from elsewhere, never able to fully adjust to city life ...'
When the observer was growing up in Central Kentucky, people in that area really didn’t know much about the city. That was probably Louisville’s fault because the leadership never any effort to educate the state in those days. As a result, the city has for decades had to fight ignorance, scrapping for every dollar its gets from Frankfort, despite providing a disproportionate amount of the state’s revenue.
The out-in-the-state love for Kentucky basketball stems from in part from a lack of other distractions. The mostly rural state is dotted by small towns whose only claim to anything significant is the university. They engulf themselves in anything and everything Kentucky, without a clue about how they are perceived outside the state’s borders or in Metro Louisville
So how to explain the Louisville-born UK fans. The most plausible explanation is that a good percentage of them are the offspring of people who moved here from elsewhere, never able to fully adjust to city life. They never questioned their parents or realized there were other options.
Many wanted to leave home for college and UK was the affordable option. You’ll find a lot of them in St. Matthews, for example. Many are bandwagon people who got caught up in the Lexington school’s national basketball championships and will never get over them (equating the late Cawood Ledford with the voice of God).
Others are so enmeshed that they actually embrace a myth that UK fans outnumber U of L fans in their community, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Their minds are closed, don’t confuse them with facts.
Regardless of how it occurred, there are too many of them in Louisville. Why there is so much animosity, even hate, between the two groups of fans is another story for another day. But it will be impossible to deny which university owns Louisville when the $237 million basketball palace opens in all its splendor and magnificence on the riverfront, just a few months from now.
About the Author: Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, as well as a public affairs consultant and a UofL grad and longtime fan.
UK IS THE BEST…but good luck anyway
…at what? cheating? They are one of only five programs EVER to receive the death penalty.
Pretty good synopsis of the funny people amongst us. They cling to the old ways, unable to adjust, make their own decisions, making life miserable for the normal. I say we should round them and segregate all of them in the south end where they can make each other miserable.
After much deliberation and soul searching, I am passing on the annual UofL v. UK party I normally attend on years when the game is in Rupp and going to the game with Paul. This obviously disappoints the people who were willing to accompany him to Rupp, but it promises to be a great experiment in social discourse with a hostile fan base. Last year, I let a friend of Paul’s use the ticket for the game in Freedom Hall. This year, I want to be in Rupp and witness the rivalry and the banter. Also, we’ve been invited to a pretty nice post game party in Lexington that is featuring one of my favorite singers in the area. I expect he’ll have a full report on the action and the events for CARD GAME on Sunday, since we won’t be rolling back into Louisville until the wee hours…or possibly spending the night, depending on the circumstances.
If we get out alive, that is.
Well reasoned thoughts, Sonja, but this is not a time for reason. Cat fans only exist to make our lives miserable.
I’m a former Card fan and UofL student, for many reasons, some I won’t post here, as they involved nefarious acts not worth bringing up 20 years later.
I mainly quit cheering because of players like Griffith, as I am a huge fan of team play, not 35 shots a game from one player as he took. I was just not a fan of the hot dog play, the Dr’s of Dunk, which was always popular at UofL. Team play was always more prevalent at UK, although that is clearly changing now. But at this point, I’m too old to change teams now.
I also was dismayed how UofL was so pre-occupied with UK before they even played each other, which is how the “little brother” thing started I guess. We would be at a UofL-Memphis State game, and toward the end of the game, there would be cheers about UK?!? WTH? I never got the obsession, it made me feel like I was cheering for a loser.
I also hate how we supported our football teams, although they sucked back then. UK supports bad teams, why didn’t we? But even lately, like the pathetic support of seniors like Brohm on Senior day, more occupied with the concourse than the game.
That’s the stuff that drove me away from UofL. I only support their women’s sports, as they play with heart, and I have a daughter to take to games.