The Catholic Seven

It has been awhile and a lot has happened since I last penned a post onto this blog. Conference realignment is just as exciting then as it is now. My disdain for the Big East isn't a secret if you thumb through some of my older posts. However the reasons for hating this league have evolved in a years time. My disdain for the Big Least was born through the BCS system. An 8-4 UConn team won the Big East and took a BCS spot away from deserving teams cemented my hatred of this league. However my hatred blinded me from the reality of the situation. Historically powerful basketball teams were being ignored to a point of open revolt. Today my disdain for this league stems from the desperate growth of the league to have enough teams to have a championship game in football at the cost of losing the best basketball leauge in the history of college basketball.

Phase One
Syracuse and Pitt announced that they would be leaving the Big East and heading together for the ACC. This came a year after WVU announced its decision to leave for the BigXII. WVU leaving hurt football tremendously. Losing Pitt isn't a death nail, but you do lose a traditionally strong football and hoops program. Losing Syracuse is HUGE. Syracuse was a founding member of this league and put basketball first. Pitt came in later as did WVU when the emphasis was put on football expansion. Losing Syracuse is like the SEC losing Alabama or the B10 losing Ohio State. Syracuse leaving sent the Big East into panic mode. Especially since the league was losing two more teams to the ACC. Virginia Tech, BC, and Miami left years earlier.

Phase Two
Louisville pledged its loyalty to the league up until it agreed on a deal to leave the league for the ACC. Rutgers. Louisville joined the league with Cincinnati, USF, Marquette and DePaul after the first batch of teams jumped to the ACC a few years prior. Louisville became the first member of the last class to join the league to jump ship. Rutgers was invited to join the league back during the founding announced that it was leaving to join the B10. Cincinnati, Louisville, and UConn all fought for the ACC spot with the Cards winning out. The Big East had to face the reality that it had lost its best football members in consecutive years.

Phase Three
Who remains then?
1. UConn
2. Cincinnati
3. USF
4. Temple (who was invited back after being kicked out)

Four teams does not make a conference. Following the WVU defection the Big East put in a plan to recruit more schools. All of these moves were football centered. Boise State, TCU, and San Diego State all agreed to come and then backed out leaving the following schools to make up the Big East.

1. UCF
2. Memphis
3. SMU
4. Tulane
5. Houston
6. Navy
7. ECU

UConn and Cincinnati have made it clear that they want out of this mess and quick.

These phases of change were all driven by football factors. Money talks and thanks to the devaluation of the league the TV shares have dropped drastically. The one thing that is saving the Big East is its basketball tradition. Until...

Phase Four
Notre Dame announced that it too would be going to the ACC in all sports except football. The flood gates were officially destroyed as the Irish saw the writing on the wall and left. There interests were being ignored in the football expansion arena. To answer this "betrayal" the league went after Tulane to get its numbers back up in hoops. One sizable sect was being ignored in all of this and that was the so called "Catholic Seven". Marquette, DePaul, Georgetown, St Johns, Providence, Villanova, and Seton Hall were forced to sit back and watch the league destroy itself in order to make some money in football. They finally rose together and said enough is enough, we are leaving to form our own hoops league. The Big East officially died.

Money Talks?

Don't hate the league because they are terrible in football, hate the league because they ignored their roots and thus cost them the very thing they wished to preserve. The Catholic Seven sent a message to the league that they had stripped too much away from what used to be great about the league. Critics will argue that you cannot make money as a hoops centered league. I agree with that statement but when you are replacing WVU, Pitt, Cuse, Louisville and Rutgers with Tulane, SMU etc the argument can be made for focusing on hoops. Observe-

ESPN is reporting that NBC Sports made an offer to the Big East for a television contract that is worth between $20-$23 million per year. That sounds pretty good for a league made up of mediocrity.  However ESPN is also reporting that the Big East had asked ESPN for a $300 million a year contract that was quickly turned down by the network for obvious reasons.  Football drives the ship?

Fox made an offer to the Catholic Seven that would net the new league $30-$40 million a year for a hoops centered league. The number could change based on who else joins the league but as of now the deal seems better than the one NBC offered to the Big East. There is more watchability in the basketball centered league than that of the Big East.

The Name
The Catholic Seven and the remaining Big East teams are fighting over the future of the Big East name.   The remaining Big East teams shouldn't even fight for it. The majority of the original Big East teams make up the Catholic Seven. They should rightfully keep the name. It would be an insult to the history of the league to allow this mockery of a league to keep that name. It should live on in an entity that has life and potential. The Catholic Seven have such potential whereas the remaining Big East teams have joined to form the new Conference USA.

Who Else?
If the Catholic Seven are smart they will target Dayton, Xavier, St Louis, VCU, Creighton and possibly  BYU to join the league. The A10 and the MVC are the two stand out basketball first conferences. A merger would make a premier basketball conference that would be fun to watch and would make the tv contract worth every penny. Who really wants to watch Tulane v SMU in prime time? A Georgetown Butler match up would draw more viewers than the best Big East match up.

The Big East is dead and the name should be given to a league that has a pulse and common sense. Quality is more important than quantity is a message that the Big East clearly doesn't understand or care about. They have only themselves to blame. The future is bright for the Catholic Seven and as a fan of college hoops I hope they thrive. I wish nothing but the worst for the Big East. Your greed and ignorance is your downfall. You robbed college hoops fan of great basketball. The divorce is coming soon but if you want a taste of what the new Big East will look like tune into the Conference USA tournament this spring. This is your future....

From Swaziland, With Love

January 2012 has been interesting to say the least. We have crowned our BCS champion, the Cats are ranked second in the nation, the GOP primary season has begun and the UK women's team just beat Tennessee! Not a bad month. Thanks to some friends passionate interests I have decided to jump on board the Saints bandwagon- how can you hate Drew Brees? All of this is of course great news, but to me it is certainly a blessing to have so many distractions this month. Yes indeed, January is a lonely month.

Rachel has been in Swaziland for about 11 days now. Wow, 11 days? It feels like 11 months. We are just about to the halfway point which is GREAT, but of course I am grateful of the opportunity she has to do good things in a part of the world that is certainly not the most desirable of places to be.
I have heard many heartbreaking stories of her trip abroad, many of which I can't repeat without getting emotional. Luckily I have heard many stories of great compassion in the midst of great horror. Good and bad are both alive and well in Swaziland.

I miss her a tremendous amount (if you ask my coworkers they will most certainly acknowledge this). At least we got engaged before her departure. That brings a certain level of peace to the whole assignment. It's still quite difficult though, especially in communicating. Skype is often unreliable which leads to me showing my temper and cursing like a sailor at my Mac. We get to talk every day, most of which is through email which has become my best friend this month. I am so very proud of the work she is doing over there and cannot wait for her to return.

Being me, I decided to make myself an expert on all things Swazi. What did I discover?
-They have the highest HIV infection rate of any country on the continent. 1 out of every 4 is infected.
-Swaziland is an ABSOLUTE monarchy, the last on the continent.
-The men like to have multiple wives and mistresses.

HIV and the multiple wives obviously are linked together. Rachel was telling me that its commonplace for a man to have many wives- a status symbol. They teach safe sex in the clinics, but safe sex only goes so far in a culture that has multiple partners. Monogamy might save lives. Who knows. She sent me a picture of condom distribution machine in the bathroom there. It basically said if you have unprotected sex you will kill someone. I guess they aren't getting the message. The king enacted a no sex ban a few years ago. He made all virgins wear an arm band when in public. Obviously it didn't go over well and the ban was lifted. The king did liberate some of these women from that ban and made wives out of some of them- he has 14.

Now for His Majesty King Mswati III....
The king is an absolute ruler who dissolved political parties, government and basically democracy. His people live on roughly 60 cents a day while he lives in total opulence. The king has over 7 palaces and a fleet of luxury cars. He has a jet so that he can fly around the world on the dime of his people, most of which barely make a dime a day.

The king owns a large stake in the media and industrial sectors which lines his pockets while his people starve. He even made it a CRIME to take photos of his houses, security forces, luxury cars, plane, etc because he is tired of negative stories getting out. God save the king indeed.

Of course Rachel is not there to study its politics or to fight the system. She is there to make a difference in the lives of the Swazi people. She has seen some terrible things, but I know the type of person she is. She treats every patient with respect and honor- more importantly compassion. Speaking from someone who has received that compassion, her patients are very lucky to have her there. I am so proud of her and I miss her very much.

I am also very happy that she is there with friends from home. I am thankful for their help when she needed it most. I am thankful for the locals who are assisting them. I appreciate their kindness and I greatly appreciate the respect that they show my fiancee. The culture isn't the most honorable, therefore I am glad that there are honorable men helping them. I am grateful for that.

Keep up the good work Rach! I love you so much!

Had to get that out there! Don't worry, we will be back to sports soon enough. Some things are just more important. The Swazis should be very blessed. Don't get too attached to her though, I expect her back here in 2 weeks!

Oh and by the way, did Louisville beat Providence?


Didn't think so!

A Michigan Man

"We have to go out and hire a Michigan Man at Michigan." You can replace the school with any school in America and use that line freely in regards to replacing coaches in college football. The mystique of hiring a coach who knows the school is one that seems to really only be prevalent in college football. It's a notion that does not make a lot of sense to me especially given the recent ludicrous uproar out of State College, PA. Despite the silliness of  it, fans and AD's alike bow to the idea of hiring a "Michigan Man".

A friend of mine made a good point to me yesterday- he said that most people who make up that rare breed of people destined to become football coaches already know the history of the BIG college football schools. Do they really need to be bred there to appreciate or comprehend that history? I never went to Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State or Notre Dame but I recognize their unique status in the realm of college football. I never played defense at Nebraska but know enough about what the "Black Shirts" means to the players and fans.

Sure, "Michigan Men" have a leg up over most coaches if they are coming "home" to coach. They know the ground, they know the recruiting bases, they know the front office staff. Doesn't matter how long you played or coached at a school either- if you were there one year, you are a "Michigan Man." There has been great success by coaches coming "home" to coach. Look at Brady Hoke this year at Michigan. Steve Spurrier is the all time classic example. Success is great if you are a "Michigan Man".

Then again being a "Michigan Man" brings great pressure. Lloyd Carr was allowed to retire (forced out) when success at Michigan escaped him. Frank Solich at Nebraska was fired for going 9-3. You have to win every single game because you know that is expected of you. It's a ludicrous philosophy.

Do I think that new Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien will be successful at Penn State even though he isn't a "Michigan Man"? Who knows. Under the most normal of circumstances it is hard to tell. Given the recent troubles at Penn State it is hard to say if anyone can win there now. However, him not having any ties to the school has riled up an already insane fan base. I'm not going to go into that scandal, but come on... did you really think they were going to hire someone from that regime?

"Michigan Men" are the norm in college football- especially in the storied Big Ten. It's not really that way in the SEC. The SEC is the king of college football right now but only 3 of the 12 schools in the SEC have a "Michigan Man" as its head coach. UK and newly hired Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze have a "Michigan Man" as a head coach and are both at the bottom of the SEC pecking order. Auburn took a HUGE risk and hired Gene Chizik who coached there for 2 years. The fans hated that hire but Auburn wanted to hire someone with ties. It worked out for them, but it very well could not have.

For some reason college football is transfixed by the pageantry of hiring a "Michigan Man". College basketball doesn't really have that problem. Look at the top programs in hoops history- UK, KU, UNC, Duke. Of those only UNC has a "Michigan Man" in Roy Williams. Kentucky has the most tradition of anybody. Only Joe B. Hall and Tubby Smith were "Michigan Men". When it came time to hire a new coach after the failed Gillispie saga, UK went and hired the best man they could in John Calipari who had no ties to UK. Sure they wanted Billy Donovan who was an assistant here eons ago, but they chose the better man. A large segment of the UK fan base wants Travis Ford or John Pelphrey to come home and be the next head man. That's never going to happen. Those guys are not good enough to coach here. I don't care how good they were as players.

College football is a different beast and the top historical schools want to keep the tradition in house when they hire new coaches. Sometimes you have to part ways with the old coaching tree and plant new ones. Maybe that is why the Big Ten is so stuck in the past. Hopefully Urban Meyer can break the mold. Wait, what? Oh yes I forgot, he too is a "Michigan Man".....

BCS Conference Primer

College basketball is divided into four distinct segments: Non-conference, conference, conference tournament, and then a post season tournament. Every team takes part in a conference tournament except those from the Ivy League and thanks to the addition of two more post season tournaments, most teams play in all four segments of the season. The first segment has come to an end and as always it has provided us more questions than answers.

1. Who is the fairest of them all?: Syracuse, Ohio State, Kentucky, UNC have all proven their mettle. Each team has flaws that need to be ironed out in the conference season. However, these four teams play at a level that sets them apart from their peers.

2. Which conference is the "best"?: Everyone is biased towards the "BCS" leagues, but the great thing about college hoops is that the sexy league isn't always the best. The A-10, CUSA, Horizon, and even the OVC all have teams that can ball. The question is can they crack the top tier? That won't be too hard because the Pac12 is... well, I will wait.

3. Which "surprise" team will spiral out of control: The obvious example of this conundrum would be the Clemson team from a couple of seasons back that started the season undefeated before not making the NCAA tournament. Conference play can be a mysterious beast. Honestly there isn't a team in the top ten that looks like that Clemson team. However one team certainly looks like they could trip up just a little bit in conference play- Baylor. Baylor is undefeated and has some decent wins under their belt, but they haven't truly been tested. Sure they were tested by WVU and MissState but those were at neutral sites. They struggled defensively against BYU on the road and when you look at who they have to play in the Big12 on the road they could easily struggle some more. Are they a tournament team? Of course, just expect some of the luster to vanish.

With that said let's look ahead to the conference season. Here are some bold predictions for the journey ahead. Let's keep it simple: BCS leagues first...

ACC

Predicted Winner: One has to expect UNC to be the team that comes out on top in the ACC. They have been tested and have shown resilience. The UNLV game was their mulligan and had a lot of factors that led to the loss in a neutral gym that just happened to be in Las Vegas. The loss to UK was one of those "good" losses people like to talk about. Had Anthony Davis not blocked that shot, UNC is in a different boat. Luckily this isn't college football.

Dark Horse: Everyone wants to say Duke. Screw it. Duke is not that impressive. Austin Rivers is a hell of a talent, but for some reason doesn't live up to the hype. Call it my old Kentucky hatred of Duke but something about this Duke team doesn't inspire confidence. Who is my dark horse team you ask: UVA. The Cavs are off to a surprising 13-1 start under Tony Bennett and have a great win against Michigan under their belts. The win over LSU on the road may end up being a surprisingly good win later on in the season. Will it happen? Probably not. But everyone remembers Maryland right?

Big12

Prediction: Mizzou for the win. Two teams in this league are undefeated and Mizzou has that panache that makes them the flavor of the month. Out is Mike Anderson and in is Frank Haith. Haith was given a shot at making the U into a basketball school. We all know how that usually turns out, and so too did Haith. He jumped ship and headed to Mizzou and inherited a crazy talented team that has embraced the new system. Not to mention this is Mizzou's last hurrah in the Big12...

Dark Horse: This is a different Big12. Football showed us that. I'm taking Baylor. I know, I just said they are my pick to "collapse". Let me be clear. I can see this team losing games on the road in the league. However in a tournament setting, this is a dangerous team. One game scenarios are scary, and Baylor has the athletes to compete. They don't quite have that Mizzou magic though.

Big East

Prediction: The obvious pick is Syracuse. Bernie Fine drama aside, Cuse can ball. Veteran coach, a down league, great talent equals success. Undefeated run? Good lord no. It's the Big East. Tournament victory? More than likely.

Dark Horse: When UConn has its act together they can be tough to beat. When they are so-so they lose for the first time in like a century to Seton Hall. The defending national champs lost Kemba Walker but kept Jeremy Lamb. How can you not be impressed with him? Add to the mix highly talented and highly recruited super frosh Andre Drummond and sophomore Shabazz Napier and you get a potent combination of youth and "veterans".

BigTen

Prediction: Ohio State is LOADED and Thad Matta is REALLY good at what he does. The only thing that hurts them is Jared Sullinger's back. If the back is healthy- they win. If it isn't healthy, they win by less. Come March, the Buckeyes are going to be scary good.

Dark Horse: It's been a while but here it comes... Indiana. The Tom Crean experiment is starting to come to life as a Frankensteinesque beast that has a knack for defeating top teams at home. They have a good road win at NCState but that's about it. However, BigTen teams are on notice about trips to Assembly Hall. By the way, number 15 Michigan is down 11 against the Hoosiers in B-town.

Pac12

NOTE: This is the first season in a long while that this league has been absolutely putrid. No teams in this league are considered "threats". The best team in the west you ask? Probably Gonzaga or UNLV.

Prediction: Cal was DRUMMED by Mizzou and by UNLV. However this Cal Bears team might be the best of the worst out west. I hate everything about Cal which is said because I respect Coach Montgomery. You can blame your football team for my hatred.

Dark Horse: Thank goodness for the greater San Francisco area because if not for this lovely little piece of geography the Pac12 would be terrible. Stanford is my dark horse and could easily be my main prediction. This conference is too unstable. It all comes down to who doesn't suck the most. Maybe President Obama's brother in law can sneak Oregon State into the Pac12 title game.

SEC

Prediction: You know who I am going to pick and why- Kentucky. Seriously, it's the SEC.

Dark Horse: There are a few teams that can emerge and win the SEC title. Vandy is the obvious choice assuming that Festus comes back and is good to go. Outside of that one could say Mississippi State and Florida. I am too biased to right this.

Conference play is here! One more football game to go and it's all basketball all the time. With that said....

WVU scored 70 points. They really aren't a Big East team now.

A Split National Champion?

Irony is a funny thing.

Almost immediately after Oklahoma State beat Stanford in overtime last night the talking heads started throwing out the idea of a split national champion IF Alabama beats LSU. ESPN has to have lively debate and programming to fill 24 hours worth of airtime but come on, seriously? There is no way that Oklahoma State is worthy of any national championship designation under the system we have now.

You can make the argument all you want that under a playoff system they are worthy of the crown. Under a playoff system ANY team is worthy of it. Unfortunately we have the BCS and this isn't 2003. That's where the irony comes in.

The BCS was designed to pit the 2 best teams against one another for the title of best team in college football. We have all theorized that the system is flawed and so on and so forth. However we never quite had that smoking gun to blow the conspiracy sky high. Then 2003 came. The regular season came to an end and it was time to pick who goes where. USC won the Pac10 with their only loss coming against Cal in triple OT. LSU won the SEC with its only loss coming in a blowout to Florida. Oklahoma was undefeated entering the Big12 title game against lowly Kansas State. K-State surprised everyone and annihilated Oklahoma. USC and LSU finished their seasons strong while Oklahoma failed to win their conference championship. The BCS picked Oklahoma and LSU to play for it all while USC was sent to the Rose Bowl.

USC beat a very good Michigan team convincingly while LSU defeated Oklahoma. LSU won the BCS title but for the first time in the BCS era the AP gave its vote to USC. The title was split which is funny because thats what the BCS was designed to prevent.

Now return to 2011/2012. LSU is back in the mix and again is the SEC champion and this time is undefeated. Oklahoma State won the Big12 with one loss. Alabama did not win their division with one loss. Oklahoma State just beat a good Stanford team. Now you can see the connection to 2003. Take a step back though....

LSU and Alabama are the two best teams period. Their defenses are phenomenally good. Oklahoma States defense is non existent really, and has been all year. Stanford was the first elite offense they have faced all year and they put up a lot of points. But they played Baylor... No. Stanford has multiple weapons, Baylor has RGIII. Oklahoma State is a good team but they are in no way deserving of a split anything.

If Alabama beats LSU in what I think will be a close game, the Tigers deserve a share of the crown over Oklahoma State. Call me a homer, but NO league compares to the SEC.

If only we had a playoff to sort this all out...

Kentucky v Louisville....

Happy New Year!! Another year another win. Kentucky hosted the 4th ranked team in the land yesterday and again foiled the New Years Eve plans of Cardinal nation. Kentucky was led by freshman "beast" Michael Kidd Gilchrist who contributed 24 points and 19 rebounds in 39 minutes of play. Anthony Davis continued to be a block machine by adding 6 blocks to his resume. The rest of the team did what was needed to win. Did we learn anything? Yes and no. More importantly we can put this game behind us and celebrate our win.

Some takeaways...

1. Tony Greene...

Tony Greene was only one of the officials on hand yesterday but my animosity for him is almost legendary. Due to his reputation, I am clumping them all together. The officials were terrible. Fans love to say that every ref is against them. These refs were neither with us or against us. They were worried about being in the background of a SportsCenter shot looking helpless during a brawl Ala UC/Xavier. EVERYTHING was called. The game was robbed of any momentum. My fiancee fell asleep at one point. 52 fouls were committed between the teams. Both teams were cordial and honorable towards one another. This game was in NO danger of becoming another Over the Rhine brawl.

2. Russ Smith

I was crazy impressed with the Bronx native yesterday. His 30 points kept Louisville in this thing and his fiery determination was fun to watch. How he came off the bench I don't know, but knowing slick Rick's love of four year players, it will be fun to watch him grow.

3. Pitino

After the game Rick told what few reporters were around (and his post game show audience) that he would be shocked if Louisville made the tournament. This from the same guy who said he would retire in 2017 then said he never said that. Rick isn't who he used to be. He can still coach, but his comments after, well anything, are just bizarre. Louisville is a tournament team barring a collapse. Which is doubtful.

4. Jones

Terrence Jones was terrible. Terrence Jones saved us. You take your pick there. A lot of people are in the camp that Jones was a non factor with his 2 points but I take a different angle. I LOVED Jones attitude on the court. He had the right attitude in this game and was caught often on camera screaming and encouraging himself and his team. Besides, those 11 rebounds helped.

5. Blocks

Anthony Davis was his typical efficient self blocking shots yesterday. Louisville's Gorgui Dieng tied with Davis for 6 blocks too. Dieng looks like the player he is supposed to be and will only get better. Louisville's defense is GOOD. Dieng is a critical component to their success. After all, they held us to 69 points in Rupp.

What's Next?

Kentucky actually travels to Louisville to play Arkansas Little Rock in Freedom Hall on Tuesday night. Hopefully the crowd will be better than years past in the former home of the dirty birds. It will be our last tune up before starting SEC play at home against South Carolina on Saturday.

Hoosier Daddy?

Indiana did it again at Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers upset Ohio State on Saturday with stellar play by its starting 5. With that said, think god no one got hurt because the rest of the team was a non factor. Doesn't matter because right now they are a solid NCAA tournament team. Unless they pull a Clemson....

Game of the Upcoming Week

A lot of good match ups this week but one stands out- Michigan State v Wisconsin. Sparty "upset" Indiana at home while Wisconsin got upset at home. You heard that right. Wisconsin lost at the Kohl center. Both teams are looking to prove something in this slug em out Big Ten defensive show down.

It's going to be a sad week as my fiancee leaves tomorrow for a month in Africa. Here we go....

L Yes: My Louisville Primer

A happy New Years Eve to all! It's been a great week. For starters, I unwrapped my MacBook Air which is freaking sweet. It's a joy to be back on the keyboard again! A lot of exciting things are happening as the new year begins. Yesterday I ran into a good friend while shopping with Rachel and am SERIOUSLY considering taking up him up on his offer of a new direction. My fiancee Rachel is leaving for Africa in two days which promises to be an awesome trip for her and a lot of worrying for me. All of that can wait though for today is a very special day. Today is Louisville game day!

All the build up to this game got me thinking. What does Louisville mean to me? We all know the rivalry and its key moments, but growing up in Eastern Kentucky it wasn't that big of a deal to most of us. Yeah we knew the Cardinals, we knew the city, so on and so forth. Truth of the matter is, I didn't REALLY care about this rivalry until I got to college at UK. Even then it took some time.

Growing up on the Ohio and West Virginia border meant that trips to Louisville were very rare. Why go? Cincinnati and Columbus were easier to get to and bigger. The only time we really went to Louisville was for KYA or Key Club events. The point- we had no reason to even care about them.

We all thought of Louisville as a separate entity that clashed with the very core of Kentucky. I am not saying that I don't enjoy big cities- I do! I've been to some of the worlds best. We just viewed Louisville as an outlier in our state. Because of our location so far east, I considered Louisville to be Western Kentucky. It was 3 plus hours away and culturally divided from us.

Once I got to UK I started to go to Louisville more. I enjoy the city of Louisville very much. Coming from a baseball family made me appreciate the Slugger Museum and its history in the sport that built my family. I appreciate the role the city played in Western Expansion. I LOVE the water front walking trails and the cleaned up downtown. It's a nice place to visit. It just doesn't feel "Kentucky".

So what of the school? I of course visited Louisville's campus when in high school along with all the other state schools. I had a very open mind. I knew that Louisville had a top tier Poli Sci program and offered many scholarships particularly to those from back home. I wanted to check it out. Upon arriving, I knew this place wasn't for me. The campus was atrocious. They were doing a lot of renovating and such, but the idea of an urban campus wasn't for me. It just didn't feel right.

The rest is history- I chose the school I was going to go to all along and had a great ride there. It was there that my hatred for the Cards began. Being at UK was awesome- minus the TERRIBLE basketball during my tenure. Every university has students that are fans of other schools. I would proudly rock Nebraska red during football season. Did I love the Cats football team? Of course, but family first! I would also notice a lot of other red walking around too. Ohio State scarlet was everywhere. That's ok though. When is the last time UK played OSU or Nebraska? Another shade of red caught my eye though...

CARDS

There was a significant population of Louisville fans at UK which always confused me. They would rock their gear even when we weren't playing. They were especially annoying when we did play them. Student tickets for solid blue fans were wasted on L fans. I always wanted to ask them why they just didn't go to Louisville. It would make sense right? If you are a fan of terrible Big East football and Cards basketball why come to UK? Seeing them and hearing them just infuriated me.

Over time you started to learn more about them and what they thought of the Kentucky fan base. They love to call us hillbillies, rednecks, inbred, degenerates, etc. I'm used to that. Anytime I say I'm from Ashland I get looked at as if I am those things. Comes with the turf. Louisville fans kick it into overdrive. I wish they could see their own fan base and the ridiculousness of it.

Let's use an analogy- Kentucky is Panem from The Hunger Games. Louisville is the "Capitol". They view the rest of the state as inferior to them. It's true though- when people think of Kentucky they think of Bourbon, KFC, and The Derby. Industries that are located in Louisville but forged throughout our state.

They love to point out that basketball is also synonymous with our state and take credit for that too. They must be thinking back to the old ABA days when the Kentucky Colonels played in Louisville. No offense to the sane Cardinal fans, but when people think about basketball in this state one team ALWAYS comes up and it's not the Cards.

It's nice to be passionate about your team. It's great to love your city. The way they do it is almost cult like though. The Big Blue Nation has its nuts too, but we don't claim to be better than what we are. Louisville is a nice city, but it's not New York. The way that they look down upon the rest of the state is why I can't stand them. We may be redneck and dumb but they parade around with a bird that has teeth and throw up the international symbol for being a loser. Let's embrace our faults and move on because we are all Kentuckians and we are all in this together.

Unless you want to leave the Commonwealth and join Indiana because we will totally help you move.

Prediction:

Kentucky 82 Louisville 68