I took my 10 year old grandson to his first UK game on Saturday. My drive home to Louisville gave me time to think about our day and it was filled with both highs and lows.
Our seats were great. Cost me $1300 for the seats and a little more for shirts, basketball and other stuff he wanted. Total for the day was a little over $1700.
To start with, I was highly disappointed after getting to Rupp. This was my first trip back since Covid and I hate the changes they made. We left Louisville early on Saturday and during the ride down, I told my grandson about UK, its tradition and how much fun he will have "tailgating" inside the complex going in all the shops, eating at the food court.
Wow, my thoughts on seeing all the shops gone, the food court gone, hardly no one hanging out in the Hyatt was something beyond printable.
Once we got inside at 2:30, things changed for the good. He was so excited to watch everything. while watching the teams warm up, I told him then we, UK, better be ready to play after watching UNC Wilmington arm up. boy, it seemed every player on that team was hitting their shots, mostly from the 3 line.
Our seats were 8 rows behind the UK bench. I felt there was not much energy from some of the players, especially after halftime when they came back onto the floor.
For me, a team that is superior like UK and being down at the half, I was hoping to see then run out ready to show UNC Wilmington who they really are. No, I remember seeing Mitchell being one of the first to come out on the floor walking like he was window shopping at the mall. Others followed in the same manner.
No offensive rebounding at all. None it seemed. Missing so many shots close up and having others pop back out of the net, the look on the UK players faces was one of frustration.
I felt UK was not getting the whistle on many calls and getting the whistle on a lot of touch fouls. We seemed to want back down from physical play and want to whine to the refs many times during the game. Yes, some if not most was legit, but you have to fight thru that crap.
Got a great picture of my grandson and Jeff Sheppard together. I have several pieces of UK memorabilia signed by Jeff after over the years. I waited over 3 hours when the 98 team won to get his signature on a piece of the floor from Championship game along with the old "3" posters they hang after a made 3. Jeff Sheppard was one of my favorites over the years.
When the good Lord calls me home, this is my only grandson and he will get a very nice UK man cave along with a 200 piece firearm collection. So, yes, this was a big deal for me to get his picture with him. I actually have a blue and white .45 Berrata in UK blue. I kick myself in the ass all the time when thinking about this gun. When I bought it, my dealer had a red/black one for UL. I was thinking with my heart and not my head and should have bought both of them.
I do have a very nice mounted UK-UL set of derringers with a gold plated tag that says, "The Battle of the Bluegrass" on it.
Then to get my grandson's new UK basketball autographed by Reed Sheppard just put the icing on the cake.
When I saw my grandson up clapping, cheering with the cheerleaders, this sent a great feeling down my spine. I bleed blue and always will.
Losing the game sucked. Sucked big time to watch my team play with little fire and energy.
Been waiting on getting our bigs back to play like everyone else. After seeing the Bradshaw kid, I could not help but think about Skal and how skinny he was. But the kid played hard and with emotion.
But it was on the ride home thinking about our day together that I realized how little I was thinking about losing the game. In the past, I would have been a little sick to my stomach, pissed off a little but for some reason, I am at a point where I sort of expect this to happen. That was the real sad part of the day, that I have lost some of my energy myself for UK and started thinking about the players playing like I feel. It's just a game.
There was a time when it was more than just a game to me. Good or bad to be like that, who knows but when you truly bleed blue you know what I mean. I am afraid my grandson will just take losing as part of being normal. There was a time when a team came into Rupp you knew and they knew they were toast.
I miss the old days but enjoyed my time with my grandson watching my beloved Cats.
I still believe we will win the rest of our games. I will never just give up on them but when they do lose, for whatever the reason is, it just does not hurt anymore.
Go Big Blue
Our seats were great. Cost me $1300 for the seats and a little more for shirts, basketball and other stuff he wanted. Total for the day was a little over $1700.
To start with, I was highly disappointed after getting to Rupp. This was my first trip back since Covid and I hate the changes they made. We left Louisville early on Saturday and during the ride down, I told my grandson about UK, its tradition and how much fun he will have "tailgating" inside the complex going in all the shops, eating at the food court.
Wow, my thoughts on seeing all the shops gone, the food court gone, hardly no one hanging out in the Hyatt was something beyond printable.
Once we got inside at 2:30, things changed for the good. He was so excited to watch everything. while watching the teams warm up, I told him then we, UK, better be ready to play after watching UNC Wilmington arm up. boy, it seemed every player on that team was hitting their shots, mostly from the 3 line.
Our seats were 8 rows behind the UK bench. I felt there was not much energy from some of the players, especially after halftime when they came back onto the floor.
For me, a team that is superior like UK and being down at the half, I was hoping to see then run out ready to show UNC Wilmington who they really are. No, I remember seeing Mitchell being one of the first to come out on the floor walking like he was window shopping at the mall. Others followed in the same manner.
No offensive rebounding at all. None it seemed. Missing so many shots close up and having others pop back out of the net, the look on the UK players faces was one of frustration.
I felt UK was not getting the whistle on many calls and getting the whistle on a lot of touch fouls. We seemed to want back down from physical play and want to whine to the refs many times during the game. Yes, some if not most was legit, but you have to fight thru that crap.
Got a great picture of my grandson and Jeff Sheppard together. I have several pieces of UK memorabilia signed by Jeff after over the years. I waited over 3 hours when the 98 team won to get his signature on a piece of the floor from Championship game along with the old "3" posters they hang after a made 3. Jeff Sheppard was one of my favorites over the years.
When the good Lord calls me home, this is my only grandson and he will get a very nice UK man cave along with a 200 piece firearm collection. So, yes, this was a big deal for me to get his picture with him. I actually have a blue and white .45 Berrata in UK blue. I kick myself in the ass all the time when thinking about this gun. When I bought it, my dealer had a red/black one for UL. I was thinking with my heart and not my head and should have bought both of them.
I do have a very nice mounted UK-UL set of derringers with a gold plated tag that says, "The Battle of the Bluegrass" on it.
Then to get my grandson's new UK basketball autographed by Reed Sheppard just put the icing on the cake.
When I saw my grandson up clapping, cheering with the cheerleaders, this sent a great feeling down my spine. I bleed blue and always will.
Losing the game sucked. Sucked big time to watch my team play with little fire and energy.
Been waiting on getting our bigs back to play like everyone else. After seeing the Bradshaw kid, I could not help but think about Skal and how skinny he was. But the kid played hard and with emotion.
But it was on the ride home thinking about our day together that I realized how little I was thinking about losing the game. In the past, I would have been a little sick to my stomach, pissed off a little but for some reason, I am at a point where I sort of expect this to happen. That was the real sad part of the day, that I have lost some of my energy myself for UK and started thinking about the players playing like I feel. It's just a game.
There was a time when it was more than just a game to me. Good or bad to be like that, who knows but when you truly bleed blue you know what I mean. I am afraid my grandson will just take losing as part of being normal. There was a time when a team came into Rupp you knew and they knew they were toast.
I miss the old days but enjoyed my time with my grandson watching my beloved Cats.
I still believe we will win the rest of our games. I will never just give up on them but when they do lose, for whatever the reason is, it just does not hurt anymore.
Go Big Blue
