A number of years ago following an Alabama-Kentucky basketball game in which the Wildcats had defeated the Crimson Tide in Coleman Coliseum, I was walking to my car after finishing my work, probably an hour or so past the end of the game. I didn’t pay too much attention to a small gathering of blue-clad men until they started harassing me regarding Bama basketball vis-a-vis UK basketball, as if I somehow was responsible either for that day’s outcome or the Southeastern Conference history of Dr. James Naismith’s game.Alabama is a lot closer to Kentucky in basketball than Kentucky is to Alabama in football.”
It wasn’t threatening, so I was comfortable in replying, “Alabama is a lot closer to Kentucky in basketball than Kentucky is to Alabama in football.” I didn’t have the figures, but I was pretty confident in my assertion.
Had they argued – actually, they laughed in agreement — I would have said, “Alabama is the all-time leader in SEC football at 70.2 percent and Kentucky is 11th at 29.9 percent, ahead of only Vanderbilt, and Alabama is second all-time in SEC basketball at 52.6 percent, well behind Kentucky at 77.3 percent, but still much closer. So there.”
A number of years ago following an Alabama-Kentucky basketball game in which the Wildcats had defeated the Crimson Tide in Coleman Coliseum, I was walking to my car after finishing my work, probably an hour or so past the end of the game. I didn’t pay too much attention to a small gathering of blue-clad men until they started harassing me regarding Bama basketball vis-a-vis UK basketball, as if I somehow was responsible either for that day’s outcome or the Southeastern Conference history of Dr. James Naismith’s game.
It wasn’t threatening, so I was comfortable in replying, “Alabama is a lot closer to Kentucky in basketball than Kentucky is to Alabama in football.” I didn’t have the figures, but I was pretty confident in my assertion.
Had they argued – actually, they laughed in agreement — I would have said, “Alabama is the all-time leader in SEC football at 70.2 percent and Kentucky is 11th at 29.9 percent, ahead of only Vanderbilt, and Alabama is second all-time in SEC basketball at 52.6 percent, well behind Kentucky at 77.3 percent, but still much closer. So there.”
