Kentucky resident laments home-state fans, embraces Ohio diehards

Maybe Kentucky's cheerleaders are almost always national champions because without them their fans wouldn't know how to cheer.

I grew up in Lexington, Ky., home of UK, for the first 16 years of my life. And I can honestly say one thing: Kentucky fans are stupid.

When I tell them I go to Ohio University, they say, "Helluva football team ya'll got up there. Gonna beat Michigan this year?" If I don't get that, I get, "Big Ten ain't as good as the SEC."

When I go to Kentucky, I feel like I need an "I don't go to Ohio State" sign to wear around. In fact, I have been asked about Ohio State so many times in Kentucky that I have gone from a mild Ohio State fan to a person who cringes whenever the words Buckeye, Columbus, scarlet, gray, John Cooper or even Big Ten are mentioned.

I know I should expect it; like I said, Kentucky fans are stupid.

After all, my sister went to Miami, and she could tell someone six times she went to the Miami in Ohio and the seventh time she'd say Miami they'd still say, "Betcha like that warm weather down there!"

Kentucky fans seem to get a lot of things confused. There was the time when Kentucky was playing Stanford in the NCAA Tournament and the TV cameras spotlighted toothless Kentucky fans holding a sign that read, "Beat the Cards!" and had a picture of a Wildcat stomping out a bird. The problem is Stanford's mascot is the Cardinal, as in a tree, not Cardinals as in birds.

They really are stupid. Seriously. Season tickets for Kentucky football -- which usually is not very fun to watch -- have been in my family since before I was born. This year, my dad called me with 12 seconds left in the UK-LSU football game to tell me Kentucky had finally scored its big football upset. He told me fans were spewing onto the field and told me to listen to the fireworks going off in the background. The problem was that LSU got one more play off, and a receiver caught an 86-yard touchdown pass and ran into the end zone and past the stupid Kentucky fans that were trying to tear down the goal post. 

Maybe Kentucky fans are not very smart because us natives are brainwashed to mindlessly worship the blue and white. My bedroom had four different wallpaper patterns -- one on each wall -- but every single one of them was a UK pattern. I had paintings of UK basketball and football uniforms, and my father would bring home UK football and basketball posters from work each year. Kentucky was heaven; Louisville, Indiana and Tennessee were hell.

I lived in that same room for 14 years.

So, I was a little conflicted when Kentucky played Ohio last weekend. My father wasn't able to do it -- he sported his denim shirt clad with the gigantic UK logo on the front -- despite the fact that he will spend nearly fifty thousand dollars paying my way through Ohio.

Sure, the Bobcats weren't able to beat the Wildcats, but they did put a scare into the nation's 21st-ranked team and cause some of my distant relatives to undoubtedly scream from their trailers.

It's too bad Ohio couldn't pull out the win. Not because it would help the RPI rating or NCAA Tournament chances, but simply because it would make my family finally remember where I go to school.

Respond to this story. Send a letter to the Blake Whitney. (blake.whitney@ohiou.edu)