Scenes from Memorial Gym

Today, the University of Kentucky Wildcats are traveling to Nashville for a game with their ancient rivals, the Vanderbilt University Commodores. This is traditionally the high point of the year in the Vandy sports calendar -- the one time all year that the kids at Vanderbilt allow themselves to act like crazy SEC fans. (The UT/Vandy football game is usually played over Thanksgiving, and UT always wins that game anyway. The UT/Vandy basketball games are fun, but let's face it -- UT basketball usually isn't worth getting that excited about. But UK shows up every year in January or February, when there's not a whole lot else going on, and the rivalry is quite competitive, so Vandy goes all out for this one.)

Anyway, in tribute to this matchup, ESPN has sent its GameDay crew -- except for Bob Knight, who won't have anything to do with Kentucky, and usually won't even mention them on air at all -- to Nashville for the game. Naturally, a bunch of Kentucky fans got the idea that they would show up and Occupy Memorial -- hoping to make a big stir during Vandy's moment in the sun. In response, the Vandy folks checked everyone entering the gym this morning to see whether they were wearing UK gear -- even under their sweatshirts or hoodies -- and they confiscated any pro-UK signs and sent the UK fans up to the third deck.

So the situation is this: ESPN is trying to do its show from the floor in Memorial. Behind the ESPN people, you can see a big array of Vandy folk screaming and holding up signs. But when the camera pans back, you can see a huge number of folks in blue in the upper rafters. And from time to time, the Kentucky fans will break out in chants of "GO BIG BLUE," to which the Vandy fans respond with "GO V-U!"

Good times, good times.