He might be working in Kuwait but long-time UK fan Michael Spencer makes sure to keep connected with the Cats and liked what he saw from safety Yusuf Corker and the football Cats Saturday. (Vicky Graff Photo)
However, he’s also a huge UK sports fan — and that’s why he was listening to Sunday Morning Sports on WLAP (630 AM) Sunday from Kuwait. Obviously, it caught my attention when I saw we had a listener from Kuwait interacting with Anthony White, Curtis Burch, and myself via Twitter (@bigmike201423 with a handle of The Loyal BBN Fan).
He told me when he was home he listened to our show online as soon as he got out of church to get the immediate feedback from games the previous day.
“Being over here, I don’t get to catch it as much but now that my (work) hours are different, I will be able to listen as regular as I used to at home. It really helps to hear friendly voices and take my mind off home some,” he said.
Spencer said he has not met any other Kentucky fans directly in Kuwait but has had conversations with fans of other SEC teams.
“I have been a UK fan for many years. It was hard to keep up being out of the country so much (with the Navy) but I kept in touch with family and never lost complete touch of what was going on. Being in the military, you represent your state and I was so proud to be a UK fan,” he said. “The time difference of eight to nine hours depending on where the game is being played makes a huge difference. Let’s just say I enjoy the 12:30 p.m. games because I can watch live if my Wi-Fi allows.”
He has British coworkers that have shared links with him that can help him watch UK games if all else fails unless the hassle is too much to access those links.
Since he has been away from home since December, having football back is huge for him because sports gives him something to look forward to daily even if he cannot always watch the games live.
“I watched the first half of the (ULM) game this weekend and was so impressed. While that was a game we knew we were going to win, the way the team played gave us hope this could be a special year,” Spencer said.
“Guys here can mess with me about football at UK but they steer clear when we talk basketball,” he said. “You can see the fear in their eyes when I bring up UK. I acknowledge we had a bad year but they should expect the complete opposite this year. I will get up at 4 a.m. to watch games. We can see that coach Calipari has got his swag back and I for one love it.”
You can interact with Spencer as well even if he is in Kuwait. In 2018 he started doing videos after games and fell in love with it. That’s when he started calling himself the Loyal BBN Fan and created a Facebook fan page where he asks questions that spark positive conversations. He has a podcast called “The Loyal BBN Fan” is also on YouTube. He will also do Facebook Live postgame reviews.
“My newest project is the UK Fan Voicemail Line 270-220-0994. I created this to have fans call in and give their thoughts about anything UK. I try to also leave a question in the greeting that people can answer,” he said. “I want fans who normally cannot be heard to have a place to show their excitement and frustrations.”
Sometimes Spencer turns those comments into a podcast for others to enjoy.
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Spencer has also written two books:
— Love in the Weirdest Places: Be Open to See It.
— Fear: Will It Stop You.
Both are on Amazon and in e-Book options (Fear will be back online soon after the cover is redesigned).
One Response
Thank you sir for your service.