Our House Divided, GO CARDS!

Have you ever told God there's something you'll never do, or even just said it out loud? I recognize that more often than not those are the things God ends up asking us to do, so I try to use the word "never" very sparingly. But one of my always-ironic-in-retrospect statements was that I'd never marry a UK fan. I probably at some point vowed never to even date one. I was successful for a long time, but of course, now God's having the last laugh. Who would have thought 10 or 15 years ago that there might be some qualities about a husband even more important than his sports allegiance??! For all those people I looked down on 'cause you settled and yolked yourself unequally with a rival, I'm sorry, I'm getting what was coming to me; I'm moving into a house divided.

Fortunately, for our future-family this red and blue house does not yet exist, as today would be a very possible end to its existence if it did. My sister was talking about some bridesmaids' details the other day and she ended with, "I sure hope there still is a wedding after Saturday's game." At 6pm tonight, my Louisville Cardinals enter into what's been called the biggest sporting event in KY history, pitting "the best urban-school fan base in America vs. the best fan base in America, period.” -Rivalry

I think it's safe to say I've read more articles about UofL and UK basketball this week than in my other 30-odd years of life. I wouldn't expect you to go off the deep end quite like I have, but so many of the articles have sent my adrenaline rushing from their sheer emotion, insightfulness, or unique connection between Bluegrass basketball and real life, that I thought it only fair to at least share the highlights (and link you to the articles in case you want to get swept up with the rest of us), and thus add to the madness that I've been overcome by.

"I won't presume to know what life is like in, say, Northern Ireland. I can tell you that to this day, like Catholics and Protestants, I could name which of my classmates was a Louisville or Kentucky fan." -Why You Should Feel Sorry For UK Fans

So true.

From the day I was born I've cheered for the Cards without hesitation, until Rick Pitino took over. Many of UK fans have never forgiven him for "betraying" UK and switching to UL, I'm one of the few UofL fans who feels the same. My loyalty runs too deep to accept the enemy as our leader, his image is forever ingrained in my head in blue. Plus, he's just really been an arrogant jerk, with a recent personal history that's done nothing to endear me to him. So, when I read an article about how UK's present coach Calipari is very possibly a pretty quality guy, I started to lose my edge on wanting this victory so badly. I told Jon, "Calipari seems a decent fellow, I hate to kill him. Pitino's never seemed a decent fellow, so I won't hate to die.

"...that suggests Calipari is simply unlike the vast majority of men who spend their adult lives screaming at 19-year-olds for failing to box out. What makes him different, I suspect, is that he cares about "young people" more than he cares about The Game Of Basketball." -KY Death March

But next I read an article that changed everything. After ten+ years with Pitino at the helm, I forgave him for being such a turncoat, and an all around not nice guy. And I kinda started to like him.

"No, the 59-year-old Rick Pitino who walks through that door at this Final Four, the one who leads these Louisville Harry Potters into their fight with the Kentucky Voldemorts this Saturday, this Pitino is changed. He's grayer and softer and happier. He laughs. He indulges. He forgives.

"Whenever he's in a bad mood now," son Richard says, "the players whisper, 'Go get the grandkids.' When they're around, he just can't be mad."

Pitino said something vulnerable the other night, at the very end. He said, "My biggest disappointment isn't that I didn't put somebody on the passer in that [1992 Duke] game. It's that I didn't live humbly all those years. I try to now." -Pitino New Perspective?

Wow. I can get behind that.

This fascinating article talks about how UK's team is so good this year that a win from them will change, and really injure, college basketball from here on out, "Kentucky totally deserves to win. But I sure hope they don't." -KY Death March

A high school friend of mine posted on Facebook that trying to explain the immensity of UofL/UK rivalry to a non-Kentuckian is like trying to explain the infield at Derby, they think they get it, but they just don't. Here's a little taste of it, for those of you who just can't quite grasp the biggest basketball rivalry in the world.

“The roots of the rivalry have evolved. It is no longer about race and no longer about Louisville demanding a multi-level respect that Kentucky would not give – athletically, academically and socially. Those issues largely have been resolved.

But this still is a deeply ingrained culture clash as much as a basketball clash. It is city vs. country. It is an island republic metropolitan area vs. a more rural demographic that stretches from the Mississippi River in the west to the Appalachian mountains in the east. It is the best urban-school fan base in America vs. the best fan base in America, period.”

“In contrast, Crum took Louisville’s progressive nature to the next level, recruiting far more blacks than whites. And he let his teams play with soul. Huge afros were perfectly fine with the coach. Dunks and alley-oops became the program trademark. The 1980 national championship team claims to have popularized the high-five.” -Rivalry

And although this is definitely not how I feel, this writer had some fascinating connections to the beauty of UK basketball this season and restoring a bit of idealism to a world that's generally let us down, here's an intro, "Let's be honest with each other — once you're past 25, life gets a little grim. Nothing unmanageable, mind you, just a little too real compared to what some of us were expecting based on a casual youth. And when I say "us," I mean middle-class kids with fun childhoods who are now more or less fending for ourselves. I don't mean poor kids, because they knew what was up pretty early. And I don't mean rich kids, because they'll be fine. I'm talking the front-lawn-playing, garden-hose-spraying, Sour Patch-kids-every-Friday-after-school children of the sub-suburban frontier. There seem to be a lot of us. IM me if you want to grab a beer." -Please Don't Lose KY

If UK wins tonight no one will be surprised, if UofL pulls off the huge upset, it's said only semi-jokingly that the police will be surveillancing the bridges for Big Blue Nation jumpers. "And that's why I can't help but feel sorry for Kentucky fans. This season, they only know that pinch of relief, the joylessness of entitlement." - Why You Should Feel Sorry For UK Fans

This hilarious article, if UofL fans don't take themselves too seriously, has 10 ways UofL can maybe beat UK tonight. Here's my favorite: "8. Stop Being So Short. Seriously, it's not a good plan. You notice how Kentucky's really tall? That's the way you want to go in basketball." -How UofL Can Maybe Beat UK

Among the Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen UofL/UK cakes, the screaming with fellow-fans, the camaraderie, the electricity of this week, and the many other reasons I'm longing to be in my hometown today, there is only one reason I'm slightly relieved I don't live there right now, or am joining the family in Lou Orleans tonight:

“All the losers on Sunday have to go to church and pray to be stricken deaf and blind because they have to go work Monday and hear it from the other side,” he said. “Next Monday will be the most vile day ever for one side or the other. The calling in sick to work and school will be massive. You can’t face the other side playing for the national championship while you’re sucking your thumb.” -Terry Meiners

C-A-R-D-S!!!!!!