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IYO, What Makes UK Fans So Obnoxious to Outside Fans?

Random UK Fan

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Dec 10, 2018
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24 hrs left in the off-season, so here goes;

@Steelers2012 and I were discussing how UK fans make up the largest contingent on the board so naturally it’s going to get a little UK-heavy around here, especially since many of us aren’t crazy about the vibe over on RR. It also doesn’t help that most other fans really don’t post threads much either . . . and this all just for the sake of conversation on a slow summer day;

There are those that love to play the foil towards UK fans, which can get pretty entertaining. So IYO what specifically makes UK fans so disliked as a whole?


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It’s the level of entitlement for me. Plus, y’all play the victim card for losses big time. Losses are almost always because of the refs like there’s some big time conspiracy against a blue blood. Like just STFU already. You’re not owed anything because of past success and you’re definitely not getting screwed over. Most of the UK fans on this board are fine though.
 
Firstly, I'd say not all UK fans are obnoxious, some are just fine. However, of the ones that are obnoxious I'd say their belief that they are always winners even when they get their asses kicked. (ridiculous, I know) They like to think that their wins from decades earlier inoculate them from losses of today. They refuse to accept their lumps.

I have never seen this from any other fan base in any other sport. Even the filthy bammers don't do that. They will reluctantly give the victors their do. Oh, they may burn down another school sacred landmark or murder a couple of people, but they'll give them their due.
 
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Honestly I'm ok with it. The state is pretty dilapidated other than the horse farm areas around Lexington and some Louisville areas. They need something to be proud of.
 
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Let me get it out early so I can build my defense.

I am an obnoxious Kentucky fan. Many Kentucky fans are. Kentucky fans come across as obnoxious because we tell the true story of the greatest college basketball program in the United States. For decades Kentucky basketball tickets came at a premium. If you got season tickets and wanted good seats that required paying the Athletic Association more money. Kentucky fans traveled to road games just so they could get a seat. I have been to several road games where the UK fans outnumbered the home school.

Most schools don't like the comparisons because it casts their programs in an inferior light. Plus, many of the better schools have not been great that long. Duke never won a title until the early 90’s. UCLA had one glorious decade. Kansas have been great for decades and basically only three or four schools can claim such success over time: KU, UK, IU, UNC. Others came and went but those four are historically good. Now you all don’t attack IU’s late flames, because they have been good for a long, long time.

Kentucky’s following goes back to the early days of radio. Back in the days of radio you could pick up UK in most States of the Union because it had two 50,000-watt clear channel radio stations carrying them, along with over one hundred smaller stations. Hell, one small station located around DC carried the Cats. It made it handy for me when I lived in Baltimore because I could listen to Caywood instead of some clown like Dick Vitale call the game.

In the 1950’s demand to see Kentucky basketball was great enough that WAVE in Louisville and WKYT in Lexington started joint productions of the games on TV. Later they added many other TV stations in and around Kentucky. Those were the first games that I saw on TV as a kid because the networks had not started coverage of college basketball games. Then that group of TV stations created the UK TV Network and guys like me could record every game. In fact, the UK Network got all the games not picked up nationally and we got to see them whether ESPN, NBC, CBS or whatever did not carry. The last game that I did not record was November 26, 1997 (UK versus Missouri). Arizona beat UK in Maui and at that time ESPN did not carry the games between the losers and they refused to give the UK Network the rights to that game. We had to listen to it on the radio. The UK Network ended when the SEC Network came into being; however, part of the agreement was that the SEC Network would carry the Blue White and all scrimmages just like the UK Network did. So, we still get them all. To my knowledge UK is the only team where all the preseason scrimmages and exhibitions games are still shown on the SEC Network. (Many detractors will say they can see all their team’s game, but I get all the networks and they are not all on. Note I am not talking about streaming on U-Tube.)

The problem that I had with the UK Network early on was that I was out of State, the games were distributed by satellite. So, I was forced to have the big dish and in some nice neighborhoods they frowned on satellite dishes in your yard. I had to buy the “undercover” satellite dishes. They cost a lot more than the plain Janes.

I have had folks on this board tell me that Duke, Kansas, UCLA, North Carolina, and others had the same access to their games as Kentucky, but they simply did not have a network that would pick up the games not carried by ESPN, NBC, CBS etc. I can prove I got all of the UK games because I recorded every one of them and have them stored upstairs. Many of my original tapes are available because I gave copies to others and those copies end up getting on the internet in various ways.

I will get hit soon by some fans that say Duke draws more eyes on TV than Kentucky. You can believe their polls if you want, but I go with what I see. Duke in three decades has done a wonderful job of building a good program. They enjoy a big market in the Northeast but those are not Duke fans that will travel with the team, in my opinion. I have gone to many tourney venues that have Duke and they don’t travel like KU, IU, UNC and UK. On the other hand I don’t find the Duke fans obnoxious.

North Carolina has been really good for a long time and lately they have kicked butt. But I still see them a little behind Kentucky. Kansas has now taken over the most wins but still is slightly behind across the board. I don’t fine UNC fans obnoxious; however, I would bet a Dollar that UNC has twice the number of actual fans than Duke has.

Indiana is on a drought since the 80’s; however, prior to Bob Knight leaving IU I don’t think any team was more feared than Indiana. Even then I did not find the IU faithful obnoxious; I found them to be cocky and confident. There is a big difference. I did not like the way they treated the IU/UK series by making demands instead of negotiating. Indiana, in my view, is the second closest to Kentucy for the largest following. There are a bunch of Indiana crazies all over the place, plus Indiana is a very large University and pump out grads.

I hope that I did not bore you with this diatribe, but if so it is @Random UK Fan fault, he started the thread.
 
Honestly I'm ok with it. The state is pretty dilapidated other than the horse farm areas around Lexington and some Louisville areas. They need something to be proud of.
Are you shitting me? Go to Kentucky parks and they are crammed full of Hoosiers because there is no where to go or nothing to do in Indiana outside of Brown County.

Wow. My area sure as hell in not dilapidated and is the fastest going area in Kentucky.

Kentucky's overall population increased 3.8% to about 4.5 million people between 2010 and 2020.

Last time I checked it was Indiana losing population instead of Kentucky.

According to USPS change-of-address data, these are the 10 top states people are fleeing.
  • California. 2021 saw a net loss of over 101 thousand households in California despite a mostly pleasant climate and robust tech industry. ...
  • New York. ...
  • Illinois. ...
  • Pennsylvania. ...
  • Massachusetts. ...
  • Washington. ...
  • Colorado. ...
  • Indiana.
 
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....because we don't have to timeframe our arguments.
But do it constantly anyways.

I think its the opinion that anyone should/would care about all the stuff that happened prior to the modern era, that im sure bert probly touched on in his way tldr post. Least he was there to see it. 😉

seriously though probly the arrogance mixed with ignorance for alot of the non posting sterotyped fans ie the guys with the national title tatoos that didnt happen lol.
 
Southerners just have a general dislike for all Big Blue Belly Yankee Traitors.

Not sure why everyone else hates you.
 
But do it constantly anyways.

I think its the opinion that anyone should/would care about all the stuff that happened prior to the modern era, that im sure bert probly touched on in his way tldr post. Least he was there to see it though.
^^^^nothing more than the words of a fan whose program is short on history/achievements.
 
If it makes anyone feel better, I just started compiling the stats for the the greatest programs of the modern era, and so far Kentucky is 4th - and I've only covered 5 teams.
 
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Which modern era?

^^^ Time limited. Invalid.

I took a poll a few months ago on when everyone believed the modern era should begin, and 1985 received 54% of the votes. So, this modern era database is going to cover 1985 - present.

Okay, so I've only compiled the stats for Kentucky, UCLA, Carolina, Duke, and Kansas. So, it wasn't like I just got 5 random teams. Not sure anyone else would leapfrog Kentucky in the modern era - maybe UConn or Villanova, but that's still doubtful.
 
All time UK is #1, we all know that. In the modern era depends on when the start date is. I figure UNC is up there with titles in 82, 93, 05, 09, 17 but took L's in the title games in 81, 16 and 22. Now UNC did take a L in 77 to Marquette. Like I said earlier it depends on when the modern era started.
 
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UK fans are great. Without them this board would be less enjoyable. I know a bunch in real life and there are a few who have some real issues with being reasonable but most of them are great to talk ball with. One dude I used to work with legit wouldn't talk to me for months if they played and UNC beat Kentucky. I know a lot of UK fans living where I do though and most of them are great people.
 
We are sensitive about our team more than most others, I feel like. A lot of it has to do with history and family ties. A lot of it has to do with college sports being the only sports to follow for Kentuckians. And a lot of it has to do with Kentucky being the most successful program ever.

I don’t think UK fans in general are more obnoxious than any other fan base. Kentucky has a large fanbase and that naturally turns into having more loud, annoying fans. Same thing with Alabama or Ohio State football.
 
UK fans are great. Without them this board would be less enjoyable. I know a bunch in real life and there are a few who have some real issues with being reasonable but most of them are great to talk ball with. One dude I used to work with legit wouldn't talk to me for months if they played and UNC beat Kentucky. I know a lot of UK fans living where I do though and most of them are great people.

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All time UK is #1, we all know that. In the modern era depends on when the start date is. I figure UNC is up there with titles in 82, 93, 05, 09, 17 but took L's in the title games in 81, 16 and 22. Now UNC did take a L in 77 to Marquette. Like I said earlier it depends on when the modern era started.
All time…UCLA has more titles; Kansas has more wins and North Carolina has more Final Four appearances and tourney wins.
 
We are sensitive about our team more than most others, I feel like. A lot of it has to do with history and family ties. A lot of it has to do with college sports being the only sports to follow for Kentuckians. And a lot of it has to do with Kentucky being the most successful program ever.

I don’t think UK fans in general are more obnoxious than any other fan base. Kentucky has a large fanbase and that naturally turns into having more loud, annoying fans. Same thing with Alabama or Ohio State football.
Heritage definitely plays a role. Programs without an established tradition aren’t really able to relate. As for the large following, @Bert Higginbotha can probably recall this a little more accurately; I once read where Jock Sutherland said “If 2 people fell into a hole anywhere in the world, one would be a UK fan.”. I always liked that one.
 
Firstly, I'd say not all UK fans are obnoxious, some are just fine. However, of the ones that are obnoxious I'd say their belief that they are always winners even when they get their asses kicked. (ridiculous, I know) They like to think that their wins from decades earlier inoculate them from losses of today. They refuse to accept their lumps.

I have never seen this from any other fan base in any other sport. Even the filthy bammers don't do that. They will reluctantly give the victors their do. Oh, they may burn down another school sacred landmark or murder a couple of people, but they'll give them their due.
I always enjoy watching you enjoy yourself with UK fans. jumpingsmile
 
Irrelevant.

Haha what's irrelevant? What are you even try to say?

Kentucky is the greatest program of all-time. That is pretty clear. But, when does the modern era begin? I don't know exactly, that part is obviously subjective. So, I'm just using the poll data to reach a consensus.
 
Haha what's irrelevant? What are you even try to say?

Kentucky is the greatest program of all-time. That is pretty clear. But, when does the modern era begin? I don't know exactly, that part is obviously subjective. So, I'm just using the poll data to reach a consensus.
It's all or nothing. Timeframing is for chumps.
 
It's all or nothing. Timeframing is for chumps.



I'm with you on this but I think this is a discussion that needs to be had. Hypothetically speaking, what if UNC wins #7 before UK wins #9? I think if that happens one can argue UNC is in the discussion of being #1 program. If some how UNC ties UK in titles then IMO it's a no brainer.
 
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I personally have no problem with any poster being loud and proud about their program. Despite some poster’s biases, most every program who have posters here have some legitimate accomplishments of which they can and should take pride in. The issue I have with the “obnoxious” UK fans is that they can’t/won’t allow any other program to have their moment in the sun without crapping on whatever accomplishment is the current topic of discussion. Some just can’t scroll on by, or Gawd forbid say “good game” or whatever the accomplishment may be. They HAVE to show their insecurities with a “yeah but, Kentucky….”. As a UofL fan/poster, and being UK’s most hated rival, we simply can’t ever have a positive UofL discussion on this board without it being over run with negative “obnoxious” UK poster comments. And the simple fact is, they have the overwhelming majority on this board, so if you are going to post here, you just have to put up with a lot of shit from those “obnoxious” UK posters. Being somewhat of a proud person and proud fan myself, it mostly makes posting on this board, or even reading it for that matter, often intolerable. Bottom line, there is a difference in being a proud fan of your program and an a-hole towards other programs.

Disclaimer: there are plenty of good UK posters here who are also good people, but they voices are drowned out by the obnoxious ones.

Props to RandomUKfan for posting this topic. It’s allowed the obnoxious posters to post examples of their obnoxious attitudes.
 
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I'm with you on this but I think this is a discussion that needs to be had. Hypothetically speaking, what if UNC wins #7 before UK wins #9? I think if that happens one can argue UNC is in the discussion of being #1 program. If some how UNC ties UK in titles then IMO it's a no brainer.
Not really seeing why it's a discussion that needs to be had if you're starting with '85. All that does is cater to programs that don't have the history or the accomplishments of a UK or a UNC. It's trying to put programs on a level they don't deserve.
 
Not really seeing why it's a discussion that needs to be had if you're starting with '85. All that does is cater to programs that don't have the history or the accomplishments of a UK or a UNC. It's trying to put programs on a level they don't deserve.


I understand your point and history matters. History means you were consistent and to stay consistent/relevant, to win titles as the game changes. That's UK and UNC. Teams that had success in the modern era won't leap frog teams that have done it longer. I said this before had UNC won those titles that UK won back in Rupp's day I'd be pimping them hard. Anyone that devalues a title won back then are just mad their team didn't win them, they still count.
 
Lol pretty good representation.

All ur #1 stats were built off the back of a timeframe with no three point line and no black players. They still count i get it, but its not gonna make anyone bow down to your superiority.
Yep. Texas western pretty much ended Kentucky ever catching ucla. LOL at Pat Riley being outclassed athletically
 
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