A New York Times reporter spent time in Louisville to see how we feel about hosting the NCAA tournament while our own beloved team sits on the sidelines. Marc Tracy, in an article published Friday, “Louisville Is a Grumpy N.C.A.A. Host as Its Team Sits One Out,” wrote:
“Though the Cardinals would not have been eligible to play tournament games in their home arena, the KFC Yum Center, locals still have experienced the indignity of four foreign fan bases coming to cheer their own. Outside the arena on Thursday night, the fans wearing red were there to back Maryland. For a city that prides itself on a few distinctive, idiosyncratic features chiefly bluegrass, bourbon, basketball and an annual horse race the circumstances have been as hurtful as the home teams absence from the postseason.”
“If Louisville the city can feel overlooked in favor of more prominent islands in the hipster archipelago dotting the country, Louisville the basketball program has its own overshadowing rival much closer to home: the Kentucky Wildcats. Kentuckys mens program has the most Division I wins in history, and a fan base that will not let anyone around here forget it.”
This article appears in March 23, 2016.