By: Keith Kappes
Columnist
Carter County Times
My brothers and I became fans of University of Kentucky basketball as young boys who had the good fortune of living in the same Hitchins neighborhood with Dewey and Edna Bradford and their big family.
The Bradfords were die-hard Wildcat supporters long before some marketing person coined the moniker of Big Blue Nation. Win or lose, they never bad-mouthed the players and, like most Kentuckians in those days, they believed Coach Adolph Rupp could walk on water.
The idea of publicly criticizing UK players or their coach was heresy in the minds of most of us who listened to the games on radio, long before television began covering the Cats and other college teams.
Granted, being positive came easy for fans during those years in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s when UK dominated the Southeastern Conference and won four NCAA national championships under Rupp.
His longtime assistant and former player, Joe B. Hall, succeeded Rupp and won a national title in 1978. Rick Pitino followed him and took home the big trophy with his Wildcats in 1996. Pitino’s assistant, Tubby Smith, became head coach and won a national championship for UK in 1998.
And the 8th championship was provided by John Calipari in 2012, making it a 12-year gap since the last banner from the “Big Dance” went up into the rafters at Rupp Arena.
UK’s poor performances in the SEC and NCAA tournaments over the last five seasons turned the most vocal members of the Big Blue Nation into something resembling a lynch mob.
Their howls and mean-spirited comments were heard by Coach Cal and he made himself a sweet deal with the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, leaving a $34 million buyout on the table in Lexington.
Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart filled the vacant head coaching position with Mark Pope, head coach of the BYU Cougars and captain of UK’s national champs in 1996. Again, a vocal minority of the BBN hit social media with a barrage of criticism of Pope’s selection.
Personally, I wonder how many of those second guessers were in that overflow crowd at Rupp Arena on Sunday afternoon to give the new coach an incredible hero’s welcome.
Perhaps one tee shirt in the crowd said it best: Pope is our Hope! (Contact Keith at keithkappes@gmail.com.)
