That didn’t take long. Four hours after the camp grounds around Memorial Coliseum opened up, “Tent City” reached capacity at 585 tents. Last year, fans broke the previous record by setting up 760 tents, but space for this year’s campout was limited by construction.
That means no new campers will be able to set up their tents and therefore no control cards for free tickets will be issues to those not already camped out. Don’t worry, you can still try your luck with Ticketmaster.com on Friday night at 10 p.m., which is when tickets will be distributed to campers. Control cards will be issued to campers on Friday at 2 p.m., and fans are encouraged to start lining up for Friday night’s distribution by 8:30 p.m.
You people…well, you know.
Matt Bevin (R), Jack Conway (D), and Drew Curtis (I)
With so much going on, KSR’s Gubernatorial Debate kind of snuck up on us, didn’t it? In one hour and six minutes, the three candidates for Kentucky governor — Matt Bevin (R), Jack Conway (D), and Drew Curtis (I) — will face off in the iHeartMedia Studios in Lexington with Matt Jones as the moderator and Ryan Lemond working the bell.
As someone who doesn’t even live in Kentucky, I can’t profess to know a ton about the governor’s race, other than Bevin participated in KSR’s GOP debate back in May, Conway has really nice hair, and Curtis (founder of Fark.com) seems to be the “wild child” of the bunch. Regardless, we’ll hopefully know more by the end of the show, and Matt promises to throw in some questions to make it fun for everyone. The comments section is sure to be interesting, at the very least.
The debate will also be streamed live on WKYT.com, and we hope to have that up for you as well so you can see if Matt and Ryan wore suits and how crazy Matt’s hands get when he talks on the radio.
There’s an insane amount of other stuff going on, so let’s go over that before the mud-slinging begin…
The Big Blue Madness Campout is officially on
In case you missed Drew’s videos and pictures from earlier, the Big Blue Madness campout has officially begun. …Even though people started lining up on Sunday. As usual, the race across the Avenue of Champions was pandemonium, especially since the camping space has been limited this year. One of those campers is our own Kelsey Mattingly (middle), who will be doing a writeup of her experiences later this week:
Scroll down for more pics and we’ll have more throughout the day.
Back to football…
Will we find anything out about Boom?
In case you were in a cave or something yesterday, the major story of the day centered around Boom Williams. Our own Ryan Lemond broke the news that Boom may not practice on the radio show and he took heat for it all day until Mark Stoops finally confirmed the story with reporters that evening. Stoops said Boom is dealing with a “personal issue,” and has not practiced all week, and it is uncertain whether or not he’ll play on Saturday. Stoops insisted he’s keeping the issue between Boom and himself, and we should do our best not to speculate any further. Instead, we’ll wait for an update from Stoops. It may come during the SEC Coaches Teleconference, which starts at noon.
We’ll also hear from the defense
DJ Eliot and his crew will address the media after practice this evening following arguably their most impressive performance of the season. DJ Eliot had an incredible and complex game plan that stymied the Tigers and had Freddie Maggard fawning at his feet. (You’ll hear more about that on the podcast.)
Speaking of…
The latest KSR Football Podcast will come out
…and though I’m biased, I think it’s our best yet. Freddie, Jared, Nick, and I had a ton of fun recapping the Missouri game, Patrick Towles’ performance, Jared’s Hall of Fame enshrinement, and the EKU game. We also discussed the Boom Williams situation and I gave the guys a vocabulary lesson. I think you guys will really like it. #Centipede
Happy birthday, Roush!
The newest member of the KSR full-time staff turns the ripe old age of 24 today, meaning the rest of us still have six years to make fun of how young he is. Roush has been doing an excellent job since coming on staff full-time a few months back and now he finally knows how to record the podcast. Join me in wishing him a happy day.
Someone set Ky Joe’s new rap to music
…and I hate how many times I’ve listened to it. It may be better than “Teach Me Bout Kentucky,” although that’s not saying much. Well done, JKyleMann.
Now, it’s DEBATE time
Personally, I think one of the questions should be what the candidates think about that song.
This morning, for whatever reason, I thought it’d be a good idea to get up at 4:30 am and head out to Memorial Coliseum. So I did. I hopped up, threw on my best rain jacket and joined the crazies along Avenue of Champions.
The scene was nuts, per usual. I believe this year was the best turnout for the early morning rush, and outside of a few minor scuffles over tent space, it was done in an orderly fashion. The mayhem will never be perfect, but the folks at UK have done a good job of controlling the crowd as best as they can.
You people are crazy.
First in line:
CoachCal.com
We’ve talked a lot about Jamal Murray around these parts, but you probably don’t “really” know him just yet. I mean, I couldn’t tell you much more about the cape-wearing Canadian other than his stats from the overtime victory over Team USA in the Pan-Am games (22 points, 6 assists).
That’s why we have CoachCal.com. In this edition of their “Meet the Wildcats” series, Murray talks about his family, the people who taught him to love basketball. Some of his earliest memories go back to watching his Father, a track athlete, work out at the gym.
“He’s very competitive so I just remember bits and pieces of him yelling or something like that during a shot,” Murray said. “He’s real athletic. He’s always been around me on the court. Every time I’m on the court in the summertime he’ll come and train me or practice with me. We’ve always been on the court together.”
If this article doesn’t help you get to know him enough, hang around for two more days. Thursday is the day the preseason interview embargo is lifted and you can discover all of the awesomeness we’ve had to keep secret for the past six weeks.
As the BBN prepares for three days of Madness surrounding Memorial Coliseum, I’d like to look back at my first, and only attempt to conquer Campout. It was 2013, the 40-0 talks had already begun, but more importantly, I saw a side of the fan base I had never seen before. I spin a mean yarn, attempting to emulate the late-great Hunter S. Thompson. It actually kind of worked – over the summer, this essay helped me win the first scholarship from The Gonzo Foundation, a non-profit headed by Thompson’s widow, Anita. So if you like a wild and crazy tale, this is the story for you.
As you will see, even without the torrential downpours, Big Blue Madness Campout is not for the faint of heart.
A bag of spicy Jack Link’s jerky, a sleeping pad, a stick of deodorant, a lawn chair, an assortment of bourbon bottles and a tent; at 3:30 in the morning my quest for conquering the Big Blue Madness Campout began. After a knee-jerk decision the night before, it was time to make the mess outside of Memorial Coliseum my home for the next three nights. Nothing in my short 22 years could have prepared me for this unforgettable journey.
Wednesday October 2nd, 3:55 AM
Struggling to stay awake, a tree shaded my eyes from the brightly burning temporary structures across the street from the Coliseum. The line spectators had formed over the past 12 hours made no sense to me at the time, and I found comfort in the cool grass.
I had not 5 minutes of additional rest before the crowd began to stir- awakening from a year long slumber that was further exacerbated after an unsuccessful NIT season. Their restlessness could not be tamed. At 4:00 AM the masses began flocking to the tiny patches of grass on both sides of the Coliseum. There was no time to think during the confusing chaos (there was little ability to think at that hour regardless), only time to push your way through the crowd to find the spray-painted lines on the turf. Bodies hit other bodies, bodies hit the curb, and bodies didn’t show any sign of slowing down until the curses from Big Brother (UKPD and UKAthletics staff) pushed the crowd back to where they were supposed to be: on the other side of the street.
The 4:00 AM false alarm was followed by the most childish treatment of adults ever witnessed- but rightfully so. However you cannot be too surprised that Kentucky fans ignored the signs that stated a start time of 5:00 am, after all The US Census Bureau reported in 2000 346,000 of Kentucky adults were illiterate. Entertained by the way things had started, I did not mind standing behind a yellow rope held by Big Brother that moved a few steps closer every 15 minutes, but I did mind the cigarette smoke coming from the cool cat near the front. Upon further examination of the crowd, I realized that my groggy mind couldn’t classify this crowd at all. The variety of people young and old, short and tall, fat and skinny, couldn’t be generalized other than the sweeping notion that every person standing in the middle of the road before the crack of dawn was an insane Kentucky basketball fan.
While we children remained in timeout behind the yellow rope a strategy was formed. Partnering up with some Campout vets, Crossfit Mike was to use his broad shoulders to create a running lane through the crowd while carrying the large canvas tent. With my smaller tent, my goal was to follow the lead blocker, while making space for my tent-mate Schmitty to bring in the bulky contraption that would hold up the larger tent. The goal was to be as close to the white (ish) brick of the Coliseum as possible.
Developing a strategy was a great way to occupy time that seemingly stood still. The slow move finally reached its apex at 4:45 when toes reached the street curb (but not actually on the curb, or your feet would be SQUASHED by Big Brother). Megaphones announced instructions that no one paid attention to as the seconds inched closer to the free-for-all. Suddenly the yellow rope was down and all hell broke loose. Following Crossfit Mike, he darted through the crowd carrying the canvas like a football. Anyone in between our path was thrown off their course, with a few people hitting the ground after cross(fit)ing Mike’s path. An empty space was spotted and I quickly had to find my own spot nearby. In between the largest tree and the sidewalk I found a small patch of dirt lined with spray paint. I staked claim to my new home, declaring an early victory on the journey to conquering the Big Blue Madness Campout.
Not everyone could succeed. The curb that Big Brother had restricted caused a spill or two or ten. The screech of women cursing captured Drew Franklin’s cell phone was commonplace. Campers attempted to steal other people’s places, going as far as pitching their tent on top of another. While people had their differences sorted out by Big Brother (sorted out means they got moved to the back of the line) I smugly grinned and waltzed to a friends house nearby for some much needed quality sleep on a stained sofa.
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It’s pouring down rain in Lexington today, yet several eager Big Blue Madness campers are still lined up across the street from Memorial Coliseum, awaiting the horn tomorrow morning at 5 am. Many of the seats you see lining Avenue of Champions are empty, but there are still plenty of fans waiting it out in the bad weather.
Once the campout officially begins tomorrow, spots will be very limited compared to years past. With the new UK bookstore taking up what used to be the blue courts, that area behind Memorial has very little room for tents.
Notice the NO CAMPING warnings in the North corner outside Memorial. This used to be a very popular area in Tent City:
It will be a fight to find some good property in the morning.
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