We can all agree that the basketball program reeks right now. It smells. The online perception is as bad as it's ever been. But honestly most of that has been brought on by Kentucky fans themselves because as you know, we vocal and we loud. Other fan bases on social media don't necessarily care about UK that much, but our most negative fan presence is alerting our rivals daily that the kingdom is burning. This is kind of a bad thing because we just do not know how to keep our heads down when things are bad. On the other hand, this is what makes this place special. Kentucky fans CARE more than anyone other fanbase in America. I don't want to lose that aura. I don't want the fans to become complacent. But damn man, we really do throw gas on the fire sometimes. I'm not lecturing anyone. Everyone should do what they want. This was just an observation.
This fan base is UK's best friend and worst enemy
- Thread starter Damage_inc
- Start date
I don’t disagree. I think it’s really more Twitter, TikTok and Facebook though. Most casuals don’t know about this site. We have harmed our reputation big time imo. There’s two sides to a coin: we are both loud and supportive and loud and destructive. It’s both.
True story, the fans voices dont matter, please provide proof otherwise. They could if they want but the job of UK Basketball provides a challenge many would jump at
Or…hear me out…. If they can’t handle online anonymity accounts criticizing them (which every school in America has) then they can’t take the pressure of playing here anyways.
This athletic department is currently a **** show. From top to bottom. The complete disregard of realizing we need an actual GM, handing out million dollar checks to dorks that don’t deserve it, and having a coach that will inevitably get fired because he can’t recruit is just the tip of the iceberg.
Grow a pair. It’s not the fans. It never was the fans. All you have to do is win.
This athletic department is currently a **** show. From top to bottom. The complete disregard of realizing we need an actual GM, handing out million dollar checks to dorks that don’t deserve it, and having a coach that will inevitably get fired because he can’t recruit is just the tip of the iceberg.
Grow a pair. It’s not the fans. It never was the fans. All you have to do is win.
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We haven't harmed anything. If you get a coach in here that wins big we are the best fans in the world. Get a coach like Pope that severely underachieves and we are bad because we don't accept being bad.
I'm tired of the BBN slander. Let's make sure we focus the losing and whiny mentality on the people responsible for it like Mark Pope and Mitch.
Don't blame the fanbase that would pack out an arena across the globe for a summer exhibition.
I'm tired of the BBN slander. Let's make sure we focus the losing and whiny mentality on the people responsible for it like Mark Pope and Mitch.
Don't blame the fanbase that would pack out an arena across the globe for a summer exhibition.
Massive deflection, a warrior like Pearl would come in and blaze a trail overnight, like Cal did his first several years, the momentum would be substantial and immediate. Stein is example of that, he is a go-getter, self driven to success.
I was referring to the socials. This place is for us and it's all the way bonkers and has been for many years. I'm not counting Rafters.
It’s because we have the stupidest people on the planet that stays on Twitter/X and they think they’re helping. They contact players, coaches and do the dumbest stuff possible. They should all be banned for UK fandom. Grown men calling teenagers out is something I never thought I’d see, but here we are. We have soo many more fans that 2% can seem like thousands, It probably is tho. The 90 plus % of us are the greatest fans in the world. The others, not so much.
The self hatred of yourself and others is something that needs studied
The collective fan voice absolutely matters in the court of public opinion. I've watched this portal cycle closely online. The very vocal portion of the fanbase was very vocal, thus setting off a chain reaction of rival fanbases taking notice and piling on. Local and national media use our fanbase for clicks more than any other. As a fanbase, we are a beast. When we are up we are super arrogant and rightfully so. This also shines a bright light, bolstering my original point.
There was no slander. No blame. Just an observation and a pretty accurate observation at that. It sure wasn't me and you who hired Pope and it sure isn't you and I who are whiffing on these players.
The results and the people who lead the program speak for themselves. If they're not winning whos fault is it
100 percent agree. Pearl was my pick. He'd kill it here.
The country noticed because it's UK. They noticed UK didn't have a single recruit signed for the first time in program history. Read that again. They noticed we can't get players. They notice what Pope is.
And we as fans have to be the bad guys for not wanting a terrible coach? Get the man away from Kentucky basketball and get a real coach. This is UK.
I don’t disagree.
In good times, BBN is an asset. In bad times, BBN can be a liability.
In good times, we’re confident to the point of arrogance. In bad times, we’re chicken littles who speak in hyperbole.
I don’t see why that’s a controversial statement. It’s always been that way to an extent, but has accelerated rapidly in the social media era where every moron with a phone now has a global platform.
In good times, BBN is an asset. In bad times, BBN can be a liability.
In good times, we’re confident to the point of arrogance. In bad times, we’re chicken littles who speak in hyperbole.
I don’t see why that’s a controversial statement. It’s always been that way to an extent, but has accelerated rapidly in the social media era where every moron with a phone now has a global platform.
I don’t think it’s controversial to anyone without blue goggles. We are the best, and the worst, and the biggest. It’s not one, it’s all.
Thank Gaia, we haven't had a fan-bashing thread in like 13 minutes. I was starting to go into withdrawal.
You know all those "Whiff Man" cartoons and memes on twitter? Those were all made by UK fans to vent their anger. Our rival fanbases are re-posting those to laugh at us.
Again I'm not telling anyone how to act or what to do or how to "fan". Speaking for myself, I would not make tweets like that no matter how true they are. It's just more gas on the fire.
Again I'm not telling anyone how to act or what to do or how to "fan". Speaking for myself, I would not make tweets like that no matter how true they are. It's just more gas on the fire.
Nothing but Excuses since year 1. We got lucky and beat Duke team when they were down a man. Even the Louisville game at Rupp needed a generational performance by Butler or we would have lost that game also. This was his first year, searching for answers he still hasn’t found.
The problem with your logic is that you contribute to the gas by keeping this issue front and center. What do you think is going to happen when you post a thread about this? That NOBODY will respond? You're just part of the problem you decry.
You're the message board equivalent of a Hollywood celebrity flying their private jumbo jet around the world to climate change conferences.
People are upset about losing. But they are most upset about the lack of accountability from top to bottom in UK athletics. It's a ridiculous scenario that UK football is on much more solid footing than our basketball program in the NIL era. Kentucky football isn't our basketball program, and the entirety of college basketball as a whole is a lesser product when UK is struggling. College basketball needs Kentucky to be great, just as much as our state needs it's basketball program to do well.
I applaud Stein and his staff for the work that they are doing. The buzz and vibe around the football program is significantly different than what we saw from Stoops. I hope that it translates to wins on the field and great performances this fall.
I applaud Stein and his staff for the work that they are doing. The buzz and vibe around the football program is significantly different than what we saw from Stoops. I hope that it translates to wins on the field and great performances this fall.
I’m not in agreement. Our last 2 football coach searches we had to settle for a coordinator with zero head coaching experience. Established coaches would not even interview here. Our basketball hire we had to take a chance on an Alumni coach with a 60% win percentage. All established coaches said , He’ll No. Even Barnhart best buddy turned him down. No coach worth a dang wants to come work under Barnhart where staying ultra profitable is his first concern. Making money for our corporate partners are his only concerns. Barnhart has ruined the UK brand. JMI restrictions and all. But hey, they paying the corporate partners plenty.
Contacting players, coaches, admin, etc. directly is a dumb move and I've always said that. I always cringe when I see people do that. I also don't think we're anywhere close to the only program with idiots that do that, though (see Cayden Boozer at media darling "they do it the right way" Puke; see Texas A&M fans staging a revolt over the attempted Stoops hire even though it was a smart move in the long run, many on here would've called us "toxic" for doing such a thing and said we'll never be able to attract a good coach after doing something so "classless").
I don't love seeing people be overly critical of players by name even without tagging them, but that's no where near the same as jumping in their mentions and doing it.
Offering harsh, accurate assessments of the current state of the coach and the program will ALWAYS be fair game, IMO. Calling out what we view as corruption within the athletic department while the men's basketball program continues to decline will also ALWAYS be fair game.
There's a difference between "toxic" fandom and harsh truths, some just want to lump the two together in order to shutdown any criticism and accountability.
I don't love seeing people be overly critical of players by name even without tagging them, but that's no where near the same as jumping in their mentions and doing it.
Offering harsh, accurate assessments of the current state of the coach and the program will ALWAYS be fair game, IMO. Calling out what we view as corruption within the athletic department while the men's basketball program continues to decline will also ALWAYS be fair game.
There's a difference between "toxic" fandom and harsh truths, some just want to lump the two together in order to shutdown any criticism and accountability.
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In today's times of social media, BBN is not an asset. No established coach wants to come into a beehive of ups and downs. It's a lot to know that an entire fanbase wants to question your ability during every loss. Best chance is for a coach on the up & up that is a cultural fit and has the balls to talk it - Hodgson would have been perfect. McCaskill could be interesting. Both of those guys fit culturally.
Was pope bad when he beat Duke and Gongaza? Your a drama queen
No he wasn't bad two years ago to start that season. It was fun for half a season. Experiment is over. No drama just honest.
I disagree. There are millions of reasons why players wouldn't care about opinions from fans.
He only contacted 3 people as far as we’re aware. Drew, Hurley and then Pope.
With the good comes the bad unfortunately. There will always be trolls and miserable arseholes who are most noticeable when times are tough. However, BBN as a unit is so passionate and supportive. Sure we are vocal when the passion of our fandom is not rewarded by effort (the boos for the squad last season were more about effort/coaching than results), but when we are happy there is no better group to have on your side (forever). Effort goes a long way for us fans. We give our all and really only expect the same in turn.
If we were 38-0 and the fans had this bad vibe that we have right now I would blame us. When we just finished 9th in the SEC for the first time in history and didn't have a single recruit signed for the first time in history then it's crazy to even look our way.
If anything we've been waayyyyy to nice
If anything we've been waayyyyy to nice
Would it be ridiculous if bb was back to its winning ways--yet football was somehow on better footing?
In
This isn’t an accurate depiction of our coaching search. Drew should have never even been approached about the job. I think the fan base for prevented him from taking the job. I think he found Kentucky fans were would not have been happy with this hire. Then it was one day of a search. Point no one wanted to go to Kentucky to coach was created by Mitch Barnhardt. He wanted us to accept his guy. Whoever it was he lied and our fans continue to believe him. This guy is about to get leveled. He’s like I’ve been saying for months years really it’s finally gonna happen and he’s gonna get run out and it’s gonna be glorious when he leaves because he spouted so many different lies and we have fans. I’m sorry that are gullible. If there’s any problem with our fan base, it’s the fact that we’re really gullible as a fan base. I mean, think about this for a quarter century Barney has been scamming us. I’m pretty sick to my stomach that UK fans still spit out Barney talking points. Listen, only person that says Barney had a search for a coach is Barney.. Barney went out on his own to hire a coach and he didn’t put much into Hurley. It was a quick feeling out. There is no meeting nothing.. Barney went and talked to Rick Pitino. I think he solicited pitinos help and they spent the entire day talking to Mark Pope. That’s how it went.. outside of Drew I’m not sure anybody turned us down. It was never reported and Barnhardt. No one wanted to work for him.. the only way he could hire a basketball coach before was to take himself out of the equation. And he’s like a little girl he didn’t wanna do it this time because of his fragile ego. I hope that guy spends time in prison 18 months. He was UK too long and there’s gonna be thing the other s that gonna pop up when he’s gone and I don’t, I’m not a guy that says you just let him move on. If there’s crimes which I’m certain he’s broken several laws for the last 25 years he needs to be held accountable for it. I mean, if the state runs an investigation if it goes to the Attorney General, I think it’s borderline on the JMI issue on what he did with the president bypassing the laws of the university to give himself a big raise. There were some other things that were bypass. It was just him and the president making decisions and bypassing people to be able to do what they wanted. If this turns out to be a pattern which it seems like it is, then Barney is gonna get crushed man. And all of these people have been protecting the man even going back 15 years 20 years I mean when he bungled Joker Phillips and then turned around and bungle Billy Clyde Gillespie that’s 20 years ago and big chunks. Most of the UK fan base has protected Barney and enabled him and Eli to take the university away from the people and turned it into their own science experiment science fair experiment.
It definitely seems like it could negatively impact recruiting, trying to get top players here when our fans are trashing the coach and saying things like he can't develop players all over social media.
Yea, lets look to random people online other than looking to the actual coaching staff you'll be playing for
I agree with this. Loud and supportive/loud and destructive is a great way to put it.
This board is for diehards to piss and moan and hasn’t had any real reach since the late 2000s. It’s been negatively slanted for most of my life save for 2010-12 and 2015 pre-Wisconsin. (Everyone hated the 2014 team until the unexpected tournament run. 2013 is self explanatory. In fact, I had an old account get banned in 2013 and made this one in 2014 to try to he a voice of reason after we lost at UF on senior day and posters wanted to fire Cal because OAD didn’t work and our players all suck and blah, blah, blah.)
Our fans on social media are another level of embarrassing. It’s part of the reason I left social media minus this board last year.
DMing players and recruits as grown adults is such cringey loser behavior. It makes it seem that being a UK fan is someone’s entire life.
So is personally attacking players and coaches by name calling and talking about looks or religion.
Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with constructive criticism even if it is harsh and negative. But personal attacks and childish nicknames are a bridge too far and make BBN look like dipsh!ts if being honest.
Criticism:
“Johnson needs to be stronger with the ball and get stronger physically. He’s a turnover waiting to happen when teams turn up the pressure.”
“Pope doesn’t play his best players enough minutes. His substitution patterns don’t put us in the best position to win. He’s not meeting our historical standards and should be replaced.”
Attacks:
“Johnson is trash. He’s soft and selfish. Looks like a girl.”
“Poop is the worst coach we’ve ever had. Stupid Mormon cuck dork.”
I genuinely think some people can’t distinguish between the two.
Well put - issue is that the "attacks" crowd seems to outweigh the "criticism" and it give the fanbase a bad name, enough to make certain coaches turned off. For instance, I can't imagine Donovan even thinking about it. He's on the wrong end of his career. Needs to be a young, brash coach willing to absorb it and have some fun with it, take it on.