Feel Sorry for UK Fans?

It's the day before "the game" which around here, is probably going to have more viewers than the National Basketball Championship since the University of Louisville (my favorite team) and the University of Kentucky play each other Saturday evening in the Semi-Final game.

I had my 90 seconds of fame earlier today when I called in to Joe Elliot's radio show. He referenced the article (link below) about "Why You Should Feel Sorry for Kentucky Fans" which pretty much mirrors what I'd already pointed out. Basically, it says that while UK fans are happy that their team is winning, it is as expected, so there isn't the joy associated with the unexpected wins of the underdog UL team.

When I called in, there were two callers. While they didn't know (they didn't ask) turns out the other caller was a UK fan and I am the UL fan so that worked out well for them. He went first, disagreed with the article, and pointed out that UK fans are happy and wouldn't trade their season for ours in a heartbeat.  Then I spoke and agreed with him, and said that UK fans are happy and certainly wouldn't trade seasons.  However, then I pointed out that while normally UK fans would be overjoyed at making the Final Four and would most certainly be lording it over the UL fans, it didn't go quite as expected. Turns out, Louisville made it first, so were there waiting for them. (Oh, the joy!) Then I agreed with the article, saying that it is great fun for Louisville going this far. As the author of the article said, "The expected achievement is nothing compared to the unexpected success."

I wouldn't go so far as to claim that UK fans are sad, as that'd be silly, and untrue, but the best they can do now is go one game more than Louisville in the tournament.  (It's a shame we're on the same side of the bracket as I think Louisville would have a chance to beat either of the other 2 teams the way they're playing.)

Most likely, Kentucky will  beat UL in order to get to that final game - a thrill in itself, yet when you're the most talented team in the country, is it really a big feat to beat an underdog team that wasn't sure it'd make it past the first game of the tournament? Nope. It's a win they'll gladly take, but I suspect that the happiness they'll have at winning the tournament isn't anything compared to the outrageous, surprising thrill that Louisville got just to get to the Final Four.  So, guess the article is right; you've got to fell sorry for the Kentucky fans, if anyone, as you sure shouldn't feel sorry for Louisville!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303404704577307611133498908.html