Take a minute. Kick back, celebrate and let the world know. The Cats are the first team to 2,000 victories.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Send an e-mail, a tweet or post to Facebook. Do your favorite dance. Heck, do the John Wall dance. DeMarcus Cousins did after UK’s trashing of Drexel, because hey, he just helped UK reach 2,000 victories.
The milestone is something fans have talked about since the beginning of the season. It was a mission: remain the best. Don’t lose ground to North Carolina.
It’s something every toddler in this state is taught along with the alphabet: UK is the all-time leader in victories. It will not lose that spot. Ever. Monday night was another step in that direction. The team that was the first to 1,000 wins (in the 1968-69 season, over Tennessee) is the first to 2,000. Should it be any other way?
After the game, UK head coach John Calipari took the mic and let everyone from Adolph Rupp’s son to Joe B. Hall to Patrick Patterson speak. They all talked about how important this was. Not a single person of the 24,000 present moved.
“That’s what surprised me, that no one left,” Calipari said. “They’re all still here and they probably have three or four hours to drive.”
Because victories mean so much to this state. The basketball team is the lifeblood. Anyone, whether they are from Kentucky, root for the Cats or root for Louisville, knows what victories mean. In a state that gets pounded for its coal mines, mocked for its supposed backward living and ridiculed for nearly everything else, something has to fall in favor of native Kentuckians. Having the all-time leader in college basketball victories is that thing. The “scoreboard chant” to those who mock everything else.
The current players hailed the moment as landmark and great to be part of. The former coaches and players said the same. They’re right. For the history books, this is a landmark event. For the people of this state, it’s life. There was no way they’d let some other school, much less North Carolina, get to 2,000 victories before them. Just ask Billy Gillispie.
But now that the milestone has been accomplished, what’s left?
“I’d rather have a national championship,” said freshman Jon Hood, a Kentucky native. “We’re working on that now. This was just something on the way.”
UK fans would take one of those, too. Because the thing is, especially in college sports, the world doesn’t end with the latest milestone. Getting to 2,000 wins isn’t the same as electing the nation’s first black president. The latter happens once, but others will get to 2,000 victories.
Which is why by the time you read this, UK’s milestone 2,000-victory will mean nothing. In a few weeks, North Carolina will reach 2,000 wins and UK will have company. And then, the race resumes.
First to 3,000 victories. It’s already started.
Kenny Colston is a journalism senior. E-mail kcolston@kykernel.com
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