by Adam Spence
The Kentucky Wildcats are poised to do battle against The Connecticut Huskies on Monday, for the men's college basketball National Championship. Being a UK fan since birth, I don't feel the need to preview the game or cover their journey through the tournament since it would be a (deserved) praise fest. I would like to cover something I've seen throughout this season that upset me.
As I stated before, I have literally been a UK fan since birth. I was dressed in Kentucky Wildcat gear long before I was old enough to know what it meant. As i grew older I began to understand very quickly what it meant, as I'm sure anyone who is born into rooting for a team can understand. I feel that being a fan means supporting "your" team through good and bad. Which leads me to my point, I saw way too many Wildcat "fans" give up on this team. This particular team was filled with highly touted freshman, who were to go undefeated and completely wash away the memories of the NIT loss to Robert Morris. Kentucky fans were all about this team, until they lost. The team expected to go 40-0 had lost their first game of the season and were 0-1. More and more "fans" gave up on this team as the losses piled up. I was not deaf to hearing my college classmates saying things like, "one and dones just don't work" and "we need to fire Calipari". It made me mad, but I would simply say this season is not over yet, and leave it there. Because if the weather is not fair, its hard to convince some to not give up. Now the Wildcats are in the championship game and those same classmates have left behind their harsh words for this team and show nothing but praise. That's great and all, its easy to be a fan when things are going good, but I feel there is always something sweeter about supporting a team through all of the ups and downs. There is something to be said for rough times making the good times better, and those who are still there through the rough are able to get the pure jubilation of seeing that same team succeed. I hate to sound negative abound such positivity around what this team has achieved, but it just aggravates me that the same people who gave up on all they knew, are now able to celebrate with those who never gave up.
This article is not unique to Kentucky basketball, I'm sure all sports fans can agree with me on this. So, if you call yourself a fan, just be sure that you stay a fan even when the skies are grey because you may have to eat the harsh words you say about your own team.
The Kentucky Wildcats are poised to do battle against The Connecticut Huskies on Monday, for the men's college basketball National Championship. Being a UK fan since birth, I don't feel the need to preview the game or cover their journey through the tournament since it would be a (deserved) praise fest. I would like to cover something I've seen throughout this season that upset me.
As I stated before, I have literally been a UK fan since birth. I was dressed in Kentucky Wildcat gear long before I was old enough to know what it meant. As i grew older I began to understand very quickly what it meant, as I'm sure anyone who is born into rooting for a team can understand. I feel that being a fan means supporting "your" team through good and bad. Which leads me to my point, I saw way too many Wildcat "fans" give up on this team. This particular team was filled with highly touted freshman, who were to go undefeated and completely wash away the memories of the NIT loss to Robert Morris. Kentucky fans were all about this team, until they lost. The team expected to go 40-0 had lost their first game of the season and were 0-1. More and more "fans" gave up on this team as the losses piled up. I was not deaf to hearing my college classmates saying things like, "one and dones just don't work" and "we need to fire Calipari". It made me mad, but I would simply say this season is not over yet, and leave it there. Because if the weather is not fair, its hard to convince some to not give up. Now the Wildcats are in the championship game and those same classmates have left behind their harsh words for this team and show nothing but praise. That's great and all, its easy to be a fan when things are going good, but I feel there is always something sweeter about supporting a team through all of the ups and downs. There is something to be said for rough times making the good times better, and those who are still there through the rough are able to get the pure jubilation of seeing that same team succeed. I hate to sound negative abound such positivity around what this team has achieved, but it just aggravates me that the same people who gave up on all they knew, are now able to celebrate with those who never gave up.
This article is not unique to Kentucky basketball, I'm sure all sports fans can agree with me on this. So, if you call yourself a fan, just be sure that you stay a fan even when the skies are grey because you may have to eat the harsh words you say about your own team.