Midnight Madness, 1991
My dad was from SE Kentucky but I grew up in Cincinnati. Some of my earliest memories are drifting off to sleep in my room listening to Cawood call the games and hearing the fight song. My Dad took my brother to the first few "Madness" events (even before they were at midnight), but I'd never been interested enough to sit through a whole game or do much more than wear a T-shirt. In 1991 my mom was out of town, so at 13, I had to go along to Madness. We had to sit and wait in line to get into Memorial, and the suspense of wondering whether we would or not piqued my interest. I wondered what in the heck could be worth waiting for outside, in the cold, for three hours (later we'd have to get there around dawn just to get in, but this was early on). I left Memorial understanding what all the fuss was about - definitely caught the "fan bug" that night, I doubt anyone who walked into that place could have left without it. I was hooked, I watched every game that season, which of course ended in heart break - me, my Dad and brother kneeling on the ground in front of my grandparents' cabinet style TV, gripping each others' hands and crying. I earned my stripes that night.
I earned some more 13 years later when I was nine months pregnant and an employee at UC - Cincinnati fans LOVE to rip on UK fans but they had never played in recent memory (and I was always proud to remind them that the last time they got one over on UK was 1939). When the brackets were announced and I realized we could meet UC in the Sweet 16 my heart dropped. UC wasn't great that year, but we hadn't been super consistent either, and I knew it was anyone's game. My colleagues at UC were ready for a win and I dreaded going into work if that was the outcome. Well, of course we won but I was so stressed out during game day that I went into labor 3 weeks early, and had my first child the next day, so I didn't even get to go in to work to brag! The things we go through for this team! : )
My dad was from SE Kentucky but I grew up in Cincinnati. Some of my earliest memories are drifting off to sleep in my room listening to Cawood call the games and hearing the fight song. My Dad took my brother to the first few "Madness" events (even before they were at midnight), but I'd never been interested enough to sit through a whole game or do much more than wear a T-shirt. In 1991 my mom was out of town, so at 13, I had to go along to Madness. We had to sit and wait in line to get into Memorial, and the suspense of wondering whether we would or not piqued my interest. I wondered what in the heck could be worth waiting for outside, in the cold, for three hours (later we'd have to get there around dawn just to get in, but this was early on). I left Memorial understanding what all the fuss was about - definitely caught the "fan bug" that night, I doubt anyone who walked into that place could have left without it. I was hooked, I watched every game that season, which of course ended in heart break - me, my Dad and brother kneeling on the ground in front of my grandparents' cabinet style TV, gripping each others' hands and crying. I earned my stripes that night.
I earned some more 13 years later when I was nine months pregnant and an employee at UC - Cincinnati fans LOVE to rip on UK fans but they had never played in recent memory (and I was always proud to remind them that the last time they got one over on UK was 1939). When the brackets were announced and I realized we could meet UC in the Sweet 16 my heart dropped. UC wasn't great that year, but we hadn't been super consistent either, and I knew it was anyone's game. My colleagues at UC were ready for a win and I dreaded going into work if that was the outcome. Well, of course we won but I was so stressed out during game day that I went into labor 3 weeks early, and had my first child the next day, so I didn't even get to go in to work to brag! The things we go through for this team! : )
