Football talk in February? Is this for real?

I am a UK fan. (Clearly, if I am writing here, this isn’t new information for anyone).  I have bled blue since I was born, because that’s how we do it in Kentucky.  However, I am a bit different from lots of Kentuckians in that in addition to being a huge UK Basketball fan, I am a huge UK Football fan.  I don’t just mean I am a fan NOW, now that we have Mark Stoops and the best recruiting we’ve had in my lifetime (I mean seriously, who thought we’d get Jason Hatcher?), but I am a long time fan.  I think it started when I was at UK and got to know some of the athletes and saw how humble these boys were, especially in comparison to some other sports *COUGH*basketball*COUGH*. I am a 11 year season ticket holder, and I have not missed a game in Commonwealth since the Florida game in 2003 (that’s 66 consecutive if you are keeping score at home), which means only sixty or so more years til I beat UK Superfan Jim Brown’s record of 412.

My purpose in sharing that information is simply to let you know when it comes to UK Football, I am serious about my allegiance.  However, until this year, I never knew when National Football Signing Day was.  Truthfully, I still don’t know for sure… is it always February 6? Is it the Tuesday after the Super Bowl? Or does it have some type of Easter-like formula and it’s the first Tuesday after the first full moon after the new year?  All I really know is it’s today.  And I am pumped about it.

I was awoken at 5:30am by a text via twitter that Mark Stoops had tweeted “#BBN Time to wake up and get ready for an exciting day! It’s like X-Mas Day!” Now, I need you to know two things: 1. Just because I get his tweets sent to my phone, contrary to popular belief, I am not obsessed; and 2. This text and one from LEX-18 telling me I don’t have to work because Jessamine County has a snow day are the only texts I could get at 5:30am and not be angry. I read the tweet and smiled, then feel back asleep and dreamed of rushing the field and tearing down goalposts for another hour and a half. Then I had to get up and actually go to work, but instead of streaming Pandora (a Quick Mix of my Miranda Lambert station and my REO Speedwagon station, in case you were wondering), I just kept checking back on UK Athletics to see if they were live streaming any signings.  By early this afternoon, UK Athletics released that 8,968 people were on their signing day live blog, which is the most traffic they’ve ever had on a live blog. Y’all remember that this is a football live blog, in Kentucky, in the middle of basketball season, right? Does anyone else think that’s the coolest thing ever? Man, I love being a Wildcat!

So do I Coach… so do I.

Complete and Total Embarassment

Maybe it’s because it’s still fresh on my mind, but this UK loss just shows how far this program has fallen. Just 2 years ago we celebrated a string of bowl appearances, a brief appearance in the top 25, and more optimism surrounding the program since Bear Bryant. Today we just lost to a Western Kentucky team that had never won a game against an SEC opponent! What an embarrassment! Let the rumors begin! Petrino, Leach?

It’s time for number 9!

I’m not sure about the rest of the UK fans out there, but I am ready for our quest for number 9.  Before the fun begins though let’s take a look at a little video on how we got number 8!

Block Party 2

A buddy of mine sent this to me. Do our opponents next year really think they will be able to drive it to the basket IF Anthony Davis does leave? How cool would it be to have AD as point guard lobbing it to Noels?? Thoughts? Let’s discuss ya’ll!!!

Can’t wait to see him in blue and white!!!!!! #weareuk #bbn

And away we go!!!

Hi Big Blue Nation. I am proud to be part of the team to add content to this blog. So Nerlene Noels!! A great addition!!! Have you all seen the shirts yet with the below screenprint?!?

Love it!!!

And to make sure your computers look good, here are  some backgrounds to celebrate 8pril and out Gre8tness:

How Gr8at it is to be Back on Top!

Wow!  What a year it has been! The 2012 Cats came into the year one of the favorites to win the National Title and delivered!  Extremely high expectations for 4 freshman, 2 sophmores and 1 senior.  Most analysts would say that it could never happen as no team with such young players have ever won a National Championship before.  This team defied all odds and brought number 8 back to Lexington.

Kentucky vs. Louisville Final Four Matchup Would Be Epic!

If Louisville can find a way to beat Florida today and Kentucky can find a way to beat Baylor tomorrow, it would setup an epic once in a lifetime matchup between to 2 biggest rivals in college basketball!  The fans for both Kentucky teams for the most part live peacefully together throughtout most of the year, but if this matchup were to happen it might not be pretty and could leave a mark for years to come.  This epic showdown between Pitino and Calipari, between Louisville & Kentucky, might even go down as one of the most hyped games of all time.  Let’s hope this game happens, because if it does, we will be telling our kids and grandkids for years to come!