Be Proud

Last night's overtime loss to Tennessee was certainly a tough pill swallow. We now have to wait a few weeks before we can see them on the field again. Meanwhile, the basketball team will get into the meat of their non-conference schedule against teams like North Carolina, UConn and Indiana, stealing the attention of Big Blue Nation entirely. I'm afraid that last night's loss and the hype surrounding the basketball team could cause the football team's accomplishments to get lost in the shuffle. If that does happen, it will be sad footnote on a football season that should be celebrated.

UK will attend their fourth Bowl game in a row, the first for our program. Sure, it would have been amazing to finally see the Cats knock off the Vols, but it wasn't meant to be this year. However, we did see the Cats win at Auburn and at Georgia this season, and total up a 7-5 record.

To say Rich Brooks has done a good job at Kentucky would be a huge understatement. He took over a probation program in disarray and lead them back to being competitive in the nation's toughest conference. He went from losing records to playing in Bowl games... every year. He has taken diamond in the rough players and turned them into all-conference stars.

Do we still have a lot to accomplish? Of course. We need to beat the Vols, and Spurrier, and find a way to win games we're supposed to win while continuing to pull off a couple of upsets along the way. If we had beat South Carolina, Mississippi State and Tennessee, we'd be 10-2 right now and probably ranked in the top 15 in the country. Yet, we shouldn't look at the missed opportunities, and forget to celebrate what these players and coaches have done.

Be proud, Big Blue Nation. Our football team comes ready to play every week, and we give our opponents all they want. We're going Bowling again and the future is bright for Kentucky Football. Thank you Coach Brooks and Seniors for all you've done.