Curious about head coach when you became a fan
- Thread starter Cliffhanger82
- Start date
Watched them in the 80s with Dad when Sutton was here. My fandom actually really began in 1991-92, with Pitino!
Exactly early 90’s here also. I grew up into UK but Pitino was my kid into my teen years!
Family moved to KY when I was a baby. I was 8 when we won in 96, dad got mad at me when I went outside and screamed like a madman when we won in 98. So, hats off to Pitino and Tubby
Same… loved them always but followed religiously from probation years on
The realest fans we have. I was 1992 and 7 years old.
Pitino
And I think and have always thought that’s why lots of guys my age are so intense. I’ve noticed it for a while. The dominance of the 90’s is all I knew and my first experience with Kentucky. I never knew anything else. By 2002 I was wondering what the hell this Tubby stuff was. Pitino is and will always be my favorite coach of all time in any sport, along side Joe Torre (cardinals manager when I was a kid). To me those two are the best you’re going to find in any sport. Pitino made bad decisions, but he’s a much better basketball mind than Coach K.
I became avid fan in 58 and can still remember listening to the game on a radio against Elgin Baylor and Seattle. Saw my first gamel in 62 and 63 in Memorial Coliseum before it was historic to see Cotton Nash
I was there as well. Remember WKU selling red towels outside of Georgia coliseum . Guy Next to me was a Marquette fan . We were ******** during the first game when they got beat . He was a complete gentleman. But he got us back .
At that time they played a consolation game . After we lost he smiled and said “ I came down here wanting to play you guys . Didn’t realize it would be for third place “ .
Those were the days .
Rupp in 1951 I think . It was whatever year we were on probation because of the Spivey scandal. It Was the blue white game . I remember the grownups saying we were seeing the best two teams in America that night . Of course they couldn’t play any real games . But I was hooked. Then listened to Claude Sullivan every game the next year and thereafter .
Still should play consolation game.
Arkansas vs Notre Dame consolation in St. Louis in 78 was awesome game pitting Eddie Sutton against Digger Phelps .
Kentucky beat Duke to top off a great weekend.
Joe B when I “became a fan”. I was 10 his last yr. My late elementary and JH yrs were uncle Eddie. Rex was my DUDE. I wore 3 my entire sports career in everything because of him. But Pitino was the one that lit an absolute fuse that never went out. I’m a coach in large part because of him.
Man, I truly loved Clyde. I wish his demons wouldn’t have gotten him. He needed a little of UK and BBN could use a little Clyde to be honest. Sometimes I think the best answer isn’t a Rick or Cal, but an Underwood type that’s just a GD grinder and hard a$$ed worker that respects the limelight but doesn’t give two eggs about it all at the same time.
I think that's why a lot of us are intense too. We KNOW what this program SHOULD Be. I also think that's why I liked early Cal soooo much. He had that swag that Rick had- That " I'll steal your players and beat your team on T-Shirt night and not feel bad about it." But also just wouldn't fly completely off the handle except maybe to yell at ref once in a while. Composed but inside a blazing hot fire of kick ***.
Man, early Cal was just such a good fit for us. Too bad he just died off.
I was an 8th grader watching on WPSD at like 1 or 2 in the morning. Got busted a few times and finally my grandpa (grew up with my grandparents) finally just gave in and watched with me. He knew I wasn’t gonna stop and I knew he was watching in another room anyway. lol