Rupp Arena: To Change The Name Or Not?

[Pobilly]

And going back to the dividing the fanbase thing, if you polled UK fans on this they'd probably be about 90% "keep name" and 10% ditch it. Maybe even 95/5.

When you get into sports fans generally and Kentucky fans specifically it's not like you're talking northeastern libs. We're pretty likeminded about most things as long as you get people off computers and have them discuss issues in the real world. (We're also something like 97% white.)

So I'm not sure this is an issue that would divide the fanbase really.

Key word here is People getting together and talking about the issues. No matter the issue. I have hard beliefs on the whole COVID19 thing along with our Political pandering from both sides of the Isle on this issue to go along with all the other things that have started to change things in the past year. I know one thing. The issue is we do not talk anymore. We type all day long. We can be keyboard Chuck Norris all day long. But if we can talk to one another, discuss things peacefully we can all come to agreements on the situations that are killing us today. Problem is the people in charge from DC (no particular party) on down want us divided, confused and full of emotion. Then you do not see the issues right in front of our face. We just see hatred and all those other negative things. Time to start getting together and discussing things as communities and not on message boards. Not talking about sports things but real everyday life issues. I would love to just see people working together for the good of...well PEOPLE.

That being said. Like before call is Commonwealth, Rupp, Kroger or Central Bank Arena I will keep watching and pulling for the Boys IN Blue and White.

[Catatonic]

I've always had the impression that talk of Rupp's racism was fueled mostly by rival fanbases trying to find any angle for a dig at us.

I've talked to some U of L fans who are REALLY proud of that fact that their athletics had institutional racism for 70 years instead of 71.

[Lighthouse]

I agree with this. With Rupp you have to do a lot of inferring and cherry-picking, and I don't think that's enough to really put a man on trial for. Especially not four decades after his death.

I've heard that most of the Rupp-is-a-racist stuff comes from a Sports Illustrated article written by Curry Kirkpatrick in the 1980s. I know Jon Scott has countered some of the claims Kirkpatrick made in that article. If one article and a few loose quotes is what you have to destroy a person's reputation then I just don't think that's enough.

Totally agree with this!

[Spiritof96]

There is now also talk of renaming the "Cheapside" area of Lexington to something else. Cheapside used to be a slave market.

As with the UK Memorial Hall mural, I think it is problematic to take down and rename the places that remind us of past sins. Every time I eat or go to a concert in Cheapside, I am reminded that it wasn't that long ago that people were bought and sold like livestock right where I am recreating.

I don't want to forget the history of a place. I want to think about the evil that was done there and the reasons why it isn't that way now. I want those places reclaimed and redefined by who we are now while recalling in the back of our minds what we (the people) were.

[Catsrock]

It would be a real shame if a few folks trying to make a name for themselves--and who know no more about Rupp than I do--are able to trash Rupp's name. People who new him and people like Dick Gabriel who researched him deny he was racist. He definitely had recruited black players before the 1966 title game.

However at this point if the name doesn't change it will be used against the program and could effect recruiting. Total crap they're in this position.

[Joneslab]

There is now also talk of renaming the "Cheapside" area of Lexington to something else. Cheapside used to be a slave market.

As with the UK Memorial Hall mural, I think it is problematic to take down and rename the places that remind us of past sins. Every time I eat or go to a concert in Cheapside, I am reminded that it wasn't that long ago that people were bought and sold like livestock right where I am recreating.

I don't want to forget the history of a place. I want to think about the evil that was done there and the reasons why it isn't that way now. I want those places reclaimed and redefined by who we are now while recalling in the back of our minds what we (the people) were.

Generally I don't think of the history of a place at all when I'm there, not even a place that contains a lot of history. I walked by the Jefferson Davis statue 5,000 times and never thought about it once.

But: I don't have slaves in my ancestry, so maybe that changes everything.

[Spiritof96]

Generally I don't think of the history of a place at all when I'm there, not even a place that contains a lot of history. I walked by the Jefferson Davis statue 5,000 times and never thought about it once.

But: I don't have slaves in my ancestry, so maybe that changes everything.

I don’t think about it in every place, but I do in Cheapside.

[J.Jennings]

The reality is racism will always exist, that will never change, been like this since the beginning of time. I don't understand why this small minority of racist white black hispanic muslim, etc. gets all the attention while the majority of the world could care less about it, not everyone is racist, not everyone wakes up in the morning thinking what can "i" do to make someone's life miserable. Obama won two elections, have you looked at the number of votes he received, a whole lot of racist people voted for him or so it seems. Racism will always be a sore subject to me in general, i have Indian and Irish in my blood, do i really need to live my life worried about what happened to my ancestors many years ago, do i live in a box my entire life and blame the world for my own bad decisions?

Prime example here recently. Good friend of mine was a star athlete college football receiver, worked out for many NFL teams but just could not make a roster. Ended up going to the arena football league and became a star, been the head coach of a team for last 5 years now in the arena league. Has a lot of NFL connections, even ran a play 4 years ago that now every college team including the Giants of college and NFL teams run, who do you think get's the credit for that play? My good friend is also a world class musician and has been very close to the mountain top but just can't get over the hump, same with his football career.

Here's is why i bring all this up. My good friend is frustrated and just mad, he feels he has always been so close but just can't get to the top but in his mind he truly believes it is the color of his skin why he has not achieved his goals and reached his stardom. Ever since the trajedy of George Floyd, he has been very active in promoting his agenda and showing his true feelings, he thinks the world the system is against him.b Yes i do believe he has faced obstacles and has been judged unfairly by some in his life but not all people believe or are like this. I simply asked him this, "if you was 23 again and NFL ready and was turned down by every NFL team but Jerry Jones offered you a 3 yr/30 million contract would you take it?" His response was he would take the money even though some may consider Jerry Jones to be a old school racist style owner his way or the highway. Would you sell your soul and everything you believe for the money? We all have obstacles and challenges to overcome but as i advised him as a friend whom i love like my brother, you cannot live your life trapped in a mentality thinking the entire world is against you, it is a sad life to live, i don't think you will every reach your full potential.

Anyways, if Rupp was not perfect back then neither was many other ACC and Sec schools. My ex boss years ago played for Wake Forest and they would be booed and harrassed way back when because they had others players on the team not white. What i fear now more than anything is that instead of things getting better, all this has actually made things worse and alot of people are just fed up and tired of being accused of being racist, who's really the racist in these situations?

[Dwight Schrute]

The reality is racism will always exist, that will never change, been like this since the beginning of time. I don't understand why this small minority of racist white black hispanic muslim, etc. gets all the attention while the majority of the world could care less about it, not everyone is racist, not everyone wakes up in the morning thinking what can "i" do to make someone's life miserable. Obama won two elections, have you looked at the number of votes he received, a whole lot of racist people voted for him or so it seems. Racism will always be a sore subject to me in general, i have Indian and Irish in my blood, do i really need to live my life worried about what happened to my ancestors many years ago, do i live in a box my entire life and blame the world for my own bad decisions?

Prime example here recently. Good friend of mine was a star athlete college football receiver, worked out for many NFL teams but just could not make a roster. Ended up going to the arena football league and became a star, been the head coach of a team for last 5 years now in the arena league. Has a lot of NFL connections, even ran a play 4 years ago that now every college team including the Giants of college and NFL teams run, who do you think get's the credit for that play? My good friend is also a world class musician and has been very close to the mountain top but just can't get over the hump, same with his football career.

Here's is why i bring all this up. My good friend is frustrated and just mad, he feels he has always been so close but just can't get to the top but in his mind he truly believes it is the color of his skin why he has not achieved his goals and reached his stardom. Ever since the trajedy of George Floyd, he has been very active in promoting his agenda and showing his true feelings, he thinks the world the system is against him.b Yes i do believe he has faced obstacles and has been judged unfairly by some in his life but not all people believe or are like this. I simply asked him this, "if you was 23 again and NFL ready and was turned down by every NFL team but Jerry Jones offered you a 3 yr/30 million contract would you take it?" His response was he would take the money even though some may consider Jerry Jones to be a old school racist style owner his way or the highway. Would you sell your soul and everything you believe for the money? We all have obstacles and challenges to overcome but as i advised him as a friend whom i love like my brother, you cannot live your life trapped in a mentality thinking the entire world is against you, it is a sad life to live, i don't think you will every reach your full potential.

Anyways, if Rupp was not perfect back then neither was many other ACC and Sec schools. My ex boss years ago played for Wake Forest and they would be booed and harrassed way back when because they had others players on the team not white. What i fear now more than anything is that instead of things getting better, all this has actually made things worse and alot of people are just fed up and tired of being accused of being racist, who's really the racist in these situations?

You really don't understand why people might get up in arms about racism?

[J.Jennings]

You really don't understand why people might get up in arms about racism?

Which people, the ones with a narrative or agenda? What is the end game in all of this?

No one in there right mind likes racism, are you freaking kidding me. Let me guess, you been on the street kneeling kissing feet and all that right? Maybe YOU are guilty of your white privelage but you don't speak for everyone, the everyday working class person who has had to works there arse off to survive it's a crock, people not buying that. In fact, all of this in many cases has probably made things much worse moving forward, the SILENT MAJORITY OF THE EVERYDAY POPULATION IS FED UP WITH IT including hard working black folk who don't want someone like you feeling sorry for them, it makes you look like a fool at the end of the day. Like i said, innocent non racist people are sick and tired of being called racist for something they have nothing to do with, racist people who exist are a small and i mean small minority. Better yet, if i opened up a network and called it WET or white entertainment network would that be racist? If 30 white mean walked down the street with the 2nd amendment rights of packing a gun would they be white supremacist? If there was a white history month would that be racist? Again who's really racist in all of this?

[DA#23]

I could have typed that response for you, JWORLD. I knew you would post something along those lines .

[J.Jennings]

I could have typed that response for you, JWORLD. I knew you would post something along those lines .

Less racism more Jesus the world be alot better place to live. Right now it has nothing to do with racism, it's all about evil vs good. What blows my mind is a week before George Floyd was killed, Joe Biden told black folks if they didn't vote for him they was not black and black America went the hell off and told him to go f himself, yes MASTA, we do what you say smh. A week later we have a white cop starring into the camera killing a black man. I do not trust our government the media or the agency's involved in none of this, including Covid 19, nothing about this feels right at all...

[J.Jennings]

As for the name change to Rupp, tear it down and call it Cal's court, he wants to be the God of Kentucky anyways. I guess if they do not change the name, they will just burn Rupp down right?

What i want to know is when are people going to stand up and start protesting all the innocent children being killed in Chicago and major city's on a weekly basis? Instead we are focused on the name of a basketball court smh..

[J.Jennings]

You really don't understand why people might get up in arms about racism?

Let me guess, you want to defund the police and bring in social workers too right?

[Lighthouse]

If you want to discuss the original reason for this thread, please do. BUT, leave out any political discussion Please. There is a place for that.