C-A-T-S

I must admit that this has been a week unlike any other for me. While I will put up my adoration for Kentucky athletics with any man (or woman) in America, Kentucky football has always taken a bit of a back seat. Yes, I have gone to the games, watched the Big Blue Network productions and suffered through every "Dave, Dave and Dave" joke on the old Jefferson Pilot. But still, Kentucky football was always a potential pain, waiting to be inflicted. I generally kept my optimism low for all things UK football, a trait that goes against everything I stand for.....but one that unfortunately was the correct perspective for the Gridiron Cats. But then came this week, and an energy around the UK football program that I have never experienced. Faced with the chance to knock off a Top 10 team for the first time since 1977, the Kentucky fanbase not only hopes it can do it.....this time it feels it. Every Kentucky fan I speak with thinks an upset could be in the works and wants Saturday to get here as quick as possible. In Louisville, there are Kentucky blue shirts everywhere today, a disheartening fact to Card fans, but an example of just how far this fanbase extends. We believe we can do it......and that is why I think it will happen. I want this game for a number of reasons. I want it for this football team, as guys like Andre Woodson, Keenan Burton, Jacob Tamme, Wesley Woodyard and Rafeal Little represent the best of what Kentucky football can be......all talented young men who have worked hard and made themselves into top-level football players when many believed it impossible. I want it for Old Man Brooks, who received criticism from the masses (including this site) in ways that were unfair and difficult to overcome. Yet he never stopped competing, assembled great young talent, and now has the Cats with the best potential to make noise in my lifetime. I also want the game for the legions of Kentucky fans who have suffered through more bad football than any fanbase should take. Kentucky fans are most certainly the most loyal fans of a team that is perpetually bad in the country and can teach the bandwagoners that share my city a thing or two. I also want it for Duncan Cavanah, Rob Gidel, Amol Mujumdar, Tim Weatherholt and the other UK fans who are secretly bigger football than basketball supporters. Tomorrow is their day when all their dedication and memorization of Billy Jack Haskins' statistics can finally pay off. Finally, I want it for the University. This school has tried everything possible to make football a priority in recent years and to get national respect. Tomorrow is the chance for it to pay off.....Go Cats.....It is time!!!!! In other news, we are tailgating with the folks from Wildcat Nation and would like the fans to stop by. We will be there from 2 pm on at the spot in the orange lot pointed to on the map. Come say hello....I will be there along with Rob Gidel, Hubby, Turkey Hunter, Mosley etc.....come live it up