What an awesome piece. Shed a few tears in that one. Man I love my team! BBN forever

The game that crused me was the 2015 loss to Wisconsin in the Final 4. We was so close to running the table going undefeated and winning it all. Hasn't been done by a men's team since the Hoosies done it in 1975-76 season. Won't lie I cried some over that heart breaker.

@spinblackcircles

2 ай бұрын

Made even worse by the fact we haven’t done a damn thing since, 9 years later.

Finally, a video I can show my friends and family that will explain my “irrational” feelings toward my love for Kentucky Wildcats! Absolutely perfect summation of me as a fan!

@WatchKSR

2 ай бұрын

I am glad I can validate you haha

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Being irrational with my love for UK BB doesn't have to feel so isolating now.

Fantastic work Steven. One of your best pieces yet! Even as low as I feel after the worst loss, there’s nothing that compares to those big moments. Even just this year there have been multiple. Not just big wins but big moments. Big Zs insane breakout game against Georgia had me giddy for days. Couldn’t imagine not having that in my life! BBN 💙🏀

I feel this deep in my heart. Thank you for saying this out loud.

This is spot on. I'm a very emotional fan too and I get why you couldn't watch that 2019 Auburn game. I've always said that being a fan of Kentucky basketball will probably shorten my life by ten years, but I wouldn't change it! #BBNforlife 💙🤍😼

Love how this comes out three days before a first round loss 😢

Kentuckians are very proud of where we are from and are very passionate about positive things that represent Kentucky on a national level, entertainers, politicians, etc. With no pro team and uks successful history, the wildcats have become an outlet for all that passion for our home.

Bravo sir, that was awesome. I could not have explained it any better myself. Go cats

Wow. Someone finally got all of my thoughts from the past 25 years out of my brain.

Fantastic video explaining the psychology behind sports fandom, and more particularly UK fandom. I was blown away by how much I have in common with this guy. I was born in Harlan County, KY (home of Cawood Ledford) and was indoctrinated early. I too went to Murray State (1998-a great year, to 2003). I felt it so deeply when he talked about going for a hike and not watching the game sometimes. It isn’t that you don’t care, it’s that you care to much and you are trying to protect yourself. If they win you can still watch it later but it is not the same, you have to take this risk of the heartbreak in order to have the moment of elation. “Better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.” I took Professor Daniel Wann’ s class and read that same book that you showed in the video. Early in the class he gave us a questionnaire to test our “team identification”. Each question was a 1-10 response, 1 meant you don’t identify much and aren’t very affected. 10 is off the charts. I was decked out in UK apparel of course, and when we all finished, he said, “Watch this!” He called me out to the class to see my score and questioned why I only gave a “9” on one of the questions. He knew that for a UK fan it is 10’s all around!

I am 100% like you Steven. I am 55 years old and Kentucky basketball has obsessed my life since I was 16 years old. I live in Wisconsin. I was going to go to UK just to watch them play basketball. After having all of my classes scheduled I tapped out at the last minute. My wife and gf (now my wife) drove to Philadelphia for the Duke game. Still the worst day of my life. Now I have a 26 year old son that ❤ the Cats as much as I do. We'll be together Thursday night watch our Cats.

UK fan here and I agree 100%.

Man.. this almost made me tear up to see the history. It’s not just a game..

GREAT Video!!! 61 years old and have been right where you are talking about my whole life. Up until the Wisconsin loss in 2015. 38-1 season. Had a profound effect and still not over that game. UK was suppose to go 40-0 that season. How could they not win with tons of talent? My interest in UK basketball slowly diminished all the way up to the 2019 season. I just gave up on the UK program. And I hardly ever even watched any games. Till this year. Such a huge Jeff Sheppard fan and Reed Sheppard caught my interest along with many other players on this team. So I'm back on the wagon in 2024. And it's been bumpy. If I fall off the wagon this year I'll probably never get back on. And go back to Spending more time watching local high school basketball.

My earliest Kentucky memory is 1996 kentucky vs arkansas and seeing jeff Sheppard dunk right before halftime and I was hooked for life! Amazing piece Steven 👏

Great video, Steven. I'm 46 and over the years I've gotten better. I'm still a wreck during big games but I'm not a complete nervous wreck anymore. I have to watch win or lose. I have to know what happens...I have to see it, experience it. Good and bad. The good goes with the bad. It's important to be able to deal with both. UK basketball is the closest thing I have to a religion. I'll chase that high of winning it all the rest of my life and most years I'll be let down, but that's ok, that's life. And I can live with that. And there's always next year. Go Cats. Let's get on a roll and win it all.

@WatchKSR

2 ай бұрын

That's the beauty of sports...there's always next year. It's that hope that keeps us carrying on.

Steven, you are all of us. My wife and kids (not born in KY) don't understand my obsession. They at least give me my space down in the basement (door closed) during gametime. To yell and scream to my heart's content all while standing during most of each game. I have learned to keep any drinks and the remote well out of reach (still working with a cracked remote due to a prior lesson learned LOL). Well done on the video!

My Family have loved UK for over a hundred years. My Grandfather, My Father, My Uncles and myself. I was born in Missouri but my heart is Kentuckian. My wife can't understand why i care so much. Its bigger than us. We are apart of greatness. Everyone in my town knows where I will be at when UK plays. It keeps the memories of those who came before us alive again.

@WatchKSR

2 ай бұрын

Very well said Bob! It’s bigger than life itself.

Go Racers!!! I took that same class at MSU.

Steven, excellent video and describes me exactly. I think I get it honestly from my dad as you did yours. My dad broke out in hives during a game in the 1970s against IU and Bobby Knight. UK won this game, too. Thank you for sharing

What made me love uk was one thing I looked forward to when I was a kid to watch the game with my dad ❤️

Well done Steven, quickly moving up my ranks of fav KSR contributor, you captured the essence of what it means to “bleed blue” in March. Go Cats

Personally been a fan and following UK since “85” Kenny Walker was my hero , I follow all sports now and have fav teams in all but none are as devastating when the season is said and done as my Wildcats and when it ends like it did in 2015 final 4 I’m sick for weeks and wish so much I could change this , I’m a Knicks , Dodgers ,Colts fan so it’s been difficult over the years but every once in a while I can relax . I’ve had to turn the channel a lotta times because my heart can’t take it 😂, I know the feeling. I love when people act like our history means nothing as if you could erase Jordan’s years with the Bulls or the Yankees with Mantle , I’ve also noticed that most fans who says our banners mean nothing is a part of fan bases with less accomplishments because you will never hear UCLA or Lakers or 49ers fans ever say your history success is irrelevant.

As a huge fan, I would love for our coaching staff to watch this video! Heck, even the players too. It shows how much we love our program/Dynasty, and really support and love our players! It portrays EXACTLY how our die hard UK fans feel! Through the sad times and great times, we love our C-A-T-S!! 💙

Great video! We talked about this exact thing when we talked last month. Love the in depth video though! Expressed many UK fans feelings!

I feel the same way, except I am a Louisville fan. My best friend is a die hard UK fan and this is him also.

This year, for the first time, I had games I couldn't watch because it was too stressful, so I can relate.

Awesome video! It's more than just a game, go cats!!

Could not agree more!! Perfectly describes the emotional rollercoaster I get on every year!!

Kentucky basketball is a way of life ❤ Go Big Blue!!! #TimeFor9 #BBN

From the cradle to the grave it's ALWAYS been UK #BBN. Let's get a roll call where everybody is from....

Hey Stephen! I met you for the first time at Tin Roof on Thursday while Shannon was playing. I'm the Cat fan from Georgia. From the video, I have deduced that we are the same age. It was good to meet you. Love this video and all your others! Keep up the awesome work! GBB!

@WatchKSR

2 ай бұрын

Yes it was nice to meet you! Alice Blue Gown rocked

When I enrolled at UK in 1974 I knew nothing about Kentucky basketball. That soon changed because some guys from my dorm were diehard fans and I went with them to the basketball and football games. I joined a fraternity in the spring and the whole house attended games together. I don’t even live in Kentucky anymore but I bleed Blue forever and so does my wife of 37 years who I converted to a Cats fan.

That was incredible. I've been told "it's only a game" so many times that I started to think there was something wrong with me for feeling so intensely the ups and downs of sports. I am loyal to all the teams I pull for. I do understand the direct correlation between the levels of my emotions and the expectations of the teams for that season. It's odd that cheering for a team that is having a terrible season is almost enjoyable in laughing at the futility. It's the really good teams that fail that is the most frustrating. I'm so thankful to be a Kentucky Wildcat fan. I am very new to the fandom, I only started pulling for UK in 2021, when my daughter decided to attend UK. I embraced Big Blue Nation from day one. I was excited to finally have a genuine college loyalty. Growing up in northern Illinois, we pulled for the Illini occasionally, but we were way closer to Madison and the Wisconsin Badgers. After moving to Wisconsin in 2000, I would "sort of" pull for the Badgers, even (in retrospect, regretfully) pulling for them in that one game that shall not be spoken of. But even just being part of BBN for the last three years, this team has the ability to ruin my day, week, month like a team I've supported for years. Thank you for this piece, it validates that I'm not crazy and that I should embrace the anxiety, not hide from it.

Need more of this type of content

Im crying because i completely am you and you are me when we watch Kentucky basketball. I dont know the last 40 minute full game ive watched with kentucky. Maybe vandy or Georgia. It's extremely stressful! Thats why when someone tells me its just a game, i always reply, checkers is just a game , chess is just a game. If youre born on Kentucky soil, like me and like most of you, it just means more. It means so much more than a game. Its a way of life. It feels like Kentucky basketball is everything because it is. And i say we stop worrying about our defense , stop worrying about the past and lets all as one give all these kids every bit of our energy! Lets remind the entire world just who the hell we are!! We are The University Of Kentucky! The greatest college basketball program the world has ever known !. Let's win this entire tournament!!!! And lets do it together!! Bbn!!!!!!!!

@WatchKSR

2 ай бұрын

Spot on!

Thank you very well done and true GO CATS

That was incredibly! I needed to hear every word! 😂 I feel the same way about Uk football these days too! It’s all such a powerful tribal experience. Go Cats!!!

Great work. Cause this is exactly how I feel. A lot of people don’t understand it at all. But when you’ve been in it since a kid. That’s all we know!!!!

@CellarDoorx06

2 ай бұрын

Damn straight!

This is literally me and makes my level of fandom feel so valid. After that LSU loss, I was NOT okay. Work? Nope. Great work here, thank you so much for sharing!

@WatchKSR

2 ай бұрын

I could not sleep that night. It hurt for days after.

God and UK basketball have been the only constants throughout my life. And I have been UK fan way longer than I've been a Christian

The best KSR video ever.

Another great video essay Steven. You have perfectly encapsulated what it means to be a Kentucky basketball fan.

@WatchKSR

2 ай бұрын

Appreciate that CJ!

Just sent this to my wife of 21 years .maybe she will get it now! Lol

Often I'll DVR UK's basketball games because I cannot stand to watch them lose. I'll peak online periodically during the game to see what the score is. After it's over, and if UK won, I'll watch the DVR. I didn't watch either the Mississippi State or 2nd Tennessee games live. My heart and blood pressure couldn't take it. This video touches on a number things I have experienced since 1966 as member of the BBN. Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.

As a former high school player, D2 bball player (bench warmer), and high school bball coach... I took me until about age 40 to realize that if I can't get my own teenagers to do simple tasks... if I can't get my teenaged students at school to understand computer science objectives... why do I allow myself to get so high & so low for my team of teens from Lexington? Yet, I do and have always done. I still hate that Christian Laettner hit that shot, that WVU played that God-forsaken 1-3-1 on a night we couldn't throw one in the ocean if we were on the beach (and that Jodie Meeks left when he did), and may more than I can write. Very well done with this video. Excellent work, editing, and content. Just what I (and all BBN) needed!

Great momentary. So true. A great perspective. Therapy for us.

I was a fan starting in 1969, as a freshman at UK, even though I grew up in the Louisville area and followed the Cards. Denny Crum lived just down the street from me when I was in high school. But at became a big blue fan. I live in Canada, moved up in 1977, with my Canadian wife I met at UK. I still get excited every basketball season, with hopes for another national championship. It is a wild roller coaster for sure. The game has changed a lot. Nobody transferred and no body left early for the NBA. I love it when players come back for another year! One of my favourite all time players sort of epitomizes Wildcat basketball was Alex Poythress. Man how he put it all out there for the fans!

Dido. So cool. Its because we love our Wildcats and we bleed Blue. Go Big Blue #1BBN

Love this! I need this video to play before anyone gets to know me. Would help them understand 😆 awsome video #BIGBLUENATION

@WatchKSR

2 ай бұрын

Haha I made my girlfriend watch the Jimmy Fallon version of Fever Pitch before we started dating.

@wildcatrewind

2 ай бұрын

@@WatchKSR 🤣 I had my wife watch 6th man "bluesanity"

WE NEVER GIVE UP ON OUR FAMILIA 💙 #GOBIGBLUENATION 💪💯☝️

I teared up to this 🙏🔥🙌🏻

This is me. I totally relate. GO BIG BLUE!

Rupp Arena is no longer the intimidating place it once was (thanks Cal), but once in awhile that sudden and LOUD collective "yeah!" or whatever people scream when they're excited, what tends to forever imprint UK in someone's blood.

Yeal im in too it with them young men I've been trying to stay cool like john this year you got to love Kentucky

As a lifelong CATS fan, I identify with this so much. I was actually at Murray State as a psychology major when Dr. Daniel Wann first came to Murray and remember his research on team identification well. I also have the memory burned in my brain of crying on campus after Christian Laettner killed our dreams. I have to leave during games to this day. It’s not just a game😊.

This is spot on 🔥.. fire video seriously. Time for 9

My prom was on the night of “that game”. I spent the final minutes of regulation and overtime listening to the game via a telephone held up to the TV by my dad. Talk about a roller coaster of a night.

This is me to a tee like when we lost to Texas a&m the first time i started crying and my mom said it’s just a game it’s not the end of the world and I thought it is not just a game it’s my life my reason to live

Most Kentucky fans are probably from Kentucky, or went there, or were introduced to it from a very young age. Or some combination of the three. And then there's me. A then-18 year old from a suburb of Toronto, Canada, who - long story short - was brought to this fanbase by fate. My folks around me don't quite understand it, and I can't explain it, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

@WatchKSR

2 ай бұрын

That is awesome. Got to meet fans from England and Spain last year in London.

This perfectly describes my life as a Kentucky fan. I have been invited to weddings and I have to look at the Kentucky schedule before I respond......some people just don't understand that kind of (irrational) behavior and I can't understand planning any event when Kentucky plays. This is an amazing job done to capture the emotions of a sports fan. Great Job Steven!!!

I felt this. Just recently ive been able to actually watch a game all the way through. Before id have it recorded and see if we won or loss then if we won id watch 😂. I guess the stress of watching when where losing is so agonizing for those few hours id rather get it over quick by looking at the score.Almost like pulling a band aid real fast. I started watching them all the way through with the Mississippi State game only because my son had it on when i got home. Alot of yelling and jumping up and down that night. For the people that arent that passionate i almost feel bad for them because its such a rush but at the same time i almost envy them 😂 Im already stressing over the tournament so we’ll see how this goes🤞 GO BIG BLUE!!!

Awesome video

This is so good! Spot on

love your videos bro great job

@WatchKSR

2 ай бұрын

Thanks Jimmy! I really appreciate that.

Great Video!!!!

Infinite Jest by DFW is a relevant book here

If you are from Kentucky ur bread to bleed blue and you live for the team u live to watch UK win in March and hate absolutely feal if we lose the sun won't come up the next day and u feal it in ur soul we truly bleed blue

I was actually a Ville fan mid 70's Wesley Cox Darrell Griff, Ricky Gallion, but I watched the 76 NIT and got hooked as a UK fan, then I kinda dropped back to the ville in 79 through 86 but then back to Ky fan from then on and I loved Pitiner I just wish he would have stayed we would have passed UCLA in NCAA championships

@WatchKSR

2 ай бұрын

Wow thank goodness you made the switch early lol.

Dang this is me with UK football and basketball

@WatchKSR

2 ай бұрын

Same. The '02 LSU game and Florida 2019 both bother me still haha

Great video! I am an addict and I need 9!

Exactly, after a brutal loss my attitude and outlook goes really South. Family doesn't understand the emotions a true fan puts on the line for Kentucky basketball. But honestly the past few I've gotten used to disappointing seasons. Title " Blue Blood" is slowly slipping out of our fans vocabulary.

True. It’s all true.

This is great.

A Boy, A Ball and A Dream...

it’s mainly because Kentucky doesn’t have a pro sports team just like Alabama, so back in the day this was the thing for everyone to cheer for, it’s why the expectations and pride were always high for both colleges in their own sport.

There’s nothing like being apart of BBN ❤❤❤!!!

Awsome

Well done.

Great video, GOO CATS

Great video! Go cats!

Luckily Cal usually loses the first game of every tournament, so we never hurt too much. doing us a favor really!

I'm 46 and one thing I do know and have learned to accept....is that I do need help but there's never guna be cure or treatment for my addiction to KENTUCKY basketball. The love goes too deep, it's like a brother to me. The pain is almost unbearable especially when we lose in the NCAA tournament....it's the lowest of lows, a depression impossible to put into words! I absolutely love NCAA tournament time but in the back of my mind while I type this is a pending dread of the thought of the season ending and that the next game could be the last one til November......another 7 half months of waiting til next season! That always sucks (except for the years of 1996, 1998 and 2012) those off seasons were the best!!

😢😢😢😢😢😢😢❤

March 31st is my birthday. So yeah I understand.

Great video and I hope we can make a run this time cause after the sec tournament I can’t accept another failure anymore

@WatchKSR

2 ай бұрын

I hope so too

I hope we win it all this year so I can tell all the Calipari haters to stfu!! I love our coach and especially the awe inspiring team we have this year!!

You nailed it my friend! (See what i did there)

yes, it only means everything, Go Heels!

I live in Indiana I’m from Kentucky and I live in an apartment, the cops got called to my apartment on Friday because of me yelling so much. They just couldn’t understand and didn’t believe me they thought it was a domestic call or something, I bring my hand in 2015 after the Wisconsin game. You would think Indiana people are like that but it’s not even close lives in Colorado and California Florida too and there’s nothing like Kentucky fans I lived in Versailles growing up and in March of the games is on and during school and we watch the game during class

As much as I HATE UL basketball sucking these days, I have enjoyed a stress free Fall, Winter, and Spring for the first few years of my life. I’m an accountant, and tax season sucks when you want to go watch your team, but I no longer have that problem. 🤣

AMEN--- GO DUKE

Kentucky Basketball isn't a choice, Fandom, or a hobby... its a birthright, a lifestyle, religion. If you weren't born into it you don't get it. I often wait until halftime to start watching the game so I can skip commercials and if we get behind I can FF so I don't have to suffer through it... hurts to watch sometimes man, I feel ya.

Cal said the UK coach job was a 10 year gig. He is overdue to leave.

I’ve lived in Kentucky 63 years and all I care about is College Football

@WatchKSR

2 ай бұрын

I get the same way for football games haha

Too bad it don’t mean anything to the head coach. Just a stepping stone and shame on Mitch for letting it happen. People need to not go to the games next season if he stays.

How could you possibly not watch the game? I can see takin the dog for a walk if we're down 10 and you need a minute, but not watching any of the game is Crazy.

@WatchKSR

2 ай бұрын

Haha first and only time I did that. But yes very crazy

@bshayc79

2 ай бұрын

@@WatchKSR I understand the feeling, but I am def incapable of going thru with it lol

Used to be "well, we may be near last in education near the bottom in poverty. We're near the top in obesity and near top in joke punchlines but: year in and year out our basketball team would likely beat your teams ass". Something to be proud of. Sadly, Coach Cal doesn't get it or doesn't care. Sold us out for his own agenda.

@WatchKSR

2 ай бұрын

Yep! I tell this to people who aren't from here all of the time. It's the pride of this Commonwealth.