Worst of the SEC Blogs for Thursday

As you know, I rarely write Kentucky-related posts on here. I am a UK fan, but I do try to cover the SEC fairly honestly. I admit my bias, and unlike many in the mainstream media, I don't pretend to be able to put it aside and be completely dispassionate. Instead, I just try to stay away from the school for which I have a partisan affiliation. But sometimes it is impossible, and this is such a time.

I am very rarely surprised to read anything in the blogsophere. Sometimes you have people lose it. Sometimes, people just spew stream of consciousness crap. But this one really floored me. It starts with an article by Lexington Herald-Leader sportswriter John Clay about a Kentucky fan who goes to school at Vandy, and was sitting in the front row of the student section. His name is Eric Delong, and he was focused on a number of times by the ESPN cameras as he was the only guy in blue sitting in the front part of the Vandy student section. Clay writes this about his plight:

DeLong had arrived three hours early for his front-row seat, stood outside Memorial Gym for 90 minutes before the doors finally opened before tipoff, then sprinted to that prime position near mid-court where he was quickly enveloped by Commodore supporters.

"One of my friends -- well, he's not really a friend, just someone I play basketball with -- tried to physically remove me from my seat," said DeLong. "I didn't like that very much."

Then, somehow, his cell phone number was distributed and, as Vandy started using the Cats as a speed bag, DeLong received upwards of 65 text messages.

"My mom's not going to like that," he said. "The bill goes to her."

OK, I admit I think the fans were classless, but they are kids, so we have to give them a bit of a break here. They should certainly not have run up the charges on his phone by texting him, but I have seen and even participated in worse pranks in college, so I think his mom is just going to have to suck it up and tell her son to be more judicious about who he gives his cell number to. All that is fine, and I think we can say it pretty much falls under the rubric of, "the college experience." What floored me was the response from the blog, "Who ya With." To begin:

I hate this kid and I have never met him. This Douche is all that is wrong with Vandy athletics wrapped up in a gay little blue package. His name is Eric Delong and he was the faggot who wore his Kentucky shirt in the front row of the Vandy student section on Wednesday.

Well, let's see, where to begin? How is this a problem for Vandy athletics? Would you have them enforce a dress code on students, and require that they bow down and cheer for the university they matriculate to whether or not it is their favorite team on the floor? Not only that, isn't the fact that he was being abused by Vandy fans sufficient punishment without having aspersions cast on his sexuality by a Vanderbilt blogger? To continue:

I remember watching the game and thinking, "Oh well he is a Freshman who grew up in KY and still has allegiances." I as many others understand that it may take a little time to become a full blown Dores fan, but this queer is a fucking Junior. By that time your allegiance should be to the University you attend, not some team you grew up cheering for. I demand that this person transfer from the university or at least be shamed by the others living in Southerland House to do so. He does have a Facebook page and WYW would turn their heads to any public shamming you deem necessary.

Remember, this guy is a JUNIOR, and there is no place for him at the University we love.

I have no words for this drivel that I can print. I went to Western Kentucky, but nobody ever suggested I should be thrown out of school because I wore Kentucky clothing. Not only that, half of the student body were Kentucky fans. Comes now Mr. Jesus Quintana with the recommendation that Delong should leave because after three years at Vanderbilt, he is still a Kentucky fan. Then again, maybe it's all just a poor attempt at sarcasm and old farts like me just can't see it. It's possible (hey WYW, I'm offering you a way out here!).

I wonder if Mr. Quintana is so quick to change all his allegiances? He certainly seems to demand that others be. And to think, all this time I thought college campuses were all about free thinking, tolerance and rejection of the doctrinaire. Who knew?