Is there a more lunatic fan base than Kentucky's?

[LongTimeListener]

I have always thought the answer to that question was no. This furor over Shaughnessy's column seals it.

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/mens_basketball/articles/2010/03/25/wildcat_strike_incited/?page=full

How dare he have the nerve to question the ethics of a man whose only two Final Four appearances have been vacated!

Oklahoma comes close in my mind, Notre Dame of course, USC gets very defensive about the mentions of cheating, and I'm sure you can find evidence from Florida these days ... but for bat**** craziness they're all the JV compared to Kentucky basketball.

 

[imjustagirl]

No.

 

[Pete Incaviglia]

This . . .

The themes were repetitive and highly unoriginal. Most of them used the words “racist’’ and “elitist’’ — usually framed as “Your a racist’’ or “Your an elitist.’’

People. It’s “you’re’’ a racist. Not “your.’’

Whoops. There I go, being elitist again.

. . . Was better than the original column. I laughed.

 

[playthrough]

The line from the B.C. AD saying there are fewer operations in KY hospitals on game days because fans don't want to be under anethesia and miss the game...amazing.

 

[imjustagirl]

I don't know that as a fact, but it sure as **** wouldn't surprise me. The malls are empty during UK games, as are grocery stores, etc.

 

[Ace]

Skip the anesthesia, Doc. The Cats are on today, and I can get me some Oxycontin from Billy Jeff next door.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Wildcat strike incited
Kentucky loyalists pounce on column

By Dan Shaughnessy
Globe Columnist / March 25, 2010

Every now and then, we get a glimpse into a world we can’t possibly fathom.

Really? The guy who thinks the Red Sox are cursed and who writes for the newspaper that coined the term "Red Sox Nation" thinks Kentucky fans are nuts?

What next, Jose Canseco writing a couple books about what a bunch of jerks everyone in baseball is for using steroids?

 

[bob]

Wildcat strike incited
Kentucky loyalists pounce on column

By Dan Shaughnessy
Globe Columnist / March 25, 2010

Every now and then, we get a glimpse into a world we can’t possibly fathom.

Really? The guy who thinks the Red Sox are cursed and who writes for the newspaper that coined the term "Red Sox Nation" thinks Kentucky fans are nuts?

What next, Jose Canseco writing a couple books about what a bunch of jerks everyone in baseball is for using steroids?

That guy doesn't think the Red Sox are cursed, but he was perceptive enough to use that ludicrous notion to his advantage. And it was he who coined the term "Red Sox Nation," not his employer. Shaughnessy might be a lightning rod for many fans (and writers, apparently), but he was very innovative. (I say "was" because I do think he's gotten a bit stale).

 

[Pencil Dick]

The answer to the question in your subject line is a resounding 'Yes'

University of Alabama football.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Wildcat strike incited
Kentucky loyalists pounce on column

By Dan Shaughnessy
Globe Columnist / March 25, 2010

Every now and then, we get a glimpse into a world we can’t possibly fathom.

Really? The guy who thinks the Red Sox are cursed and who writes for the newspaper that coined the term "Red Sox Nation" thinks Kentucky fans are nuts?

What next, Jose Canseco writing a couple books about what a bunch of jerks everyone in baseball is for using steroids?

That guy doesn't think the Red Sox are cursed, but he was perceptive enough to use that ludicrous notion to his advantage. And it was he who coined the term "Red Sox Nation," not his employer. Shaughnessy might be a lightning rod for many fans (and writers, apparently), but he was very innovative. (I say "was" because I do think he's gotten a bit stale).

His coworker coined it.

 

[Magic In The Night]

I think you're right: The original column was pretty pedestrian and the follow-up not much better. There are so many funnier stories about Wildcat fans. He should have talked to some UK beat writers.

And no, there isn't a more lunatic fan base than Kentucky's. Alabama football is close but Alabama has to share with Auburn so it can't equal an entire state's loyalty.

I once had to endure a vision of hell no one should: being on a plane split between UK basketball fans and Notre Dame football fans. So I know of what I speak.

 

[Batman]

What do you expect when a team has more championships than most of its fans have teeth?

 

[SixToe]

Pencil **** is completely, 100 percent correct.

Kentucky basketball and Alabama football

 

[Mizzougrad96]

In basketball? No... It's Kentucky by a mile. I don't think Kansas, Carolina, Indiana, Duke, Louisville are even close.

In football it's probably Alabama and Florida as No. 1 and No. 2 as to which school's fans are the biggest lunatics.

 

[Versatile]

Notre Dame football? Or am I 20 years too late?

 

[GuessWho]

Agree with the others. Kentucky hoops, Bama football.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

One of my favorite stories I've ever done was during Tubby's first year at UK and I was covering the Final Four for a paper where college basketball was for the most part and afterthought.

I talked to (not interviewed) Tipton and a couple of the other beat writers about how crazy the fan base was and after they beat Duke in the Elite Eight I was told to check out the UK fanboard, which one would have thought would have been giddy after making the Final Four. This was when fanboards were in their absolute infancy and half the threads were about how much they hated Tubby and how they wanted him fired.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I'm not sure Notre Dame football cracks the top five anymore.

 

[Ace]

One of my favorite stories I've ever done was during Tubby's first year at UK and I was covering the Final Four for a paper where college basketball was for the most part and afterthought.

I talked to (not interviewed) Tipton and a couple of the other beat writers about how crazy the fan base was and after they beat Duke in the Elite Eight I was told to check out the UK fanboard, which one would have thought would have been giddy after making the Final Four. This was when fanboards were in their absolute infancy and half the threads were about how much they hated Tubby and how they wanted him fired.

I think Coach Cal is going to be surprised how fast some of the starry-eyed fans will turn on him, given half a chance.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

One of my favorite stories I've ever done was during Tubby's first year at UK and I was covering the Final Four for a paper where college basketball was for the most part and afterthought.

I talked to (not interviewed) Tipton and a couple of the other beat writers about how crazy the fan base was and after they beat Duke in the Elite Eight I was told to check out the UK fanboard, which one would have thought would have been giddy after making the Final Four. This was when fanboards were in their absolute infancy and half the threads were about how much they hated Tubby and how they wanted him fired.

I think Coach Cal is going to be surprised how fast some of the starry-eyed fans will turn on him, given half a chance.

I remember talking to a longtime college beat writer who was explaining how winning a title bought a coach a decade of goodwill from the fan base. He was talking about Phil Fulmer at the time, but he said, the two exceptions were Alabama football and Kentucky hoops.