Big Blue Nation: From the University of Kentucky Campus

I was born and raised in Lexington, KY--the heart of the Big Blue Nation.  I bleed blue and love watching my beloved Cats play.  I cheer them on and wear all my many UK blue t-shirts on game day.  All through school, if there was an NCAA game during the class hours, class was put on hold and the game was put on the TV.  In high school, we'd congregate in the theatre to cheer on the team on a bigger screen together.  While other people might say their favorite season is spring, summer, fall, or winter, the favorite season in the BBN is basketball season.  You get my point...I am as big of a fan as anyone.

I am now a freshman at the University of Kentucky, staying loyal to my wildcat upbringing, and I am just as big of a fan as ever before.  Honestly, probably a bigger fan.  Yes, I am going to try to get tickets to all of the games.  Yes, I will be donning my UK blue along with every other student on this campus when basketball game days roll around.  Yes, I will be watching the away games with large groups of people--all cheering obnoxiously for every point scored.  I am still a huge fan.  I will always be a huge fan.

However, this morning, I started to think about the obsession of Big Blue Nation as I passed the 26 billion people (ok, not billions, but hundreds nonetheless) camping out for Big Blue Madness.  I walked by the masses of tents that have been preceded with people clogging up the sidewalks students use with their lawn chairs and tarps--sitting in one line to get in another.  I passed by the "madness" that probably inspired those "You people are crazy" t-shirts on my way to class, and not five minutes later I passed Marcus Lee on his way out of White Hall--one of the classroom buildings on campus.  Now, I pass basketball players all the time...in fact, I pass Lee every single Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at approximately 9:52, as he is leaving his class and I am going to mine.  I passed Jamal Murray and Isaac Humphries walking home from class today.  I've seen Skal at CSF events.  I've seen several others at athletic events.  Heck, they ALL live in a residence hall on north campus like I do...I could walk over there in about three minutes.  The list goes on...point being, I am a college student, and so are they.  We go to the same school...our paths cross.

Back to this morning though.  I passed these masses of people camping out days in advance to get tickets to a glorified pep rally and then passed one of those players that they put up on a podium...and I felt for him.  As he and his teammates walk from their residence hall to class, like any other 18-22 year-old college student does--they have to pass these people camped out to see them.  These people...the Big Blue Nation...you and I...expect them to win.  We fill Rupp Arena with 23,500 people and, yes, absolutely support them, but also expect them to win.  We yell at the refs when we don't like the call.  We get mad at the team for screwing up plays, missing shots, and...heaven forbid...losing.  We fill arenas, travel around the country, camp out for days, miss work and school, the list goes on...just to see them play.  And there are reminders of it everywhere.  On t-shirts.  On TV.  On all forms of social media.  On the streets...tents lined up as a reminder that we, the Big Blue Nation, are huge fans.

No pressure, Marcus Lee.  Just continue on your way to class.



Now, the players knew what they were signing up for.  They knew UK basketball was a big deal.  They knew the fans were nuts...we are.  And in some ways, it is great.  I think that Big Blue Nation is 100% the absolute best fan base in the world, and I completely mean that.  But, as a student at the University of Kentucky, I am reminded of who these guys we are cheering for are.  They are humans not so different from me or any other college student.  They live in residence halls, walk to and from class, attend sporting events, go to organizations on campus...they are just college kids.

The madness is beginning.  I am so pumped, as is the rest of BBN.  But this year, because of my experiences as a UK student, when I watch the games, I am going to see more than the players, and I suggest you do too before you snap the next time they miss a shot.  I am going to see the Marcus Lee I see every day leaving class.  I am going to see the humans that are extraordinarily talented young people.  Let's treat them like that, not going off every time they screw up.  Because I screw up too. So do you.  So do they.  And it's okay.  Because regardless of whether they make that point...we have the greatest tradition in college basketball.

With that being said...

On, on, U of K!
Let the madness begin.