Transy-UK...a rivalry renewed

With Louisville preparing for life in conference oblivion, it may be time for Kentucky to start searching for another in-state school to be its rival. Ok...not really, but over 100 years ago they wouldn't have had far to go to find one, as Transylvania and Kentucky once had a fierce rivalry that time has since forgotten. That's according to stats guru Jon Scott, who wrote this piece for the Herald-Leader detailing the UK-Transy rivalry of times past. There's no one better to expound on the history of the Cats, and Scott sheds some light on the high points of the rivalry between two of Lexington's finest institutions. The hatred between the two schools, which were once actually part of the same school, was heated in the primitive days of intercollegiate athletics. The football games were big-time contests back in the day, as both teams would employ any tactic they could, including bringing in ringers, to try and claim Lexington supremacy. Basketball, as one might expect, was also a source of rivalry fire. In fact, according to Scott, after Transy decided to ban all athletics in 1906 the two schools played a secret game at the Lexington YMCA, which Kentucky won although no scores were recorded. After a parade that may have bordered on a riot (depending on who you ask) following their football victory in 1911, Transylvania broke off athletic relations with UK and the two haven't competed against one another since. That, of course, will change on Wednesday night when the two teams meet in Rupp Arena for the Cats' first exhibition game of the season. Something tells me Transy won't be quite as successful against their Lexington counterparts as they were a century or so back, but it will still be the rekindling of an intra-city rivalry that burned awfully hot a long time ago. [As a side note, if you're not familiar with Jon Scott's Big Blue History page, you should change that. It's incredible.]