Kentucky Wildcats Football: Blackout

So by now you have probably heard that Kentucky’s game versus South Carolina this weekend has been deemed a “Blackout”

, encouraging fans to wear black to create an effect in the stadium. The team will be wearing their black uniforms. They will very likely debut their chrome helmets for a televised game under the lights in front of a huge crowd of recruits. It’s hardly a new idea, Penn State has been doing their white-outs for years. Kentucky has even done a blackout before, although the team didn’t have black jerseys. It’s a marketing ploy, plain and simple, to sell tickets and merchandise. I’m not afraid to call it what it is. It’s designed to create a fun event for people to take part in, so they’ll buy the discounted $25 tickets and maybe buy a new UK shirt or hoodie if they need one. It has a two-fold effect of impressing recruits and creating memory for those who attended.

So now that we have that out in the open, can someone explain the backlash that has ensued since this was announced? The complaining got so loud that Mark Stoops had to address it on the radio. You would think that Kentucky had announced that they were raising ticket prices or eliminating parking outside the stadium or something. But no, they asked fans to come to sell out the game and wear a black shirt. It doesn’t even have to be a Kentucky shirt, just black. I think it’s safe to say that everyone owns a black shirt of some sort. You could, you know, just wear that. Problem solved.

On the other hand there is always that group that surfaces to let everyone know that Kentucky’s colors are BLUE AND WHITE. That is it. No negotiation. They also want the helmets to bring back the “Power K” and probably to only recruit Kentucky players. Because, you know, they saw that kid play against Christian County and the coaches are stupid for not taking him. They are also the kind that want you to sit down during the game so they can see. See, it’s all about them.

So go ahead, show up in your white shirt just to be a jerk, you won’t look out of place or anything. There’s only a high likelihood that the TV cameras focus on you and the announcers make a joke about how you “didn’t get the memo” . Or they start some long diatribe about how Kentucky can’t get fans to buy in to support football. They’ll probably follow it up with some quip about how John Calipari could get black shirts if he wanted them. But hey, don’t worry about that stuff. That just affects Kentucky football, it’s not your problem.