FAQ: Yahtzee!

Why does Coach Stoops keep yelling Yahtzee?  Since 2013, Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Football coaching staff have used the term "Yahtzee" to denote a commitment to the UK Football program. Stoops and his staff routinely use this term in social media to help build excitement as new and promising recruits enter into the University of Kentucky sports universe. Is Coach Stoops actually rolling a big pair of dice? That seems extravagant. Probably not. This is probably an embellishment for purposes of conveying enthusiasm or a metaphor for a specific game he is winning, in this case perhaps the college football "recruiting game," at which he is succeeding. In the game "Yahtzee" a "Yahtzee" denotes five of the same dice rolled on one roll. Am I to believe that when Mark Stoops announces "Yahtzee," he has just recruited five players of identical skill sets to fill the same position? Because I am not entirely sure that is the best use of his recruiting time. No, it generally refers to one player at a time. Not five? Because a "Yahtzee" is five. No, not five. Just one. Then shouldn't he yells "Uno!" That is also a popular game, and "uno" is Mexican for "one." He says "Yahtzee." Why "Yahtzee," then?  Again, it's just a colloquial term; like Coach Stoops, many of our past UK coaches have relied on metaphorical terminology to signify recruiting success. Joker Phillips used "Jenga!" to imply he was "stacking" solid players on top of one another to create an effective team. Hal Mumme would announce "You sunk my battleship!" when landing a major commitment, insinuating that this new recruit was "sinking" the "battleship" of his preconceived notions of the limits of a player's ability. Rich Brooks would exclaim "Mousetrap!" whenever a giant net trap would spring and fall onto one of his recruits, and beloved coach Jerry Claiborne would announce "Potato and Spoon Race!" sometimes just because it was one of his favorite games growing up as a young boy in Hopkinsville. Each coach has his own way of doing things. Yes, but if Coach Stoops were rolling a big PAIR of dice, he would be playing "Yahtzee" wrong. "Yahtzee" is played using five dice. It would be much easier to roll two of the same number than five of the same number. This is a good point. But you get the idea. It's just a figure of speech. I guess "Snake Eyes!" or "Boxcars!" isn't as exciting as "Yahtzee!"  No, it's not. "Boxcars!" would not be very exciting at all. You know what would be great though? "Hungry Hungry Hippos!" That would mean that we have some big players and that the players are also hungry. For football game wins. You should bring this up with the coaching staff. I think you're putting way too much thought into this. I will do that. Do you have Coach Stoops' phone number or electronic mail address? No, I don't. Sorry. That's a good game, too. "Sorry." Yes, it is. Kerplunk! Yes, that's a good game as well. Oh, no, I didn't mean the game "Kerplunk." That was just the actual sound of me accidentally dropping my glasses into the toilet. Good luck with that.