As a follow-up to my NCAA Ohio salute, here’s a vintage Kentucky license plate to honor tomorrow’s “Final Four War of 2012″ in basketball:
“Blue-Red State” replaces “Bluegrass State” and a “ball pass” icon (honoring these teams’ up-tempo offenses and quick outlet passes) replaces the horse icon. Note that Kentucky was involved in basketball’s most famous pass.
Media highlights of the UK-Louisville rivalry and Calipari vs. Pitino:
“It bears stating: This is the single biggest sporting event in the state’s history.” – The Wall Street Journal
“Ah, kings at each other’s throats — flawed, driven, prideful men scheming for power and empire. Theirs is a tale replete with willful violations of rules legal, moral, and ethical. Ghosts move in the shadows. Blood is on everyone’s hands. How delicious that all this is told inside a basketball game this weekend in New Orleans — Kentucky against Louisville, Calipari against Pitino.” – Grantland
“We don’t send each other Christmas cards,” Calipari said recently. Said Pitino of the coming showdown: “There will be people at Kentucky that will have a nervous breakdown if they lose to us.” – The Wall Street Journal
“Outside my home here in Louisville, all hell is breaking loose. Insults and predictions are dropping like bombs. Rational people are fleeing bars and restaurants in search of sanctuary. Offices have become battlegrounds, families are being torn apart, and minor events such as weddings are being reorganized.” – Sports Illustrated
Lastly, a salute to 2012 tourney teams Murray State (for a rare “horse viewed from the front” logo) and Western Kentucky (for their mascot.)