When it comes to mobilizing and congregating, the University of Kentucky fan base is truly incomparable, particularly when its beloved men’s and women’s basketball teams are involved.
Anyone who traveled to Windsor, Canada, to see UK play three exhibition games in early August can attest to that. Those who were in Nashville, Tenn., for the 2010 Southeastern Conference Tournament, where Kentucky blue was omnipresent, can do the same. Kentucky fans know how to get together with their brethren, support their team and enjoy themselves. Nashville and Windsor were two superb examples of that.
However, nothing can compare to the annual gathering taking place outside Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, where thousands of fans have taken up residence in tents to line up for tickets to Big Blue Madness, which go on sale Saturday morning.
At some point or another, most people have heard a statistic about how much time the average American spends waiting in line (estimates hover around one hour per day). The idea of such a large group of people willfully choosing to spend upwards of 72 hours doing so seems completely inane.
But this isn’t your average line.
That patiently waiting mass of humanity has been called “Camp Cal,” “Cat Colony,” “Big Blue Village”, “Enes Island,” “Camp Keightley” and goodness knows what else. You can call it what you want, but regardless, it is the temporary capital of Big Blue Nation. Kentucky fans have created their own little enclave, a place with a festive atmosphere you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else.
Ray Thompson of Marion County can vouch for that. He, along with his brother, Dickie, are a part of a group of 30 fans housed in a cluster of seven tents. The two brothers have both made the trip for Madness tickets for a number of years and would not miss it. Their group is a diverse one, including residents from Louisville, Bullitt County, and Marion County.
What do they have in common?
Over the years, they all met each other while waiting in line for Big Blue Madness tickets and had so much fun, they decided to go together. Their group is representative of the neighborly nature of the gathering – to make a new friend, a simple “hello” will usually suffice.
Walk among the maze of tents and you will find that Cats fans everywhere are creating a home away from home. People are eating, playing cornhole, tossing a football, shooting hoops, playing cards, or just sitting around and talking.
“It’s kind of like being at the beach,” Ray Thompson said while laughing. “It doesn’t take much to entertain us.”
The Thompsons are among the many fans who have requested precious vacation days from work to spend time in line. Others are college students at UK and elsewhere who have found creative ways to miss classes and make up work to wait in line, while others still are retirees.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are even children younger than school age in line with their parents, or in the case of Caleb and Kayley Price, their grandparents.
Kim and Johnny Price of Morehead are in line for the second time after enjoying themselves last year. This time, though, the grandchildren are in tow. Armed with plenty of snacks, two big boxes of toys and a prime spot on the corner of the basketball courts across from the Wildcat Lodge, the Prices were prepared.
“They’ve actually done pretty good,” Johnny Price said.
With all the action going on around them, bedtime would figure to be a challenge, but the preparations have paid off.
“They played so hard yesterday, they fell right asleep,” Kim Price said.
Undoubtedly, though, the highlight of the week for the Prices and just about all of the fans is the opportunity to interact with players. Members of not just the men’s basketball team, but also the women’s basketball, football and volleyball teams have been around delivering food, playing cornhole and signing autographs, much to the delight of all the fans.
“Brandon Knight and (Eloy) Vargas came around and they were peeking around the top of the tents so we jumped out real quick,” Kim Price said. “We love this.”
Last year, the Big Blue Madness campout was as much an introduction to a team full of newcomers as the event itself, as fans got to know the “Three Amigos” and the others on a personal level. New players also had a chance to see the fervor and passion of the fans up close.
This season, newcomers like Enes Kanter, Doron Lamb, Terrence Jones, Stacey Poole, Jarrod Polson, Knight and Vargas appear to be enjoying a similar initiation.
“Last year we had five first-round draft picks,” Ray Thompson said. “How often are you going to get to sit and talk with guys like that?”
And how often do fans get the chance to camp out with a couple thousand of their newly formed best friends? The time only comes once a year, but it’s been well worth taking the annual vacation to sit on the Memorial Coliseum and Joe Craft Center lawn for a pair of tickets to practice.
“I enjoy this right here as much as the night in Rupp Arena,” Ray Thompson said.
