Why Is Maysville Kentucky Cheering Tennesee?
Tennessee basketball coach, Bruce Pearl, visited the Mason County Fieldhouse last night to a warm welcome of Kentuckians wearing orange T-Shirts and shaking orange and white pompoms. The high school band was even playing Rocky Top. The crowd gave him a standing ovation, Mayor Cartmell gave him a key to the city, and State Rep. Mike Denham presented Pearl with a certificate making him a Kentucky Colonel. So why all the Tennessee love from a city that has historically been rivals?
It's because of one very talented basketball player, Chris Lofton. The Maysville native, Lofton, led Mason County to the 2003 state basketball championship. After he was passed over by Kentucky recruiters, he finally signed to Tennessee where he's flourished with a 44.9-percent accuracy through two seasons. As Bruce Pearl announced to Maysville audiences, Tennessee named Lofton its 2006 Male Athlete of the Year.
Mason County loves Chris Lofton, so Mason County loves Tennessee.
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I agree 1000% with Lee.
Does anyone think for a minute that Chris Lofton was the reason for the visit ?
He spends 90 minutes with Coach O'Hearn. What do you suppose they talked about ?
Someone needs to check the NCAA rules book.
This was a " disguised " recruiting visit.
I was there, he seemed like anice guy, but then again he was looking at the next generation (see: Darius Miller).
Good point Lee. Apparently he also didn't realize when applying for his current job that Tennessee is in fact South-er than Kentucky. And he might have missed the fact that Louisville is known for having one of the largest Jewish populations in the entire South.
Besides, I count Northern Kentucky as the Midwest instead of South anyway.
See: http://maysvillexplorer.com/blog/1/entries/233/2006-6-The-Border-State
I wonder why everyone in Maysville ignores the following quote at the end of this passage....
Once Southern Indiana’s interest in Pearl became known, a swarm of incendiary letters, faxes and calls poured into the USI athletics office from anti-Pearl Illinois fans. But Baker’s dossier outweighed the criticisms, and the school offered the beleaguered Iowa assistant his first head coaching job.
And so it was that the Jewish coach’s road to redemption would begin in Evansville, Indiana, on the banks of the Ohio River, where scarcely a synagogue could be found.
“It was South,” says Pearl. “Shit, it was a little too close to Kentucky.”
“It was way too close to Kentucky,” says Kim [Pearl]. “I didn’t care for it. It was a little too red neck. Very red neck.… My kids were the only Jews in their school. So when we had Jewish holidays, they had to go to school because school wasn’t closed.”
http://www.milwaukeemagazine.com/122004/bruce_pearl.asp
Interesting how he feels when he isn't recruiting a Maysville player, huh?
My son had the best line, he said,
" I wouldn't root for Tennessee if I went to school there"
Yeah... looks like the rivalry is still strong : ) Had to remove a comment or two on this one. LOL
Looks like not everyone in Maysville loves Tenn. lol
I was really surprised when the town turned orange. I was always taught the nothing s*%#s like a big orange.
Let's hope it is a 4 year thing and we can go back to Blue and White.
Or better yet, let's hope Chris turns pro next year.
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