Bleeding Blue!

To many of you, bleeding blue probably makes no sense. If you’re from the bluegrass area of Kentucky or from a University of Kentucky family, you know exactly what it means. So this writing is for those who may not know and, for those bluegrass people, maybe a reminder.

The straight-up definition of bleeding blue comes from the notion that all UK fans have blue blood coursing through their veins. UK’s colors are blue and white, so it’s bleeding blue. I say this quietly, but the term also comes from the wealthy horse farm owners in the bluegrass area. However, that’s not what bleeding blue really means. It’s more than that; it’s a deeply instilled love of the school, primarily its basketball team, though that has since spread to many of UK’s sports, which is a good thing. It means doing everything possible to get season tickets; even divorce battles are known to be fought over them. It means sitting on the edge of your seat while watching on TV, yelling like you're there in Rupp. We ‘coach’ every second as if we’re the guy on the sideline. We hold players to extremely high standards, as unfair as that is. And yes, we let the refs have an earful, though they don’t hear a bleeping word from us. Bleeding blue means we love our homegrown Kentucky players just a little more, but we also love those players who come to UK expecting great things to happen, because we do. We have expectations of NCAA tourney championships every year, founded or not, we believe we’ll win it all again for the ninth time. Basically, we pour ourselves into every season with the highest of hopes and are crushed when they don’t happen. See, when you’re a blue blood, you're committed… some more than others… in all the good and yes, even the bad ways about our team(s).

I was born in a small town in central Kentucky. We moved away when my father entered the military and later went to work for the Department of Defense, so I’ve only lived there for a very small portion of my life. That doesn’t change anything; I’m still a blue blood through and through. To prove it, I stood in Rupp Arena (where UK plays basketball in downtown Lexington) on Senior Night for a very special team. This team was made up mostly of walk-ons, Kentucky boys who weren’t the greatest talents but played with a level of heart unseen on many teams. They played as a ‘team’ and not as individuals; they were unselfish, hustled every play, and would nearly drop from exhaustion since the bench was not very deep. This group represented everything good. I stood there that night as they received their senior-year honors and as the song ‘My Ol Kentucky Home’ was played, and I cried. Me and probably 35,000 other fans of this group cried because we knew we likely wouldn't see this group or this type of gameplay again for a very long time. That was thirty years ago. The part I didn’t tell my kids was that this happened when I had just returned to Kentucky after my stint in the military, having moved back to Kentucky because my dad had passed away. I bleed blue because my father did! My father and mother were so blue they named me after two UK greats from the 50’s. Heck, they even went to a UK game on their honeymoon; that’s bleeding blue. My father used to battle JoeB. Hall in small-town Kentucky high school hoops and became long-time friends. Who’s Joe B. Hall? He went on to become one of the great coaches at UK.

So as with all good traditions, our family’s has continued down this very path. OK, first a confession, I married an Indiana graduate. My wife, being a good sport, supports the UK because her family, but not when they play each other. My sons have become so passionate that they travel to games and even started a podcast on the topic (BBN Insider on YouTube). My daughter had her heart set on a_ending the University of Kentucky because of all the talk around the house. She wanted to experience games at Rupp, be a part of that campus, and even live there. She did all that, even getting her brothers into games and the student section to experience the crazy passion. She got her degree and works at the UK Medical Center. Yes, she yells at the TV when she can’t get tickets, just as much as her brothers, but probably not to the level of her Dad. She, now like all my family, bleeds blue!

So many people reading this are saying, "Well, you’re not that unique; we do the same for our school and teams." … I know that! I’m confident you bleed red (ugh), purple, or green… and it’s a good thing. See, we all need these passionate outlets. We need events to help us forget everyday life and immerse ourselves in things beyond the grind we all find ourselves in. We need releases and the ability to scream at the top of our lungs without anyone coming and putting us in straitjackets. We need to be able to scream at the TV, just so we don’t scream at our kids' sports, or at each other over non-sensical political posturing, or take to heart what so-called ‘stars’ tell us how we should think. We need the ability to celebrate or connect with others in things beyond our daily lives. So I bleed blue! You need to too!