Or does Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari preside over SEC's most passionate fans?
Does Alabama football coach Nick Saban rule over SEC's most rabid fan base ...
After the total and complete barrage of belligerence received after I wrote a column earlier this week about John Calipari and his No. 1-ranked Kentucky One-and-Doners, I believe I am ready to unilaterally declare Big Blue Nation as the most rabid fan base in the country.
Only a few times in my sportswriting career have I been so passionately and profanely rebuked by a single fan base. It’s happened twice in college football — Ohio State and Alabama — and once in basketball.
Big Blue Nation came after me in waves earlier this week, slamming kill shots into my email box and clogging my Twitter account with invective descriptions that would have made Luther Campbell (sorry, I’m not up to date on the more current foul-mouthed, misogynistic rappers) blush. It almost as if former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Greg Williams had put a bounty on my head.
Now I know what former Georgia basketball coach Hugh Durham was talking about when he once described the omnipresence of Kentucky basketball fans as the ”Big Blue Mist.” I can now tell you first-hand that Durham had the perfect depiction. The Blue Mist is a cloudlike aggregation of fire and fury that envelopes and suffocates you with dedication, devotion, agony and anger.
Which brings me to what I believe is an intriguing question for SEC fans to consider: Which is the most passionate fan base in the league — Kentucky basketball or Alabama football?
I’m going to refrain from voting right now because my laptop is still dripping wet from the Big Blue Mist.
But if you have time, please leave a comment and vote in the poll below.
(NOTE TO READERS): On our Open Mike radio show this morning, we will talk about this topic and many others, including the Magic’s loss to the pathetic Charlotte Bobcats, Stan Van Gundy’s chest pains and the ongoing Dwight Howard trade saga. We will also talk to Bruce Springsteen lead guitarist Nils Lofgren (8 a.m.) about the E-Street Band’s new album, FSU basketball coach Leonard Hamilton (7:30 a.m.) about being named ACC Coach of the Year, former Tampa Bay Bucs defensive tackle and attorney Brad Culpepper (8:15 a.m.) about the philosophical and legal ramifications behind the New Orleans Saints’ “BountyGate” and Sentinel Gators insider Rachel George (7:15 a.m.) about UF’s prospects in the SEC and NCAA Tournament. If you want to listen, tune into 740 AM in Orlando every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. or click here if you want to listen live on-line. You can call into the radio show at 407 916-8255 or toll free 1-800-729-8255. And if you want to hit me up on Twitter and follow my clever, witty and insightful comments, click here.
