The Moment and Being a UK Football Fan

When I was making my college choice, I debated on going to play D3 basketball or going to a big school a regular student. But wanting to be have a "normal" college experience I went the big school route. I had, however, have one huge deciding factor. I had to go to a school that had a great sports tradition. My decision came down to going to Penn St or Kentucky. It was a debate of football versus basketball tradition. Never did I imagine I would end up becoming a bigger UK football fan than basketball fan.

Maybe my background in being a sports fan attracted me to being a UK football fan. Being from Cleveland you expect the absolute worse at all times. It also makes you incredibly defensive and loyal to your teams. There is something about being a diehard UK football fan that has a certain appeal to me (or, some people might say I like making myself miserable). There isn't a bandwagon* for UK football like the basketball team attracts. Thus, the diehards that come to Commonwealth Stadium truly love Kentucky.

* I despise bandwagon fans of teams that I like. One of the shitty things about the LeBron era was the abundance of Cavs fans that came out of the woodwork. However, the worst offense in my mind is the people from this region that are OSU football and UK basketball fans. As a UK fan, I dont want your support of just basketball, especially if you like OSU in any capacity.

Many people with less loyalty wonder how people can be fans of teams such as the Royals, Pirates, any Cleveland team, UK football, etc. How any person can suffer through losing 25 straight to Tennessee, 24 straight to Florida, or 17 straight to Steve Spurrier? The answer is simple. You hope to be there for the moment your team actually does come through. You dream of the time that you can be running through the Blue Lot screaming and hugging every UK fan because you finally beat Steve Spurrier. It makes all that suffering and anguish as a UK football fan worth it.

Well, almost.