It just means more to us.

Most of you think we (UK fans) are crazy, maybe we are.  You have seen the fans in the street, flipping cars, lighting cars on fire, looking more like a scene from the tv show The Walking Dead, than a celebration.  Are there some that take it too far with their celebration? Yes, but there are at every school that wins.  You get college students drunk and a reason to celebrate and people are shocked by what they see on TV!  It happens everywhere, almost every year.    Maybe we as UK fans are crazy but let me tell you why.

Its actually pretty simple.  Kentucky basketball means more to us than your sport means to you.  The only people who can compete with our obsession/passion are the Alabama football fans.  For the record, I am glad no one from UK poisoned a live oak.  However,  I believe UK/Bama are actually cousins in the sports nation.  When I say it means more to us than basketball does do to you, please understand that Im not trying to degrade how much you love your team.  Im not even saying we are better than you.  Kentucky basketball just means more to us than your basketball team (or just about any sports team) does to you, in fact, UK basketball means more to us than most anything else does to you.

We lived through "Kentucky Shame." This is why the UPS/Duke (a KY based company) commercial pisses us off so much.  Despite the fact that "The Shot" was 20 years ago, it still hurts.  Those were KY boys playing way above their head for the name on the front of their jersey.  Something most of us dreamed about but could never do.  We lived through the heartbreak when Pitino left us at the alter.  We lived through the awful Tubby years, and the even worse BCG years.  We constantly defend our program and its current coach.  We believe that everyone is out to get us.  We flood online polls, email inboxes, and opposing arenas with the BBN.  We attack people like Bobby Knight who says that our kids don't go to class in the second semester, despite the fact that we have the highest team GPA in the SEC.   We are tired of hearing that "you can't win with one-and-dones" even though we've gone to an Elite 8, Final Four, and now a NC.  "They (the one and dones) don't love Kentucky" yet this too has been constantly proven untrue.  All of this we knew wasn't true, but last night was the first night we could see it play out in front of the world. UK basketball is everything to us.  We gauge our self esteem as a state by this team.  This gives something else for all those who don't know, don't understand, or don't admit, the beauty that is the state of Kentucky, to talk about.  When you get outside of the city of Louisville, there is nothing else.  There are no pro teams, there is nothing else to live and die on, other than UK basketball.  I actually graduated from UK on time, which makes me a rarity.  But last night I was one of about 3 million strong.

We are just different at UK.  Lots of fans who pull for Duke didnt grow up wanting to play for Duke.  Every kid who plays basketball in Kentucky, wants to play for Kentucky.  Even those  high school ballers that are UofL fans (see Derek Willis) want to play for UK.  Most people who cheer for Duke, didnt have their grandfather get buried in a Duke casket.  Most people who cheer for Duke aren't event from NC.  If they were from NC, they would cheer for UNC.  Most people who cheer for Duke, graduate and move back to NJ.  Most people who cheer for UNC, don't live or die by the Heels.  They love it when they are in school, they want them to win, but they really hope that the UNC basketball game does not interfere with their wine tasting event later in the evening.  Florida forgets they have a team, Ohio State just likes to pass time between football seasons and when they can beat Michigan next.  IU has great fans, but they also have the Colts and Pacers.

This team had the bullseye on their back from day one and they never hid from that.  They played as team.  The two best players were ranked 4th and 5th in total number of shots taken. The MOP of the Final Four won the award with only scoring 1 basket.  This years version of the CATS were everything you could hope for in a team.  They have represented UK in every way you would want any student to do so.  That just adds fuel to the fire (so to speak).

I would never put last night on the same level as the day I was married, or the birth of my children.  But after that, it was one of the greatest nights of my life and I didn't even leave my living room.  Yes, I said it.  I meant it too.  In all of my victories as a player, all of my victories as a coach, in all the things I have personally accomplished in my life, last night ranks up there as the best.  Keep in mind, I fully realize I had nothing to do with what happened.  I enjoyed last night more so than when I was a student celebrating right along with the thousands of others after we won the 1998 National Championship.  That was our third year in a row in the title game, hell,  this happens all the time right?  14 years between championships is a long time for UK and builds up a lot of angst.  That in itself was reason enough to be so proud of UK.  But in reality, the reason why I am so excited about all of this is because I was never alone in this journey this season.  See the picture above.

My dad is amazing- I've blogged about him a number of times.  Growing up, Dad wanted to play for UK but went to UofL.  He says that the only thing that kept him from playing for UK was size and talent.  He is still one of the best basketball players I ever played for.  He has always said he cheers for both, I don't see how that is possible.  As you can't cheer for St.X and Trinity, you can't really be for both UK and UofL.  Anyway, my journey to UK was really my own.  I grew up in the 80's in Louisville when UofL dominated.  I didnt understand the "crazy, dumb, rednecks" who cheered for UK. However, Rex Chapman always seemed pretty cool to me.  It wasn't really until my HS days did I start to understand what UK is about.  UK is about a beautiful fall afternoon at Keeneland, then a night game at Commonwealth.  UK is about the greatest tradition in college basketball.  The team with the most wins, most championships over the most decades, the most championships with different coaches, and the most passionate fans.  UK is where I fell in love with my wife.  The other day I couldn't help but think of the crazy way she and I both ended up at UK and ended up together.  UK is where my core values as a man were completed and solidified.  UK is where I joined SAE which has brought me to Chicago.  My time at UK made me so much of what I am today.  Because of my wife, I have those beautiful girls.  While none of them like how pissed off excited I get during the games, one of them has become my UK buddy.  Reagan watches every game with me.  She always asks how they did the next morning if she couldn't stay up for the entire game.  She always asks if they scored 100?  I have helped teach her math via the games, and I have also taught her how to talk trash.  I have explained to her the difference between high school, college and pro sports.    She gets upset when they lose and celebrates when they win.  She has found a passion in UK, much like her daddy's.  The last thing she said to me before she went to bed last night was "Daddy, tell me if they win tonight."  I loved this season because I could share it with her.  Maybe someday down the road she will be sitting on a couch somewhere with her kids watching UK win a National Championship.  She can tell them how much her daddy lived and died by the Wildcats, and how much she enjoyed being right there with him during the process. I have been blessed to been a part of a lot of victories in sports and in life, no question.  Victories are so much better when you have someone like Reagan to share them with.  I was fortunate that my wife and in laws were here last night to experience it with me.  There were a lot of grown men who shed a tear of joy last night, I'm not saying I did....but Im not saying I didn't.  There were so many people today talking about sharing this moment with their dad, wishing their grandfather was still around for this, or celebrating for the first time with their kid.  This whole thing is bigger than just basketball for us.

So when you hear UK fans get all emotional and say that last night was one of the greatest moments of their life, it probably was. If you haven't been apart of it you can't understand, and if you have....you can't explain it. Why?  Because it just means more to us.   Thats what makes us crazy and thats what makes us great.