Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Cancer rates, child abuse, neglect, and high school graduation have nothing to do with basketball. The whole point of the thread is that basketball receives more attention than anything else. Consequently, the mentioned problems continue, maybe because very few people care. Some of the issues in the links I provided are a matter of life and death. I'm sure that some children in Kentucky may be thankful for any help in avoiding being abused.
I don't have anything against Kentucky and basketball. I don't have a problem that people like basketball (or any other sport), but it sure would be nice if real problems also received attention.
^You guys are too funny. This is what usually happens. Bring up these topics in KY & catch the wrath.
This is actually why you guys fail at everything & your region is in such despair. You care about all the wrong things & none of the right ones. I'm just saying, this thread is a mile long & its about something as meaningless as a college basketball team, but no one ever posts or makes threads about how they can actually help the region's situation, you NEVER see that here. All you wanna do is belly ache, blame others for your problems & lash out at anyone that brings it up.
Oh well. If you all dont care then nobody else will either.
There's not a problem with Lexington or Louisville or KY-OH metro.
There is a problem with the eastern part of the state that is not going to ever be resolved.
So let them drag our statistics down, idc, they're a lost cause. There is no industry or market but coal and drugs in the east part of KY, marijuana is illegal and they're fighting to stop mountaintop removal... soooooo.... whatever.
It's not basketball as much as our heritage. When Adolph Rupp was coaching and television was brand new and Kentucky was the number one team as well, it was a time of gathering family and friends to watch the greatest basketball coach of all time and his runts. Not everyone had TVs so you found someone who did or you listened on the radio with a group of strangers. My father grew up in this era and it was the only entertainment available to a boy and his brothers living in a small steel mill community. It gave him pride to know that the team represented everyone in the state and was the best. He and his brothers became great at figuring stats in their heads and trying to see who could recall those numbers better after the game. That continues to this day. They are now an engineer, a dentist, a department head for P&G. Driven by a love of competition and numbers derived from watching basketball together.
Later on it was Caywood Ledford on the radio while you watched the TV with sound turned down. Everyone hated UK even the commentators would take every opportunity to put the team down. Caywood was our voice. He could paint a picture in your head that was unbelievable about what was happening on that court, so we watched and listened and waited for another banner. I grew up in that era sitting beside my grandfather who taught me about the game and he loved it so I did too. My sister would sit on his lap and help him keep a stat book. Together we cheered and cried and shared what was going on in our lives with the rest of the family and friends who had come over.
Joe B Hall was and still is a great advocate for the outdoors, hunting and fishing and we all paid attention when he and Denny talked about life in Kentucky while they cast their lines into the water. They made sure that we didn't forget that basketball is not the only thing, but it is our heritage. We watched and laughed and then reacted as the tallest of players could barely read a cue card and how he became an advocate for education, reading and writing.
Basketball is how we have been brought up here in Kentucky. We respect it, revere it, and heade the messages its leaders. Richie Farmer is huge on Kentucky Proud and the products made here in Kentucky and because of his efforts we come together as a state in honoring the handcrafted products handed down from generation to generation. We have a store here right below Rupp Arena and before and after every game it is packed with basketball fans honoring our heritage as a state and sharing their ideas with each other. It is called Kentucky Proud and they sell only things made in Kentucky.
We gather as basketball fans because it is our common bond, regardless of whether you grew up next to a coal mine or in the shadow of a steel mill, whether you got your water from the ohio or a small creek running through a holler, or whether you grew tobacco or raised horses. Kentucky basketball is "Kentucky Proud" and it is our heritage and it is the bond between all of us. I can go anywhere in this country and someone will see my blue and white and we can have a conversation right then and there like we are old friends. It will start off with something like 'Hey Go Cats' and that will lead into a short conversation about the team and then an update on what's happening in Kentucky and before I know it I have been introduced to their new friends since moving away and now I'm in discussions about everything affecting the nation and the world.
I know there are more important things than basketball. There are also more important things than finding the bad in someone else's success. We can solve all of our differences through common bonds, because that's what starts the conversation that could lead to the solutions for the problems we face. I am sure that you feel like an outsider maybe because you don't have an interest in the sport or the team or Kentucky, but imagine if you embraced it, the people you could meet, the advocates you could network with, the real life problems you could solve, and the fun you could have being part of the best basketball fans in the world. We fans are family and nothing you could say will ever change that. We welcome you into our homes to watch a little basketball, share in our heritage, drink some Kentucky bourbon, and be part of our family together.
There's not a problem with Lexington or Louisville or KY-OH metro.
There is a problem with the eastern part of the state that is not going to ever be resolved.
So let them drag our statistics down, idc, they're a lost cause. There is no industry or market but coal and drugs in the east part of KY, marijuana is illegal and they're fighting to stop mountaintop removal... soooooo.... whatever.
Isn't that unfair to write off the people in Eastern Kentucky as a 'lost cause'?
For any problem to be resolved it must first be acknowledged as a problem, not ignored.
From your posts it's obvious you don't put much thought into them. Too much concentration on basketball.
There's not a problem with Lexington or Louisville or KY-OH metro.
There is a problem with the eastern part of the state that is not going to ever be resolved.
So let them drag our statistics down, idc, they're a lost cause. There is no industry or market but coal and drugs in the east part of KY, marijuana is illegal and they're fighting to stop mountaintop removal... soooooo.... whatever.
I think the good folks of Eastern Kentucky should fight to stop mountain top removal. It affects the quality of life in the area. Soil erosion and mud slides. For far too long they have been run over by coal and logging companies. Sooner or later they have to say enough is enough. Weve slaved for decades for your company and now we want something for us!
I think the good folks of Eastern Kentucky should fight to stop mountain top removal. It affects the quality of life in the area. Soil erosion and mud slides. For far too long they have been run over by coal and logging companies. Sooner or later they have to say enough is enough. Weve slaved for decades for your company and now we want something for us!
The people allow it because its their bread & butter. They dont care as long as its putting food on their table. Which is why this region needs to get some other industry in there instead of belly-aching about coal production being down.
The people allow it because its their bread & butter. They dont care as long as its putting food on their table. Which is why this region needs to get some other industry in there instead of belly-aching about coal production being down.
Of course you are right Kerry. But sooner or later the bread sack is empty and all you can do is try to scrape some butter off the sides of the bowl.Which I think is the position workers of the coal and logging industries find themselves in right now. It is probably too late for the current generation of workers to better thier lot. But the future generations MUST be taught new skills and trades. Otherwise what is the use of even trying to bring in other forms of industry and jobs? This makes me wonder if institutions like Pikeville College are addressing this situation in future curriculum.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
11,974 posts, read 25,337,451 times
Reputation: 12186
Basketball is the healthiest sport to play, it is a shame the sports popularity here isn't reducing our childhood obesity rate (which is the highest in the nation)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
