What is so great about Kentucky basketball?

     Has anyone ever asked you why you love Kentucky basketball so much?  Have you ever thought to yourself, "Why do I take this so serious?".     Think about it for a moment.  It is just a game.  What I mean is, there is so much more important things in life than a game.  An outsider would call us stupid for putting so much pressure on ourselves over 10 guys trying to throw an orange ball into a basket.  Heck, I'm an insider and I think we are all a little crazy.  Why?
     I want turn back the clock to 1992.  More specific, let's go back to March 28th, 1992.  It was a Saturday and I was a 10 year basketball loving kid.  This was a very special Saturday indeed.  Today would be the day that the Kentucky Wildcats would play Duke for a chance to get into the Final Four.  Scratch that last sentence.  Today was the day that the Kentucky Wildcats played Duke for a chance for ME to get into the Final Four.  That's right, this was my first memory of myself referring to Kentucky as "us" instead of "them".  The imagination of a little boy is without bounds.  I was along for the ride every game that season.  I was just as good as on the bus in my own mind.  I had good reason to feel so connected.  I had a hometown hero playing for "us" that day.  Manchester, KY's favorite son Richie Farmer would be taking the court against Duke today.  Why shouldn't I be excited?  Richie grew up just minutes from where I live.
     As game time got closer and closer, my excitement intensified.  I had complete confidence that "we" were going to win today.  Besides Richie, we had Jamal Mashburn.  That day, there would be no way for you to convince me that there was any other player on the planet better than Jamal Mashburn. He was a hero to me during that time.  I wanted to play just like Jamal Mashburn.
     Finally it's game time.  I can remember my Dad and myself sitting in front of the tv, armed and ready to cheer on Kentucky.  The ball is tipped and the game is started.  Too bad that the moments after that are a blur to me.  I can't remember much of the game after that sadly.  I think the deep recesses of my mind have blocked it out.  What I do remember, however, is the end.
     Sean Woods drives the lane and throws up an ugly shot.  Time slows down a moment.  I'm not kidding.  It was like a scene from the Matrix.  The ball goes up and I wait in anticipation.  The ball goes back down and in.  Time goes back to normal ! I go nuts.  Kentucky is headed to the Final Four !  There was just a few seconds left and there is no way Duke can score again ! I'm jumping up and down, yelling and screaming, like I had just won the lottery ! Final Four here comes Sam Henson and the Kentucky Wildcats.  Then it happens.  Christian Laettner catches the ball, turns, fires, and the ball goes in.  Duke wins? What? That just didn't happen.  Sean Woods had just one the game right?  My excitement and adrenaline quickly subsided. I realize that Christian Laettner just beat us.   A once excited little boy is now crushed in one instance.   Hey, I feel my eyes start to moisten up just typing this right now. I love this team, and Duke just beat us.
     That moment is when I first felt it.  The Big Blue Nation craziness.  From that moment on, I have been hooked.  The universe had hung in the balance for me during every Kentucky game since then.  Even today, as a 30 year old man, that small little boys comes back out each and every time UK loses.  I think it may be a sickness we have.  I can't explain it.  All I know is we have it.  That is what is so great about Kentucky basketball !