When did you start the clock on your "fan-dom"?
- Thread starter bigbluelou
- Start date
Same here on the time frame, and Big Dan was my hero as well.
I was 8 yrs old in 67....I remember listening to Cawood with my dad.
Remember the games would come on TV at 11PM delayed, I of course would be in bed for school on week days but would
sneak into the hall and lay on floor watching around the corner where my dad would be watching the replays.
Great memories !!! Never knew till years later that my dad knew I was there watching, really appreciated him allowing that to
happen.
Feb 22nd 2001. The day I got an acceptance letter and full scholly offer to get my mba from uk. Glad that came through otherwise I would be either a notre dame, nc state, or cornell fan as those were the other schools that offered partial schollys.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Posted from Rivals Mobile
I'd have to say March 22, 1975 NCAA mideast regional final. Beating undefeated IU was a huge thing for me. Half my family are IU fans, me, my dad, and my brother are UK. Big family division over the two teams. But beating them that year was my first real memory of UK, and forever afterwards, it was all about UK. Listening to Cawood on the radio, getting to go to UK games when we could make the trip up from Nashville, etc.
Hellofa way to start off my fandom for UK. Still the best win UK has ever had, in my book. That was just pure joy.
Go Big Blue !
Hellofa way to start off my fandom for UK. Still the best win UK has ever had, in my book. That was just pure joy.
Go Big Blue !
That is the mark of a TRUE fan. Anyone can jump on the bandwagon when the team is winning but to jump on when others are jumping off says a lot.
Same as you, big blue Lou. Was too young to really understand what was going on but everybody in the house was dying as Macy hit those free throws. I just remember that the jersey said "Kentucky" across the front. I decided that since Kentucky was my state, Kentucky had to be my team.
I remember the pictures in the paper (In COLOR!) of all the fans greeting the team as they returned to that old Bluegrass Field terminal that was about the size of a respectable bus station. From then on I had to know everything. Had to have the leather converse high tops, and I haven't had a meaningful life since!
I remember the pictures in the paper (In COLOR!) of all the fans greeting the team as they returned to that old Bluegrass Field terminal that was about the size of a respectable bus station. From then on I had to know everything. Had to have the leather converse high tops, and I haven't had a meaningful life since!
well, I did "grow up" a UK fan, sort of - my family cheered for them when they played.
But in all honesty - I was more into boys than I was basketball back then. Then, in late February of 1987 a friend of mine and I went to Ypsilanti to visit some of her family. On the way home, we met this guy, at a gas station, who said he played basketball and offered us tickets to a Pistons game. Now, I was naïve, but not THAT naïve to believe him.
I told my then boyfriend - now hubby - about it; and got read the riot act for talking to strangers. The following weekend, boyfriend wanted to watch the Celtics/Pistons game. So - turned it on, and they were announcing the starting lineups for Detroit, and I saw the guy who had offered the tickets. When I told the boyfriend THAT was the guy we met, he looked at me as if I were insane. Said he couldn't believe I didn't recognize him ......and has YET to let me live it down.
It was Isaiah Thomas.
After that, I decided I would never NOT my basketball players. I did try to get into pro ball - but decided I liked college much better. Since I was nominally a UK fan to start with, I began following them loyally.
So, guess you could say March 1987 really sparked it for me.
But in all honesty - I was more into boys than I was basketball back then. Then, in late February of 1987 a friend of mine and I went to Ypsilanti to visit some of her family. On the way home, we met this guy, at a gas station, who said he played basketball and offered us tickets to a Pistons game. Now, I was naïve, but not THAT naïve to believe him.
I told my then boyfriend - now hubby - about it; and got read the riot act for talking to strangers. The following weekend, boyfriend wanted to watch the Celtics/Pistons game. So - turned it on, and they were announcing the starting lineups for Detroit, and I saw the guy who had offered the tickets. When I told the boyfriend THAT was the guy we met, he looked at me as if I were insane. Said he couldn't believe I didn't recognize him ......and has YET to let me live it down.
It was Isaiah Thomas.
After that, I decided I would never NOT my basketball players. I did try to get into pro ball - but decided I liked college much better. Since I was nominally a UK fan to start with, I began following them loyally.
So, guess you could say March 1987 really sparked it for me.
My very first memory in life is Dad punching a hole in our wall after Laettner's shot. I was born Blue and I'll die Blue.
I cant put an exact date on but I remember staying up late late late as a kid in my basement listening on the radio to UK lose a double or triple OT game at LSU and wanting to cry . might have been their first loss that year . I was like 6 or 8 years old . So at least 40 plus years ago. I grew up blue , never gonna change .
BIG LOU, yours is almost an exact copy of mine. Didn't really care much but my family, cousins, uncles, everyone were huge fans. I graduated from high school in 78. I don't remember the '78 title game making me crazy like games do now, but I do remember being an absolute nut while I was attending UK during the first Dream Game in 1983, being nervous for days before the game, etc. If I had to peg a date that I became obsessed like I am now, it was probably late 1981. Seems like ages ago. Of course marrying a gorgeous gal that I met at UK only made things more intense. Now we have spread the UK fandom throughout the world as one of my daughters is a missionary in N. China, another is based in FL and serves Africa and my other two girls wear their UK gear with pride here in TN!!!! Amen and hallelujah !!!!
Haha! Everyone remembers where they were with that shot. I had to leave the TV to go to a client dinner (lived in LA then) and was driving to Spago restaurant in N. Hollywood listening to the game on the radio. I could not believe it had happened. Even the broadcasters were stumbling and couldn't describe what had taken place. Put WCS on the inbound and it wouldn't have happened!!!!
Approximately 1968-1969. I was born in 1962, so it would be when I was old enough to be able to really care and pay attention. I can't pin point an exact time because I was too young.
Wife and I had just bought the house next door and were in the process of moving. Were already staying in new house but didn't have cable hooked up yet, so I hooked tv back up in old house and sat in the floor( had moved all the furniture) to watch the game by myself, along with a 12 pack. After "the shot" there were beer cans littered everywhere after being bounced off the walls, I was so upset. Lucky they weren't bottles lol.
Don't remember the exact year but I remember watching Kenny Walker, Sam Bowie, etc with my Dad and him yelling at the TV when I was young. I moved to NC when I was 12 so it was hard catching games or getting info, I would watch the McD game hoping to catch who might be going to UK when they shot free throws. Couldn't get a lot of games down here. By the time I got a PC around 20 and got on the message boards, the obsession was growing with each year.
I was never into football until Tim Couch, even then I wasn't really invested that much. When Brooks was hired I started paying more attention and have grown with it as well. Now I catch everygame and yell at the TV, keep up with recruiting, just like basketball lol.
I was born in 78 and my senior year of high school was 96.
I was never into football until Tim Couch, even then I wasn't really invested that much. When Brooks was hired I started paying more attention and have grown with it as well. Now I catch everygame and yell at the TV, keep up with recruiting, just like basketball lol.
I was born in 78 and my senior year of high school was 96.
I was born in 65 so the 70's were just a dream decade for me as a Reds/Cats/Steelers fan. I was never that into basketball though until I saw the 78 title game. Love at first sight. Robey, Phillips, Macy and Givens, heck even Shidler and Chris Gettelfinger. One of the earliest games I can remember was against Miss State, either 78 or 79 and we were down one and got a last second run-out lay up to win. I did a back flip in front of the tv. It's been a great ride. Hope it never ends.
Same here. 1975 tournament game vs. IU. The loss to UCLA in the title game was probably the first time I was really sad about UK losing. I think that's when I realized how much that I loved the Cats due to how upset I was when they lost. Loved seeing number 5 in 78 when Goose torched Duke for 41. Big time fan ever since.
Can't remember which team the Cats were playing or any of the players but my first memory is back from 1959 when Claude Sullivan was the radio man and the huge free standing radio was so cool. WHAS in Louisville was the station and Claude was every bit as good as Cawood calling the games. Oh the great memories of being a Wildcat fan.
Dec 1947. Father took me to my first game and I sat on the floor behind the bench! (slept probably!)
Started following UK about midway of the 57-58 season, I was 8. Listening to all the Cat games on the radio. Grew up on the Ohio River and the radio faded in and out because of the "valley." Still never missed a play!
I can still hear "the voice" on the radio stating, "The Cats are runnin' " Johnny Cox, from that team, was my first UK idol.
Spent 20 yrs in the USAF and used to get up at 2:00 and 3:00AM to listen to the Cats on Armed Forces Radio.
Love "my" Cats!!!!
I can still hear "the voice" on the radio stating, "The Cats are runnin' " Johnny Cox, from that team, was my first UK idol.
Spent 20 yrs in the USAF and used to get up at 2:00 and 3:00AM to listen to the Cats on Armed Forces Radio.
Love "my" Cats!!!!
Mine was the '78 Championship game- which, ironically, I don't really remember watching, lol.
What I remember is the immediate aftermath- playing hoops in my driveway for months afterwards, pretending I was Givens, Macy or Robey going against Gene Banks and Mike Gminski. I was hooked after that.
What I remember is the immediate aftermath- playing hoops in my driveway for months afterwards, pretending I was Givens, Macy or Robey going against Gene Banks and Mike Gminski. I was hooked after that.
My Father and Grandfather were both UK fans so I've been around it my whole life. Earliest memories that stand out are listening to Cawood on radio in 70's and the 78 Title game. Best game I got to attend was Houston with Akeem The Dream versus UK's twin towers in 1984 both ranked top 5. Ran into Winston Bennett after the game and he signed my program.
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anon_013cn8yrfncx2
Guest
Moved to Kentucky in 1954 from Camden, TN (only lived there 6 months) where I had seen a bb game on TV between Vandy and UK and first heard all about Coach Rupp and the success of the program. In Kentucky started listening to all the games on the radio and considered myself a big fan. When I went away to college, I became close friends with a guy from Cincinnati. It was 1961 and in the Bearcats brief heyday. He kept telling me how great UC was. It was at that point, I went from being a big fan to an apologist.
I grew up listening to Cawood call the games with my dad and great uncle. They were both from the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. However they had left that region and moved to a small town in Indiana in the late 1950's when my mom was expecting me. Both of them were coal miners and my dad did not want me to grow up and work in the mines.
Coach Rupp and Cawood's name were mentioned so often in our house, I thought they were relatives I had not yet met. They would refer to the 'Cats as "Rupp's Boys." Cotton Nash, Louie Dampier and Pat Riley were mentioned quite often as well. My dad thought Ralph Beard and Cotton Nash were two of the best players he had ever seen. So being a UK fan was engrained in me from the beginning of my life. We would sit and listen to the games and I would keep the individual scores for each player. They would rely on me to let them know, who had what during the games.
My first UK game I saw in person was the UK/ND on 12/31/67 in Freedom Hall. I was 10 years old at the time and each time after that I walked into Freedom Hall for a game, concert, or another event, those memories come back to me, I remember it like it was yesterday.
Coach Rupp and Cawood's name were mentioned so often in our house, I thought they were relatives I had not yet met. They would refer to the 'Cats as "Rupp's Boys." Cotton Nash, Louie Dampier and Pat Riley were mentioned quite often as well. My dad thought Ralph Beard and Cotton Nash were two of the best players he had ever seen. So being a UK fan was engrained in me from the beginning of my life. We would sit and listen to the games and I would keep the individual scores for each player. They would rely on me to let them know, who had what during the games.
My first UK game I saw in person was the UK/ND on 12/31/67 in Freedom Hall. I was 10 years old at the time and each time after that I walked into Freedom Hall for a game, concert, or another event, those memories come back to me, I remember it like it was yesterday.
December 1, 1957.
Since then I have probably not missed 20 games either being there, on TV or radio. My first color TV program that I ever watched was Notre Dame versus Kentucky. My first UK game that I saw in person starred Cotton Nash.
My dad and mom were UK fans, but Dad took me to a Western Kentucky basketball and I saw first hand just how great college basketball was and how much bigger and faster it was than high school. That was my conversion.
Listening with my Dad to the '48 team winning the national title and all the excitement it brought. As someone mentioned before, it was Claude Sullivan who brought life into the radio for the Cats in those days. One of my biggest thrills was meeting Bill Spivey at the 1951 KHSAA at Memorial Coliseum. Got his autograph on a postcard and still have it.
Even in '48 and '49, at age 7 I knew how important it was to be National Champions. My Dad went to a few Ky games and I got to go in the late '40s and '50s and just got goose bumps even then watching live at Memorial. After that run of 129 at home, that loss to Ga Tech still haunts me, even 60 years later cause we all knew the Cats NEVER lost at home. Just growing up on a farm in Ky meant the Big Blue was life.
Even in '48 and '49, at age 7 I knew how important it was to be National Champions. My Dad went to a few Ky games and I got to go in the late '40s and '50s and just got goose bumps even then watching live at Memorial. After that run of 129 at home, that loss to Ga Tech still haunts me, even 60 years later cause we all knew the Cats NEVER lost at home. Just growing up on a farm in Ky meant the Big Blue was life.
My memories go back to when Issel, Pratt and Casey were sophomores. I was about 8 years old. My Grandpa gave me an old transistor radio with an ear plug and I used to listen to the games with my radio under the pillow. I would cry myself to sleep when we lost. Back then, all the SEC games would be on Saturday afternoon and Monday night and I would stay up and listen to Adolph after the game then fall asleep in school the next day.
I actually got kicked off a soccer team when John Ray was our FB coach.....I was a backup goalie and we had a Saturday game and UK was playing FB at the same time (before they were all on TV) and I was secretly listening to the game. I forget who we were playing but we were driving down the field and about to score when the coach told me to go into the game. I refused until we scored and was given the boot after the game. That was the end of my soccer career but I was a man of principle......
I actually got kicked off a soccer team when John Ray was our FB coach.....I was a backup goalie and we had a Saturday game and UK was playing FB at the same time (before they were all on TV) and I was secretly listening to the game. I forget who we were playing but we were driving down the field and about to score when the coach told me to go into the game. I refused until we scored and was given the boot after the game. That was the end of my soccer career but I was a man of principle......
My earliest real memories are from the 87-88 season, sadly, since it sent us to probation. But we were living in Michigan at the time (born in Pikeville) and dad decorated the entire living room in UK gear for the games that season.
First games I remember watching happened in 91-92. My first live game was the West Virginia game that season. The first time I remember my folks letting me stay up and watch a UK game was the Louisville game in December of '92. I had some kind of nasty allergic reaction where my eye was swollen shut and then Rod Rhodes did a breakaway reverse jam and I pretty much dove headfirst into the rest of that season.
So '93 is a sentimental favorite team of mine and was my all-time favorite until '12 had to go win it all and be the best team in the world from beginning to end.
So '93 is a sentimental favorite team of mine and was my all-time favorite until '12 had to go win it all and be the best team in the world from beginning to end.
One of my earliest memories is recreating games down at the neighborhood goal (at the end of a driveway) by "being" Dan Issel and Mike Pratt. As I recall, I hit some big time game winning shots. I'm guessing half were by Dan and half were by Mike.
A little off topic, but a fun story nonetheless. Can't remember the exact year, but I'm guess 1975ish. I grew up in Lexington and one evening me, my mom and dad were on our way to the Southland Drive area. From our house a short cut was to take Hollyhill Drive. One end of HH tees into Clays Mill Road just south of Lex. Cath. HS. When we turned onto HH from CMR, getting out of a parked car out on the street about the third house on the right was Dan, his wife Cheri (sp?) and at least one young kid. As my dad quickly realized who it was he said "that's Dan Issel!". I was in the back and immediately plastered my face to the window. Dad slowed as we went by them, blew the horn and waved, with me staring out the window, and Dan waved back. We got past and my mom kind of got on my dad for blowing the horn, waving, and making a scene. I remember his response was "Honey, that was Dan Issel?!?!?" - like what else was I supposed to do. LOL!
I'm almost positive that Cheri was from Lexington, and a UK cheerleader I think. I don't know this but I always assumed that the house on Hollyhill was perhaps her parents and her and Dan were visiting them. I remember it was summertime and I think in addition to at least one toddler, they also had some bags, luggage, etc.
One was for sure, there was no missing Dan.
A little off topic, but a fun story nonetheless. Can't remember the exact year, but I'm guess 1975ish. I grew up in Lexington and one evening me, my mom and dad were on our way to the Southland Drive area. From our house a short cut was to take Hollyhill Drive. One end of HH tees into Clays Mill Road just south of Lex. Cath. HS. When we turned onto HH from CMR, getting out of a parked car out on the street about the third house on the right was Dan, his wife Cheri (sp?) and at least one young kid. As my dad quickly realized who it was he said "that's Dan Issel!". I was in the back and immediately plastered my face to the window. Dad slowed as we went by them, blew the horn and waved, with me staring out the window, and Dan waved back. We got past and my mom kind of got on my dad for blowing the horn, waving, and making a scene. I remember his response was "Honey, that was Dan Issel?!?!?" - like what else was I supposed to do. LOL!
I'm almost positive that Cheri was from Lexington, and a UK cheerleader I think. I don't know this but I always assumed that the house on Hollyhill was perhaps her parents and her and Dan were visiting them. I remember it was summertime and I think in addition to at least one toddler, they also had some bags, luggage, etc.
One was for sure, there was no missing Dan.
