
2020 UK Football Team Photo by Jacob Noger - UK Football
When March Madness and the 2019-2020 season came to a screeching halt, I did what any normal Kentucky fan would do: I consumed mass quantities of crappy Easter candy to drown my sorrows. While dealing with the heartburn from too many Robin Eggs, I began to ponder all we had lost.
Mostly, I wondered if it would help some of our constantly dissatisfied fans to become grateful. Sometimes we don’t appreciate something until it’s gone. I was hoping (obviously against hope) that they might be a bit more kind to players on twitter and in the stands.
What a thought exercise in futility. Here we are with football AND basketball hanging in the balance, and we’ve got members of the BBN embarrassing themselves all over social media. Here are a few gems:
“Fire Cal! If he changes the name of Rupp Arena he won’t last long.
He’s supporting a terrorist organization!
ALL LIVES MATTER and we owe our black people in this country NOTHING!
I question the caliber of young men that the UK program is now recruiting. They have been poorly led and reflect poorly on UK.
Please explain to me what impact any of your players have made in the black community. They are not knowledgeable or courageous.
Fire Stoops and replace all these racist players! Shame on them!”
One would think that with all these coaches have accomplished, they might’ve banked some goodwill among the fan base. You know, all the money they’ve given and raised throughout the community, the caliber of young men they recruit to wear the blue and white and on and on. Yet all they’ve asked is that we listen. Be willing to let this unfold, and have some conversations. Is that too much? Apparently so. Seems that being willing to challenge the status quo is incredibly threatening, and has made clear the disconnect between the culture of servant leadership that permeates UK Athletics and our self-centered fans.
On December 31st of 2017, I took my nephew to see us play Georgia. What a thrill, to be at a game on New Year’s Eve! We were seated next to an older couple, probably in their seventies. To say the husband was sour and disgruntled is an understatement. He sat there scowling and yelling at Quade Green and PJ Washington and anyone else on the court he found unsatisfactory.
I seethed, and it took everything in me to keep from saying “Why are you even here? Why don’t you stay home, save your money and us from your ridiculous attitude.” No surprise, I was also asked to sit down while cheering for the Cats. In Rupp Arena.
What a crock.
Recruits and players are seeing what you write. With the comments made about current NBA players, it makes clear you’re simply using them to get what you want — another banner, another trophy. You don’t care about them as people. Their experiences do not matter. THEY do not matter. We say we want the best players, but only as long as they do what we want. Seems some of y’all can’t decide if you want them to get off your lawn or stay on the plantation.
I can understand the concerns about BlackLivesMatter.com. Reading through their statement again, it does speak of dismantling the western nuclear family to create a larger village, where everyone has a place. While I understand how that might make some uncomfortable, it’s not right to say they’re terrorists. Are they too far left for me? Yeah.
But thinking that the message we’re getting from the athletes is an endorsement of the organization is akin to saying because I believe in Jesus I endorse Jerry Falwell.
Being aware of and caring for our fellow citizens and their experiences shouldn’t be political, it should just be right.
Things are changing, and they need to. For all you fans saying you’ll never come to another game, hooray! There are plenty of people waiting for your seats, though I have a feeling they’ll be standing more than sitting. It’s about time.
— Keri Scaggs
(Vaught’s note: Kentucky native Keri Scaggs is a former singer — she once sang the national anthem at Rupp Arena — who now lives in Alaska but remains a die-hard UK fan. She shares her dismay over some UK fan reaction to messages players had recently about social injustice.)