Tara Nguyen was an orange-shirted needle in a blue haystack Saturday.
At the Georgia Dome with her family to cheer for Florida in the SEC tournament, Nguyen found herself overwhelmed by the sea of blue as, once again, Kentucky fans turned the dome into Rupp Arena South.
Asked Nguyen, at her first SEC tournament, "Is it like this every year?"
Who better to ask than Bob Wiggins, who sat in the front row behind the Kentucky bench. Wiggins, 83, bought Kentucky season tickets in 1954 and has held them ever since. He has been to every SEC tournament since the league re-instituted it in 1979 and can assure Mrs. Nguyen that, yes, it's like this every year.
Said Wiggins, who in his gray sport coat was one of the few Kentucky fans not wearing blue, "It's a way of life in the Bluegrass."
Other citizens of Big Blue Nation who filled the dome Saturday included:
- Brian and Jennifer Sanders, who held up a sign that read, "We're on our honeymoon. Go Cats!" The newlyweds didn't plan their wedding so that they could honeymoon in Atlanta, but they did make sure their wedding wasn't on a Saturday when the Wildcats played.
Had they done so, Jennifer said, "I don't think my dad would have been there."
- Tim Berry and his son, Thorton, who made the 5 1/2-hour drive from Madisonville on Thursday. There are so many Kentucky fans swarming Atlanta, the Berrys said, that they've run into friends from Madisonville, which has a population of about 20,000.
Said Tim, "Usually at places where you can drink."
- Don Kirby, the mayor of Union, Ky. Kirby, who came with family, is like many Wildcats fans who've found it easier to get tickets for the SEC tournament than for home games at Rupp Arena. Often, Kirby's group will call other SEC schools to buy tickets from their tournament allotment. One reliable school for tickets?
"Georgia," Kirby said. "They have little fan support for Georgia even when it's here [in Atlanta]."
- Paul and Diane Polly, who probably need to meet the Sanderses. They got married in 1983 on a Wednesday so their honeymoon could include the epitome of romance -- a Kentucky-LSU football game in Baton Rouge. The Pollys were among the thousands of Kentucky fans who attended the Friday night games even though the Wildcats didn't play in either.
As midnight approached at the end of the Vanderbilt-Mississippi State game, Wildcats fans far outnumbered Commodores and Bulldogs fans, mostly observing the action quietly.
"I'm used to it now," Vanderbilt center Festus Ezeli said. "They're everywhere."
On Saturday, the crowd of 21,728 was perhaps 90 percent Wildcats fans for the Kentucky-Alabama semifinal. At the beginning of the game, a video board graphic asked fans of both schools to text message their allegiance to one of two numbers. By percentage, Wildcats fans won 85-15.
"They've really made the Georgia Dome their second home," said dome general manager Carl Adkins, overseeing the dome's 10th SEC tournament. "There's a reason they call it ‘Catlanta.'"
They cheered each Kentucky basket and Alabama turnover, roared for 3-pointers and dunks and swelled to a yelling, clapping clamor when they sensed a Wildcats surge approaching.
"With our fans, there's really not a neutral site," Kentucky forward Josh Harrellson said. "I really think we have the advantage everywhere we go. I think that takes the other team out of the game. It might psyche ‘em out a little bit."
Florida will wade into the blue sea next. Gators coach Billy Donovan called Kentucky's support "unmatched" in college basketball.
"I really applaud their fans for the way they come out and attend this event and what they do," he said. "It really is remarkable. It's an incredible scene."
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