Where you can run to make it alright....

**Big Blue Weekend**
April 13, 2013 - April 14, 2013
Lexington, KY

When I tell people how much I absolutely love the city of Lexington, it never fails that I get a strange look from the Northerners that I am surrounded by on a daily basis.  I may have been born and raised in Northwest Indiana, but my heart truly does belong in Lexington, Kentucky.  Before you follow suit of those around me and start asking "why don't you just live there?", know that my husband has had to relocate us twice for work (once from Muncie, IN to New Albany, IN and once from New Albany to back up north where we were raised).  Both relocations ended in a layoff.  Now, he refuses to relocate ever again.  It truly does sadden my heart.  Northwest Indiana was a great place to grow up, but everyday I live here I am not entirely happy.  People begin to question why I travel so much and I hope that this gives you some insight into that query.  Whenever I can get away from this place, I take advantage of it - especially if my destination is my favorite city.

It is no secret how much I love University of Kentucky baseball (well, unless you are a new reader and just joining in all of my crazy adventures).  After seeing the team during Regionals in Gary in 2012, I knew I had to actually make it down to Lexington to see them play, it was just a matter of choosing which weekend to make the six hour trip.

Hudson Valley Renegades jersey that Michael Williams
wore during his first and only MiLB season

After contemplating the schedule, I saw that the Wildcats would be playing Tennessee at home.  I knew that former Wildcat, Michael Williams, had a brother that pitched for UT and that Michael had been attending a good amount of his brother's games.  If you recall, Michael is one of the WIldcats that I had traveled to New York to see play with his minor league team after he had been drafted.  Additionally, when the team auctioned off the game worn jerseys, I became the proud owner of the #35 Hudson Valley Renegades Away Jersey (I had seen them play in an away series because a friend of mine worked for the opposing team) - AKA, the jersey Michael had worn during the three games I had attended in New York.  I knew that if Michael happened to be going to the UK v. UT series, I could bring it with me and get it signed by him.  And even though he is no longer playing (that's a different story for a different day), the jersey would always bring back the memories of my trip to New York and my conversations with this former Bat Cat.  To some, it may seem silly to choose a series to attend based on the attendance of a person who could possibly not even be there.  However, I knew that if I was ever going to get that jersey autographed, that would be one of the sparse moments that it could happen.

After determining this particular series as the best weekend for me to attend, I made a great realization.  The 2013 Spring Football Game would be happening that very same weekend and it was going to be BIG with a lot of excitement for the football program drawn from the fact that UK has gotten new football coach, Mark Stoops.  This was just the annual Blue v. White scrimmage but the interest to see what Stoops was going to do with this team was high.  Ticket sales were through the roof compared to the previous year (more on that later).  This scrimmage meant that I would not only get to see one UK team play this particular weekend, but two!  You see, I am a true fan that bleeds blue for ALL Kentucky athletics, not just their ever so popular basketball team.

I began to make my plans for the weekend by buying my tickets and getting my hotel.  I would be meeting a friend, Beth, from Huntington, WV who is not only a Kentucky fan, but a Backstreet Boys fan as well!  I had invited Tammy, my usual Kentucky travel mate, to join me for the weekend, but she had been unable to make the trip.

When a workshop was offered to me the Friday I was supposed to head down to Lexington, I decided to take advantage of attending.  The workshop would allow me to rearrange my schedule to get off work earlier than if I worked a regular day AND it was about 45 minutes closer to Lexington.  Why wouldn't I take advantage of those two things?  The workshop itself was also good so there were no regrets going.

As usual when I head anywhere south, I stayed with a friend in the Louisville area on Friday night so that I could continue my trip to Lexington the next morning.  And as always - Indiana was as boring as ever to drive through.

Beth and I had made plans to grab lunch at Tolly Ho for some amazing burgers before heading to the ballpark so that we could catch batting and fielding practice....well, after a small detour to the Wildcat Wearhouse to browse their University of Kentucky gear.  We got to the ballpark shortly after the gates opened and Kentucky was taking their batting practice.  Unfortunately, my streak of sitting right behind the dugout was ended, as there is no seating in that area at Cliff Hagan Stadium and we had general admission tickets which is seating further up in the stands.  I realized I was going to have to deal with another stupid net in my photography (I had this same problem the previous weekend when I had gone to a minor league game to see a former Wildcat).  The camera likes to focus on the net in the foreground, rather than the subject in the background.  When it does work properly, there is a stupid net in all the photos!  Oh well, I guess there is nothing I can do about that.

Beth and me at the UK v. UT baseball game

While waiting for the game to start, we started a nice conversation with an older couple sitting behind us.  After telling them that I had come from Indiana and Beth had come from West Virginia and discussing our love for all UK teams, we were asked if Mitch Barnhart (the athletic director at Kentucky) knew we existed.  I agree with the guy that Mitch should totally give us jobs...I don't know what we would do but he wouldn't even have to pay me as long as lodging, food, and access to all games were provided.  I'm just saying, that would be awesome.

I was on constant look out for Michael, as well as the mom of Kentucky player, Austin Cousino.  We had been talking since Regionals on Facebook when she contacted me to thank me for the photos I had taken.  I eventually spotted Michael talking to some of the players by the dugout so I wanted to wait until he was done catching up with everyone that he knew....and there were a lot of them as he made his way around the park talking to fans, family members of the players, and friends.  I eventually saw an opening to grab my jersey and go talk to him.  He signed my Renegades jersey and my photo with him from my New York trip.  We then had what I thought was a very nice discussion.  We talked about  Luke and the Hot Rods since I had just seen the team play the previous weekend (many of the Hot Rods were on the Renegades with Michael).  We also talked about some things that made me feel a little less bitter that he had been released from the Renegades.  However, knowing that I might not get to see Michael play baseball in the future still makes me a bit sad.  He was a great ball player.  After our nice conversation, we got another photo together.  It is always truly a pleasure seeing and talking to Michael and I am grateful that he is just a genuine good guy.

Former Wildcat, Michael Williams, and his autographed jersey and photo

After months of waiting to see these Wildcats play in person, the game finally began.  They had a nice crowd since the Spring Football game was later that day.  Many fans actually left early from the baseball game to head to the football game and boy did they miss out on the end of a great game, even though Kentucky lost.  With one out left in the bottom of the ninth, Kentucky was trailing by five runs and bases loaded for the second time in the inning.  A grand slam by AJ Reed brought us within one but we fell short in our 9th inning rally.

Not only did I get to see the grand slam by AJ Reed, who is a fellow Hoosier from Terre Haute, but Max Kuhn who is also from the state of Indiana, had a home run of his own.  As much as I hate living in the state of Indiana, it feels good when those raised in the same state are successful wherever they go.

After the baseball game, we still had plenty of time to do the short walk from Cliff Hagan Stadium to Commonwealth Stadium for the Spring Football game.  When we got there, the gates weren't even open yet so we did some exploring and found the UK Alumni Association tent.  Beth is an alumni association member, but for a mere $10 I received enterance and access to the food, music, and prizes (I won a UK waterbottle which I was quite excited about).

Beth and me at the 2013 UK Spring Football Game

I hadn't been to a football game in a couple of years so I was so excited to be back at Commonwealth Stadium to see the Wildcats play, even if they were just playing against themselves since it was a scrimmage.  There was a lot of excitement surrounding this Spring Game because of the new football coach, Mark Stoops, and the promise of a much better season than those the team has had recenetly because of hiring him.  This was my first Spring Game and I could not believe how many people were there!  I actually think there were more people at this Spring Game than at the last regular game I attended.  In fact, they completely blew 2012's attendance out of the water!

If the above photo isn't enough to convince you about how excited the Big Blue Nation was for this Mark Stoops era, let me give you another perspective on this attendance.  The estimated crowd for this game was about 7,600 more than the largest crowd at a regular season game in 2012.  So, there were more fans at a SCRIMMAGE than an actual GAME from the previous year.  The attendance at this game also completely annihilated the previous attendance record of 20,325, set in 1987.  Of the 14 teams in the SEC, UK beat out nine of them in attendance.  The previous year, Kentucky came in dead last in attendance for the spring game.  What is even more impressive was that of the 14 teams, Kentucky had the greatest increase in attendance from the previous year - by almost 6,000 people ahead of Auburn (who had the greatest attendance of all SEC schools).  Hopefully, I have now gotten my point across at just how electrified this stadium was.

It was nice to see what the season was going to have in store for us as we watched the two sides scrimmage.  Hearing the air raid sirens go off each time a team scored brought an excitement back to Commonwealth Stadium that had not been heard and felt in years.  It was an excitement that had been growing since the following commercial had aired earlier in the year...

As can be expected, there were some mistakes out on the field.  Overall, fans got great insight into what the upcoming football season will hold.  After going into the half tied at 10, the Blue team came out the victors 24-23 when the White team's two-point conversion pass attempt failed.

2013 UK Spring Football Game

Four members of the 2012-2013 UK Men's Basketball Team

Not only did I get UK Baseball AND UK football in one day, but some of the UK basketball team was seen cheering along the sideline, as well.

Plus, there was plenty of spirit in the stands.  As a matter of fact, one of my favorite moments was when The Wave graced Commonwealth Stadium and just kept going and going and going.  After a disappointing football season the previous year and an even more disappointing 2012-2013 basketball season, it was great to see the Big Blue Nation excited about something again!

After an amazing day of Kentucky athletics, Beth and I weren't quite ready to leave the campus that we both love so much.  We made our way over to the Wildcat Coal Lodge, which houses the men's basketball team and thought for a moment that we might get to see some Wildcats in the middle of a pickup game as we passed by a basketball court and saw that it was in use.  We were kind of disappointed when those players turned out to be nobody special.  After some pictures with the legendary Coach Joe B. Hall, we made our way over to the student center.

Statue of Coach Joe B. Hall outside of the Coal Lodge

Beth, Coach Hall, and me

 On the way to the student center, I showed some love for my Bat Cats...

...and represented my love for all the Wildcats at Kentucky by giving the new Wildcat statue on campus some love...

It was finally time to end our day of fun and get some much needed rest for the next day of fun at the ballpark, where we would both get to see our favorite Wildcat, Corey Littrell, pitch.  Beth made her way back to her friends as I took the short trip to my hotel and it's incredibly hard bed.

Beth and I met the next morning at Ramsay's, where I just couldn't quite bring myself to order a Kentucky Hot Brown that early in the morning.  However, their breakfast was HUGE and I knew I wasn't going to have to eat again until dinner time.  We decided that there was one more place we needed to go together...we needed to go visit a legend.

Coach Adolph Rupp is buried in the Lexington Cemetary

It was such a perfect day for a baseball game.  I might have gone a bit overboard at the merchandise stand, where I bought three more Kentucky baseball shirts to add to my already large Wildcat wardrobe.  While walking my merchandise back out to the car, I realized I had parked in the wrong parking lot.  It just so happened that I was able to move and park right next to some of the Wildcat parents that were tailgating before the game started.  I had, of course, already met some of them between the day before and during regionals last year in Gary, but it was cool to get to meet more of them.  They made me feel right at home among them as a fellow Wildcat baseball fan.

Unfortunately, this game wasn't nearly as exciting as the previous day due to the fact that Tennessee was able to shut out the Wildcats and win 5-0.  While the game had been scoreless in the first five innings, four Tennessee batters in a row reached base in the sixth - scoring three runs.

I had been looking forward to seeing Corey Littrell pitch again since I had decided to go to Lexington for this series.  He pitched 7.1 innings, allowing eight hits and five runs.  He walked two and struck out three.  So, it wasn't his greatest outing but I was still happy to see him play.  Having a pitcher as your favorite player can be difficult since they play so rarely.  You have to stand behind them 100% during that one day a week where they do play.

Every Sunday when the Bat Cats are playing an SEC team, they have an autograph session after the game.  I think this was the part that I was looking forward to the most.  Beth had gotten me a team poster during one of her many trips to see the basketball team play that season but it had gotten a little beat up in the transition from her to me.  Luckily, they had fresh new team posters there awaiting to be autographed.  When I had seen former Wildcat, Luke Maile play just a few short days before in South Bend, he had asked me to tell everyone that he said "hello."  So, as I went down the line, I informed all of those he had played with the previous year of his message.

My signed and framed 2013 UK Baseball Poster

Corey was all the way towards the end of the line and I had the photo we had taken together at Regionals for him to sign.  He didn't appear to be in the greatest mood because when I asked him how he was doing, he had replied with, "I'm hanging in there."  I'm sure he was probably disappointed with his pitching outing that day so I wasn't going to push anything any further.  When I was finished getting all of my autographs I decided that I was going to try to wait for Corey to possibly get another photo.  Many of the families of the players were waiting outside the ball park so I waited, as well.

We waited and waited and waited.  When all of the players appeared to be out of the ball park and the gates were being closed, we headed back to the car.  Corey had never appeared.  There had been another exit that he might have taken...oh well.  As we exited the parking lot, we got a nice little surprise.  Corey was walking down the side walk, crossing right in front of us, with his dad.  I waved out the window and got a wave back.  Beth rolled down her window and I shouted out a request for a photo.  When he agreed, I quickly put the car into park right there in the entry way of the parking lot (luckily there was no one around because everyone was already gone), hopped out, and had his dad take the photo (thanks again Jack).  I absolutely love the photo and think it might be one of my favorites with the two of us.  I thanked him again for everything and went on my way.

Corey Littrell and me

After dropping Beth at her car, I started the six hour drive back to Northwest Indiana.  It had been an amazing weekend in my favorite city, filled with some of my favorite things.  I made a very important decision on my drive back north....next year I wanted to earn myself a Cliff Dweller shirt.  I was certain that I did not go another season without travelling down to Lexington to see the Bat Cats play.

You can see my entire album of photos from this weekend HERE.

**Title Credit - "The One" - Backstreet Boys - Millennium **