Brow Down

“NOBODY has this shirt anymore.  I mean, look!  Kneepads!”

Actually, the reason that nobody has that shirt anymore is because they stopped making them in the 90s because the tongue on the Wildcat was considered obscene.  Which it is.

This weekend two Kentucky teams will be playing each other in the Final Four.  Not just any two Kentucky teams, but UK and Louisville (we had 4 in the tournament…betcha didn’t even know Kentucky had 4 universities).  This is a VERY. BIG. DEAL.

Why?

Let’s start with the Kentucky fan base.

Below are some pics from our last game against Baylor (all of these pics courtesy of the Kentucky Kernel):

During the game:

(Keep in mind, we were up by 10-20 points for the entire game following the first 5 minutes.)

After the game:

Furniture burning in the streets for victory in the Elite Eight over a team that we have no history with.

Next, the UK team:

This is Anthony Davis, Kentucky’s star player.  He is a freshman.  He’s been named best of everything this year in the NCAA and will likely be the top draft pick.  He is a SUPERSTAR.  Other fun facts: he has a huge following and a commanding unibrow.   Beauty salons in town are running waxing specials this week, I know at least one guy shaved a unibrow into his chest hair, and they are selling these at Kroger:

Davis is not central to the UK-Louisville rivalry, but his role on the team and eyebrow(s) earned him a mention.

About the rivalry:

This is John Calipari (Coach Cal), coach of the Kentucky Wildcats.   He is so revered here people do things like this:

That’s a cornfield.

This is Rick Pitino, coach of the Louisville Cardinals.  Pitino used to coach UK, and he was a legend.  He took Kentucky to 3 final fours and one championship.  Then he left UK and went to coach Louisville…which is like Johnny Damon going to the Yankees (“but a thousand times worse” says Paul).  People took it very, very personally.

It is also worth noting that Calipari and Pitino used to be friends.  Now, they hate each other.  A lot.  And they do things like this often.  I don’t know the backstory, but that’s the situation.  They are also the only two coaches in NCAA history to take 3 different teams to the Final Four.

And, finally, Louisville and UK have never faced off in the Final Four before.   Ever.  The last time they played each other in the tournament, it was in the Sweet Sixteen in 1984 (Louisville won).

Go Cats.

Update: They’re giving away unibrows in New Orleans.