If you’re going to buy a ticket to a ball game, watch the whole thing. Yeah, it may have been a little cold, but cold happens here in Kentucky in the fall, and that just isn’t an excuse. Uninspiring or not, we owe it to the team to be great fans, not just average, run of the mill fans. UK works very hard on athletics and creating a good experience for the fan. The team can’t always win, but UK can always be winners when our fans are at their best.

I think what galls Brooks (and me) more than anything are the few who loudly berate his charges from near the bench. I have been to Kentucky games, and I have had words with UK fans who started acting ignorant. Generally, a staredown will work unless they are a drunken belligerent, and then a comment to an usher will do.

Look, people know when they are misbehaving, and when others take notice of it, they generally stop. I’m not condoning confrontation, that’s never a good idea, but there are lots of ways to remind people that acting like an idiot is not a right that comes with the price of admission.

I am very pleased that Brooks is raising this issue. Only UK can do it effectively with a broad reach, and I think Barnhart should continue to push the issue through media comments and supporting his coaches. Anyone who thinks UK fans will stop attending if the school asks them to grow up is just kidding themselves — there are thousands just waiting to take their place.

Being a good fan is learned behavior. We see far too many people on TV acting the fool, and many people get the idea that’s what is supposed to happen at a football game. When they learn it isn’t acceptable, most will behave better. When they learn that buying a ticket is not buying a license to act unethically and stupidly in public, most won’t. In my mind, it just requires more effort on the part of the university and other fans to support not just the team, but the social atmosphere of the great SEC football tradition of which UK is proudly a part. Kentucky is used to having a few die-hard football fans watch their team get crushed in silence. Now that things have turned around, all these new and less fervent fans need to learn to have fun, not to lose their religion because you can’t continue at the same level year after year when you are trying to build a program from ruins.

It’s tough, but it can happen if we all pitch in. Part of that pitching in is not to defend that bad behavior, and thank God, I don’t see many people doing that. The few that do should be reminded that their little reality isn’t what UK fans, the team or the university want or need. If they don’t like it, they can stop coming, sell their tickets and shout at a television where nobody cares what they say or do except their family members. I storm and cuss at home, but never at a game. It’s just wrong.

I thought it was actually quite comfortable in the 4th quarter as everyone was filtering out, but I dressed accordingly, in a light jacket and sweatshirt.

The multiple-overtime Tennessee game last year? That was freaking cold. But you didn’t see people filtering out of there.

Cold weather is no excuse. If you’re a fan, you stay and support your team, period. It’s a sporting event, not a picnic. Brooks has every right to complain and I’m there with him. He’s building something here, you should enjoy it. And those who left sure missed an awesome experience. If you won’t stay around for the chance of something like that, why come to the game at all?

… and quite possibly correct.

I didnt hear Leach’s comment but we’ve seen the basketball team do this many many times, therefore we EXPECT it….what i’ve seen is the football team get beat in the final minutes and EXPECTING it to happen again (againist all hope and prayers i can send up mind you!) Maybe Saturdays turn of events will be the foundation of what we can EXPECT in the future…..i for one would love that.

But the bottom line that Brooks is getting at is this — if you are going to ask the kids not to give up, what kind of message does it send when fans give up? Do as I say, not as I do? Yeah, pretty much.

If fans want to demand the team play hard, the least they can do is support that effort, not walk away disgusted. This is college athletics, not a professional sports team. Despite what many will tell you, there is a substantial difference.

Sure you have a right to leave – you even have a right to mouth off, but that doesn’t mean you should do it. If you had a friend that was going through a rough spot in their life, you have every right to turn away and ignore them. But that wouldn’t be being a good friend. Just because you have a right to do something doesn’t mean you should do it.

And sure, there are plenty of reasons for leaving, there are lots of things more important than sports. But IMHO, you’re being a more faithful member of your community if you stay around through the tough spots and offer some encouragement. Yeah, “fair weather fan” is just a label and name-calling, and who cares. It’s the sentiment and support that counts.