Big Blue Fans For

Football and Basketball

Welcome to
Big Blue Fans For UK Football and Basketball,
A Site Dedicated to the Preservation
Of UK Basketball History, Traditions, and Lore
From the Fans' Perspective

If You Are a Big Blue Fan, You Can Participate
In This Site in Several Ways:  YOU CAN:

1.  Be a Site Member

2.  Contribute Your Memories

 

IT IS TIME FOR CALIPARI TO GO!

In 2006, I worked with an loosely organized group of Concerned UK Fans who wanted Tubby Smith Removed as UK Basketball Coach. Those activities were widely reported at the time and fully documented. Furthermore, those activities became public in June 2006, and in March 2007, Tubby Smith resigned. The following Chart is an extension of a similar presentation used in 2006 to demonstrate why Tubby Smith had taken the program from the heights established by Pitino into mediocrity. It is time to renew the concern about the direction of the program under Calipari's leadership.

First one should notice the declining trend that marked the 6 seasons of Smith's tenure at UK. After the 2 year experiment with Gillispie ended, Coach Calipari quickly restored the program into prominence from 2010 through 2015, and the rising trend is consistent with most observers' view of the program during those seasons. However, since 2015, the trend has been downward, more steeply so than during the Smith years, and in 2020 and 2021, the teams' performance levels sank to levels in the Gillispie range.

If this 20 year view that shows the last two seasons the worst back to back seasons in these 2 decades, then look at the last 50 years!!!

This is the worst back to back teams in 50 years!!!!

While the data does not exist in my data base to go through the previous 40 years of the Rupp Era, I doubt you can find anything that compares to what we are witnessing.

It is time for Calipari to go!!

 

 

Your Gateway to the 2019 Football Season Here!!

 

Can Lightning Strike Twice For the UK Football Program
41 Years After the 1977 10-1 Season?
Read Why It Can Here!!!!

Your Gateway to the 2019-20 Basketball Season Here!!

 

WAKE UP BIG BLUE NATION
A Call To Action
(Posted March 2017)


It is time for the Big Blue Nation To Send a Unified Call To the National Media and the Crooked NCAA
That We Have Had Enough!!!!!
We Are Mad As Hell,
And We Aren't Going To Take It Anymore!!!!

Here Is The Call To Action
Issued To All Current Members
of this Website

 

BigBlueFans4UK Now has a Facebook Group
Join In and Receive Notices Through the Group
Engage In Discussions With Other Members
Link To Group

 

@ BigBlueFans4UK
on Twitter

 

CONCERNED FANS FOR UK BASKETBALL

When BigBlueFans4UK.com debuted in June 2006, I simulaneously announced that a group of Concerned Fans would use this website as its internet platform to advocate a change in the head coaching position for the Basketball Program. Concerned Fans expressed their clear vision that the program would not return to national prominence so long as Tubby Smith remained at the helm of the UK program, and expressed confidence that the right man in that chair would return UK to prominence.

On March 22, 2007, a mere 9 months later, Concerned Fans For UK Basketball achieved its only goal as Tubby Smith resigned and ran to a waiting plane headed for Minnesota. At that time, Concerned Fans Closed Its Membership Roles while it monitored how the program responded. The rest is history, with four final four appearances and the program's 8th National Championship in 2012. Entering the 2019-20 season, UK will again be the favorite to win its 9th Championship. Yes, Concerned Fans were right. UK is the premier program in all of the land once again.

UK fans must remember the past, good and bad, and remain vigilant that the mistakes known today as the Tubby Smith Era must not be allowed to ever repeat. This is why this site will always preserve the documentation of the activities of the Concerned Fans movement. Concerned Fans members have a quiet confidence about the important role they played in rescuing the UK Basketball program from the mediocrity that Tubby Smith embraced.

Please maintain your vigilance. The program must NEVER repeat this set of mistakes. One way to remain vigilant is to know this part of UK basketball history, which the Concerned Fans Activities document. Use the "Concerned Fans" Navigation Button in the Left Frame to access this section of our cyber-museum.

 

How Have Kentucky Opponents And National Contenders
Performed and Trended Over the Last Decade?
Click Here To Explore
(2006-2015)

 

INDIVIDUAL EFFICIENCIES OF
UK PLAYERS AND
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS
1996 THROUGH 2017

About 10 years ago, I began to apply the macro analysis of team efficiency on the micro level of individual player efficiency. The methods have evolved since 2010, but the refinements that have occurred have had only marginal impact upon the final Individual Net Efficiency (INE) for a player in a given season.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE RESULTS

 

Here are the Top 40 UK players
Between the 1996 and 2017 seasons, inclusively

•  This is consistent with the generally accepted view that Anthony Davis has been a once in a lifetime type of player.

•  Chuck Hayes has the best numbers of all players who played 4 full seasons at UK, and Willie Cauley Stein is the best overall 3 year player.

•  The highest ranked Pitino players are Epps and McCarty (No data for any season prior to the 1995-96 season included)  Thus Mashburn and other worthy players are not included, and for players like Epps, their performance at UK prior to 1996 is not included, only the 1996 and subsequent seasons.

•  Hayes and Rondo are the highest ranked players from the Tubby Smith Era

•  Patterson is the best player to have played for Gillispie.

•  Joe Crawford was last player to make this cut.

•  James Young was the 41 st player, and some others that missed the cut include Marcus Lee, Dakari Johnson, Nerlens Noel, and Derek Anderson.

•  The number to the left of the name is the overall ranking, unfiltered, among all 134 players.

•  Calipari coached 7 of the top 10 players, and 12 of the top 20, and 23 of the top 40 players in 8 of the 21 covered seasons.

 

 

 

Wall Street Journal Finds UK #1 Program

 

 

Mike DeCoursey Exposes The Anti-UK Basketball Bias in the Media
Taking shots at Kentucky has become a March pastime, but is it fair?

 

Who Saw The UK Dominance
Of College Basketball Coming,
Before It Actually Happened?
CLICK HERE and FIND OUT!

 

Your Gateway to the 2019-20 Basketball Season Here!!

 

Your Gateway to the 2018-19 Basketball Season Here!!

 

Your Gateway to the 2017-18 Basketball Season Here!!

 

 

Your Gateway to the 2016-17 Basketball Season Here!!

 

 

Your Gateway to the 2015-16 Basketball Season Here!!

 

 

Your Gateway to the 2014-15 Basketball Season Here!!

 

 

Your Gateway to the 2013-14 Basketball Season Here!!

 

 

Your Gateway to the 2012-13 Basketball Season Here!!

 

 

Your Gateway to the 2011-12 Basketball Season Here!!

 

 

Your Gateway to the 2010-11 Basketball Season Here!!

 

 

Your Gateway to the 2009-10 Basketball Season Here!!

 

Kentucky Hires Mark Stoops
To Take Over the Football Cats


Can UK Football Be Fixed
By Just Replacing Its Coach?Read One View That Sadly Concludes
It Is Not Likely

On Saturday, August 30, 2014, The Mark Stoops Era of UK Football begins its second season. The Cats will kickoff the season at noon at Commonwealth Stadium against Tennessee Martin.

Check Out Our Index To All Things That Are UK Football At This Link

 

On September 18, 2012, Coach John Calipari, and a small group of fans and supporters honored Joe B. Hall with the unveiling of a bronze statue of Joe B. Hall as most fans of the Era will remember him best, on the end of the bench, leaning forward in anticipation,

with his rolled up game program in his hand

 

Never-Say-Die Cats
Advance To NCAA Championship Game Before Falling To UConn

  • Kentucky finishes to 29-11 overall as the NCAA Tournament Runner-Up
  • Kentucky leads the series 5-2 and 2-1 in NCAA Tournament action.
  • The Wildcats lead the nation with a 116-47 all-time NCAA record .
  • Kentucky is 5-1 in NCAA Tournament games played in Indianapolis.
  • UK is 18-3 in NCAA Tournament games under John Calipari.
  • Kentucky has advanced to its 16th Final Four.
  • Kentucky has advanced to the Final Four three of last four years.
  • Kentucky's 18 tournament wins under Calipari is the most since 2010. (UConn has 12, and Florida, Kansas and Louisville are next with 11 each. )
  • Kentucky defeated four-straight top-10 teams to make the Championship Game. (Three of the opponents played in the 2013 Final Four.)

 

 

The SEC Tournament Gateway For Big Blue Fans

 

YOUR GATEWAY TO THE
2019 SEC TOURNAMENT
CLICK HERE!!!

 

YOUR GATEWAY TO THE
2018 SEC TOURNAMENT
CLICK HERE!!!

 

YOUR GATEWAY TO THE
2017 SEC TOURNAMENT
CLICK HERE!!!

 

YOUR GATEWAY TO THE
2016 SEC TOURNAMENT
CLICK HERE!!!

 

YOUR GATEWAY TO THE
2015 SEC TOURNAMENT
CLICK HERE!!!

 

YOUR GATEWAY TO THE
2014 SEC TOURNAMENT
CLICK HERE!!!

 

 

YOUR GATEWAY TO THE
2013 SEC TOURNAMENT
CLICK HERE!!!

 

YOUR GATEWAY TO THE
2012 SEC TOURNAMENT
CLICK HERE!!!

 

YOUR GATEWAY TO THE
2011 SEC TOURNAMENT
CLICK HERE!!!

 

YOUR GATEWAY TO THE
2016 NCAA TOURNAMENT
CLICK HERE!!!

 

YOUR GATEWAY TO THE
2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT
CLICK HERE!!!

 

YOUR GATEWAY TO THE
2014 NCAA TOURNAMENT
CLICK HERE!!!

 

YOUR GATEWAY TO THE
2013 NCAA TOURNAMENT
CLICK HERE!!!

 

YOUR GATEWAY TO THE
2012 NCAA TOURNAMENT
CLICK HERE!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Senior Tribute Index Page
See the Note Below About Audio Files On This Site

Dave Kindred About Coach Rupp
The Sporting News, June 2, 1999

I'll remember him as the proud old warrior who, at age 69, explained to me why he was displeased by Kentucky's requirement that he retire the next year. "I'd just as soon die on the bench," he said. "Retire? Why, what would I do? Time would hang heavy on my hands. It's the competitiveness I like -- taking a bunch of boys and seeing what I can do with them. These young squirts come in as coaches at other places and they say they're going to put an end to Rupp and Kentucky. Well, we'll see about that."

"WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS"

What is Required?


Take a Look

REMEMBERING OUR UK SENIORS

ALMOST AS QUICKLY
AS THE GILLISPIE ERA BEGAN, IT ENDED
AND THE JOHN CALIPARI ERA BEGAN
USE THIS LINK TO ACCESS OUR NEW
JOHN CALIPARI ERA
SECTION OF THE SITE

THE BILLY GILLISPIE ERA HAS BEGUN
USE THIS LINK TO ACCESS OUR NEW
BILLY GILLISPIE ERA
SECTION OF THE SITE

 

STREET & SMITH SAYS
UK IS #1

 

"If it doesn't matter whether you win or lose, why do they keep score?
I'm not engaged in a popularity contest, I want to win!"
Adolph Rupp

 

Since Adolph Rupp arrived in Lexington in 1930, University of Kentucky Basketball established standards of excellence that bred success on a national scale for many decades.  Coach Rupp demonstrated that superior talent will prevail when that talent can utilize its superior athleticism and training in an up-tempo, fast break style of play.  When Coach Rupp retired, he passed the baton on to Joe B. Hall.  In his farewell address, Coach Rupp said,

I have a worthy successor, and I told him that after 42 years, if the basketball program fails at the University of Kentucky, then I have built it on a sand foundation

Joe B. provided the oversight and care for the program for 13 seasons.  His successor guided this great program to probabion, but Rick Pitino established for all to see that Coach Rupp had indeed build the program upon a solid foundation.Pitino's successor has overseen a steady, gradual decline in the program, and the program must put that strong foundation to the test again. This site is dedicated to the preservation of the excitement, traditions, history, and style of play that has become synonomous with Kentucky Basketball.  Our goal is to provide a single source for fans of the past, present, and future to learn about that history, these traditions, and the true essence of Kentucky BasketballPlease browse around the site.  If you want to support this project, we invite you to register as an affiliate member and we will provide periodic updates to you by email about additions to the site.  We also welcome your suggestions because we want the site to be the fans' site, a fan's first choice to introduce our next generation of Big Blue fans to the excitement, history, and traditions that are UK Basketball.


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tell your friends, and return oftenll.

We add new content on a regular basis.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR IE USERS
ABOUT AUDIO FILES ON THIS SITE
Nearly Every Page on This Site Includes an Audio File
That Should Load And Play when the Page Loads
So you can Listen While You Read. 
If you use IE, these Audio Files May not Play as Intended. 
I have found that with IE you must first activate the
Active X agent, and second Reload the page. 
Use of Mozilla or Chrome Does Not Have The Difficulty.

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SugarHill Communiations of Kentucky
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