The photo above is from the Kentucky Wildcats Facebook page. It also shows a record-setting attendance for a University of Kentucky Blue and White spring scrimmage. That's right. 50,831 attendees for what has easily been described as a "glorified practice". We haven't even begun incorporating our #29 recruiting class; they don't come until the fall! Granted, freshmen aren't nearly as influential in football as they can be in basketball, but it doesn't matter at this point.
For some comparisons, only Alabama had more than 46,000 attendees in 2012, with 78,500 according to this UK football blog. Alabama's record (for spring games) is just over 92,000. But the key here is that Mark Stoops came to Kentucky with a mission, and it looks like the State of Kentucky is behind him! Last year our spring game attendance was no more than 4500. No, I didn't miss a zero. And our previous record for a spring scrimmage? about 20,000. This is a pretty big number for SEC norms, but surprisingly even some of the stand-alone (meaning they rock their conference basically every year) teams such as Ohio State, Michigan, Boise State and the like, turn out under 40,000 and even less than 20,000 most years.
Again, I can't stress enough that this number alone doesn't mean anything for the future of Kentucky Football, except that the fans are ready. We want football. We aren't content with "just" having a great basketball program, and we will support Mark Stoops as he attempts to build Kentucky into a legitimate SEC football team. I for one am excited.
For some comparisons, only Alabama had more than 46,000 attendees in 2012, with 78,500 according to this UK football blog. Alabama's record (for spring games) is just over 92,000. But the key here is that Mark Stoops came to Kentucky with a mission, and it looks like the State of Kentucky is behind him! Last year our spring game attendance was no more than 4500. No, I didn't miss a zero. And our previous record for a spring scrimmage? about 20,000. This is a pretty big number for SEC norms, but surprisingly even some of the stand-alone (meaning they rock their conference basically every year) teams such as Ohio State, Michigan, Boise State and the like, turn out under 40,000 and even less than 20,000 most years.
Again, I can't stress enough that this number alone doesn't mean anything for the future of Kentucky Football, except that the fans are ready. We want football. We aren't content with "just" having a great basketball program, and we will support Mark Stoops as he attempts to build Kentucky into a legitimate SEC football team. I for one am excited.
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