Thoughts on "Little Brother"

Rivalry Week. When the highest love of college sports meets the lowest lows of lame cutdowns. Case in point? The term "little brother". It's hurled towards Louisville fans often by our blue brethren. It irks some, but it's never bothered me. Why? Because it's always seemed natural to me that UK have a larger, louder fanbase. The Wildcats derive support from 119 and 1/3 of the counties of Kentucky. We derive ours from the majority of Derby City. We are the underdog. The real question is why "little brother" matches UK dollar for dollar in profitability, goes head to head for every recruit, and more than holds its own in every contest involving ball, pool, or track. From Sonny and Michael Corleone, Jacob and Esau, Zach and Randy Taylor, or Joel and Ethan Coen, the "big brother" is invariably the brawny, dumb one. The younger brother is always smart and successful. Forgive me for being nonplussed.

What's more, the term "little brother" is hurled in a dismissive fashion, as if UK couldn't care less about this small rivalry. Don't believe it for a second. They follow every Cardinal move with obsession, displaying the unique Wildcat inferiority/superiority complex at every juncture. As further evidence of UK's non-caring caring of UofL, here is one of KSRs weaker links, Patrick Barker, on UK's best shot of the last decade, the Patrick Sparks-two step that downed the Cards in '04...

 #1 December 18, 2004 - Happy Feet
–So #1 is not one shot but rather 3 free throws. Louisville fans can claim he walked twice in that 2.5 second span, but it doesn’t matter. They deserved to be penalized for their senior leader (sic) fouling a jump shooter. Somehow I think we won’t need late-game heroics to win this Saturday.

Somehow, the greatest UK shot of the last decade was not in a tournament game, not a championship shot, not an epic dunk, but an acknowledged traveling violation to triumph over "little brother". Somehow, Mr. Barker, fuck off.