We returned home last night from a wildcat weekend of fun
in Nashville at the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament.
Ryan's family has long held the tradition of taking their
family vacation every year in mid-March
at the SEC basketball tournament.
Being from the heart of college football country I never really had much interest in basketball,
whether it was pro, college, high school, or little league,
they all seemed pretty boring to me... until about 6 years ago
when I attended my first SEC basketball tourney.
Much to my surprise I not only enjoyed watching
11 basketball games in 4 days,
but I really got into cheering for Kentucky!
When you find yourself in an arena that holds about
22,000 people and 21,563 of them are
wearing royal blue and shouting C-A-T-S,
you can't help but cheer along with them!
I know I'm supposed to be an Auburn fan, but
down on the plains we don't really care that much
about basketball, so I figured it would be ok for me to cheer
for the wildcats during basketball season.
If you've lived a basketball-sheltered life and don't know much about Kentucky basketball, let me just say that their men's basketball program has just as much legacy,
if not more, than Alabama's football program.
Kentucky is number 1 on the all-time wins list, has 7 national championship titles, countless SEC championship titles,
and one legendary coach, Adolf Rupp.
UK wildcat fans are just as numerous, just as dedicated, and many times just as crazy as Crimson Tide fans.
As a matter of fact, while we were at the tournament this past weekend I began to take mental notes of the many
out of the ordinary things we, as Kentucky fans, were doing
in the name of UK basketball.
I compiled my notes into a top ten of sorts, I'm calling this the Top 10 Ways You Know You're An
Over The Top Kentucky Wildcat Fan.
10. You started planning for this year's tournament 51 weeks ago (the week after last year's tournament).
9. Your father-in-law(who lives in Indiana) gets up way before the rooster crows, drives 5 hours
to Birmingham to pick up you and your kids,
then turns around and drives 3 more hours to Nashville
in order to make it to the first game by noon.
8. Each member of your family has more than enough
UK attire for all four days of the tournament,
and included in our Kentucky paraphernalia are
monogrammed hats, blue and white bows,
wildcat tattoos, and a Kentucky diaper bag.
7. You teach your toddler how to play games on an iPhone,
so you can be left alone to watch the game.
6. You buy your 8 month old a soft pretzel in order to
keep her occupied until at least half time.
5. When you go out for a celebration dinner after a tournament game victory, you cram 20 people
into a 15 passenger hotel van.
4. You wear a shirt to the game that says
"In Kentucky We Like Our COUSINS"
(DeMarcus Cousins is one of the stars of the team)
3. So as not to leave out any member of the family, you cram 21 people (including 3 babies, 2 toddlers, & one 8 year old) into 15 stadium seats for the championship game.
2. During said championship game you change your toddler's diaper in your seat during a time out so
you won't miss one second of the action (or annoy
the rest of your row by climbing over them to exit).
And the number one way you know that you are indeed
an over the top UK Wildcat fan...
1. You bring your 3 week old newborn to the
fun filled tournament weekend!
Not only did baby Kellen come to Nashville, but he took his first airplane ride to get to the tournament and
he attended (slept through) most of the games!
The brackets are set for the Big Dance (National Tournament), games start Thursday,
GO BIG BLUE!
in Nashville at the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament.
Ryan's family has long held the tradition of taking their
family vacation every year in mid-March
at the SEC basketball tournament.
Being from the heart of college football country I never really had much interest in basketball,
whether it was pro, college, high school, or little league,
they all seemed pretty boring to me... until about 6 years ago
when I attended my first SEC basketball tourney.
Much to my surprise I not only enjoyed watching
11 basketball games in 4 days,
but I really got into cheering for Kentucky!
When you find yourself in an arena that holds about
22,000 people and 21,563 of them are
wearing royal blue and shouting C-A-T-S,
you can't help but cheer along with them!
I know I'm supposed to be an Auburn fan, but
down on the plains we don't really care that much
about basketball, so I figured it would be ok for me to cheer
for the wildcats during basketball season.
If you've lived a basketball-sheltered life and don't know much about Kentucky basketball, let me just say that their men's basketball program has just as much legacy,
if not more, than Alabama's football program.
Kentucky is number 1 on the all-time wins list, has 7 national championship titles, countless SEC championship titles,
and one legendary coach, Adolf Rupp.
UK wildcat fans are just as numerous, just as dedicated, and many times just as crazy as Crimson Tide fans.
As a matter of fact, while we were at the tournament this past weekend I began to take mental notes of the many
out of the ordinary things we, as Kentucky fans, were doing
in the name of UK basketball.
I compiled my notes into a top ten of sorts, I'm calling this the Top 10 Ways You Know You're An
Over The Top Kentucky Wildcat Fan.
10. You started planning for this year's tournament 51 weeks ago (the week after last year's tournament).
9. Your father-in-law(who lives in Indiana) gets up way before the rooster crows, drives 5 hours
to Birmingham to pick up you and your kids,
then turns around and drives 3 more hours to Nashville
in order to make it to the first game by noon.
8. Each member of your family has more than enough
UK attire for all four days of the tournament,
and included in our Kentucky paraphernalia are
monogrammed hats, blue and white bows,
wildcat tattoos, and a Kentucky diaper bag.
7. You teach your toddler how to play games on an iPhone,
so you can be left alone to watch the game.
6. You buy your 8 month old a soft pretzel in order to
keep her occupied until at least half time.
5. When you go out for a celebration dinner after a tournament game victory, you cram 20 people
into a 15 passenger hotel van.
4. You wear a shirt to the game that says
"In Kentucky We Like Our COUSINS"
(DeMarcus Cousins is one of the stars of the team)
3. So as not to leave out any member of the family, you cram 21 people (including 3 babies, 2 toddlers, & one 8 year old) into 15 stadium seats for the championship game.
2. During said championship game you change your toddler's diaper in your seat during a time out so
you won't miss one second of the action (or annoy
the rest of your row by climbing over them to exit).
And the number one way you know that you are indeed
an over the top UK Wildcat fan...
1. You bring your 3 week old newborn to the
fun filled tournament weekend!
Not only did baby Kellen come to Nashville, but he took his first airplane ride to get to the tournament and
he attended (slept through) most of the games!
The brackets are set for the Big Dance (National Tournament), games start Thursday,
GO BIG BLUE!
5 comments:
Now that is dedication! I love the picture of Audrey eating the pretzel. I think she likes it.
im glad Luke at least carried is AUBURN sippy cup :)
That's awesome!!! I love it! Great top 10. It's always nice to know that there are other people in other places as crazy as the people I surround myself with in the fall of every year. :)
Glad y'all had fun!!
LOL, you all are definitely some die-hard fans!
What great family fun!
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