This Kentucky Wildcats basketball fan was privileged to be among the capacity crowd in Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky on October 14, 2011 when Kentucky (UK) opened its 2011-12 college basketball season with a public practice called “Big Blue Madness.”
I was there when the doors opened shortly after 6 p.m. The actual “Big Blue Madness” event was scheduled for 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. and seemed to stick reasonably close to the schedule. Music, spotlights, and indoor fireworks provided part of the hoopla.
Early in the event the public address announcer introduced the UK cheerleaders, noting that they had won 18 national titles of their own. The cheerleaders performed a very difficult gymnastics routine that impressed me and will likely get even better as the season progresses.
But the focus was on basketball players. In addition to the introduction of the women’s and men’s basketball players and the teams’ scrimmages, several NBA players who formerly played men’s basketball at Kentucky appeared in person. As the NBA and college players were introduced and walked onto a stage, videos of the players played on a large screen behind them. Live dancing and other theatrics and comments by various players and coaches after they walked onto the stage added to the atmosphere. Women’s coach Matthew Mitchell’s dancing was a highlight. Men’s coach John Calipari’s inspiring speech provided another!
An enjoyable short scrimmage by the women’s basketball team after its introduction offered indications they will be successful again this year. I hope to see some of their games. But most people seemed to focus more on the men’s team.
The men’s scrimmage seemed geared toward stressing a run and shoot offense. Kentucky seems gifted with several players willing and able to shoot the ball! There were some nice pass plays, too. To cite one, I recall seeing an open Terrence Jones near the basket choosing to pass to a teammate for a score. Perhaps to reduce the risk of injuries and to provide some fan-wowing sensational shots, the emphasis during the scrimmage seemed to be on offense/scoring. Defense was very, very limited (no shots blocked, no fouls, etc.).
Due to the space taken up by the stage, as well as some areas being curtained off behind and beside the stage, the available capacity for fans was probably at least a few thousand seats less than for UK men’s basketball games. However, had space permitted, UK in my opinion could easily have attracted 100,000 people or more, which is far beyond Rupp Arena’s normal capacity of approximately 24,000.
Some parts of “Big Blue Madness 2011″ were exciting, amazing, and/or very entertaining. But I much prefer the excitement of a live basketball game with an opponent. For that we fans will need to wait till November when the first actual games are played in the college basketball 2011-12 season. In the meantime, for those interested in reading more about my views on the UK men’s team’s prospects for the upcoming season, I recommend an Associated Content article* I wrote last month.
Source/Reference:
*James Gibson, “Kentucky Wildcats Basketball 2011-12 Preview”, AssociatedContent.com, September 13, 2011. Website accessed October 15, 2011.