Another reason to despise UofL

I've always hated UofL. It's as simple as that. When you are a UK fan, that comes with the territory. Kind of like A&M hates t.u. and Texas Tech, Kentucky takes out their anger on Louisville (pronounced Lullville) and Duke. UofL was always the step-son of basketball in the Bluegrass State, playing second fiddle to the Big Blue in Lexington. But that is understandable. The University of Louisville is a city school, no one grows up in the state of Kentucky dreaming of going to UofL. It's for all those people in Louisville who are too afraid to step out of their bubble and experience something new. Or of course, for those who don't have the brains to get into the superior UK. It's trashy, dirty, and ghetto (no offense dad, I know you are an alum, but you even admit that you hated your time there, and you saw the light in going to UK med school).

My hatred for UofL increased significantly when the devil incarnate, Rick Pitino, decided he would slap the state of Kentucky in the face and take the UofL job. Kentucky had loved Pitino when he was the UK coach. He had been King of the Bluegrass State from 1989 - 1997, turning a scandal-filled program into the best team in the nation. While at UK, he won 5 SEC Tournament Championships, 1 National Championship in 1996, and led the Cats to the NCAA Finals in 1997 before peacing out for the NBA.

But after an embarrassing stint in the NBA coaching realm, he realized he was completely incompetent and needed to be back at the collegiate level. So where does he decide to go? LOUISVILLE. Really? Completely unnecessary. Especially after the fact that his wife had always complained about how much she hated Kentucky, saying it was not high-class enough for her. There were multiple other job openings that year that Pitino could have taken, such as at UNLV, but he showed his true character and took the job of UK's most bitter rival. Since then, the UK/UofL rivalry has become even more heated. That day in December when the two teams face off, the roads of Kentucky are virtually empty, everyone glued to their TV's.

Usually my hatred for Lullville decreases as the season goes on, because Kentucky typically does well during March Madness and UofL doesn't make too much damage in the tournament. But this is not the case this year. Kentucky lost in the first round. The Wildcats fought hard, but came up short against Marquette. My interest in the tournament greatly decreased, especially when the Aggies lost to UCLA in the second round. I couldn't have even told you who was playing who in this weekend's games. But when I woke up this morning to see that UofL had beaten Tennessee in the Sweet 16 last night, my head started to smoke like in the cartoons.

There are many reasons why this upsets me:

• SEC fans are very loyal in post-season play, always picking the SEC team over their opponent, even if we hate that SEC team (which is the case with UT) because we want to see our conference do well. We all know the SEC is the best conference in the nation, hands down, but we want the rest of the country to realize this too.
  
• I never want to see a smile on Rick Pitino's face. Ever. Him and his hair implants...ugh...gross.
  
• I never want to see Lullville go far in the tournament.
• And most importantly, I had chosen Tennessee to be the National Champions. Yes, I admit it. I had them going all the way. Chris Lofton had been clutch all year, and I thought he was gonna do it.
  

So here I am, left with UK and A&M knocked out of the tournament and my bracket completely screwed. Just another reason to despise UofL.