I think all UK fans (or, at least, the 100% true blue ones) would choose a Cats victory over any other team, in any sport, at any level. In the case of most Cats fans, who tend to also be fans of the Cincinnati professional teams, I’m sure Kentucky’s national title means more than any Bengals Super Bowl or Reds World Series pennant would (hypothetically of course…the actual chances of those programs winning world championships aren’t great at the moment).

Still, it’s tough to think about Big Blue fans wearing any other color, and it’s even more difficult to deal with the fact that BBN is divided when it comes to its pro team preferences. Can’t we all just be one big happy family all the time?

I wish. As it stands, though, UK fans will have to agree to disagree on all things but their love for the Wildcats. In fact, I am currently sitting in Great American Ballpark, decked out in my Chicago Cubs gear. I just can’t help it. As much as I want to love the same teams that my Big Blue family does, I cannot turn my back on my own teams. Every kid into sports has that moment when they devote their fanhood to a certain club, and after that there’s no turning back. Oh, how I wish I could have chosen a team that had won the World Series just once in the past 104 years. But, alas, here I sit in the Reds’ friendly confines, with the wrong kind of “C” on my cap.

Believe me; it hurts. I cannot express the disappointment I felt at Paul Brown Stadium last fall, when I took my seat for the Colts vs. Bengals game ready to cheer on my team, which just happens to be Indy (once again, can’t help it, it’s just how I grew up). The amount of crap I took for proudly donning my horseshoe was astounding, but it wasn’t the criticism that hurt (I mean, the Colts were just awful). What brought on the pain was the harshness directed at me from Bengals fans in UK apparel. These are the same people I would expect to join me in heckling Vols fans after a big Cats win in Knoxville, and it was difficult to be the butt of their jokes, the proverbial “Vols fan.” Ouch.

I don’t claim to have a solution to this issue, nor do I expect all Cats fans to hold a meeting to decide on our collective choice for professional teams. I only wish to raise awareness. Next time you pick on that rival fan beside you at a pro football game, just remember that it could be a fellow member of BBN. That might not stop the guy four rows behind me throwing popcorn at my back every time I cheer after a Cubs hit, but I think the last thing Cats fans should do is hate one another because of something as trivial as sports played outside the city of Lexington. After all, who needs another baseball win when you’ve got a big, shiny trophy? Just a thought.

Go Cats. Go Cubs.

@AdamSchiltKSR…Follow me. I have candy.