It’s the Kentucky Derby, not the Louisville Derby
“OMG that Pegasus is blue and white, throw it out, NOW.”
I haven’t trotted out the “Grinds my Gears” segment in quite some time because, well, things have been going really well. Nothing really ground my gears about the Cats finally winning their eighth National Championship; in fact, it was quite lovely. But, when I heard that some Louisville fans were boycotting the Kentucky Derby Festival for naming John Calipari honorary Grand Marshall of the Pegasus Parade, I was ready to channel my inner Peter Griffin.
Over on Louisville’s message boards, there are not one, not two, but three threads complaining about the Festival honoring Cal and his coaching staff. Here are some of the more group-appropriate comments:
[Note: I left grammatical and spelling errors intact for full effect.]
“The good news we are putting them behind the horses so they will constantly be reminded of that smell in runt arena. Some may even be pushing shovels.”
“I’ll be taking my bag of cabbage and other assorted veggies to fling.”
“If UK is Honored Down Broadway in the Pegasus Parade….My family has been every year since 2003…and we won’t go!!!! THIS IS THE CITY OF L O U I S V I L L E !!!”
“Bring CAl and the one and doners to the parade. It would be an embarrassment to them playing second fiddle to Cindy Lauper. And the boos they would get would be great. I would give 100 dollars to the first person to hit CAl with a water balloon. [devil emoticon]”
“But, this makes my decision easy. I won’t be attending….and before you go all “holier than thou” on me, I have always considered myself a rational fan, and don’t take it too seriously…so, save the “you have issues” comments. Not only do I find it disgusting that they will be parading this cheater down Broadway in LOUISVILLE (yeah yeah, they won the tournament…blah blah blah)…but the now over zealous blue necks will make it impossible to enjoy the parade for anyone else. They will somehow turn this into a pUKe pep rally and try and make everyone else miserable…you know it and I know it…that’s just the way they act. So, I will be avoiding it.
Unless they give UofL (Jurich, a couple of players, coach Strong…anyone)…unless they give the Cards (and IU for that matter) equal time, this is a horrible decision on the part of the KDF.”
“If the Cheaters show up and you go, wear RED; Boo loudly; and do the IU student cheer….C-A-S-H…CASH,CASH,CASH….”
“Its absurd to honor our rival in our town. Your absurd for thinking its ok.”
All of that for what will likely be thirty seconds worth of spotlight (see, I could make a Rick Pitino joke here, but I won’t). Now, I can understand the pain of having to see your rival celebrated and praised, especially after a heartbreaking loss on a big stage. Sure, it’s been a while, but I have a pretty good memory. Yet, what drives me batty is how Louisville fans have suddenly taken ownership of the Kentucky Derby Festival and the Pegasus Parade as if it were theirs and theirs only. The impact of the Derby on the citizens of Louisville is undeniable; it’s a huge boost to the economy and its residents take a lot of pride in it. I get that. But the event is huge for the rest of the state as well. Try to tell me that it means less to a Danvillian than a Louisvillian, or someone from Caney Creek. We all grew up with the Derby. It was a celebration, from Derby hat contests at school to stick horse races around the yard, to the silly Kroger commercial about the rose blanket that always makes me a little sentimental.
As Kentuckians, we have a few things to hang our hat on: bourbon, basketball and horses. Once a year, the nation turns to us for two minutes, and we put on a show. For those of us that live outside of the state, it’s a homesick time we try to replicate with Derby parties, in which we always assure our friends that mint juleps are “an acquired taste” after their first nose-wrinkling sip. Nostalgic rambling aside, my point is that the Kentucky Derby is just that: the Kentucky Derby, not the Louisville Derby. In a state that is so often divided by sports, it’s the one time in which we’re supposed to put down our arms and party.
Even Rodney King knows our two fan bases can’t just get along, but for one day out of the year, can one of them hush up and let us have our piece of the Derby pie?
84 Comments for It’s the Kentucky Derby, not the Louisville Derby
Good, let them boycott. This means less “trash”
I love it when the loouhvull fans get all butthurt about the Cats and Cal. Screw them, keep on marching CATS. It’s the Kentucky Derby, not the Louisville Derby….classic, and truthful.
Funny stuff. UofL fans think they own the city, when at best its 50/50. Let them boycott, it won’t make a difference.
Holy shit! A Caney Creek reference on KSR?!?! Never thought I would see the day. BBN!
Maybe I’m late to the party, but what does IU have to do with this? They’ve been irrelevant for the last decade until this year.
Loserville fans boycotting? Shaping up to be a more family friendly event already….
That would be great if they boycotted, I wish they would.
Tell you what Tardinals, when you win something then you too can be Grand Marshalls. Just win something other than regular season baseball games. Maybe next year, after you walk through a miserable Big Least football schedule, you can parade around with a runner-up Orange Bowl trophy. We can all celebrate on 4th St. together.
I wish louisville fans wouldnt show up a lot of places… if its that easy
it’s cyndi lauper, not cindy, motherf*****r .get it right or pay the price.
next thing the cards fans are gonna wanna do is put freakin’ line beards on all the horses running!!!
Ms. TT, all I saw in your post was a grey box with non existent letters. Weird. Anyway, did Mislav Brzoja committ yet?
So wait all we have to do for loserville fans to not show up is have Calipari show up? I need just follow Calipari everywhere so i wont have to deal with the card tards
mmmm…derby pie…Think I’ll go home and make me one!
My family reunion’s on my dads side are held at a different family members house each summer. When ever it’s at my Aunt and Uncles house in louisville I boycott my own family reunion. Just for the fact in louisville.
Note: (for Card fans)
Louisville is in KENTUCKY – it is the KENTUCKY DERBY –
Get a GRIP and get over it. !!!
For the record, the past tense of grind is ground, not grinded. It isn’t grinded coffee, it’s ground coffee.
That being said, Louisville is dumb.
Anyone else want in on my three state trade proposal? Give Louisville to Indiana, We get Cincy, and Ohio gets cash and a city to be named later from Indiana. We can just move the derby to Keeneland.
UL fans, that bridge you see next to the soon to be foreclosed on YUM Center, yea go jump off of it. UL fans never fail to disappoint, they never fail to show why they are so irrelevant, and in the end why no one wants them in their conference.
I completely agree that it is more than just Louisville who cares about the derby, and many of their fans are irrational but so are ours. No more than 6 weeks ago we had fans wanting to boycott UPS over a commercial. And to ribin, Louisville is now in Kentucky when all season Louisville didn’t exist. We can’t have it both ways fellas.
17. YESSSS!!!!!
Did these same Card fans boycott when Pitino was made Grand Marshall while at UK or is this a new butthurt thing?
I agree with the Derby to Keeneland proposal. Since they don’t believe they live in the state of Kentucky, Louisville can run a race called the Louisville Derby on the same day and we’ll see who draws a bigger crowd.
That’s just it. For 99% of the year, Louisvillains (misspelling intentional) insist they are NOT Kentuckians.
Then for one day of the year, they insist they’re the WHOLE STATE. Strangest bunch of critters I ever
come acrost in mah whole life. Not only that, they apparently still think them cute li’l red birds
that look so perty in the snow, have teeth. I don’t know what they teach at that university they
got up there, but I do know whatever it is, Lewis Carroll musta had somethin’ to do with it.
I’m envisioning the one tard fan actually typing out “[devil emoticon].” Reminds me how tough little brothers can act behind the anonymity of a keyboard and username.
24 – Haha, that was me…unfortunately, the devil emoticon didn’t come through the copy and paste, but I thought it deserved notation.
This site has devolved from a site for Kentucky information into a site that: 1) links to stupid player videos/twitter feeds and acts like they’re hilarious and 2) makes mountains out of molehills over stupid, impossibly irrelevant slights to uk. Who gives a sh!t if 3 ppl on a Louisville message board are mad about UK? Please.
If you really think that the Kentucky Derby would draw a bigger crowd at Keeneland, you have clearly never been to Churchill Downs. I love Lexington….but that’s silly talk.
Sorry Tyler – I have to disagree with you when it comes to people of Louisville caring more. I went to Middle/High School in Lexington, and spend at least 2 weekends a month there. I went to college in Louisville and have been here 10 years. It’s not even close that this city gets more antsy and excited about the Derby than my friends and family in Lexington. We go about our business until 6:00 comes around when in Lexington. There are parties and all, but they don’t usualyl start til mid-afternoon. A party in Louisville starts on Friday night. People travel all over to just be in town for the weekend. As much as I love KSR and your writing, people in Caney Creek don’t even know who’s racing until the horses are trotting up to the gate….
Churchill is the largest non speedway stadium in America.
Would it be okay if Petino was there?
I would much rather the coach with cals reputation be there than a coach who is banging people at a restuarant and aborting kids. There is no arguement anyone can make about that
Poor high school kid eating bread and butter sandwiches some extra dough……. or banging Assistant coachs soon to be wife and having abortions
podcast??
that’s cool. not worried about the float or honoring UK’s championship, but the ridiculous ignorance and arrogance from UK fans claiming ‘Louisville doesn’t exist’. If it indeed does not exist in your mind, then the attitude of many is, in addition to ignoring the fact that the city is the lifeline for the Commonwealth, as acknowledged by your basketball coach, you can frankly keep your pompous ass out of our city.
**some UK fans. not the many, especially those residing in Louisville, who respect the city and UL.
what’s funny to me is that the half of the people in the city of Louisville are UK fans…the UL fans could all boycott the parade and there would be tens of thousands of UK fans in attendance.
34 – Unfortunately for you and the others that claim this, Eric Crawford of the Courier Journal put that myth to rest with research that came out a few years ago: the City of Louisville is approximately 60/30 UL/UK, with the other 10% claiming apathy or another primary team.
32 – “Louisville doesn’t exist” = “UL doesn’t exist” not “The City of Louisville doesn’t exist”
And if we “pompous” UK fans moved out of L’ville – half of the county’s population – taking our money, skills jobs, overall great taste in sports teams, then it wouldn’t quite be the state’s lifeline, now would it?
And how many thoroughbred farms are left in Jefferson County? UL wasn’t even in the state school system until 1970. So “ownership” of the Derby Parade has NOTHING to do with UL.
Churchill was great until they put those two steamships on each side of the twin spires. Churchill’s problem is that after the Oaks and the Derby, the only people who go regularly are corporate luncheons and track rats.
#35 recent polls, this year, show 60/ 40 with UK gaining support in Louisville. 40% even the low ball 30% is a lot of enemy fans to have under your nose.This is from Advertising Age who did market research on selling sports memorabilia. Indeed, it is the Kentucky Derby not the Louisville Derby but I appreciate how much the Derby means to the citizens of Louisville. They have every right to be proud of the event but the State of Kentucky has every right to be proud of UK for winning the championship and honoring that in the parade. This is silliness trumped up by silly fan web sites.
Well Cawd fans, Ricky was asked to do this first but quickly aborted the idea after he realized he would only last 15 seconds on the float and would have to get off.
Where is the cry baby response from our favorite Louisville fan, Big Richard P?? That’s the only reason I came to the comments section!
39 – Would not surprise me, due to UK’s recent success in basketball. I, for one, would never be stupid enough to claim that there are more UL than UK fans, because that is just ignorant. For curiosity’s sake, do you happen to know where/who did that research?
No one should be surprised that the UofL fans react this way. They are the little brother and they will ALWAYS be very sensitive to anything they perceive as a slight.
When Pitino was hired they thought they would be winning many BB championships… hasn’t happened, won’t happen… big disappointment. Year-in and year-out, none of the top recruits have Louisvillle on their short list.
In football, they play in the WORST football conference in the nation. Teams in the Big East are constantly on the look-out for opportuntities to leave the Big East and go to a major conference.
#32 when some one says louisville doesn’t exist they mean the school. other wise the city is nice.
44) agree. The City itself has some signifcant positives…. The school is definitely second-rate.
41) I think Big Richard P is going to dinner at Porcini’s tonight.
I told him he should definitely avoid getting the Italian sausage there
43. Sensitive to a slight? You belong to a fan base that thought the UPS logistics commercial was worthy of a boycott.
Actually I have been to Churchill Downs, and I wasn’t impressed. But then again I was in the infield during the derby and it was line beard galore.
@27 I didn’t say the Kentucky Derby would draw a bigger crowd at Keeneland. I said it would be bigger than a race called “The Louisville Derby” held on the same day. BTW, The Kentucky Derby would have a nicer track and hotter chicks if it was at Keeneland.
35. Ok, first I don’t buy the 60/30/10. Nevertheless, explain this to me then — and I know it will be difficult for you to comprehend because you are a Louisville fan — how in the world can Eric Crawford come up with a completely 100% scientific method of determining what percentage of Louisville’s population roots for a particular team? It’s impossible.
Why is this so important to Louisville fans anyways? You are so caught up in wanting to outnumber UK fans in the city of Louisville. Who cares?!
Oh, now I’ve got it guys. The school that: this site (and apparently the UK Athletic Association itself – note video above this post) continually talks about, produces the majority of leaders who sustain the city (that I now I understand DOES exist) which in turn is the lifeline of the Commonwealth, played you in the final four, and is unarguably UK’s biggest rival indeed does not exist. Makes a lot more sense now.
50 – please get back to me when you find any place that any person in this conversation claims any method of estimating fanhood composition is 100% scientific. Second of all, the only reason that is being discussed stems from an attempt at a counterpoint claiming that UK does constitute 50% of the city of Louisville, which is false by any of the MOST SCIENTIFIC, yet certainly NOT ANYWHERE CLOSE to 100% valid of true demographics. I’m sorry that a journalist’s poll is more statistically valid than Cletus the UK fan counting UK license plates he sees during his trip to a southside Louisville Wal-Mart. Wow, how did a Louisville fan like me, who somehow graduated from the University of Kentucky with a doctorate, figure that out.
As a proud Louisvillian AND a die-hard UK fan, I find it hilarious when people think you can’t be a proud native Louisvillian and a UK fan. Now, it seems to be mostly the UL fans that have a problem with this, but some UK fans tend to forget that Louisville is a stronghold for the UK fan base.
52. your mom is calling, she needs to use the phone, time to sign off
52) the south side is where you find the greatest concentration of UofL fans. The east end is mostly UK.
And in terms of you touting your doctorate, a doctorate sure doesn’t make you smart, nor does it indicate that you’re smart. Some of the biggest idiots in the world have doctorates…. means very little.
53) agree.
51 let me see if i can make this simple for you. uk beats UofL 4 yrs in a row and in the final four. yes louisville was there for each beating but their relevance in basketball when playing us is non existant. until you beat us. thus UofL does not exist. its a slap in the face from big brother to lil brother – it means nothing more then some stupid louisville fans closing their business to uk fans – because UofL may beat UK in the final four – bet you feel silly now. one more thing when the final four was over 4 people met UofL at the airport to congratulate them on their trip. was you one of the four?
No, 57, I were not there. I were also not one of the couple thousand that attended the celebration at 4th St. Live last week. I were very disappointed I couldn’t make it.
I am from Louisville and my entire family is UK fans. I was raised a UK fan and there are plenty in the city. What is weird about being from Louisville is much of the state doesn’t consider you ‘really’ from KY and jokes you are from Indiana. We don’t particularly like Indiana either, so I say I’m from Louisville when people ask, even out of state. Border cities I suppose are like that. To be fair I think living in Louisville is more similar to living in Cincinnati or St Louis then a small town in KY, so in some ways it’s accurate. My husband is from Lexington and doesn’t fully realize that in some ways we are ‘in the front lines’. Teachers in classrooms hang UK or UofL stuff up before the games. The type of car flag determines if you get let into traffic. If you lose or win you have friends, family, coworkers waiting to gloat the next day. It’s impossible to ignore if they go further in the NCAA tournament. Also Derby for real Louisvillians is about the boat race, the balloon race, thunder and all the other stuff we do before the out-of-towners come in for one race. So yes there are fans in town, but no the state does NOT participate in Derby the way we do. Don’t hate us 364 days a year and on the first Sat in May act like you didn’t. I realize not all non-Louisville Ky peps hate on Louisville as a city, but a lot do.
58 that was a planned celebration not spontanous. congrads im glad you can get people to show up. i was surprised when i read the story. where are the loyal faithful card fans that support them with spontanous crowds? non existent. because its uofl
let’s judge fanbases based on three comments left on a message board.
Louisville fans can sling mud at Calipari and call him a cheater (even though the NCAA says he’s not), but it’s OK for Pitino to cheat on his wife and still be their coach? Give me a break….
we bring them all back.baby where is uk? cant get more any to stay and only 4 recruits to sign up. we will smack you around lick dieng smacks the balls from being scored. you cant win next year the state will once again be ours!!!!!!
i predict vandy dominating the sec next yr and the ncaa tourny uofl sucks
64 i agree. stallings will show his superior knowledge of the game and his mastering of the craft of coaching. its a new world vandy is back!
This is the reason why the rest of the state feels Louisville doesn’t exist, their reaction speaks volumes!!
It’s sickening that UL fans r do small minded & weak. The “Kentucky” derby festival is for state of Ky not just pukey Lou. R u kidding me. They r jealous that we beat them, we won championship, we have best players and just an all around wonderful fabulous college, b ball team and just great. Support the ky derby and stop whining
46: I think Richard will bend over and beg for the sausage.
This is the KENTUCKY DERBY, right??? Not the LOUISVILLE DERBY??? Coach Petino was grand what ever when he led the cats to a Championship. IFFF he wins one in Louisville he can be the Grand what ever again.
You boycotted UPS over a commercial.
Oh for Pete’s sake!!! This is ridiculous … even for Louisville fans. It is the Kentucky Derby! That means “all of Kentucky” is supposed to shine! Please don’t make Louisville and the stete of Kentucky look like a bunch of idiots! After all, the Derby is in Louisville, with the horses/trainers coming from Lexington. That actually makes a great pair!!! LET’S JUST HAAVE A GREAT TIME AT ALL THE DERBY FESTIVITIES!!!
Back in 1996, when UK won they were in the parade, I remember going down to see them. Oh yea and Pitino was coach.
Dear Louisville trolls: UK fans know you exist. If you didn’t exist, we wouldn’t be able to make fun of you as we do. We find it amusing to say that you don’t exist. Why? Because it annoys you. It’s what big brothers do to little brothers. The fact that you are here now making the same points about Louisville not existing is amusing. You just don’t ‘get it’…and obviously you never will.
Louisville fans have reached an all time high with their jealosy and envy of UK and their sports programs.
#35 you must be a typical UL tard. Anyone knows a research study can be skewed (that’s a stastical term by the way). Crawford is a card fan and is just trying to keep the CJ afloat by selling Card propaganda in that city. Look around town now and keep thinking it is 60/30. HaHa. Likely the 60 (maybe more) is UK now.
I am not surprised that the UL fans are not wanting to show up with Coach Cal in town. The UL basketball team didn’t show up when Cal was around either. Monkey see, Monkey do! Little brother is just that little brother.
The best thing about this championship are the boycotts we’ve caused in Cincinnati and Louisville. Anything we can crash in Nashville coming up? Maybe Calipari can drop the first puck at a Predators-Coyotes playoff game?
Oh c’mon Ms. Tyler T! Don’t judge an entire group of people by message boards! That makes you look as shallow & hateful as they do.
Message boards are the most narrow-minded fans behaving at their worst. No different on any team’s boards. Weird group mentality thing with anonymity added to make for a narrow-minded hate-fest that we should all try to avoid. Don’t cause the silly hate to grow with this kind of column.
I’m a UofL fan and I thought it was crazy that Cyndi Lauper was chosen over Cal. No, I’m not too happy UK won and I really don’t care for Cal but I sincerely congratulate UK and certainly don’t begrudge fans joy over winning. And let’s face it, both UK & UofL fans just wanna have fu-un. Bad pun aside, I know most UofL fans feel similarly. Just not the nuts who have like 10,000 posts of a message board.
thousands of anonymous message board posts = lonely unhappy angry person = hateful things typed
Now I better get off my soapbox & go to bed before my wife gets mad and makes me lonely and then angry and hateful. Kind of like a Direct TV commercial.
If you don’t like the parade, run in the other direction, you will fast-forward the parade.
It must really suck to be a cards fan. You finally make it to the final four only to get your a$$ kicked by UK. Then to make matters worse, two days later you have to watch UK crowned National Champs; meanwhile you are stuck back in Louisville having delusions about how good the UofL football team will be. Now to add insult to injury, you are stuck watching all this praise and celebration heaped on Cal and the program. WOW, no wonder little brother has a complex. Does anyone think therapy might help the cardinal fans?
Didn’t read all the post so if this has been said sorry. I am a loyal Big Blue Fan (if needed will give credentials and references). The point has been made that this is the Kentucky Derby and the parade is a celebration of that. I would like to see both teams in the parade, even possibly together holding a National Championship trophy and a Final Four Trophy. I guess I am not as much of a hater as others because during the game I gained respect and pride in how both teams played hard but respected each other. I remember once in the game two Louisville players fouled a Uk player and he went down hard and both went to check on him. I think about how TJ took flowers to the cheerleader for Louisville the other day. I guess the point I am trying to make is both teams deserve to be in the parade and I think as Kentuckians we need to honor both and show that we can celebrate each other’s success. I think we should be different than places like North Carolina and show our support and for each other because like it or not next year college basketball will revolve around Kentuckania.
You’re a good writer, Tyler. “…[W]e always assure our friends that mint juleps are ‘an acquired taste’ after their first nose-wrinkling sip.” That’s gold.
It never ceases to amaze me the number of UL fans that post on this message board. WHY are you even reading KSR if you hate UK so much? It’s a UK fan site, has never pretended not to be, you don’t have to read it to get any news or information about your own team. If I read a UL fan site (which I don’t because I could really care less, just like I don’t read TN fan sites or Duke fan sites) I would expect to not like the content because it is a UL site. Get off KSR if you don’t like all the love UK gets here and go read nice fluffy things about your own team.
Get it right,The IU student cheer is F Kentucky,not cash,cash,cash… Now that would be fitting for IU and UL trash to chant. I’ll be chanting “Butt Hurt Ville Fans” LOL