Are Kentucky Wildcat Fans Fundamentally Flawed?

My beloved wife is the inspiration for this article. God bless her, she has to put up with my obsession 24/7/365. In return, I put up with the fact that she feels the need to buy new furniture and redecorate each room in our house every three months or so.

Last night, while talking to one of my friends, she overheard part of our conversation. We just happened to be debating over what Coach Cal was going to do in regards to recruiting for next year. (the 2010-2011 season).

She came over to me and said, where my buddy could hear, "They have not even played the first game of this season yet, why in the world would you two be worried about next year?!?"

Therein I believe lies the root of the problem.

Does any other school's fan base worry and obsess over their team like Kentucky fans?

As a group, we are profoundly affected by the performance of the Wildcats. Standing around the coffee pot at work the morning following a game, one can always infer who the winner was simply by observing the mood of fellow employees.

If it were possible, I would love to commission a study of productivity in the state of Kentucky the day after a loss by the Wildcats. I bet the results would be astoundingly poor.

One of my favorite stories I like to tell illustrates my point perfectly. One offseason a few years ago, while Rick Pitino was still the coach at Kentucky, I was listening to his radio show hosted by the great Cawood Ledford's successor, Ralph Hacker. A fan called in to ask about the recruits Pitino had signed for the upcoming season.

Following a lengthy explanation detailing the pros and cons of each recruit, Hacker asked if he was still there and if his response answered his question. After a few second pause, the caller responded with a question of his own.

"So who do you think Coach Pitino is going to go after next year?"

So, in the spirit of always looking ahead and never being satisfied with the present, here are a few of my concerns for the 2010-2011 season.

Coach Calipari had better keep his recruiting at a very high level, which I am sure he will. If Jodie Meeks pulls his name out of the NBA draft, then Kentucky has the potential to lose 80 percent of the potential starting lineup.

Meeks will be a senior. Patrick Patterson almost assuredly will not return for his senior season. John Wall is a surefire one-and-done player, and DeMarcus Cousins has his sights set on following Wall to the NBA, assuming his freshman campaign goes according to plan.

Probable roles players Kevin Galloway, Ramon Harris, and Perry Stevenson will also be seniors, which brings the total number of player losses to seven.

Seven scholarships to fill. A huge number of incoming freshman (or JUCO transfers) to incorporate into a team that will already have to find the right chemistry this season with six new players joining the fold, five of those being freshmen.

Kentucky has already struck out on its first 2010 target, Will Barton. Reportedly getting him required also offering his point guard brother a roster spot, something Calipari was apparently not prepared to do, with Eric Bledsoe already on board, and the staff having targeted Brandon Knight and Kyrie Irving as two of their highest priorities.

Expectations will also be another obstacle to overcome. (Like they're not every single year or something!) The bar has already been raised immensely for this season, with the 'Cats poised to be most analysts' preseason No. 1 or 2 pick.

If the season is a success—and by success of course I mean at least a Final Four appearance or better—then they will need to equal or better that showing next year.

Reverting back to mediocrity. Probably the biggest fear for Kentucky fans. We want and expect to be shown in the same light as the UNCs, Dukes, and Kansas' of the world, and for the past few years, we have not been mentioned in the same breath—and deservedly so, might I add.

One of the biggest knocks against Tubby Smith wasn't his coaching ability, but the fact that he won a national championship in his first season with Pitino's players, then never returned to college basketball's biggest stage. No Kentucky fan wants a repeat by Coach Calipari of the feats accomplished by Tubby.

Feats which would have been acceptable to any another program in the country not named Duke, Kansas, UNC, or UCLA, by the way.

This is what I believe sets the Kentucky program and its fans apart from the rest. We truly love our school, and our emotional dependence reflects that fact. We follow the happenings around the team year round and always have an opinion on how each and every situation should be handled, right down to the style of uniforms and hairstyles of the players. (PPat's Afro last year ROCKED, by the way!)

Are we unrealistic?  Yes.

Do we always expect more than we get?  Yes.

Should we be this dependent on something that when compared to life and overall happiness really and truly means so little? No.

But as a whole, we are overly concerned about all these things and much, much, more. THAT is what makes this program so special, and makes its fans the best in the country.

If that means I'm flawed and that all other Kentucky fans that think like I do are also flawed, that's fine, and I totally accept it, embrace it, and LOVE it.

And nothing could ever change my mind about that!