Friday, December 8, 2006
Kentucky Pre-Game
A couple quick notes before IU's big game with Kentucky tomorrow.
IU's Last Trip to Lexington
The last time the Hoosiers went into Lexington was the highest point of IU basketball in the last decade. It was 2002 when the Hoosiers went into Lexington for the Sweet 16. It was the classic game where Indiana came back from a 17-point deficit to beat Duke. After beating Duke on a Thursday, all the Duke fans cleared out of town. Suddenly, a town that bleeds Kentucky blue was taken over by a sea of red. I'm sure there were Kentucky fans grabbing their shotguns….fortunately, it was cold that weekend and we all know that Kentucky fans don't have shoes.
That Saturday, Rupp Arena turned into a home game for IU as they cruised to a win over Kent State to head to the Final Four. IU hit something like 15 threes in that game. Tom was in attendance for both games and then several of us joined him on the weekend. I'll never forget the time that the entire town of Lexington, Kentucky was engulfed by Hoosier Hysteria. It wasn't just a sea of red in the arena, the entire town was red -- every restaurant, every bar, the streets, the sidewalks -- all red. It was the greatest live sporting event of my life.
True Story
A couple weeks ago, I am riding an exercise bike at the YMCA. In walks a guy wearing a blue Kentucky Wildcats t-shirt. All of the sudden, I realize that I am glaring at this guy with the most evil stare that a good clean-cut all-American boy like myself can muster up. The funny thing was that I think I was giving him this look for a good 5-7 seconds without even realizing it. So, here I am in Wisconsin (in an IU t-shirt I might add), looking at this guy like he just personally paid me life's greatest insult for wearing a Kentucky t-shirt in a Wisconsin YMCA. Fortunately (for him), I believe he only caught a glimpse of my evil stare and kept walking.
Since that time, I have seen that same guy at the YMCA a few more times. Even though he has not had a Kentucky shirt on, I still see him and think to myself "there's that Kentucky a-hole again".
Admittedly, some of my stories bend the truth at times. But this story of the subconsious evil stare is 100% true.
Poll Questions
The poll questions are tight and the Mike White nickname is creating a buzz. You are allowed to vote once a day, so if you feel strongly about any of the poll questions, vote again today!
Go Hoosiers!
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1 comment:
I, unlike most, cannot access the blog from work. Aetna must know that between espn.com, sportsline.com and cubs.com, I get little, to no work done. They must figure this blog would render me entirely useless. With that said, check the time on this post. It is Friday at 9:50am. As you probably figured out, I am not at work right now. It's just my way of sticking it to the man. By the way, The nicknames from Ben were priceless. I voted for 40 Cent.
As far as Kentucky, I have two great memories. The first is during my freshman year when Damon lit up Kentucky and then proceeded to be on the cover of SI with the title "Hoosier Hero." I still have a copy of that addressed to my dorm at McNutt.
The second was the adventure that Jeff mentioned earlier. Scopel and I drove to Lexington to see IU play Duke. I remember thinking in the second half that I wasted two days off to drive six hours to see IU get killed. The next 10 minutes of the game are still a blur. The one thing I will never forget is Fife fouling Jay Williams while IU was up 4. That missed free throw sent us to the Elite Eight and ended Jay Williams career (that and a terrible bike accident).
After that game, I felt like Eddie Murray in Trading Places. I am not talking about the scene where he is was rolling down the street as if he had no legs. I am talking about the very end when he is in the pit at the NYSE. Scopel and I took as much money out of the ATM as we could and we just kept buying up tikcets. I think we bought close to 20 tickets from depressed Duke and Pitt fans. It was awesome. The Kent State game was just icing on the cake.
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