BTI's Rants and Ramblings: Hope UK Players Read This and Get Angry!!

US President, 2 Kentucky Senators, and Kentucky Governor in November 1984 I posted this over the summer and I think it is fully appropriate to repost coming into tomorrow's game.  And trust me, I don't write this to make you feel sad or negative about the history between UK and UT on the football field.  I write this TO MAKE YOU ANGRY!!  I write this in hopes that some of the UK football players read this AND GET ANGRY!!  This series is no longer about talent and coaching and execution.  It is about pride.  And for UK players past and present, it is about embarrassment.  And once that embarrassment becomes too much to handle, then UK will just will themselves to victory.  For pride itself.  Now, here is what I posted in July: 25 years.  A quarter of a century.  32.7% of the state's population wasn't born yet.  Most of us, myself included, don't even know what we would do if we won.  Yet nearly all of us want this win more than any other.  Of course I am talking about football and the University of Tennessee.  November 24, 1984: Kentucky 17, Tennessee 12.  And for me, during the Phillip Fulmer and Peyton Manning years, it was a game that just could just mark down as a loss and not even get worked up about.  And some of the losses during the 1990's reflect some of the players may have thought that too.  But, when Fulmer started to lose the grip on his program, and Rich Brooks made UK respectable, suddenly it looked like the streak would end in no time.  And then 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2009 happened.  All legit chances to beat Tennessee, all losses for Kentucky.  Just look at some of the staggering statistics, and keep in mind these will be difficult to look at:  Games in Lexington (13 losses) Combined Score: Tennessee 477, Kentucky 246 Average Score: Tennessee 37, Kentucky 18 Closest Games: 52-50 (2007), 24-22 (1987), 34-31 (1995) Biggest Blowouts: 48-0 (1993), 42-0 (1985) Games in Knoxville (12 games) Combined Score: Tennessee 464, Kentucky 178 Average Score: Tennessee 39, Kentucky 15 Closest Games: 28-24 (1988), 17-12 (2006), 37-31 (2004) Biggest Blowouts: 52-0 (1994), 56-10 (1996), 59-20 (2000), 59-21 (1998) UK has had 5 coaches during the 25 game streak Jerry Claiborne (5 games) Bill Curry (7 games) Hal Mumme (4 games) Guy Morris (2 games) Rich Brooks (7 games) 13 QB's have started against Tennessee during the 25 game streak Bill Ransdell (1985, 1986) Glenn Fohr (1987, 1988) Freddie Maggard (1989, 1990) Pookie Jones (1991, 1992, 1993) Antonio O'Ferral (1994) Billy Jack Haskins (1995, 1996) Tim Couch (1997, 1998) Dusty Bonner (1999) Jared Lorenzen (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003) Shane Boyd (2004) Andre Woodson (2005, 2006, 2007) Randall Cobb (2008) Morgan Newton (2009) UK has lost 9 games by less than 10 points during the 25 game streak 1987: 24-22 1988: 28-24 1991: 16-7 1995: 34-31 2001: 38-35 2004: 37-31 2006: 17-12 2007: 52-50 2009: 30-24 Kentucky has beaten these opponents 5 or more times since 1984 Vanderbilt: 17 times Mississippi State: 10 times Louisville: 8 times South Carolina: 6 times Georgia: 5 times Since November 24th, 1984: -Today marks the 9,498th day since that date -5 US Presidents -6 Kentucky Governors -5 US Senators from Kentucky -4 UK Presidents  -3 UK Athletic Directors  Other notable facts: -22 consecutive football senior classes have now graduated without beating Tennessee -Every SEC team has beaten Tennessee at least once since 1993 -UK has had 55 players drafted in the NFL since 1984 -UK has won 126 football games since November 1984 -Kentucky basketball has beaten Tennessee 42 times since November 1984 -Kentucky baseball has beaten Tennessee 28 times since November 1984 What's the point of all this?  Well, its simple: IT IS TIME FOR THIS DAMN STREAK TO END.  I have never been more serious about saying this.  Tennessee is down, probably further down as they have ever been in the past 20 years.  Kentucky is having another good season, and we finally have the best skill players on the field in Cobb and Locke.  They just changed coaching staffs completely, and used bar fights as their off-seasons workouts, while Kentucky used weightlifting.  I am OK with Lee Majors, Phil Fulmer, and even Lane Kiffin beating us, I will not accept Derek "Who the Hell Am I" Dooley.  I don't care that the game is in Knoxville this year, because so was the 1984 game.  If I have to step out on the ledge to say this, I will: I WILL TAKE A 1-11 SEASON IF THAT 1 WIN IS TENNESSEE.  Certainly I don't wish that on the team, and that should not be a goal for Joker and the boys, but UT needs to be the MOST IMPORTANT game on the schedule every year until this streak is broken.