by Tyler Montell
I don’t know about you, but I grew up in Shelby County. And if there was one thing I wanted to be more than a Shelby County Rocket, it was being a Kentucky Wildcat. Every time I threw a football, I was Tim Couch, trying to find Craig Yeast in the endzone. Every time I shot a basketball, it was a pass from Jamal Mashburn for a game winning shot to beat Michigan or Duke. I didn’t like Kentucky athletics, I lived it; it was all that I knew.
I attribute my affinity for the Big Blue to my father, a standout high school quarterback in his days at Warren Central High School. He loved UK basketball, but nothing got him more fired up than a Wildcat kickoff. Some of my favorite memories as a kid were times when my brother and I were sitting in the backseat of the family station wagon, listening to my dad yell and scream in reaction to the play by play reports while he drove us on family trips. I remember going with my dad to the Cats Call in Show when it was at Oxmoor Mall in Louisville, and my dad waited in line to ask Bill Curry if Damon Hood would get to run the ball more. When dad took me to my first football game at Commonwealth stadium, I was overwhelmed. They took that Tracy Byrd song “I’m From the Country,” and mad it “I’m From Kentucky.” Every Wildcat touchdown had the video montage of the fighter jet locking on to a target and the air raid sirens blasting. I was there when Hal Mumme allowed Syracuse to score a touchdown with a minute left to play on the clock in the Music City Bowl so that Dusty Bonner could have the opportunity to win. Billy Jack Haskins, Pookie Jones, the Pillsbury Throwboy. These are names dear top me like those of dear old friends. So when it came time for me to go to college, and go off on my own, there was little decision to be made: I was going to be a Kentucky Wildcat.
When my college career started in the fall of 2004, Coach Brooks, Shane Boyd, and Tommy Cook were the exciting storylines for the season. I still attended every home game, except this time in a blazer and tie as a fraternity pledge. In this blazer I witnessed some of the worst of times in recent history of Kentucky football. I may never forget losing to Ohio in those throwback uniforms. A guy in my hall in Blanding Tower had a bumper sticker on his door that said “Ditch Mitch and Rich.” These weren’t the best of times for Cats fans.
Optimism was in short supply going into the 2005 season, and rightfully so. The worst Kentucky game I ever saw in person was in Oxford, Mississippi that fall, and honestly, I don’t even remember who won. Kentucky football was getting seemingly worse under Coach Brooks’ tenure, and everyone was turning on him, including me.
My junior year, the man with the golden leg, Tim Masthay, moved in with us, and Kentucky football become a little more real to me. I remember when Tim told me Andre Woodson beat out Curtis Pulley, and I was heartbroken. I got to see the Cards destroy the Cats in Papa John’s, and remember seeing grown men cheer when Michael Bush broke his leg. One of my favorite memories in college happened a few games later, when my roommate scampered for a first down against South Carolina when he faked a punt. We must have watched that replay 100 times with Tim as our color commentator back at the house the next day.
Something magical happened that year, though. Something that I will never forget. With just one interception, the winds changed in Lexington. I cried like a child when we beat Georgia. Running onto that field, dodging security guards, and embracing grown men that I will never see again. An experience that I believed then to be once in a life time. I know better now.
That New Years, we took the Big Blue show to Nashville, to play Clemson in the Music City Bowl. Time Masthay was once again a game changer, this time throwing for a first down. After winning the game, some Clemson fan told me that my roommate threw the ball like a “princess.” I got thrown out of the bar.
The next year, 2007, things were different from the start. #7 Louisville came into Commonwealth Stadium, and I watched the game from the suites with one of my best friends. I remember running down to the field, tears in our eyes, moments after Stevie got loose. Even after losing to the Visor on a Thursday night, our hopes were high for another bowl bid. My new roommates, Will Fidler and Ross Bogue saw a little time on the offensive side of the ball, and Tim continued to tear it up. There were some truly great moments in my UK football experience: Kige Ramsey’s likeness on a sign at College Gameday, Ross Bogue reeling in a touchdown against Florida, Will “The Hillbilly Rockstar” Fidler leading the Cats to a W at Auburn, seeing Mike Hartline connect with Chris Matthews in his home state of Ohio, and Richard Lyons Jr’s destruction of Chris Steltz. But when Stevie Johnson did the birdman in the corner of the endzone to beat the then #1 LSU, I made the familiar tear stained journey to the field for the third time in two seasons, a feat that may never be repeated.
Now its 2010. And for some lucky freshman this fall, they will get to experience a new era in our great tradition. I can only imagine where the program will be in five years, but I’m excited for the journey. I love Kentucky football. Go Cats.
Tyler Montell is a guest writer for Wildcat Blue Nation as well as Saturday Down South. He is an excellent source for information related to the University of Kentucky. He graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2009 and served as President of the student body. He also held a position on the University’s Board of Trustees during that time. He is an avid basketball and football fan. Tyler now attends Law School at the University of Louisville. He grew up in Shelbyville, Kentucky and enjoys watching the demise of the Cardinals up close.
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