FanPost

Greatest UK emotion ever experienced

This is a follow up to Creature's post about native Kentucky kids.

You guys may be right about the changing times with us recruiting on a national and international scale and thats all good and exciting. I've really enjoyed watching the dynamo team of 1996 win a championship, the 1998 team with somewhat lesser talent win our last one and look forward for more to come under Cal.

Derek Anderson, who I thought was the best player on the 1997 team was a Kentucky boy and if he hadn't been injured or if Pitino had just let him play in the tournament like he did in practice then we would have had three championships in a row. Everyone I believe knows that.

My feelings about the past Kentucky native kids can be summed up by the huge gut wrenching loss we had to Duke in 1992 in the semi's. Let me tell you this, the loss this year to WV felt nothing, not even close (one on a scale of ten) to the emotional scale of ten to that loss to Duke. And it had nothing to do with them knocking us out of the tournament. It was the sorrow of the loss by the great kids who we all knew would never have a chance to play pro ball, but bled their hearts out for the Big Blue, because it was ingrained in them to do so. I know for a fact that I will never experience that sense of sorrow or compassion for the players again - it just won't happen. My wife and I were both on the floor crying after that loss. Pitino and Cawood were devastated. I believe even Krzyzewski in his heart felt the same way somewhat. I remember listening to him after the game. Why did they call it the greatest college game of all time? IMO because of the kids who refused to give up and from my perspective the Kentucky kids; Deron, Richie and John.

Until the day I die I will never experience that again. Come on, if you bleed blue you all have to admit that also. This WV loss was, oh well we'll get them next year. Hell I didn't recover from the 1992 loss for a year.