WBN Nightcap: Big Blue Year’s Resolution

Nov 17, 2012; Lexington , KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats athletic director Mitch Barnhart on the sidelines during the game against the Samford Bulldogs at Commonwealth Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

It’s that time of year again, 2012 is almost over and people are making plans to make 2013 better. So I thought I might come up with some resolutions for Big Blue Nation.

It wasn’t an easy task since we are pretty much wake up and pee excellence, but I have some ideas. Maybe we aren’t perfect.

My personal BBN resolution is to be easier on Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart. For years Barnhart made headscratcher after headscratcher decisions during crucial times concerning Kentucky football, which you all know I hold near and dear to my heart. I railed against Barnhart and mocked him at every turn. I asked for his ouster. Then, with the biggest decision of his career on the line, Barnhart steps up to bat and blasts one out of the park.

After years of feeling like Barnhart and the university don’t care about football, things have changed and there is so much hope. It’s still just hope but it’s better than 3 months ago. All I ever wanted was for the university to TRY to be good at football, which the was no previous evidence of during my lifetime. Well that’s changed. Of course there is still a gap between football and basketball, there may always be, but these recent events have gone a long way to reconciling the differences.

For the Big Blue Nation as a whole, I think the main character flaw we have shown in 2012 is divisiveness. There was a time not so long ago when BBN meant cheering for Kentucky teams regardless of sport or opponent, filling our stadiums to capacity and traveling the whole country to fill up other people’s stadiums. 2012 saw Kentucky football fans and basketball fans separate into their own camps. Football fans angry over unequal treatment. Basketball fans insulted that anyone prefers anything to basketball. Basketball fans got upset that the media was doing too much football coverage in December.  Each side shot barbs at the other. It turned gamedays toxic.

So for 2013, I propose that the Big Blue Nation comes back together and supports UK, period. Football fans should be happy that they have a financially self-sufficient basketball program, because normally their revenue would pay for roundball too. Basketball fans shouldn’t worry that football will take attention away from Coach Cal’s boys, I doubt he would ever allow that. So if you want to keep the “nation” title, we will all  have to come back together to make it.

I also asked Twitter what their BBN New Years Resolutions would be and only got one response. As promised, I included it here:

@crazylemon67 : @BashBrother1 My #BBN resolution is for Coach Stoops to build a program that makes Lexington a tough place for SEC opponents to play.

I think this is a great idea, Kentucky has been known for filling Commonwealth Stadium despite the football programs struggles throughout the years. However the scouting reporting on Kentucky fans is that they gave up on their team pretty easily. As a Big Blue Nation we need to do our part to make sure we keep the stadium rocking and make it a tough experience for opposing teams. I’m sure Coach Stoops and they will give every effort to hold up their end of the bargain.