Duke Fan Notes….UK Fans Are Very Nice
I have just returned home from Atlanta and another couple of days that affirm to me why the Big Blue Nation is the best fan base in college sports. Yes, we win and travel like none other. But there also is a camaraderie and friendship that comes with being a UK fan that is simply unmatched anywhere else. Don’t believe me? Well look at this excerpt from a long article on the UK-Duke game on Grantland.com. The writer is Shane Ryan, who I do the “Walk-Ons” podcast with twice a week. Here is what he has to say about the UK fans:
Atlanta is just six hours from Durham, North Carolina, and my guess is that the city boasts the second-largest Duke alumni population after New York (maybe third after D.C. – maybe). Lexington, Kentucky, is approximately equidistant, and while I have no idea where UK grads go, I can say that the Big Blue Nation completely took over the building on Tuesday. It wasn’t even close. They were loud, they were supportive, and they were unafraid to dance in bizarre and unsettling ways.
Wildcats fans also have a reputation for actually being nice. After a cursory investigation, it’s my unfortunate duty to report to Kentucky haters that this last fact seems legit. They may have swarmed my hotel and lifted the roof off the Georgia Dome and overwhelmed the other four fan bases, but they did so with a strange politeness. Their best moment came when the JumboTron showed a young Duke fan with a sign saying that not only was this his first game, it was also his birthday. He was so small and innocent and excited to be on camera that I actually winced. No other reaction occurred to me other than to brace myself for another of life’s many displays of human cruelty. Instead, I heard nothing. Not a single boo. I’m not saying the Kentucky fans cheered for the kid, but they were politely silent in a way that made me want to reach out and hug them all.
I can verify that Shane is not easily pleased, but we UK fans won him over. That is usually the case when an objective out-of-towner (as opposed to a grizzled, agenda-toting national reporter) meets actual UK fans.
And if you liked Shane’s work, make sure and listen to the latest edition of the Walk-Ons Podcast, where we talk UK-Duke, hating Tom Crean and my phobia of public bathrooms. Also if you get a chance, subscribe on iTunes, where everything is better.
39 Comments for Duke Fan Notes….UK Fans Are Very Nice
I am going with #1.
1,4,3,5,2
We as fans are definitely better than Maryland. I was at the game in Brooklyn and it was amazing how rude they were. I understand cheering for your team but i draw the line at booing money given to hurricane victims. The Maryland fans next to me started yelling something about how Cal should give that check to the recruits. I know, the hilarity ensued. Glad our fan base can stay classy.
I would like to make any one of these ladies my new Susan Sweeny. Have you seen her lately? Id like to trade her 40 year old self in on two 20 year olds. You girls bring the depends and Ill bring the scotch!
4, 3, 5, 2, 1
5,4,3,1,2
I know why I love KY!!! 15243!!!!!
I bet dukies love playing uk…just to drool over our fans
#4 wins with the cleavage.
2,5,3,4,1
51324.
But the chick in the wife beater tank needs to take the sunglasses off inside. What’s up with that?
I was at the Brooklyn game too. When the JumboTron showed a young UK fan the Maryland fanbase began to boo so loudly, I was ashamed. They shuffled out of the building pretty quickly when the game ended, yet another sign of poor sportsmanship. No congratulatory tidings, nothing.
12 the chick in the wife beater tank needs to take the TANK off, amiright?? UP TOP!!
…anyone?
5-3-4-2, in no particular order after 5 leave a little meet on the bone for the trolls we will sacrifice #1
All I know is I want to be a purse strap in my next life
I wanna be a purse strap in this life !!!! 12345-54321 who cares witch order, although 4 is the bomb!!
cool story bruh i still hate duke
#18… “the bomb” really? I bet you still raise the roof too.
4-5-3-1-2 (they’re all hot)
I thought 2 was wearing a pair of old-school umbro shorts, but upon further inspection, it appears to be a skirt.
Duke doesn’t have a fan base larger than their campus and maybe 2 random people per state after that. Kentucky travels well because no one has a job and paying $100 a month for your trailer, which can take you to Atlanta, only takes whoring out your sister twice. Once if she has more than 5 teeth.
4 5 3 2 1
2,4,1,3,5.
Wouldn’t be able to buy a necklace for 1.
Hey #19 I’m 50 years old. Respect your elders. What are you 12?
2,3,4,5,1. Is that a teardrop on 4, is she a killa?
4,3,5,2,1
Of course Duke fans think we’re ‘nice’….they’re used to dealing with Carolina and Maryland fans.
1,4,3,2,5…..then 1 again (those look mighty fun)
I know this isn’t a post about Maryland fans, but they are the worst that I have ever been around.
5,3,2,1,4
But Hell… I like them all!!!
5-4-1-3-2
#25 Good guess, but I’m 25. It’s time to enter the 21st century, phrases like “the bomb”, “raise the roof”, and “getting jiggly” need to be put down. Go Cayuts!
4,3,2,1,5
24135 – But, honestly, any of those represent the fine Commonwealth extremely well.
42351
4,3,2,5,1
Def. 5.. 2or3.. 4.. then 1
I concur with a couple of posts here. I was at the Maryland-UK game in Brooklyn. Live in Maryland, so I actually took a charter bus up with about 50 Maryland fans. I was shocked by the behavior of Maryland’s fans. They booed UK and Calipari AFTER it was announced that they had raised a million dollars for Hurricane Sandy victims. They booed every Kentucky fan showed on the jumbotron, including a 5 or 6 year old boy. The East Coast ticks me off. Glad to see UK fans keep their reputation.