It's Basketball Time in the Bluegrass!!!

With basketball season nearly upon us, everyone is talking about our new coach and what he is going to bring to (or should I say bring back to) Kentucky basketball. Excitement is at an all time high. Rumors and speculation are running wild.

The coach himself, however, cautions that we need to keep in mind that we have a young team full of new players who have to learn a whole new system of basketball and things will be shaky at the start. I contend, however, that the learning curve doesn’t just apply to the players (and the fans) as they learn the dribble drive offense, but to the coach as well. There is nothing quite like Kentucky basketball and it can take an outsider a little while to learn to ropes.

Over the years I’ve had the task of trying to explain what Kentucky basketball is and what it means to several people. What I’ve found is that UK basketball is one of those things that defies description.

Sure, you can list the stats--7 NCAA Championships, 13 Final Fours, 48 Tournament appearances, 43 SEC regular season titles, 25 SEC tournament Championships, 1988 games won--but there is so much more to it than the numbers.

It’s about the love that the people of Kentucky have for their team. It’s about the pride we feel when we watch them play. It’s about the heart ache we feel when they lose and the glee we feel when they win. It’s about people who pass season tickets down to their grandchildren and drive 3 hours both ways for every home game.

It’s about the people who show up for every game and those that never see them play. The ones who fly to Maui and Alaska for pre-season Invitationals. The people who throw game day parties to watch on HD TVs, those that watch in bars with 300 of their closest friends, and those that spent years crouching around radios to listen to Caywood.

It’s about kids that grow up playing ball in driveways and backyards, on courts made of dirt, concrete, shingles, and grass with backboards tacked to the sides of houses and barns and stuck up on light poles. It’s about kids who take thousands of last second shots to beat teams like Louisville, Duke, and Florida. Kids who grow up idolizing people like Macy, Issel, Givens, Delk, Mashburn, Rondo, and Patterson.

How do you put all of that into words? What can you say that encapsulates everything that this team is to everyone? You can’t. You can’t possibly understand Kentucky basketball unless you have lived Kentucky basketball.

But I would like to try. I would like to try and explain what Kentucky basketball is, at least to me. So, what I’m going to do is, in a series of posts, try to highlight different aspects of my relationship with the Wildcats. It may not work, but hey, why not at least play the game?

An Open Letter to Lexington

Dear Lexington,

You know I love you. I must. I’ve lived here for 9 years now and for the most part I can’t complain. I love your horses and your fences--both the wooden ones and the stone ones. I love your downtown with the fun bars (putting in one named the penguin was a big plus). I thoroughly enjoy living in a town where I can buy booze, eat at a nice restaurant, and go to the mall.

But, don’t get a big head. You’re not perfect. Your super pollen kills me in the spring and fall. You have a decided lack of good live music venues. And don’t get me started on your traffic problems. Scratch that. Someone needs to point this stuff out and, like any good friend, I’m going to volunteer.

First, let me say that I feel I’ve been very patient with your wonky traffic. I’ve put up with streets that change names three (or four) times. I’ve dealt with the funky light system on Nicholasville Road. And I’ve never said a word about the fact that New Circle can’t seem to decide if it wants to be an expressway or main street. But these days you are really testing my patience.

We all knew that the new hospital was going to require some road work--after all, everything UK does requires digging up some portion of road somewhere--and the randomly changing lane closures on South Limestone during rush hour and basketball game traffic do keep things interesting, but that schtick is getting old. Please finish that stuff up so that I drive over asphalt again and not the giant metal plates you insist on putting down every time you dig a giant hole in the road. It’s killing my shocks and suspension.

Also, I thought you were crazy when you decided to close portions of South Limestone (aka Nicholasville road, aka US 27) for a year. Really? An entire year!?! Is that necessary? Especially when you didn’t start this project bak in May after all the students left, but decided to wait until August, just before they all came back (and just before football season).

I won’t harp on you too much for the Old Frankfort Pike closure, since I’m rarely on that side of town, but it does seem to be a pretty major hassle for those who live up that way (I’m told that people do live on the North side).

And it seems in poor taste to close a large section of Main Street at the same time as both S. Limestone and Old Frankfort Pike/Newtown Pike are closed. Remember when I said one of the things I loved about you was downtown? You are making it really hard for me to get there theses days.

I’ve managed to do okay so far, navigating the continually shifting maze of open/closed intersections and road. Sure, it now takes me 30 minutes to go the 1.5 miles between work and church and getting downtown from Nicholasville road requires an advanced degree in geometry and navigation. But those are minor nuisances compared to what is coming.

Must you really insist on closing Limestone between Cooper and Virginia? That stretch of road is really hard to navigate around, since Cooper is not set up to handle a large volume of traffic and the back roads between Virginia and Cooper are even worse. I will commend you on deciding to do this work over a weekend and not during the week (or on a football game weekend). But, really this is crazy talk. If you insist on doing this, I will have to break up with you. It’s been a good run, but I’m starting to feel like you are pushing me away. Let me know when you decide to let me back in. Until then.....

Your Friend,

Kim

Amazing Thoughts on the Amazing Race Week 2

Week 2: Vietnam

• A Moving Pit Stop is the best idea ever! Although with some of these teams, I'm not sure they ever know where they are, so this may have been overkill.
• One of the Gay Brothers has the prettiest eyes ever. Too bad he bats for the other team.
• Race Rule #1: Read your clue people! All the way through--twice if you have too.
• I still love the Globetrotters and we need more water dragon puppet theaters in the US.
• Why in the world would you think that making sexy eyes at a puppet would make the puppet come to you? Or dancing for that matter?
• Race Rule #2: Yelling at your partner doesn't solve anything. It just makes them mad and may lead to a failure to comply with Race Rule #1 (which is probably what lead to the yelling in the first place). Also, screaming at random people on the street will not make them inclined to help you. Do what your mother always said and ask nicely. Please is a magic word in any language.
• There is nothing better than seeing a team that encourages each other in a positive way. I love Zev and Justin You can tell Justin knows just how to get the most out of Zev without being mean, hateful, or counter productive.
• You never ever want to be the only team that chooses a particular detour unless you know it is something that you can do very well and very quickly.

Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.

The title quote has nothing to do with anything today, but I thought it was fun.

Today, I just wanted to share with you a few links to other blogs that I found via a Newsweek article about some of the best photo blogs on the Internet. So, without further ado:

Awkward Family Photos--Who doesn't look at some old family pictures and think "Oh my God...I hope no one ever sees these!" This is where you can find them. I haven't found any of my family on there, but that doesn't keep me from checking every so often. (And laughing really hard at other people's families.)

Cake Wrecks--We've all seen the photo circulating with the cake from Wal Mart where the baker has written out something along the lines of "Congratulations Mary! Under Neat That Best Wishes" This is an entire website of baking mishaps and misfortunes like that. I laughed so hard at some of these photos, and even harder at some of the author's captions.

Engrish--A very funny site where people take pictures of signs/packaging in English that just doesn't quite add up. It may not be totally politically correct, but I sure laughed hard. Especially since I see some of this stuff on a daily basis at work. I especially like the "Paper Urine Trousers" sign.

Item Not As Described--Ever wanted to buy a leaky door refrigerator? How about some free fish heads? A used coffin? All the random stuff for sale (or free) on the web. Who wants this stuff anyway?

And the All Time Best: People of WalMart--This is why I don't shop at WalMart. But it sure is funny (probably because it's true).

The Amazing Race....Again

Some thoughts from watching tonight's Amazing Race premier:

• Every reality TV show should have a pair of Harlem Globetrotters on it. They make things so much more entertaining. Plus hearing Phil say Flight Time and Big Easy makes me laugh.

• Eliminating one team at the start weeds out the most stupid team. Thank you PTB for not making me watch the Yoga teachers for an entire hour.

• US games shows need to be more like Japanese games shows......Eaaaaaat Wasabiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!

• Why do people think that they can lie their way through the race? The other teams are stupid. They will know that you don't work with homeless kids in LA.

• How do the girls not know that the brothers teams is gay? Those guys are two of the most gay men I've ever seen....they even have matching orange passport holders.

• Everyone needs to shovel mud at some point in their lives. Spreading it on fruit trees is optional.

• Yelling at animals has never made them do what you want. Come to think of it, yelling at people doesn't work either.

• I could watch angry, frustrated people herd ducks all day.

• I love that the Asberger's guy handled the challenges so much better than most of the people on the race.

• People, if you are going to run the Amazing Race, please learn to read a map. And to drive a stick. And also to look at the details. Those are skills you will need at some point during the race.

When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.

With all the publicity surrounding the release of the Where the Wild Things Are movie, I've been thinking about some of the books I read (and loved) as a child.

Now, I can't say that I really got all that attached to many so called "Children's Books." I of course read Where the Wild Things Are, as well as others like Goodnight Moon, the Madeline series of books, and, if you talk to my Dad, What Do Smurfs Do All Day.

But the books that perhaps made the biggest difference to me growing up were the books I read as I got slightly older--the chapter books that I read early in life. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell--I loved this book. In fact, if I'm being honest, I still do. I'm pretty sure this is the book that is responsible for starting my love affair with horses. I remember that after reading this, I spent months giving anyone who would listen a lecture on the evils of the bearing reign. I'm sure my parents were thrilled.
2. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott--Another of my favorites. I still read this one about every two years or so. As a kid, something about these girls struck a chord in me. I loved spunky Jo, gentle Beth, prim Meg, and pretty Amy. (But I loved Jo the best and wanted to be just like her.) And I still want Laurie to end up with Jo every time.
3. The Babysitter's Club books by Ann M. Martin--I have no idea how many books there are in the series now, but I know for a fact that I read (and owned) at least the first 25 or 30 books and a few of the "Super Special Editions." They may not have been high quality literature, but they certainly gave me plenty of ideas for when I started baby-sitting on my own a few years later. I owe many a saved evening to the girls of the Baby-sitter's Club.
4. The Thoroughbred Series by Joanna Campbell--Another series of books that has continued to expand. I loved horses as a kid and these books fed that love. It also made me want to be a jockey, that is until I had my growth spurt at 10 and ended up being 5'8". Still, little did I know that 15 years later I would be living in Lexington and seeing the places mentioned in the books every day.
5. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume--This book is responsible for me having a turtle. The little boy in this book wins a turtle at a birthday party and I always thought that was the coolest thing. I wanted a turtle too and when I mentioned this to my sister a decade (and a half) later, she went out and found me one. And now I have Dean.
6. Black Star, Bright Dawn by Scott O'Dell--I loved this book about an eskimo girl who races in the Iditarod with her father's dog sled team. I loved the sense of adventure that this book had and the information it gave me about dog sled racing. In fact, for awhile I wanted to move to Alaska and race dog sleds. That phase passed as soon as I figured out that it was dark for 6 months up there.
7. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George-There was something about orphan books or books where the parents were absent that I loved as a kid. I loved this one and dreamed of running off to the wilderness and living off the land. The only problem was finding a falcon to hunt for me. And I wasn't sure I could find a hollow tree big enough (and I looked).
8. Where the Red Fern Grown by Wilson Rawls--There are only 2 books I've ever read that made my cry. This is one of them. The ending gets me every time. This was also one of the first books I read for school that I really really loved. Sadly, there were not that many more in the future.
9. A Wind in the Door by Madeline L'Engle--I'll admit, I never read A Wrinkle in Time. But I did read this sequel and loved it. It was a perfect mix of fantasy (which I still love) and science (which is now my career). It also introduced me to mitochondria, and I still can't help but think of this book every time I sit through a lecture on mitochondrial dysfunction.
10. The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter--Possibly the only books that held my attention as well as books about horses were books about Native Americans. There weren't many of them for kids to read, but this was one of them.

A Great Man

The world lost a great man today. He was not rich, unless you count the lives he touched. He was not famous, although almost everyone in Glasgow knew his name. He was not a powerful man, but he influenced more lives than most people could ever hope to do.

Mr. Foster (for that is how I will always think of him) came into my life when I was 7 years old. I was in 3rd grade he was my new Principal. Now, the man who held that position before him was a mythic person. Like Sauron in The Lord of the Rings he was a presence often felt, but rarely seen. I’m not sure that, had I been forced to, I could have picked him out of a lineup and I’m almost positive that he had no idea who I was.

Mr. Foster, on the other hand, greeted me by name (first, middle, and last) out in front of the school that first morning and every morning after. Rain or shine he was there to open the car door and start my morning with a hearty “Good Morning Kimberly Marie Carrico, my neighbor!” I had lived down the street from him almost my entire life, but until that first morning I had never spoken to him and the fact that this very important adult knew my name (my name!) made me feel important too.

By the time I left his school I had read almost every book in the school library, I could multiply (sort of anyway) and divide, I knew the basics of US and World History, and my life long love affair of science had begun. I had learned a great deal about a lot of things, but the most important lessons I learned didn’t come from a book. He taught me about respect by showing respect to everyone. He taught me about responsibility by always taking responsibility for his actions. He even taught me to work hard by constantly being the hardest working person I knew (and the best whistler too).

But the most important thing I learned from him in my 3 years under his care was that, despite my young age, I was important. He was the first adult that spoke to me like I was his equal. He was the first adult to treat me like my opinions were just as valid as his. He was the first adult to make me feel like a person.

Over the years he was always there with a smile and a hand when I arrived at school. He never failed to buy a box of Girl Scout Cookies when I (or any other girl) came knocking. Every Saturday morning I knew to look for him washing his Corvette in his driveway and whistling away. And no matter when or where I saw him, he always spoke to me and called me by name. Always.

My favorite Mr. Foster story is from the summer after my Freshman year in college. A few of my new friends from school had come down for the weekend and I was taking them over to Mammoth Cave. I knew, due to the last minute nature of our trip and the fact that it was high summer, there was no way we were going to get tickets for a cave tour, but I figured we could at least walk down and look at the entrance to the cave. But first, we went into the Visitor’s Center to grab a couple of maps. Who did I find behind behind the information desk but Mr. Foster.

He, of course, greeted me by name, asked after my family, and then proceeded to question me about my first year at school. When he found out who my friends were, he insisted that they see the cave. After I explained that we didn’t have any tickets and all the tours for the day were sold out, he leaned over the counter and smiled. That was no problem he assured me, he was giving a tour in a few hours and if we met him outside then, he would take care of us.

And take care of us he did. We met him outside at the appointed time and he folded us into his tour group. We walked with the group down to the entrance to the cave and stood in line at the gate as the other guide took up tickets. When our turn came, Mr. Foster simply smiled at the guide (who was probably not much older than we were), patter his chest pocket, and said “I have these ladies’ tickets right here.” The other guide nodded his head and we walked in.

I have been to the Cave enough times to recite every tour along with the guide, but I had never been on a tour like that one. He picked on me, of course, because that’s what he did, but I didn’t mind. And my friends left the cave that day as much in love with it as he was. Once again he had made me feel special.

That was his gift. He made everyone he met feel special. Important. Loved. He was one of those rare people who seemed to have an infinite ability to love. And to know him was to be loved by him. Every child who passed through the door to his school (and their siblings and parents) became important to him. He learned their names. He learned their likes and dislikes. He took the time to get to know them. And by doing so, he made each and every one of them feel special.

Yes, the world lost a great man today. He wasn’t rich or famous, but the wealth he left behind him is priceless. Because he lived, an entire generation of children learned to see themselves as important. Because he lived, the world is a better place. And that is worth more than all the money in world.