Is there room on the UC Bandwagon?

[Freak25]

I grew up in NKY and like many people on that side of the river, my family were big UK fans. Naturally, I gravitated towards UK at a young age and have "bled blue" for years. I guess I was kind of a strange UK fan though because I always admired UC and rooted for them as a local team.

A couple years ago, I moved to the Ohio side. I'm not sure what happened but I have become a closet UC fan. UK has been very successful under Coach Cal but it's been hard for me to get invested because the team changes every year. It's just a 1 year NBA farm team now. I've watched 2 UK games this year and about 20 UC games. I find myself buying UC gear and even my little boy is a UC fan. I guess my question is.......would a former blueneck be accepted into the UC fan base? Lol. I've been lurking on this board all year.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

No

 

[ZCat]

I grew up in NKY and like many people on that side of the river, my family were big UK fans. Naturally, I gravitated towards UK at a young age and have "bled blue" for years. I guess I was kind of a strange UK fan though because I always admired UC and rooted for them as a local team.

A couple years ago, I moved to the Ohio side. I'm not sure what happened but I have become a closet UC fan. UK has been very successful under Coach Cal but it's been hard for me to get invested because the team changes every year. It's just a 1 year NBA farm team now. I've watched 2 UK games this year and about 20 UC games. I find myself buying UC gear and even my little boy is a UC fan. I guess my question is.......would a former blueneck be accepted into the UC fan base? Lol. I've been lurking on this board all year.

Absolutely. Why not.

 

[indydoug]

Absolutely. You've been Bearcat-atised

 

[2bearcatdad]

I grew up in NKY and like many people on that side of the river, my family were big UK fans. Naturally, I gravitated towards UK at a young age and have "bled blue" for years. I guess I was kind of a strange UK fan though because I always admired UC and rooted for them as a local team.

A couple years ago, I moved to the Ohio side. I'm not sure what happened but I have become a closet UC fan. UK has been very successful under Coach Cal but it's been hard for me to get invested because the team changes every year. It's just a 1 year NBA farm team now. I've watched 2 UK games this year and about 20 UC games. I find myself buying UC gear and even my little boy is a UC fan. I guess my question is.......would a former blueneck be accepted into the UC fan base? Lol. I've been lurking on this board all year.

Welcome aboard. Always room for more!

 

[JasonS]

There's always room for fans. Welcome aboard!

 

[insomniaisevil]

I grew up in NKY and like many people on that side of the river, my family were big UK fans. Naturally, I gravitated towards UK at a young age and have "bled blue" for years. I guess I was kind of a strange UK fan though because I always admired UC and rooted for them as a local team.

A couple years ago, I moved to the Ohio side. I'm not sure what happened but I have become a closet UC fan. UK has been very successful under Coach Cal but it's been hard for me to get invested because the team changes every year. It's just a 1 year NBA farm team now. I've watched 2 UK games this year and about 20 UC games. I find myself buying UC gear and even my little boy is a UC fan. I guess my question is.......would a former blueneck be accepted into the UC fan base? Lol. I've been lurking on this board all year.

There is PLENTY of room. As others have said, welcome aboard!

 

[ZCat]

Absolutely. Why not.

As Waite would say, we play hard, and players that are good citizens. Well spoken kids. Now their Offense is exciting too. There will be more crossing over.

 

[juckerrules]

I grew up in NKY and like many people on that side of the river, my family were big UK fans. Naturally, I gravitated towards UK at a young age and have "bled blue" for years. I guess I was kind of a strange UK fan though because I always admired UC and rooted for them as a local team.

A couple years ago, I moved to the Ohio side. I'm not sure what happened but I have become a closet UC fan. UK has been very successful under Coach Cal but it's been hard for me to get invested because the team changes every year. It's just a 1 year NBA farm team now. I've watched 2 UK games this year and about 20 UC games. I find myself buying UC gear and even my little boy is a UC fan. I guess my question is.......would a former blueneck be accepted into the UC fan base? Lol. I've been lurking on this board all year.

Welcome back from the dark side!

 

[Freak25]

Thanks everyone! (Well, almost everyone. I see one No Vote lol).

Obviously, I was going to root for UC anyway. Having worked in the City for years, I have more UC friends than UK friends. I guess I just wanted approval before I started posting on here. I have been active on Catsillustrated for years, but stopped posting a couple seasons ago due to losing interest in the team. Since then, I've been lurking on this board. Just full disclosure....

 

[HoosierCat]

Welcome aboard!

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Thanks everyone! (Well, almost everyone. I see one No Vote lol).

Obviously, I was going to root for UC anyway. Having worked in the City for years, I have more UC friends than UK friends. I guess I just wanted approval before I started posting on here. I have been active on Catsillustrated for years, but stopped posting a couple seasons ago due to losing interest in the team. Since then, I've been lurking on this board. Just full disclosure....

Glad you decided to start posting! Welcome!

 

[Helicopter]

Interesting...
I always wondered if the UK format (turn over team annually) would deter any of their fan base. As cool as talented teams and getting featured nationally is there has to be some side that wants to see kids develop over 3-4 years and see hard work pay off. I feel like UK has become like the "ESPN generation" team in the sense that it is instant gratification but no real investment.

We need all the fans we can get. Welcome aboard.

 

[Freak25]

Interesting...
I always wondered if the UK format (turn over team annually) would deter any of their fan base. As cool as talented teams and getting featured nationally is there has to be some side that wants to see kids develop over 3-4 years and see hard work pay off. I feel like UK has become like the "ESPN generation" team in the sense that it is instant gratification but no real investment.

We need all the fans we can get. Welcome aboard.

That's a very accurate post, IMO. I'd much rather watch a Jarron Cumberland for 4 years than to have a guy like De'Aaron Fox for 1 year. By the time you get acquainted with them and their game, they are gone. Plus, I've watched several players who are simply auditioning for NBA teams. It's not what College Athletics should be about, IMO.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

That's a very accurate post, IMO. I'd much rather watch a Jarron Cumberland for 4 years than to have a guy like De'Aaron Fox for 1 year. By the time you get acquainted with them and their game, they are gone. Plus, I've watched several players who are simply auditioning for NBA teams. It's not what College Athletics should be about, IMO.

Really the reason UC dipped the last couple years (obviously still made the tourney) was bc the 2011 and 2012 recruiting classes (and even 3 out of the 5 were gone after 1 year in 2013) just didn't produce the players that could take over by the time they were JR and SR. That problem doesn't look like it's going to pop up again anytime soon. So if you're looking for consistency and being able to root for players for years to come (Evans isn't even halfway done with his career, crazy to think about), UC really is a good program to root for. Our player development seems to be on the rise since our offense has opened up. We have gotten a really good look at the next wave of guys, with Jenifer, Scott, and Brooks bc we have been able to really put away the teams that aren't on our level. It's awesome for them to all be legitimate reasons why we have won games this year. They will all be so seasoned by the time they are the vets. Rooting for guys like that, along with the more experienced (plus Cumberland) core is a lot of fun. For Kentucky, that bench group that stays around is never viewed as next in line to inherit the tradition. And that's the whole charm of college sports.

Circling back to the 2011 and 2012 classes...I look at Coach Cronin's tenure by a couple different groups. The first was the Vaughn, Williamson, Sikes, Warren, etc group. Then the Bishop, Wright, Gates, SK, etc group...which really peaked in 2012 but we were able to hang on 2 extra years with basically just SK. Kind of a rocky transition into the next generation. Bc of those whiffs on back to back recruiting classes, the cupboard wasn't exactly stocked. Caupain and Johnson (and Clark) have been huge reasons why we've now been able to build to the next age of Bearcats that we'll remember forever. Now that we've shown activity in the transfer market too, and have been able to fill our bench a bit more, let's just say you're joining the fan base at a very good time. We are set up very nicely for the future.