Mind boggling

[George]

This isn't directed at you either, Wonderstruck (or anyone, necessarily - even the OP) but I always bristle when people suggest that I or we don't appreciate something enough, or the right way. I get why this comes up and why the OP raised the question, but it's the movement from question to answer that gets to me. When someone declares that we don't, in fact, appreciate this team enough, I want to know how they drew that conclusion.

Who sets the standard for fan appreciation? Who conducts the surveys to determine whether or not each of us are sufficiently appreciative? What do we have to do to show appropriate levels of appreciation?

Let fans observe and enjoy as they see fit. It's simple.

[Joneslab]

We had a poster on this board ask if the 2012 team was that good during the season.

So I get why this sort of stuff comes up. I've always felt like Kentucky fans are really bad about taking things for granted. Far worse than your average fanbase.

I would assume the same phenomenon happens with Alabama football, Notre Dame football, Kansas and Carolina basketball, etc. But just because it's obvious why it happens doesn't make it fine and dandy. I've noted the nonexistence of interest after wins and the flurry of attention after losses for almost two decades. But I also realize that cheerleading isn't that interesting to read.

[Wonderstruck]

This isn't directed at you either, Wonderstruck (or anyone, necessarily - even the OP) but I always bristle when people suggest that I or we don't appreciate something enough, or the right way. I get why this comes up and why the OP raised the question, but it's the movement from question to answer that gets to me. When someone declares that we don't, in fact, appreciate this team enough, I want to know how they drew that conclusion.

Who sets the standard for fan appreciation? Who conducts the surveys to determine whether or not each of us are sufficiently appreciative? What do we have to do to show appropriate levels of appreciation?

Let fans observe and enjoy as they see fit. It's simple.

I get you, and I probably should have said "I" when talking about appreciation. I probably don't appreciate them enough for what they're doing. Just used "we" generally by default, but definitely wasn't trying to be representative of the fanbase. Just hodgepodge grammar.

[George]

I get you, and I probably should have said "I" when talking about appreciation. I probably don't appreciate them enough for what they're doing. Just used "we" generally by default, but definitely wasn't trying to be representative of the fanbase. Just hodgepodge grammar.

I really wasn't going after you about that. I knew what you meant and where you stand. I'm just speaking in general terms, because you do see this sort of thing fairly regularly.

And again, I do get it, and people who feel that way might be right in some cases.

[Joneslab]

A good book that gets into message boards and how fans use them. Beware though: it's about North Carolina basketball.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FCKREC/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

[teamchemistry15]

It's a microcosm of life, IMO. I'm pretty sure there's a ton of studies out there that talk about how quickly we criticize and how slow we are to praise.

Just an odd example, but how often do we go to the store, get bad service, and write an angry email (heck, I did it the other day)? On the contrary, when do we ever actually ask to see a manager to give credit to an employee who gave great service?

I hired a guy I interviewed because he made this point. I asked him about the importance of feedback. Everyone else interviewed ONLY talked about negative feedback or complaints. He talked about how it was important to give both and said "if you go to KFC, order a 12 piece bucket, get home and have 10 pieces you'll call and complain. I'm the guy who calls and thanks them when I get 13."

I know that's not really related to basketball, but I thought it was a great answer.

I think as Kentucky fans we expect the best but at the same time realize perfection isn't reality. The things we can criticize this team for are so small it seems silly sometimes, but it gives us something to not be happy about. That comes with the territory of expecting/demanding a top five team every year who will compete for the title. We never settle.

[J.Jennings]

To put it mildly, we are flat out spoiled by the John Calipari era and all the big name players he brings to Kentucky year in and year out. In some kind of crazy way, it's almost as if "when does the NCAA tournament begin" so we can make a run at the title, regular season really means nothing to our standards. We know we have talent, we know that if we click at the right time we can be special, why bother with regular season games? How we play tonight or next week doesn't really matter in March.

Some of my favorite UK teams of all time are the teams that nobody saw coming, not the case with Cal and Kentucky.

My advice to all including myself, stop and smell the roses...........................

[J.Jennings]

This isn't aimed at you personally but rather just a general point, but I'll guarantee people would know what they were seeing if this team were struggling. We'd have all kinds of opinions and takes and analysis.

The most interest this particular board has gotten by far was after the UCLA game and the Louisville game. Then people had a crapload of takes and theories and ideas.

And I understand this. It's always been this way. I just think the message board is a good platform for venting of spleen and not a really good one for congratulatory kinds of posts where we talk about how good the team is. It kind of gets back to this idea that Kentucky should win games like this so it's all expected.

The Tubby Smith era was a wild era on this board in particular. Talk about up's and downs and folks coming out of the woodwork, how many times did the server crash lol lol lol lol