BTI's Rants and Ramblings: KSR Hall of Fame Inductee #10, John Wall Dance
by Nick Roush
“Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”
There have not been many times darker in Kentucky than the 2008-09 basketball season. After starting the season with a loss at home to VMI and a thumping on National TV from eventual Champions North Carolina, an NIT loss in the second-round to Notre Dame was simply salt on an an already infected wound. The blue flame of the Big Blue Nation needed a spark before burning brighter than ever.
After an offseason facelift, the Big Blue Nation was ready to end the enigmatic era of Billy Gillispie. On October 19, 2009, John Wall's introductory dance turned the page in Kentucky basketball history and we haven't looked back since. After being the butt of all college basketball jokes, we became the envy of all. John Wall was a rock star that we haven't seen in decades, and his simple dance inspired a generation.
The John Wall Dance made us do things we never thought we'd do: Courtney Cox flexed on an ABC sitcom, a Duke law graduate quit his practice for a blog, and we discovered that the history we were taught in school had it all wrong:
It also gave the Big Blue Nation a song to hang their hat on. Sounds of Rocky Top can be now drowned out with a "flex to the left." I've proudly John Walled from Nassau to Omaha and from Pikeville to Paducah.
The John Wall Dance was the symbol of hope the Big Blue Nation needed to remember that "We Are College Basketball."
Thank you John Wall. We can never repay you for your flex, but the KSR Hall of Fame isn't a bad start.
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