Believe in Getting You’re A** Walked On

As you drive north on Interstate 65 in Louisville, about 1 ½ miles from the University of Louisville and Cardinal Stadium, you’ll see a brand new billboard on the side of the road. It bears the image of a serious looking Andre Woodson, quarterback for the University of Kentucky Wildcats football team, with the slogan attached:

“Believe In Blue.”

First, this is kind of a cheap rip off from the Indianapolis Colts, who also employ the same “Believe In Blue” slogan. Aside from that, however, is the backhanded swipe this billboard seems to take.

You see, this is pretty close to the heart of the city, steps away from where the Cards play their home games. It’s like a big, wet fart right in the middle of town –any self-respecting athlete, let alone any fan who follows sports, couldn’t interpret this as anything less than an insult.

That said, going to billboards is a step up from UK’s most recent statewide media campaign. At least a few more people will see these. I imagine a website could be coming in the next couple of years.

The thing is, I think this is a pretty ballsy move on UK’s part - yet there’s not much merit to back it up. Granted, UK posted a winning record (8-5) and won the Music City Bowl last year, the school’s first bowl win since 1983. They return several explosive players, including a potential top-10 draft pick in quarterback Andre Woodson, all SEC wide receiver Keenan Burton, and hard-hitting linebacker Wesley Woodyard.

Despite the talent they’ve assembled, they dropped every regular season game they played against good competition last year: a 59-28 blowout loss to UofL; a tepid 26-7 loss to Florida, a score that is much closer than the game tape would indicate; a 49-0 no-show against LSU, and; a 17-12 loss to Tennessee to extend their winless streak against the Vols to 22 games.

An eight point victory against an indifferent Clemson in the Music City Bowl does offer some glimmer of hope going in to the 2007 season, but it’s hardly justification for all the brash talk of beating UofL, Florida, Tennessee that’s been coming out of Lexington lately. Local sports columnist Eric Crawford may have said it best – "...maybe it will be tantamount to a puppy barking at a passing tractor trailer."

We’ll have to wait until the third week of the season to find out if the billboards inspired UK fans to have any more faith in their team – that’s when the Cats and Cards meet up to renew their rivalry in Lexington. (Incidentally, this game used to be the first game of the season for both teams. UK begged to have this game later in the year so they could be better prepared …)

The smart money says Louisville will win this one again, and they’ll probably win it big.

I’d expect those billboards will be coming down soon after.

- posted by Rev. Shaw Moore