Louisville Creates Collective Insanity in Kentucky

It's all starting to take a toll. The pressure of hosting a huge college football game. Something that is overshadowing the Breeders' Cup on Saturday and even a Kentucky Wildcats basketball exhibition game against Lindsey Wilson College (who??).

The boosters for the city are quite clearly losing it. They seem to think this is about them.

We're not only on the map, we are becoming a destination city. Get used to us because you're going to be spending a lot of time here in the future. Maybe it's more by luck than design, but Louisville has carved out a unique niche in the American sports landscape.

This week, when Louisville will play host to two mega-events, is only the beginning. We have the Ryder Cup coming in 2008. We have the World Equestrian Championships coming in 2010. We have the Derby every year and we should have the Breeders Cup every third year.

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We don't have a team that belongs to the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, or major-league baseball. But we do have the Breeders Cup, the Derby, the Ryder Cup, the Bats, and the possibility of a lot more U of L vs. West Virginia matchups – games that have national-championship implications – in the future.

Just pray, that no one starts discussing a new convention center as being the key to being a true destination city.

He even has storyline suggestions for the writers.

I hope that some of the national writers will take the time to tour U of L's campus and view all the new facilities for the so-called "Olympic sports" that have been constructed since Jurich was hired less than a decade ago. The rise of Louisville to its current exalted status is truly an amazing story that hasn't received as much national attention as it deserves.

No, there are never any stories about new facilities on a campus. Not unless they are being televised that week.

Probably the scariest delusion:

We all know that UK needs to catch up to U of L and will. When that happens – and remember that Rupp Arena is the host of an NCAA first-round regional this year – the thousands of UK fans in Louisville will be able to participate in this city's amazing – and unique – sports renaissance.

In other words, it sucks to live in Louisville right now if you are a Kentucky fan. What, exactly, in Kentucky Wildcat football history tells you that they will "catch up" to Louisville? I guess the important thing, is to note he put no time expectation as to the when they will get around to catching up.

There becomes a couple schools of thought when you start seeing this sort of boosterism and arrogance for the entire city based solely on a sporting event.

You hope they lose just to put them in their place. If lucky, crush their spirit. The last thing this country needs is yet another program that has a fanbase and/or city that feels it is "entitled" to success and winning. That arrogance grates on everyone else that tries to keep some perspective.

The other is to hope they win for now, mainly because you've been there and you have enough humanity left that you don't want to see anyone else go through the soul-pained, gut-wrenching agony of having the hopes and dreams crushed.

I'll let you know where I come down on this later in the week.