Close but no cigar at the North Texas Final Four

Shabazz Napier and the UCONN Huskies foil Kentucky’s plans for a North Texas Final Four coronation!

With Kentucky positioned to win its ninth national championship at the North Texas Final Four, it appeared that the state of Kentucky was poised to make college basketball history for a third consecutive spring.

If the Wildcats had delivered against the Huskies, it would’ve been the Commonwealth’s third Naismith Trophy in three years (In 2012 Kentucky was triumphant in New Orleans and in 2013 Louisville was crowned king in Atlanta.).

In fact, it seemed to many experts and fans that it was already a done deal. Kentucky was going to win number nine. After all, if “little brother” Louisville had handled UCONN easily in AAC play, “big brother” Kentucky should have no problem with the Huskies. Right?

As it turns out, UCONN never got that script, and they cruised to victory on the back of Shabazz Napier, who tallied 22 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals in his final game for the Huskies.

The championship defeat was the source of much sadness for Kentucky fans but was also a cause for celebration for some Louisville supporters.

Of course, not all Louisville fans were cheering against Kentucky. I, for example, committed the Cardinal sin and cheered for Big Blue back in April. In fact, Wade and I flew to North Texas to document the scene and to attend the championship game in Jerry World.

But even though Kentucky came up just short this season, the state represented itself admirably. Louisville and Kentucky were ranked in the top five going into the 2013-2014 college basketball season, and they ended the NCAA tournament among the top five teams as well.

Next year let’s just hope that the NCAA finally gets it right and puts U of L and UK in opposite brackets. Because if U of L and UK ever meet in the finals you can bet that Wade and I will be there filming it!

HOW TO BUY THE DVD ONLINE?

The DVD and Blu-ray are available from amazon.com as well as our web store.

WHERE TO BUY THE DVD IN A STORE IN LOUISVILLE?

In Louisville most of the DVDs at Walmart and Krogers have sold out and will not be reordered until the start of the college basketball season. We have heard that Alumni Hall in the Mall of St. Matthews is still carrying copies. The DVD can also be rented or purchased at Wild and Wooly Video, the best little video store in Louisville if I may say so myself.

Donation Options

It’s been a promising week for The Rivalry: Red V. Blue.

So far Cats fans have been leading the way with several big donations as they claw their way back into the second half of our Kickstarter campaign. But Card Nation isn’t going anywhere and has been steadily pledging away, cutting into the UK come-back.

To date, we have raised $17,002 toward our goal of $40,000 with 10 days remaining in our campaign.

To celebrate going over $17,000, we released a new video featuring Matt Jones from Kentucky Sports Radio going toe-to-toe with Mike Rutherford from the Card Chronicle. Pacquaio and Mayweather got nothing on these two guys!

More donation options… We have heard from a lot of folks that the kickstarter registration process is too complicated for our older fans.

To accommodate, we are encouraging them to send a check payable to Red V. Blue Film LTD CO to:

Red V. Blue Film LTD CO
PO Box 399
Paintsville, KY 42240

If you know someone who wants to go this route, just remind them that the campaign ends on August 5th, so all checks need to be received and deposited in advance of that date to help us get over the top!

Additionally, we have a PayPal account set up for Man Bites Dog Films (mbdfilms@gmail.com) for fans who would prefer to donate that way. Man Bites Dog Films is the production company established by director Rory Owen Delaney and producer Wade Smith, which is producing The Rivalry: Red V. Blue.

Finally, if you have a friend who wants to donate cash to the documentary, we recommend that you collect the money and then increase your pledge to reflect their gift by managing your pledge.

Pledges made by check or PayPal will be eligible for our Kickstarter rewards, so please specify which reward you are claiming if you go with one of our alternate payment options. If we are unable to make our $40,000 Kickstarter goal, your check or PayPal pledge will be refunded.

Thanks again for all your help so far and PLEASE remember to tell all of your family, friends and rivals about Red V. Blue. RVB is the first movie to document one of Kentucky’s greatest annual traditions, the UK-UofL basketball game, and we want to include as many people as possible in this historic moment!

Although we have less than 13 days to reach our goal of $40,000, don’t panic. A lot of good things are happening, and the buzz is definitely building, so stay tuned for further announcements! To quote one of Kentucky’s greatest athletes:

“Don’t count the days. Make the days count!” – Muhammad Ali