UK Fanhood-Balancing the Positive and Negative

I was at the Longwood game a few weekends ago, and I sat behind a woman who seemed to forget why I think we (at least I hope this goes for all of us) are fans of UK in the first place.  She was constantly worked up over players not doing what she thought they should be doing, and when the team or a player did execute a play, she treated it more like “well, finally” than “good job”.  I cannot imagine the game was a fun experience for her, and I know that fun is the reason I am loyal to UK.  I enjoy watching the players.  I enjoy walking into Rupp for the first time each season.  I enjoy the arguing with UofL fans (most of the time).  I enjoy scoffing at IU fans who think UK is as preoccupied with IU as IU is with UK.  I enjoy following Billy Gillispie’s tireless recruiting.  I enjoy keeping up with former UK players as they play in the NBA.  I enjoy my interaction with my fellow fans: the most loyal in the country.

At the end of even the most trying seasons, I look back and I had more enjoyable experiences as a fan than ones that were not so enjoyable, I enjoy the wins more than the losses, the successes more than the failures.  I pride myself on being loyal to UK basketball, but I’m not sure I could continue being loyal if it ever got to the point where being a UK fan became a negative experience.  Fortunately, I don’t think that will ever happen, but I think it has happened with a lot of UK fans, and I’m convinced it has with the woman who sat in front of me at the Longwood game.

UK is blessed with a tradition that few, if any, programs in the country can match (that’s a separate discussion altogether).  That tradition has fed the loyalty of the fan base, and the loyalty of the fan base has fed the tradition.  The two go hand in hand, and the fact that UK fans care so much demands that UK will always have a strong basketball program.  There is too much that stands to be lost for the University if the basketball program falls off the map. 

As great as that tradition is, and as proud of it as we all are, there are some negatives that come with that huge positive.  I think we trade away a little bit of exuberance when things are going well.  It is almost a part of a Kentucky fan’s birthright to have a good basketball team, and I think that it makes it just a little more difficult to enjoy small successes.  However, I don’t think Kentucky basketball would have as many big successes if UK fans did not demand them. 

I think we also trade away a little bit of the college basketball atmosphere by being successful.  Would people call Rupp Arena a “cathedral” if we were more like other schools in the way we support our team?  I don’t think so.  I’m not saying I wish we were, because I wouldn’t trade the Rupp experience for any other, but there are differences.

The one thing I would trade about being born into UK is the “professional fan” mindset that many UK supporters have about the team.  UK fans are the most knowledgeable fans I have ever been around, and that knowledge changes the way UK fans support their team.  We are aware of the strengths of the team and all players, and we are painfully aware of their weaknesses, and our support of the team is colored by that awareness.  This knowledge is not going to change, I would never want it to, but I think our attitude needs to change.

I do wish that we could me more supportive than we are as a fan base in general. 

Oftentimes, you hear announcers compliment a player saying “you can’t tell by the way he’s playing whether his team is up by 20 or down by 20.”  I think this is true about Kentucky fans, but I don’t mean it as a compliment.  Think back to what you talked about, heard, and read immediately after the IU game.  I know based on the feeling I got after the game, it felt just as much like a loss as a win.

If I think about things player by player on this basketball team with respect to public discussion, I think the majority of what is said about almost every player is negative rather than positive (with the exception of Patterson).  Even Meeks, the kid who is averaging over 20 a game for us gets talked about more for what he doesn’t do or doesn’t do well than what he does do well.  For every “he’s a great shooter” or “he’s always going hard” I hear “he’s a terrible passer”, “his shot selection is awful”, or “he gambles too much” three times.

I think we need to take responsibility for the fact that we do have an impact on the general attitude and direction of this team and this program, and I think a more positive outlook would serve well.  Do you think a recruit is more likely to come to UK if he gets the impression that “we need you really bad or we’re not going to contend” or if he gets the impression “come be a part of a program that’s really headed in the right direction and that we support the heck out of”?  If you don’t think that we as fans have an impact in this kind of thing, you’re fooling yourself.

These players get plenty of criticism (more constructive criticism than we can offer) from coaches, and I think we should remember the verb we use to describe our participation in the UK program: we are support.  I know this is a simplistic view, and I know I cannot abide by it all the time nor can I expect anyone else to, but I think it’s something that’s worth remembering.