Ode to Kentucky Football

I've been a Kentucky football fan since I can remember. I grew up loving the atmosphere of a college football game in Commonwealth Stadium -- the tailgating, the student section, the band, the rivalries, My Old Kentucky Home, and the gut-wrenching losses that leave you feeling empty and beaten. I believe the Kentucky football fan is one of the more tortured souls among sports fans. Like a Cubs fan waiting a lifetime for a World Series and like the recently pardoned Boston Red Sox fan, the Kentucky football fan endures like few others.

My beloved parents for example have been season ticket holders for 15 years or so. Every summer the application arrives for them to renew their seats. And every summer the discussion ensues on how C.E. just doesn't know if he can stand the losing anymore and Jane wonders if she'll even bother with the trek to Lexington by the third or fourth home game. Then the newspapers pump out some optimism about the players being faster this year. Talk shows hype players putting on 15 lbs. of muscle in the offseason -- the team has finally bought into the system you know. Before you know it logic and reason are ditched on the shoulder of the Blue Grass Parkway and a new season begins.

I share this passion for Kentucky football from 600 miles away -- it's in my blood. The flag flies outside my house on gameday, and the college football package is ordered on cable. The lack of logic and reason is not limited to the Bluegrass state after all. Deep down I believe the endless string of heartbreak losses -- and this is a long, long list -- will finally end with some Big Blue good fortune. A win to erase the hail mary loss to LSU, the fourth quarter Lorenzen meltdown to Florida in 2003, the Billy Jack Heisman -- er Haskins -- near upset of Tennessee in 1995, the Marty Moore dropped interception to Clemson in the Peach Bowl, the last minute loss to Steve Spurrier's Florida team in 1993, and last year's near stunner in Knoxville against Tennessee. I told you this was a long list -- and these are just the disappointments that I can remember. Kentucky football heartbreakers certainly go back further than my memories.

So as I sat to watch the Louisville game yesterday with Gus in my lap I wondered, "Should I be passing this on to my son? Shouldn't he have a clean slate and not be bound to a college football program so intertwined with disappointment?" Nah. The kid needs to learn the harsh realities of life just like the rest of us. Sure enough by halftime Louisville had pounced on the Cats 28-7, and I thought the rout was on.

Then something unexpected happened. The Cats came out and took it to Louisville in the second half. They cut the lead to 10 points. The halftime adjustments had them moving the ball in the second half, and their defense was stuffing Louisville's high-powered offense. By this point I have Owen in my carrier as both boys need to experience the ups and downs of rabid sports fandom. The Cats cut the lead to seven and block a punt. They're about to score and quiet the naysayers and doomsdayers with a stunning upset!







Fumble. On the two yard line.

Ok, that's more like it. That's the disappointment a true Kentucky fan has come to expect and endure. See, to a Kentucky fan it's not really if you win -- it's how close you get to winning when it's unexpected and how some play inevitably occurs that separates actual victories from moral victories. I explain to the boys that this is a very important lesson, and they've just read chapter one.

Chapter Two is the upbeat one where we realize that despite the loss, the Cats never should have been in the game to begin with. Kentucky was a three-touchdown underdog with a snowball's chance. Their young and untested team had too many unanswered questions to put up a fight. And despite all this, there is hope and promise that this season could produce some unexpected promise. It's the chapter that keeps you coming back for more, wondering if maybe that next big game could be the one that erases the laundry list of heartbreakers.

I'll be back for more chapters -- Owen and Gus likely will as well. After all, it's in the blood that bleeds blue.