March Madness Story-time 😊 ; Describe how you became a UK fan
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When I was born I was blue, kept score growing up.I got tickets to the game in St Pete and some friends and my self took my dad.Went to work the next day and someone ask a friend how was Joe at the game and they told them pretty calm compared to his dad.Dad was in early to mid eighty's.
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Not the story I remember bro. Thought you didn't become a fan until college days. Also, thought it was Feb of 55 we moved to Paducah but my memories of that time are a little hazy!
My mom, she used to keep score on Legal Paper, Had the names of the players and she would listen to Caywood's call and mark which players score. I kept those score sheets for a long time. She had been doing it since Rupps Runts and continued until she wasn't able to do it anymore..I remember she cried when Kentuky lost to Jacksonville in 70,My first cry was when they lost to UCLA in 75.
Born in Lexington, parents got UK season tickets in 1954 when Memorial Coliseum opened. First game I remember going to was in 1963 when I was 5, and seeing Cotton Nash. We had 5 kids and 4 seats so we all rotated going to games with Mom and Dad. I told people I was going to marry Louie Dampier when I grew up. ;-)
When I was born I was blue, kept score growing up.I got tickets to the game in St Pete and some friends and my self took my dad.Went to work the next day and someone ask a friend how was Joe at the game and they told the pretty calm compared to is dad.Dad was in early to MD eighty's
66
Was born literally like 2 minutes from the Football Field, parents were massive UK fans, I have been one all my life as well, so I guess I was just born into it
Been here since birth. Great uncle actually had Rupp in class and still has his book of coaching notes. My grandfather worked in the mines, lived near, and was friends with the Ledford family. My dad moved for work but we still lived in the general Appalachian area. My earliest childhood memories are sitting in the living room listening to Cawood call our games and getting to meet him occasionally when we visited my papaw.
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Hey all these liberals wanna tell you they’re born this way. Well baby, I was born this was too. Cat fan by DNA. I was born into. And the only cure will be when I die.
Born in Florida and my daddy was from Pike Co, KY. I was a UK fan by birth because everyone from Pike Co in those days was UK, no matter where they lived.
Before TV it was difficult to get UK games this time of year. WHAS would come in an out and fade away so you had to get the radio in the right position. 1530 out of N. KY was a little better but still faded in and out.
My craziest moment came during the NCAA tournament in the 1970's. The Cats were playing but it was not on TV. I started listening in my family room but the radio reception was horrible. I moved outside in my driveway and got in my car because for some reason car radio reception was better. When the radio faded out I would start the car and move it in another position. This went on for about a half hour when I heard a knock on my car window. A sheriff deputy with a flashlight blinded me and I heard a voice saying what do you think your doing. He said a neighbor saw me moving the car like a drunk and called the law on me. I told him I was not drunk, I was listening to the ball game. He asked what ball game and I told him UK and it is the NCAA tournament. He asked if I was a UK fan and I said yes and he started laughing. (We have a reputation, even in the 70's) He asked me the score and I told him Cats are up by 5 and he laughed again and shook his head. Dang UK fan he said as he walked away, and told me, "Go Cats".
Before TV it was difficult to get UK games this time of year. WHAS would come in an out and fade away so you had to get the radio in the right position. 1530 out of N. KY was a little better but still faded in and out.
My craziest moment came during the NCAA tournament in the 1970's. The Cats were playing but it was not on TV. I started listening in my family room but the radio reception was horrible. I moved outside in my driveway and got in my car because for some reason car radio reception was better. When the radio faded out I would start the car and move it in another position. This went on for about a half hour when I heard a knock on my car window. A sheriff deputy with a flashlight blinded me and I heard a voice saying what do you think your doing. He said a neighbor saw me moving the car like a drunk and called the law on me. I told him I was not drunk, I was listening to the ball game. He asked what ball game and I told him UK and it is the NCAA tournament. He asked if I was a UK fan and I said yes and he started laughing. (We have a reputation, even in the 70's) He asked me the score and I told him Cats are up by 5 and he laughed again and shook his head. Dang UK fan he said as he walked away, and told me, "Go Cats".
Daddy slapped a Kentucky sticker on my ass at birth, been there ever since
It was like breathing or any other muscle memory. I was born with it!😎
Grew up in Elliott County where Ky is a household word.
Been through the good, the bad and the ugly and still a loyal fan.
Thankful for 8 titles.
They are a blessing and not something I'm
entitled to.
Tim
Anyone remember when you thought the University had went and lost it's mind. They hired a 28 year old who had only coached in a high school in Illinois. Nah, I don't either but it is a cool story
I was 10 when we moved to TN. You were 4. So maybe you’re right. But the story is the same even if year wrong.Not the story I remember bro. Thought you didn't become a fan until college days. Also, thought it was Feb of 55 we moved to Paducah but my memories of that time are a little hazy!
Remember listening to UK games on 1321 N 13th Also on Georgia street. Listened to GaTech end UKs 129 home court streak. Also the revenge game that year when Cats lost again.
Listened to UK winning National Title in ‘58 when we lived at 1121 N 13th.
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My dad died in 1972 when I was 6. After we moved in with my grandpa, my job was to stand in the corner of stripping room with a transistor radio so we could all hear Cawood. That's when I knew UK was special.
These are the kind of stories that just make being a UK fan from from the state of Kentucky different than becoming a UK fan in another state later in life. Happy to have them on the team, but it really is just a different type of deal. Awesome story and illustration of what it means growing up a Cat fan.
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Your reply brought a tear to my eye. Thank you for that. Go Cats.!! Let's rock this!!
We are a dying breed.
Most of these youngens on here will think you were dancing on a pole when you mentioned standing in the corner of a stripping room.
UK Basketball is more special to many of us than how many players get drafted in the NBA.
UK basketball is who we are. Too many memories of those gone on who taught us to love those Wildcats.
This younger generation of "fans" on this site will never understand it.
Unfortunately, neither does Cal.
Hearing my mom and dad yelling at the 11:30pm delayed broadcast from my upstairs bedroom.
I felt every bit of it. We used to strip tobacco and listen to Cawood every winter. It’s just something that gets in your blood.
I was in 4th grade the year of the Runts 1965-66. My father was in the meat packing business and he bought cattle from a cattle and tobacco farmer in Maysville who had connections to the UK College of Agriculture. He gave my dad tickets to multiple UK games from that year through 1970 when my dad was transferred out of the region (I would return to Kentucky in 1972 to go to UK.). The first time my father took me to Memorial Coliseum, our tickets were up in the balcony. I will never forget walking into the Coliseum and looking out and down on to the Coliseum and floor and the guys I had only seen through eyes and radio voice of Claude and Cawood were alive in those baggy white warmups getting ready for the game in the percision figure 8 warm up drills of Coach Rupp. I was hooked. There could never be a more perfect place. The rest is history.
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You showed your love for UK in the way you always played and respected the game.
Thanks for the memories. Thanks for being a "real" Wildcat.
My grandpa(my avatar) is from Hindman. Raised me to be BBN through and through. I was 10 in 1996 that certainly helped lol
Yeah the stripping room story was awesome …I lived in eastern Kentucky until I was 12 …but that lifestyle and culture has never left me …hence this thread …when we moved to Florida first thing I did was go out into the neighborhood to find the nearest pickup games …couldn’t find anyone so I played by myself until some of my new neighbors stopped in to join me …never forget after we started playing games and I was torching everybody they got mad and started chunking oranges at me all the way home lol.
Some beautiful stories here …thanks for the reminders of how I was raised …I miss it …had a feeling some of you were royalty and this thread proves it 😊 …would love to meet each and everyone of you and talk UK hoops for hours
Oh my gosh 😳 …as a kid we had a book in our house called “The Rupp Years” I read and flipped through it a thousand times …man I bet you could share some great stories …I also remember Bill being talked about in my house …my Dad used to have fun with the name Chris Gettlefinger lol for obvious reasons …
The Rupp Years by Tevis Laudeman a great book Coach Rupp autographed my copy before he passed in 1976
