Visitors from South Korea, talk of ‘swaggy’ Cal part of Madness campout
University of Kentucky students from South Korea came to Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday to take in the annual campout for Big Blue Madness tickets. The expressions on their faces suggested puzzlement.
“I’m very surprised,” Yong Kon Choi said when asked about the scene. “It’s kind of a refugee camp.”
Yong Kang found the estimated 300 tents “far beyond my expectation,” but it was a more benign environment than what he encountered when stalled in traffic near Kroger Field before UK’s football team played Florida 11 days earlier. The red shirt he wore that day stirred the passion of UK fans, one shouting, “What the hell are you doing here?” he said.
The students are taking an English as a second language class at UK’s Martin School of Public Policy, said instructor Keith Gilbertson, who added that the visit was intended to give them a taste of Kentucky basketball culture, a chance to interact with local people and gain confidence in speaking English.
Only “an idol band,” the students said, could move people in South Korea to erect a tent city.
UK will distribute tickets on Friday night. Fans were permitted to begin setting up tents at 5 a.m. Wednesday. But fans arrived days earlier and waited across the Avenue of Champions for the signal to set up tents.
Marsha Poe, who is camping out for a 14th straight year, came from her Louisville home a week earlier. Except for leaving for a day to check on her mother, she had slept in a chair each night as she waited for Wednesday morning.
“It’s become social,” she said. “Otherwise, why would we get here early and sit out there on the street like raving lunatics?”
Angela McCoy, who lives in Grayson, offered another reason UK fans have made a tradition of camping out for Madness tickets that are available online.
“When you come down here, it’s like you’re almost like being part of the team,” she said. “Because you see (the UK players) walking up and down the street.”
As if on cue, sophomore forward EJ Montgomery happened to walk by a few minutes later.
“Might I say I love the way you rebound,” Poe said to Montgomery.
Earlier in the day, freshman Tyrese Maxey walked by. He used his phone to shoot video of the fans, saying “we love you all” as he went by, McCoy said.
Maxey is “big on Instagram,” Poe said.
Referencing UK Coach John Calipari, McCoy spoke optimistically about what Kentucky can do this coming season.
“I don’t think you’ve seen Cal this swaggy before,” she said.
When asked to define “swaggy,” McCoy said, “He’s usually ‘just give us time; we’re young.’ He just looks like he’s got his confidence on.”
Poe, a retired postal worker, adopted a wait-and-see attitude.
“You have to reserve judgment till you see them play,” she said. “They’re just faces and bodies. You might see a few video highlights, but that’s high school. That’s not against (college) competition.”
Poe then shared something she heard another UK fan say at the campout.
“I heard someone say they’re so excited,” she said. “They’ll really be excited about next year’s team because they’re going to be really good.”
Poe refused to look beyond 2019-20 to Kentucky’s team in 2020-21.
“I thought to myself, it’s my team,” she said. “Whether it’s all-star superstars or whoever. That’s my team. That’s why I’m camping out. They’re Wildcats.”
There were noticeably fewer tents set up than, say, a decade or more in the past. Guy Ramsey, UK Athletics’ director of strategic communications, said the camp area was restricted two years ago to help the flow of pedestrian traffic on campus. For the same reason, UK also shortened the length of time tents can be erected in advance of ticket distribution.
But UK sees value in accommodating its fans with a campout, Ramsey said.
“This is a tradition that’s really neat to us and really important to us,” he said. “That’s why in spite of the challenges with campus operations, we’re committed to keeping it going.”
The campout helps market UK basketball as extraordinary, Ramsey said. He called it a “unique outlet for the passion of our fans. I don’t think there’s any better example of that than this.”
