I Wish I Were In Lexington Weekend
Packing checklist for a trip to Lexington, KY for Keeneland and Kentucky Wildcats games!
I really wish I were in Lexington this weekend y'all! It's the ultimate autumn trifecta: A UK basketball game, Keeneland racing, and a UK football game. I can't make it there, and I'm feeling homesick, so I've put together the ultimate "I wish I were in Lexington" road trip checklist!
Photo Details: Striped UK Tote bag c/o Pomegranate, Inc. Open Top Large Boat and Tote, Zip Top Large Boat and Tote, Leather Handle Boat and Tote -- L.L. Bean. Black Lab Needlepoint Keychain c/o Smathers and Branson. Hunter Original Tall Glossy Boots
It's the best weekend of the year to take in all the best that Lexington has to offer!
Photo Details: Alex and Ani UK Bracelet c/o Alumni Hall; Bourbon & Boweties Basketball and Football Bracelets
The first stop on the Big Blue tour would be Friday afternoon's #seeblue day at Keeneland, showcasing the UK Cheer and Dance Teams, the Band, and the DanceBlue initiative!
Skirt and top: A New Day at Target; Pearls c/o Versona; Tory Burch Boots c/o Sassy Fox Consignment
Then I'd stop for a quick work break
and head out to the first UK Basketball game of the season.
Photo Details: Elbow Patch Tee c/o Gameday Couture; American Ragg Booties at Macy's.
Saturday morning, I'd go with a dressier look for a Keeneland Dining Room
Lilly Pulitzer Elsa Top and Cashmere Sweater; Talbots Wool Skirt; Kate Spade Shoes via Stella's Resale Boutique
Of course, tailgating is the next item on the agenda! I'm sure lots of folks I know will be out to see the big rivalry game versus Tennessee!
The forecast calls for a cold, rainy night, so I'd dress warm!
Are you headed to any of the weekend festivities in Lexington, or are you enjoying from afar like me?
College Basketball is Broken
I originally wrote this post in October 2015, but it feels as relevant today as it did then. I'm a UK fan, but I'm not cheering the sanctions that the NCAA handed U of L this week. I wish we could find a way to fix the game that I love.
Like most Kentuckians, I have a little bit of a college basketball problem. I'm really, really obsessed with my team, the sport, and basically everything else surrounding the process. I spend a whole lot of time worrying about recruiting and injuries and all of the other pieces of the college basketball puzzle. Over the past few years, in the wake of investigations and scandals, I've come to a sad realization about the sport I love so very much: College Basketball is broken.
Now, I've tried really hard to not immerse myself in the tawdry details of the current goings on at the University of Louisville. The truth is, this story is more sad than salacious. Louisville escort Katina Powell's story is not funny, or sexy, or fascinating, it's the story of a sex worker who introduced her potentially underage daughters into prostitution in exchange for college basketball recruiting. Very young women were, Ms. Powell's story goes, paid to entice very young men in an effort to sway a college basketball commitment. That is, quite simply, a depressing, disgusting, and somewhat Dickensian proposition.
As a Kentuckian and a basketball fan, I don't want this tale to be true; in fact, I don't want this circus to be happening at all. I'm a UK fan, and a UK fan only -- no offense, Cards friends, it's not personal that I don't cheer for y'all; I don't cheer for anybody but my 'Cats -- and, yet, I still desperately want the Katina Powell story to just go away. It speaks badly of the city I call home. It speaks badly of the Commonwealth I love. And, it speaks badly of the sport over which I obsess and the coach whom I once revered.
The truth is, a lot of things are wrong in college athletics. Every season, we hear about recruiting violations and scandals and we get a little more immune to it all. Everybody does it, we read in the comments of the articles, these guys just got caught. The U of L basketball program will suffer some severe sanctions in light of these revelations, but within moments of ESPN's confirmation of Ms. Powell's claims, legalistic arguments of strict liability replaced the lurid details. The story became about Coach Rick Pitino's culpability, and about how much he knew about these proceedings. There was a rush to place all blame firmly at the feet of former U of L staffer Andre McGee. But, the problem is far bigger than what McGee did or what Pitino saw. The problem is that the system is broken.
The system is broken because we think nothing of casual sexism. The U of L saga tells the story of giving women as rewards and incentives. We find ourselves making distinctions like "oh, boys will be boys; if it's just strippers, it's no problem. If they paid those girls for something else, it's a bigger issue." We laugh off the "girls" as a perk of playing ball. And, more dangerously, we point our fingers at the accusers. The Pitino regime sits on the precedent that Karen Sypher was scamming the program, and it's become easy for sympathetic local media sources to frame Ms. Powell in a disgusting tableau of slut-shaming and victim-blaming. (See, if you care to, Billy Reed's egregious piece about the "book-writing prostitute." Or don't. I suggest that you don't.)
The system is broken because of the archaic and draconian rule of the NCAA. In a world where increasingly high-performing athletes are in high demand, the governing body of college sports seems increasingly outdated. For every rule change that seems designed to increase the quality of play, it seems there are ten regulating minute rules. A creative network has arisen around skirting these regulations -- from the frequently ridiculed "You can give a recruit a juice, but not a muffin at certain events" rules to far more substantive rules. We live in a culture where it seems a slippery slope exists between giving a recruit a second helping of breakfast and setting him up for a lap dance. Perhaps it's time for an overhaul of the regulating body.
And, perhaps most importantly of all, the system is broken because of a fundamental refusal to acknowledge the true nature of college sports. College basketball is a game of recruiting and a forming a pipeline to the NBA. Recruits are already tied into sneaker companies' networks through their AAU affiliations. College basketball is a multimillion dollar enterprise, and we somehow find a reason to divert profits away from the very participants whose hard work and, at times, physical wellbeing are the foundation of the game. College athletes are no longer boys who play a little ball whilst earning an education. They are a high-profile, high-earning potential commodity, and yet NCAA steadfastly refuses to acknowledge that student-athletes deserve a cut of the earnings. As fans, we willfully buy into the idea that our student-athletes are at particular schools for both the athletic and academic experiences. It's time to acknowledge the economic reality of college athletes, provide these athletes with a realistic financial stipend, and treat them as what they are -- employees of their universities.
The U of L scandal will blow over, or it won't. Coach Pitino will weather the storm, or he won't. And, in a few months, the sports media will move on to a newer, more salacious scandal. The fact remains that the sport is broken. But, those of us who love basketball keep loving the game and hoping for real change.
Alumni Hall is coming to The Summit at Fritz Farm!
Great new Kentucky Wildcats gear at the new Alumni Hall store at The Summit at Fritz Farm!
Nike Twill Kentucky Hat | Kentucky Alex and Ani Charm Bracelet (c/o Alumni Hall)
I am so excited for the opening of The Summit at Fritz Farm in Lexington, y'all. No matter how long it's been since I lived there, Lexington just always feels like home - I have so many family and friends there, Bob and I both went to undergrad and grad school there, and then there are our Wildcats. We aren't just "wear blue and white on game day" Wildcats fans. We're thinking about our 'Cats every day of the year. So, of course, we were so excited when Alumni Hall sent us some fun UK gear to celebrate the opening of their Summit at Fritz Farm store and to get us ready for the upcoming season -- as we all know, basketball season is always almost here in Kentucky!
Alex and Ani Kentucky Charm Bracelet (c/o Alumni Hall)
Oh my goodness, y'all. Their selection is so awesome. I'm pretty sure I want one of everything on the Alumni Hall website. I love this Alex and Ani charm bracelet so much. And this scarf is such a lovely way to celebrate the Bluegrass State!
Bob loved this Cutter & Buck DryTec polo shirt, and I know I'll wear the Blue 84 Lucille Terry V-Neck Tee all summer long!
Cutter & Buck DryTec polo | Blue 84 Terry V-Neck Tee (c/o Alumni Hall)
When you're a fourth generation Kentucky fan, like we are at our house, you love Kentucky gear that reflects the Wildcats' heritage. The vintage look of Bob's blue tee is so fun for casual weekends, and the details on my baseball tee are so adorable. Check out the Wildcats logo on the back!
Kentucky 47 Big Blue Nation Tee | Kentucky League Women's Camp V-Neck Baseball Tee (c/o Alumni Hall)
Alumni Hall's newest store opens at the Summit at Fritz Farm in early May. I look forward to seeing y'all there! Go Big Blue!
Thanks so much to The Summit at Fritz Farm and Alumni Hall for sponsoring this post!
Five Things You Need To Know About The Kentucky - Duke Rivalry
Tonight, the University of Kentucky Men's Basketball Team takes the court against the Duke Blue Devils. For many of us, this is a game fueled by intense rivalry, which makes it rather surprising that this will only be the twenty-first time the teams have met over the span of eighty-five years.
As we count down to tip-off, here are a few must-know trivia tidbits to fuel your #BBN obsession. Go Big Blue!
The Atlanta City Auditorium, site of the 1930 Southern Conference Championship.
1. The Kentucky-Duke rivalry spreads over eighty-five years. The teams first met in March 1930 in Atlanta, at the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament.Duke won that game, 37-32. (Duke went on to lose to Alabama in the finals.)
2. The teams have met twenty times: Kentucky has won 11 of those games, while Duke has won 9.
3. The record for most points scored by a single player in a Duke-Kentucky game is held by UK legend Jack "Goose" Givens in the 1978 National Championship Game. Givens scored 41 points, including 18 fields goal.
4. Kentucky holds 8 National Championship Titles; Duke has 5.
5. The 1992 East Regional Final game is remembered by most Kentucky fans as perhaps the most painful loss to Duke. The 104-103 overtime Blue Devils win included Christian Laettner's memorable technical foul against Aminu Timberlake and that last shot -- you know the one, because the Worldwide Leader shows it a thousand times every spring -- well, you know how it ended.
The HerKentucky Guide to Big Blue Madness
Tonight's the night, BBN. Big Blue Madness, our first glimpse at the 2016 Wildcats. The greatest recruiting tool in college basketball, where we've learned over the years that Drake is a 'Cats Fan, and that at least one Miss America bleeds blue and where we've seen Coach Pitino on a Harley, Mr. Keightley jump out of a cake, and as many sick dance moves as Coach Mitchell cares to lay down. In honor of tonight's event, here's some Big Blue Madness Trivia for y'all.
- The first Kentucky Wildcats late night practice was held on October 15, 1982. Although UK Coach Joe B. Hall was not the first coach to hold an open scrimmage or practice to kick off basketball season, his "Midnight Special" is credited with popularizing the custom.
- Big Blue Madness was held in Memorial Coliseum from 1982-2004 and was moved to Rupp Arena in 2005.
- Although the free event welcomes thousands of Wildcats super-fans, the unofficial guests of honor are always high schoolers. The blue chip recruits whom we hope to sway toward the Big Blue Nation are conspicuously in attendance. The day after the 1991 Big Blue Madness, all four recruits in attendance -- Rodrick Rhodes, Jared Prickett, Tony Delk, and Walter McCarty -- verbally committed to UK.
- Some of the celebrities who've attended Big Blue Madness include Drake, Secretariat owner Penny Chenery, Miss America Heather French, and, of course, Ashley Judd.
- The 2002 Big Blue Madness celebrated the 100th anniversary of Kentucky Basketball. A giant birthday cake was brought to center court prior to the player introductions, with Mr. Wildcat, Bill Keightley, stealing the show by jumping out of the cake.
- When it became clear that the Internet was here to stay, tickets to BBM became even harder to acquire. The 2000 Big Blue Madness market the first time that tickets were available for online purchase; all 700 were distributed in 13 minutes. The remaining 8,000 were gone in 10 minutes to those waiting in line.
- In 1995, seniors Tony Delk and Walter McCarty made their grand appearance as "Cat"man and Robin.
- And, of course, in 2012, this happened. And it was the best.
The KY Kernel has a great rundown of this year's 'Cats. I don't know about y'all, but I sure am excited to meet them!
Go Big Blue!!!
The HerKentucky UK and U of L Fan Elite Eight
While we're all agonizing over our brackets and waiting for The Big Dance to start, here's the guide to what's really important about March Madness for fans of the University of Louisville Cardinals and the University of Kentucky Wildcats: Celebrity Endorsements. We've broken down the brackets for HerKentucky's Elite Eight Pairings of Celeb Super-Fans, and applied some Joe Lunardi-style bracketology to offer up our best picks.
The Hunger Games Edition
The stars of The Hunger Games are both Kentucky natives but they fall on opposite sides of the team lines.
Josh Hutcherson, a native of Northern Kentucky, cheers for the Cats
while Louisville native Jennifer Lawrence is all "L's up!"
Winner : Team Katniss. J-Law is just as fierce without archery gear. Sorry, Peeta.
The Heartthrob Edition
Leonardo DiCaprio reps the Cards,
while Cougar Town star Josh Hopkins is a proud member of the BBN.
The Winner: Josh Hopkins. He may have dated gorgeous celebs like Courteney Cox and Erin Andrews, but Lexington native Josh Hopkins makes no secret that his first love is Kentucky basketball. (We'll even forgive him for attending Auburn.) Los Angeles-born Leo looks like a bro who found a cool hat, and the lady beside him is not impressed.
The Supporting Actor Edition
Actor Steve Zahn is a fixture around Lexington, especially at UK games,
while William Fichtner of The Dark Knight showed his U of L loyalty at a recent Derby Party.
The Winner: Steve Zahn all the way. He really put in a touching performance in Dallas Buyers Club, his Treme character is hilarious, and he's married to J. Peterman's daughter. Plus, the Batman dude looks scary.
The Leading Lady Edition
Ashley Judd is perhaps Kentucky's most iconic basketball fan...
while Jennifer Lawrence (Oops... we included her twice, because she's the HerKentucky girls' imaginary BFF, and Hollywood's It Girl) is the Cards' biggest fan.
The Winner: Too close to call. Both are super-fans whom everyone associates with their respective teams. Ashley is the Grande Dame of Kentucky Basketball, but everybody loves Jennifer.
Did we miss anybody? Who's in your Celeb Super-Fan Bracket?
What to wear to the SEC Tournament
It's only a few hours until the Wildcats take over Nashville, but who's counting? Like Hunter S. Thompson in the above quote, I always believe that Kentucky will go undefeated in March and win everything. This year, we've got a really good chance of doing it.
Whether you're cheering the 'Cats on at home or in NashVegas, here are my picks for most stylish, fun ways to rep the BBN.
Shop Local Kentucky's Seersuckertucky Sweatshirt. I'm just in love with this.
Since you're in the Music City, you need some boots. Seriously, you need an excuse for these.
Letter Raglan from Shop Local KY. This is so classic and old-school.
I honestly never take my Maya Brenner Kentucky necklace off. It's the perfect way to express your Bluegrass pride wherever you go.
Legacy Tee From High Street Fly. Go Cayuts.
These Tory Burch flats are a perfect way to stay cute and comfortable.
Go 'Cats!!