Memorable moments fill Big Blue Madness
October 15, 2014
By Nick Gray
Big Blue Madness added to its lore last season with John Calipari’s “We are college basketball” speech and UK Hoops coach Matthew Mitchell’s hearty James Brown impression.
No pair of college coaches are so different, yet on par with providing UK fans with electrifying moments. Calipari does it with words, Mitchell does it with actions.
Big Blue Madness is more about celebrating the players and the programs than any of the coaches. Those results have given fans countless electrifying moments.
The John Wall dance
It was the moment when Big Blue Madness earned its moniker.
John Wall, Calipari’s prized point guard in the coach’s first recruiting class at UK during the 2009-10 season awaited in the rafters at the end of the team introductions.
When the spotlight flashed onto him, Wall flexed his arms in a dance that became synonymous with his name.
Wall’s swagger in that moment set the tone for his only season at UK and it sent the message to UK fans that he was the guy to lead UK back into the upper echelon of college basketball.
The UnderKanter
Enes Kanter did not play a minute for UK in 2010-11 after NCAA issues about his amateur eligibility surfaced. But the one moment he did have in front of UK fans was brief but memorable.
Kanter, a 6-foot-11-inch forward, dressed in a black top hat. He resembled WWE star The Undertaker, who Kanter said was his favorite wrestler growing up, and not just because the two men have similar heights.
Add the haunting music that accompanies The Undertaker’s entrance, and the crowd ate up another historic Madness moment.
The Floor Show
The first time I attended Big Blue Madness was in 2012 and up until that moment I had never seen a projection the size of a basketball court. The reaction from the crowd sent chills down my spine.
The video began with the UK logo and flashed through several scenes, most notably an outline of the state of Kentucky and a message reading “The Greatest Tradition in the History of College Basketball.”
If the video was on the video screens at Rupp, it would not be too much different from any other video. But UK turned the Rupp Arena floor into a projection screen. That does not happen every day.