Kate's Take: Hoosierland
[caption id="attachment_49962" align="alignnone" width="438" caption="And you thought Kentucky fans were the only ones who could photoshop."]
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Being born and raised on the Indiana side of Louisville has given rise to many complications in my life. When people hear I'm from Indiana they normally ask me one of two things:
1. Do you live in the middle of a cornfield?
2. How much do you love Larry Bird/Bob Knight/David Letterman/Damon Bailey/Hinkle fieldhouse?
Rather than explain to everyone I meet that I grew up less than a mile from the Kentucky border, had two parents who worked in Kentucky, and spent more time awake there than on the other side of the river, I've just abbreviated things as of lately and tell people I'm from Kentucky. After all, I was born in Norton hospital and I share the same accent as all of ya'll. Of course, when people hear I'm from Kentucky I get even more questions, these usually having to do with horses, chicken, and second cousins.
Anyway, I also am inevitably asked how it was growing up in a triangle of fan affiliations. The funny thing is, it wasn't very difficult at all. I barely associate with Lousiville fans because I'm petty and sterotypical and can't stand to hear them talk. And all Indiana fans are old. Seriously, I've lived in Indiana my whole life and never met an IU fan under the age of 50. And all the old men love Bobby Knight and all their wives talk crap about him when their husbands aren't in the room. Its just the way its done.
With Marquis Teague making his college choice this week, the Kentucky roster may yet again carrry the name of a Hoosier kid, joining the likes of Walter McCarty, Kyle Macy, and Louie Dampier. Maybe he'll have the impact of those players and maybe he won't. But as long as I live, I will love every kid from Indiana who puts on the blue. I'll love them because we share a common heritage (even if I don't claim that heritage anymore) and I'll love them because somewhere in my twisted mind it still feels like screwing the University of Indiana over is by proxy screwing Bobby Knight over, no matter how far gone he may be. And I can't imagine anything better than that.
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Being born and raised on the Indiana side of Louisville has given rise to many complications in my life. When people hear I'm from Indiana they normally ask me one of two things:
1. Do you live in the middle of a cornfield?
2. How much do you love Larry Bird/Bob Knight/David Letterman/Damon Bailey/Hinkle fieldhouse?
Rather than explain to everyone I meet that I grew up less than a mile from the Kentucky border, had two parents who worked in Kentucky, and spent more time awake there than on the other side of the river, I've just abbreviated things as of lately and tell people I'm from Kentucky. After all, I was born in Norton hospital and I share the same accent as all of ya'll. Of course, when people hear I'm from Kentucky I get even more questions, these usually having to do with horses, chicken, and second cousins.
Anyway, I also am inevitably asked how it was growing up in a triangle of fan affiliations. The funny thing is, it wasn't very difficult at all. I barely associate with Lousiville fans because I'm petty and sterotypical and can't stand to hear them talk. And all Indiana fans are old. Seriously, I've lived in Indiana my whole life and never met an IU fan under the age of 50. And all the old men love Bobby Knight and all their wives talk crap about him when their husbands aren't in the room. Its just the way its done.
With Marquis Teague making his college choice this week, the Kentucky roster may yet again carrry the name of a Hoosier kid, joining the likes of Walter McCarty, Kyle Macy, and Louie Dampier. Maybe he'll have the impact of those players and maybe he won't. But as long as I live, I will love every kid from Indiana who puts on the blue. I'll love them because we share a common heritage (even if I don't claim that heritage anymore) and I'll love them because somewhere in my twisted mind it still feels like screwing the University of Indiana over is by proxy screwing Bobby Knight over, no matter how far gone he may be. And I can't imagine anything better than that.
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