Enjoy a rewatch of this documentary about the 1991-92 season this Christmas.
Back in the Hunt
- Thread starter I’m The Village Idiot
- Start date
Watched this up until the Louisville game. Will finish watching tonight! Thanks for posting!
I’ll never get over the way that team lost to duke in the EE. I’ll never be convinced that we got the short end of the stick, fresh off probation, while duke were the defending champs and media darlings. We got absolutely railroaded in that game. It was comparable to the 2017 EE game with the cheats IMO. May have even been worse. Two horrible callls on Pelphrey and 3/4 on Mash. Unbelievable **** job.
I’ll never get over the way that team lost to duke in the EE. I’ll never be convinced that we got the short end of the stick, fresh off probation, while duke were the defending champs and media darlings. We got absolutely railroaded in that game. It was comparable to the 2017 EE game with the cheats IMO. May have even been worse. Two horrible callls on Pelphrey and 3/4 on Mash. Unbelievable **** job.
That season was a little before my memories as a fan. As someone who has watched that game a couple times from replays, i genuinely have no idea how traumatic that game would have been to watch live. I don’t have anything to compare it to, really. Jealous of all fans who got to live through early Pitino and remember it well. Also jealous of all Cats fans who were diehard in the late 40s, early 50s.
Yup, and the most BS inbound and shot ever. That team deserved that win.
Pelphrey was lighting duke up in first half. Got whistled for two phantom fouls and had to sit rest of half. The ones on Mash were just as bad.
The old save a Duke strategy.
Let me just tell you that only losing the 2015 final four compared. I’ve never been really down after a loss very often like the NC losses hurt, but those I actually felt depressed. 2017 getting hosed against UNC is a close third.
2015 was the hardest loss I’ve ever been through, man. Second, for me, was 2003. I still believe we probably win that title if Bogans hadn’t gotten hurt.
I was 10 years old. I cried when the shot went in.
And while it was in the air all i heard was my dad screaming “SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTT” booming through our house.
The 1990-1991 and 1991-1992 years were the most enjoyable seasons I can remember as a Cat fan. The Sam Bowie, Turpin, Bennett, Walker, Minifield, Baby Magic Season was fun times too. 1996, 97, 98 were fun,but we were so dominate by then, it just was not the same as the earlier years.
I always think to myself what it would be like to be all-in on Kentucky in the late 80s. You go straight from a fun and promising product with Rex Chapman to the dark days of scandal. Then, you have three years of the games being on tape delay and not nationally televised. You experience a ridiculous talent drop, as all of your best players leave after that season of hell, going 13-19. Then, within three years of that you’re a shot within a Final Four. Completely insane.
I rewatch that 1990 team all the time —- I love watching them. I completely understand what you mean about how fun it is to watch those guys give every ounce of what they were out there on the court.
Yes. True college athletes!!!
Another team you would loved would have been Eddie Sutton's first year '86. Blackmon, Harden, Bennett, Davender. And Sky Walker. That team brought it every night.
I was a freshman in high school watching the game in my living room. It’s hard to describe the juxtaposition of the pure joy of Woods hitting that shot with the soul crushing agony of Laettner’s shot. I cried like a baby.
A buddy of mine at the time was out with his older brother and listening on the radio. They were in the parking lot of a supermarket and he said after the Laettner shot half the parking lot filed out of their cars and just had a dazed look on their faces and sadly shuffled inside.
Over time the game took on the same feeling as the ending of the first Rocky movie. Redemption came later and that Pitino run in the mid 90’s was special but that game was the most brutal sports memory I have.
That team was truly my first real memories of UK basketball and Kenny Walker was my favorite as a kid.
Watching on tape delay wasn’t somethjng new. All the games were on tape delay even before probation. Only about 2 to 4 ganes a year were on National TV. ESPN didn’t come around til 1979. CBS and NBC were the only networks that gave college basketball much coverage. ABC rarely if ever covered CBB.
It was really a weird setup. The games were tape delayed and aired at 11:30. In the 11:00 news when the sports segment came on, they would warn you to look away from the tv if you didn’t want to know the score . They would show the score but never announce the winner. And if you ever revealed the score, you paid the price for ruining everybody’s experience. One time we were stripping tobacco and I had arrived late and had listened to the game earlier. When I got to the stripping room, I accidentally blurted out the results of the game (Cats won). You would have thought I shot the Pope. I was met with a barrage of insults that are unrepeatable still to this day..lol…. My brother in law even punched me in my arm that left one helluva bruise. Needless to say. That was the last time I did that. LolAhh okay. Thanks for letting me know that
I was watching the game with a Duke fan. He was running his mouth after the game. I was only 19 still young and dumb and did not control my emotions very well, so I grabbed him and threw him through the door. The door completely collapsed and the only thing that was in the doorway was one strip of wood that the hinges were attached too. The adrenaline from that game was crazy.
I will never fully get past that game. It sounds crazy but that was the Commonwealth’s team more so than any ever. We all willed that team to incredible heights and it crushed everyone’s hearts. The fact that it was Duke made it even worse.
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Tape delayed games were mostly before January 1. Some conference games at home may have been. There were still games on JP during week and on Saturday. Also national broadcast.
Was there and Wisconsin fans felt like they won the natty that night / into early morning
seen some good fights that night too 
Striiing music in Lexington, Ky!!!!
That's why radio and Caywood Ledford were so important. There will never be another like him.
Im sure Im in the minority on this... but the most crushing loss in my life was the 77 regional final against UNC.
They got up early, went to that pussified 4 corners offense in the 2nd half, and that was the ballgame.
I FVCKING HATE UNCHEATS.
They got up early, went to that pussified 4 corners offense in the 2nd half, and that was the ballgame.
I FVCKING HATE UNCHEATS.
Was there and Wisconsin fans felt like they won the natty that night / into early morning
Unfortunately their players felt like that as well. If they would have just finished the damn job, that loss would have been a hell of a lot easier to take.
Agree 100%. The amount of phantom foul calls against us in that game were beyond criminal.
No Wkyt covered most games live. Tape delay was a thing when we played c squad teams and some crappy sec teams but the local station usually covered the game live. And pre partial tv ban we had a lot of games live on TV
Gosh that sounds like some good times. Can’t beat the 90s
Thanks for sharing. Love getting baked and watching this old footage
1992 was crushing.
2015 would have been crushing if not for the Notre Dame game prior, in which it was shown if you spread out our defense, our shot blockers are neutralized. I knew after that game we were cooked.
2015 would have been crushing if not for the Notre Dame game prior, in which it was shown if you spread out our defense, our shot blockers are neutralized. I knew after that game we were cooked.
And nothing has changed in 30 years.
Pitino lost that game. Guard the inbounds pass and UK wins.
No credit for getting a severely less talented team within a hair of an all-time upset versus a legendary team though?
My memory gets foggy as I get older..lol…I remember when Denny Trease called the games on WKYT. Then it was Rob Bromley. Joe Ferguson and Joe Dean called the games for Jefferson Pilot.
Fresh out of a timeout and he doesn’t: a) guard the inbounds pass, or b) front Laettner. It still haunts me.
While true, we should have never been in that position to begin with. The reason Laettner had an open shot was because our guys were absolutely scared to death to even breathe on the guy. Would’ve been whistled for a foul.
If you watch the replay, that's exactly what happened: theyre literally afraid to touch him because they KNOW they'll get called for a foul.
Are you around 60? I was 11. I thought we were going to win title. That game gave me a hatred of Dean Smith unequaled. I was miserable after that game.
Yeah... Im 62.
Exactly what my dad said right after the game. me: “why didn’t we guard him?” my dad: “scared to foul son”