I’ve been following Kentucky Basketball since the 1979 season with Kyle Macy and Sam Bowie. I guess it was all the hoopla of the 1978 national championship team that got me started following Kentucky Basketball while I was in second grade at Clay City Elementary, and I’ve been a die hard fan ever since then.

Actually, I was just a wanna be, in a fashion sort of way. I really didn’t understand the whole process, all I knew was, all the cool kids were wearing UK National Championship t-shirts and I felt like I needed one too. But in reality, I didn’t know if UK played in the SEC, the FBI, the NAACP, the NFL, or the NBA.

I had no real clue about the situation. Jack Givens and company beat Duke that year for the championship. I didn’t even know who Duke was. The only thing I knew about the Duke Blue Devils came from the playground when we would divide into teams and play basketball. It was always Shirts vs. Skins, UK vs. Duke, and of course, I always got stuck on the Duke Team…which meant I had to take off my shirt. Seriously, I had no clue. I went home one night and told my parents I had to play for the Pukes. My Dad said, “You mean Duke? Yea, Duke, that’s it!!!”

From that season on, I learned my teams and I learned my players. I was a true UK fan! I remember Kyle Macy rubbing his socks during free throws. And I remember the big man in the middle, Sam Bowie. Funny enough, Cameron, my 10-year-old, plays for Model Lab’s 6th Grade team. We played Lexington Sayre a few weeks ago, and there was none other than big Sam Bowie keeping the books for Sayre, and his son playing against my son. NO WAY! It just couldn’t be!?! Time out Ref. Let me call all my family and friends and get them over them over here to see this. But in reality, only a few of us Old People appreciated the moment of having UK Royalty in the building.

I feel very lucky 30 years later to be sitting on the floor at Rupp Arena, photographing UK Basketball. Its a big contrast for the little boy who didn’t understand who the Pukes were in 1978. One of Sam Bowie’s teammates was Melvin Turpin. And tonight I got to witness and photograph UK’s Anthony Davis blocking shot #84 this season, which broke the single season shot blocking record held by Turpin and Andre Riddick.

I have photographed Kentucky Basketball during some trying times and some good times. But my friends, I’m here to tell you, these are great times. We’re 18-1, with a potent defensive and offensive team. People can say what they want, negative or positive, about John Calipari. But the man knows how to coach and he knows how to inspire. I know, because when you sit on the first leg of the W for 20 minutes in the second half, you get to here his inspirational coaching first hand.

Things can go right, and things can go wrong during the NCAA Tournament. But for now, we’re witnessing perfection at it’s best. Soak it in and enjoy it, regardless of  who the team is or what the score is. As they said in the movie Raising Arizona, which is one of my all-time favorite movies…”These are the salad days!”

Here are some images from tonight’s game against Arkansas.

I loved this shot because the Arkansas player looked like he was sorry for even being on the court!

It’s always nice to see the fruits of your labor.

I did a corporate shoot for a trade magazine called Plant Engineering back in the fall. The magazine, based near Chicago, named NACCO Materials Handling Group the top energy maintenance company in the nation. NACCO which is in Berea, employs over 700 people, making a variety of forklifts.

It was a nice surprise when I found the magazine with my cover shot buried in my daughter’s backpack. Turns out that one of the plant manager’s wife works at Laura’s school, and her husband sent it to me. He and his wife were originally from Owsley County, so we had a lot of mutual friends and 56th District stories to share.

I think those of us who live in Madison County take for granted, and don’t always understand, the number of good manufacturing companies that are located here.