We only had four channels at the time and ESPN barely existed. If we were lucky, all four of the local channels at the time would come in clearly. Sometimes during a storm, we could get a couple of channels from Cincinnati.
That was few and far between.
The television and the voice of the late Cawood Ledford on the radio were my only connection to the Wildcats. We didn’t have season tickets, but I loved watching the Cats play their home games at Rupp Arena. You could feel the excitement of the crowd through the television screen.
My late uncle, Steve Neeley, attended some games at Rupp Arena, and he would always bring me a game program, which I scoured from cover to cover. I admired Rupp Arena and the circle at the center of the court.
I didn't attend a game until I was a teenager in 1984, but I knew all about the venue through videos and pictures I saw on television, the game programs, and the Cats Pause Basketball Yearbook.
Beginning this season, Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center will celebrate 50 years with season-long programming and activities planned this season. Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope, the only former player who has played for and coached the Wildcats at Rupp Arena, still admires the historic facility.
“Rupp Arena is sacred ground in college basketball,” Pope said. “To be part of the 50th season in this building, where so many legends have played and so many memories have been made, it’s incredibly humbling. We’re excited to honor the past, while building toward the future.”
A lot has changed since Pope played for the Wildcats from 1993-96. The “Big Bertha” in the middle of the arena has been replaced by an upgraded video board at the center of the court, and the locker rooms have been upgraded. The chairback seats are now all blue as opposed to the multi-colored variation that resembled a rainbow in the lower bowl of the arena.
Because of the addition of more chairback seats, the capacity decreased from more than 23,000 to 20,545 following the renovation project in 2019.
“This is more than a milestone, it’s a celebration of the bond between a team, a venue, and a fanbase unlike any other,” UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart said. “We’re proud to partner with Rupp Arena and Central Bank Center to honor the legacy of Kentucky basketball and the Big Blue Nation.”
Throughout its history, Rupp Arena has showcased its superiority and beauty throughout the past 50 years. The Wildcats have won 529 games in the facility since the school moved from Memorial Coliseum to Rupp Arena on Nov. 27, 1976.
The current attendance record wasn’t set until 2010 when 24,480 fans witnessed Kentucky and its new coach at the time, John Calipari, defeat former Wildcats coach Rick Pitino’s Louisville squad, 71-62. That crowd surpassed the 24,474 that saw Kentucky defeat North Carolina 68-66 on Dec. 5, 2009.
Like many youngsters in this state, I dreamed of playing at Rupp Arena as a lad, but never had the opportunity to do so. Even though it never transpired, covering the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena for the past three decades has been truly a dream come true, a blessing that I will never take for granted.
I look forward to making more memories and writing about more milestones in the future.
