by ALLBLUCAT
I remember the first time I saw Rupp Arena close up back in the 1970’s. I was 9-10 years old, and the place seemed like a palace to me. It was HUGE. I had never been anywhere that I was so impressed with. Memorial Coliseum held fond memories for me already at that age, but this Rupp Arena was something to behold. Fast Forward to today and we have another picture altogether.
Rupp Arena still stands as an icon of college basketball. It holds attendance records, it still has a mystic aura that surrounds it when the Kentucky faithful are in it’s presence. But, is it still the Mecca of College Basketball? Well, the answers to that are not so easily obtained. Some will tell you that Rupp stands alone in it’s place in college basketball, if for no other reason than it is the home of our beloved Wildcats, and that is a good enough reason to leave things be. Others will tell you that history never repeats itself when it comes to these places, and every time one is replaced, a little bit of the magic is lost in the transition. And still others subscribe to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” theory. But as a lifelong UK fan, and one who can say they have attended games in both places in their lifetime, as well as seeing the Cats in various other venues, there comes a time when we have to recognize that the best days of Rupp are behind us now, and not ahead.
Certainly there can be a lot of improvements which could extend the life of this icon for possibly another 10-20 years. The last set of improvements which brought us our beloved blue hue to the arena in the seats, as well as the new video boards were welcome and necessary changes which kept us relevant and in the upper echelon of arenas countrywide. Subtle changes to logos and such are always a part of what I call “housekeeping”, because they allow the arena to always seem fresh and current. And make no mistake, I have sat in the very top of Rupp, and have been as close as 4 rows back from the floor in my attendance there, and I can tell you this, while some of those seats may have been a bit cramped, there was not a bad one among them.
I along with others consider the floor to be hallowed ground as a fan, and having felt my feet touch that hardwood, I was not ashamed at all when I took a shoe off and allowed my foot to feel the surface itself when I got my chance while autograph seeking from Coach Pitino and his band of merry men in 1996 (I also did the same thing at Memorial, call me strange, it felt like I was touching history itself). So know that I have the utmost reverence for the place, but I honestly feel like it’s time has come, and gone. While I support the idea of a new, on-campus facility, I understand that the logistics of this may not make it possible, due to the idea of keeping the revenue flowing to pay for the place. But it needs to be done. And it also needs to be versatile enough to host concerts, shows, and any other type of function necessary to make it a true landmark for not only UK, but for the city of Lexington as well.
We need the following things without question: Seating for 20-25K. I have the money for season tickets waiting for the day that there are another 5000 available, and I will buy men’s AND women’s to get them ( By the way, if you have not seen the women’s team play over at Memorial, you are truly missing out on something special. Matthew Mitchell is going amazing things with that program). There is no reason why UK cannot sell another 5K season tickets, and I am betting that they could sell out 50 luxury boxes as well, which brings me to my next point.
We need the luxury boxes. Let some more of that coal and horse money flow into a new facility. We also need a “Jerry Jones” style video display that would dwarf anything anyone else has. We don’t have punters, so that shouldn’t be a problem. We need our UK Hall Of Fame and Museum in this new facility. We need a student section that is twice the size of the current one and loud enough to bring the house down for every game. And we need tributes to the history of the program all over the place. Video boards, plaques, statues, trophies, all of it needs to be displayed so that the fan who buys a ticket gets an experience so far beyond what any other arena has, that they are simply in awe when they leave. I want to feel like that kid again when I see a new facility for our beloved Wildcats, and I want to see it before I am too old to enjoy it all. We have the right coach, the right AD, and the right personnel in place in the proper areas to make this happen. I don’t care if they add another ridiculous lottery game to pay for it, but we need it. Let’s continue to be the best of the best here at UK and get ourselves another palace.
We deserve it.
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