What UK loss shattered you?
- Thread starter LXWildcat
- Start date
Gardner Webb.
That is when Kentucky stopped being Kentucky. Stopped being THE dominate force in college basketball.
That is when Kentucky stopped being Kentucky. Stopped being THE dominate force in college basketball.
I’ll never get over 2015. That was the most awesome year ever.
That hurt for a long time. Crazy thing is they were the overwhelming favorite. Just knowing Laetner should have been ejected for stomping on Timberlakes chest. Then they started the clock really slow on the catch. I was pissed. Still wore my Mashburn jersey to school the next day.
The official's had a hand in that game. That was the first time I ever cursed in front of my family lol. I got my arse beat for it.
The first painful memory was the Laettner shot in '92. Seeing those rough in tough country boys almost beating them to earn a FF trip crushed me. I cried all night and to make it worse, our teachers in school made us watch it again because one of my classmates was being an ass in class.
Recently though, the 2015 loss didn't hurt as bad as losing to UCONN in the FF twice. Kentucky should have won those games and I despise UCONN about as much as Duke.
1. 1966 Texas Western - I was 7 years old that season and this was the first time I was really watching and following the games with my dad and mom. They had to explain to me what everyone was talking about with the racist garbage. And I loved the Runts.
2. 1992 Duke - Obviously the Laetner shot, but more so because he shouldn't have been in the game at that point for intentionally stepping on Timberlake's chest. That's the game I broke the remote control to my new TV, when it hit the wall.
3. 2015 Wisconsin - As another poster said, this game broke something in me. I refused to ever get that invested in basketball again. I still root for my Cats and will always support my guys, but it's like there's an invisible wall up now to keep from hurting that much anymore. It was a wake up call that it's just a game.
GO BIG BLUE!!!💙💙💙
2. 1992 Duke - Obviously the Laetner shot, but more so because he shouldn't have been in the game at that point for intentionally stepping on Timberlake's chest. That's the game I broke the remote control to my new TV, when it hit the wall.
3. 2015 Wisconsin - As another poster said, this game broke something in me. I refused to ever get that invested in basketball again. I still root for my Cats and will always support my guys, but it's like there's an invisible wall up now to keep from hurting that much anymore. It was a wake up call that it's just a game.
GO BIG BLUE!!!💙💙💙
I’m usually over the tournament losses in a week or so. I stewed about that one for months as well.
Yeah, just invite Nolan Richardson to practice the day before the game. What could possibly go wrong.
I have been rather blue since Laettner hit that shot in ‘92 and Beth left me for some foreign guy pretty soon afterwards. Like in the name.
"Here's what we're runnin' for Gurul."
Lmao, no, I don't know if it mattered or not. Certainly wasn't a good look. Good grief.
Well, we would have played an Indiana team we had already beaten in the semifinal game. And we certainly played Duke better than Michigan did.
Wisconsin is the only loss that messed with me physically. I was literally depressed and in a fog for like two weeks. I swore to never get that invested in a team again. 2017 and 2019 were gut punches. The St. Peters loss was just embarrassing. But I'm back, fully invested, thinking this team is gonna win it. For the last couple years I haven't known who we were playing, when and where. But this team has rekindled my love of UK basketball.
I was 11 for Laetner shot. To me it marked the re-birth of UK basketball. Wasn't as devastating since I was so young.
2014 and 2015 hurt...for different reasons. But in '14 I was shocked we were where we were. In '15 I started to feel uneasy before tournament...the the EE game vs Notre Dame I just didn't feel good at all going into Wisconsin.
Losses I took the worse...
1999 vs. Michigan State
2003 vs Marquette
2017 vs UNC
2022 vs Peacocks
2014 and 2015 hurt...for different reasons. But in '14 I was shocked we were where we were. In '15 I started to feel uneasy before tournament...the the EE game vs Notre Dame I just didn't feel good at all going into Wisconsin.
Losses I took the worse...
1999 vs. Michigan State
2003 vs Marquette
2017 vs UNC
2022 vs Peacocks
I think for me as a kid the 95 UNC loss in the Elite 8 was the one that chapped my ass. I was only 9 in '92 so I don't vividly remember the Laettner shot though I know I watched the game with my dad. So that UNC game really stuck with me.
Marquette 2003 killed me. I was at UK then. That one sticks with me. It was OUR year. 2010 West Virginia is a close runner up.
Marquette 2003 killed me. I was at UK then. That one sticks with me. It was OUR year. 2010 West Virginia is a close runner up.
It was the same for me. That 2015 team should have won it all, and with ease. That Wisconsin loss hurt.
Of course it was a sure title if we won. It was the final game. Same in 1997. If you win the final game, it is a sure title.
I'm older than most on here and have witnessed plenty of heartbreaking end of season losses. The Wisconsin loss did put things in perspective for me. I was literally sad for several days after a basketball game that kids that were at UK with my grandkids played in. Since then, I do take UK sports a little less serious, while still planning my days around watching the games, having realized that letting kids playing a game ruin several of the limited days (I'm not sick or anything, just old) I have left is not that smart.
This.
We had no business being in the Duke game but the guys played their hearts out and it was ripped away at the last second.
You hurt for the players.
Wisconsin hurt my pride as a UK fan but I didn't hurt a bit for the players.
They played a "B" game and got beat, simple as that.
For every player not named Mashburn, the Duke game was and is the biggest game of their lives.
The 2015 team not so much as there were 8 draft picks on that team.
Just a completely different feeling for me.
2915 hurts. 2017 makes me livid every time I think about it. We did everything on earth to win that game. And deserved to win it. Especially after all the bullshit academic cheating and ref cheating those bastards got away with.
But sometimes bad people win. And good people rot in graves. That’s the sad reality of our world. That’s a little dramatic but that’s how that loss felt. We did everything we could the right way and had to watch the universe flip us the bird. Kinda of like watching.your crush in high school date the asshole because he’s “cool”.
This. The 205 and 2017 losses are still the only ones that bum me out thinking about them. And I still allow myself 24 hours to be bummed about a loss (72 hours for a season ender).
I may still get heated during games but try not to be so cantankerous afterwards.
can't say that I disagree and have talked to other fans who have said something similar. It just totally changed how I looked at our teams after that. This team is seriously the first time I've felt some of the excitement I had back then. It's hard to explain but a piece of my fandom got cut out that season.
It's an interesting question, because it uses the word "shattered."
I wasn't actually "shattered" after the 1997 loss because I had faith in Pitino, and we won the following year. But after 2015 I realized Cal would never win another title and that fits the bill of "shattered."
I wasn't actually "shattered" after the 1997 loss because I had faith in Pitino, and we won the following year. But after 2015 I realized Cal would never win another title and that fits the bill of "shattered."
I tried to stay away from this thread because I don't like to think about it. But I have the usuals.....
1984...I was a UK student
1986....I was a senior intoxicated student (it got a little foggy)
1992....No comment
1997....No 3peat for us
2003....We were good
2010....It would have been so sweet
2015....Dang!
1984...I was a UK student
1986....I was a senior intoxicated student (it got a little foggy)
1992....No comment
1997....No 3peat for us
2003....We were good
2010....It would have been so sweet
2015....Dang!
This game absolutely killed me. Especially after the heartache from the year prior. That 1993 team was the best team in the country and we were red hot. Michigan slowed the game to a crawl and shutdown Ford.
I remember being a nervous wreck for a week heading into that game. My Dad had I had shirts that said “Bourbon Street Bound”. Just knew we were gonna win it all that year. Between that game and that duke game, Mash had about 7/8 phantom foul calls called on him. 🤦♂️
1.) Duke ‘92
2.) Wisconsin ‘15
3.) Michigan State ‘05 (Chuck Hayes deserved a Final Four
4.) Arizona ‘97
5.) Michigan ‘93
2.) Wisconsin ‘15
3.) Michigan State ‘05 (Chuck Hayes deserved a Final Four
4.) Arizona ‘97
5.) Michigan ‘93
A confession.
The year was 1992. A sequel to Skate or Die on NES, Ski or Die, was released around that time. Game Genie was also a new thing. My friend had both and young @KAB Cats was not yet fully in-tune to his UK allegiance.
So, @KAB Cats and his friend played Ski or Die, brutalizing the game with cheat after cheat granted by the Game Genie. Minutes became hours. Soon, my friend's dad entered the room yelling "DID YOU ALL NOT WATCH THAT GAME?!!? I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT!" We had no idea what he was talking.
My friends, I missed the Duke vs Kentucky game in 1992 due to Game Genie. I apologize for my 7 year old self and his transgressions. I've never forgiven myself.
Duke in 1992 and West Virginia in Cal's first year.
I never had complete faith in the 2015 team. They struggled too much in the second half of the year and were just squeeking out wins.
My expectations have dropped a lot since 2017 or 2018. The losses haven't hurt much since then. I wish we could get back to the program we once were. Knowing that the coach and maybe several of the players don't care as much as I do has helped lower my hopes.
I never had complete faith in the 2015 team. They struggled too much in the second half of the year and were just squeeking out wins.
My expectations have dropped a lot since 2017 or 2018. The losses haven't hurt much since then. I wish we could get back to the program we once were. Knowing that the coach and maybe several of the players don't care as much as I do has helped lower my hopes.
