It was that time again, Louisville basketball hosted the University of Kentucky in the biggest out of conference college basketball game in all the land. The Cardinals were looking for revenge from last seasons blowout loss in Rupp, to no avail.
First of all I have to be completely honest here, I did not watch this Louisville basketball game live. The rivalry is nearly too much for me at this point. Instead of watching this game my family headed south down I-65 for our annual “treat yo’ self” day in Nashville’s Opry Mills Mall. Come tip off time I was walking through stores watching the first few minutes on my iPhone until I just could not take it anymore and put the phone away. Why does this game get to so many of us this way? In the grand scheme of the season for both teams this game really means nothing. It does not have a bearing on either teams conference standings and means nothing in terms of seeding if the teams make it to March Madness.
Do bragging rights locally really mean so much that we should be riddled with anxiety hours before the game even starts? I guess since I am a Louisville fan it could come off as sour grapes with Louisville’s struggles with Kentucky that I would downplay the “Battle of the Bluegrass” and that is fine.
I think in recent years I went from “never be friends with a Kentucky fan” guy to actually following a handful of really good guys that just so happen to be Kentucky fans so it takes some of the sting out when UL comes up short.
My wife’s, Papaw Bubblegum, as his great grandkids call him is not only the best man I know, he is also a Kentucky fan so if he gets some joy from the outcome of a college basketball game in December then that is just fine by me.
Coaching changes for the Cards also have changed things in this rivalry. Last year coming off the sudden dismissal of Rick Pitino the expectations for the David Padgett led UL team were rightfully lowered and the while the game was a blowout loss it came off as more as a throw away game in this rivalry. Then came the hiring of Chris Mack and all his swagger makes it hard for even the most die hard Kentucky fan to hate Mack the way they did Pitino. So, now let’s jump into the good and not so good things I saw in the 2018 matchup of the Cards and wildcats.