Congratulations to the Louisville Cardinals for the hard-fought victory over the Kentucky Wildcats today in Louisville. Yesterday we interviewed Oscar Combs, filmed the Afternoon Underdogs radio show and then captured the Hardwood Classic where we sat down with UofL’s Luke Whitehead and UK’s Derek Anderson. Today we were at the Yum! Center filming all the action live courtside and in the upper levels. It’s been a blur, but a good one!
At the Louisville Legends Amateur Boxing Club we met with boxer Earl Heyman and his trainer James Doolin. Heyman attended Ballard High School and played as a defensive tackle for the University of Louisville from 2005-2007. Today he is training to become a professional boxer. Doolin expects Earl to make his professional fighting debut sometime in 2013, a debut that Heyman hopes to make in Louisville, KY. Ironically, Heyman’s trainer James Doolin is an outspoken, diehard Kentucky Wildcats fan despite attending the University of Louisville. The two rib each other in good humor for the cameras as Earl does sit-ups and shadow boxes. Red V. Blue weaves slice-of-life stories with interviews of former coaches and players to highlight the extraordinary circumstances that helped create and sustain one of the nation’s fiercest college rivalries.
Check out some production stills from our interviews with Matt Jones, Mike Rutherford, Pat Forde and UK superfan Ken Curlas. Ken is a member of the 101 club, a service organization which dedicates itself to furthering the University of Kentucky. Members of the 101 club are instantly recognizable by their distinct blue blazers, and you’ll see them at every UK home game sprinkled around Rupp Arena. Ken is an alumnus of the University of Kentucky and has an entire wing of his house decorated in Wildcats memorabilia. Ken was kind enough to invite us into his home where he spoke about the old days of Memorial Coliseum, the transition from Adolf Rupp to Joe B. Hall, the 101 club, and the 2012 national championship, among other topics.
Last week’s Red V Blue production shoot couldn’t have been more fruitful. The week started out with an interview with Coach Denny Crum, who led the Louisville Cardinals to two national championships. The next day we sat down with Coach Joe B. Hall, who led the Kentucky Wild Cat to a national championship both as a coach and a player. Then we were off to Paintsville in eastern Kentucky where we interviewed some local diehard fans. Friday night we finished off the trip by interviewing WHAS sports anchor Adam Lefkoe in Louisville, who rocked out some great stories in between his TV spots. Stay tuned for further developments.
Wade came across this cool compilation of facts about Kentucky basketball on ESPN Classic’s website. Here I have picked out some of my favorites. Did you know that the state of Kentucky is second only to California among states with NCAA championships? California has 15; Kentucky 9.
The Louisville List
1) Louisville is undefeated when it scores a 100 points or more. They are 88-0.
2) The Cardinals scored a school-record 132 points against George Mason in 1994, posting a 132-87 win.
3) Freedom Hall was named “Best floor to play on” by ESPN’s College Basketball magazine in 1995.
4) Did you know that Denny Crum is an avid reader and collector of Louis L’Amour westerns?
5) Pervis “Never Nervous” Ellison holds the school record for dunks in a game. He slammed it through seven times against South Alabama in 1988.
6) Louisville has had two players go in the first round of the NBA draft twice — in 1989 with Pervis Ellison (1st overall) and Kenny Payne (19th) and in 1994 with Clifford Rozier (16th) and Greg Minor, 25th.
The Kentucky List
1) Basketball at Kentucky reportedly started when W.W.H. Mustaine called together some students, took up a collection totaling $3 for a ball and told them to start playing. There was no official coach from 1903 until 1910. Managers ran the team.
2) The Wildcats have the unique distinction of having a tie on their all-time record. In 1918, a game was ruled a tie after a scorer’s error was discovered after the game.
3) Kentucky longest home-winning streak is 129 games. It started in 1943 and ended in 1955. Since then, the longest home streak has been a mere 33 games from 1992 to 1994.
4) The Wildcats have had just one losing record in 72 seasons. Kentucky went 13-19 in 1989, its first losing mark in 61 seasons.
5) Kentucky had five players selected in the first rounds of the 1996 and 1997 NBA drafts. Antoine Walker (6th), Tony Delk (16th) and Walter McCarty (19th) went in 1996 while Ron Mercer (6th) and Derek Anderson (13th) were selected in 1997.
6) Long-time Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp is second on the all-time win list with 876. Only North Carolina’s Dean Smith has more victories with 879.
Big News: We are interviewing the one and only Denny Crum this July! During his reign Coach Crum guided the Louisville Cardinals to 2 NCAA championships (1980, 1986) and 6 Final Fours. Do y’all have any questions for the legend?
Our dream final four match-up between the Louisville Cardinals and Kentucky Wildcats did not disappoint. And neither did the documentary shoot. We talked with a ton of Louisville and Kentucky fans and even a couple former players. Derwin Webb spoke to us outside of the Super Dome in New Orleans, and Matt Simms bumped into associate producer Aaron Mikel while he was filming in Louisville. In New Orleans we filmed interviews on both Friday and Saturday on Canal Street and throughout the French Quarter. 1 a.m. Friday night we hit Bourbon Street in the pouring rain to talk with some of the Final Four’s most devoted fans and party animals. The next day we hung outside the Super Dome on Loyola Avenue and spoke with fans en route to the historic final four match-up. And along with fan interviews we also documented some of New Orleans’ best street performers. In Shelbyville, KY, Aaron Mikel visited the Main Street Barbershop before heading to Louisville and filming around the city. Below are some production still photographs that producer P.G. Banker snapped on the big day in New Orleans. Thanks to everyone who participated and congratulations to the University of Kentucky for polishing off the Kansas Jayhawks and winning the national championship!
More good news. We will have camera crews in three different cities for the dream final four match-up this Saturday between Louisville and Kentucky. Not only will we have one unit in New Orleans, we have also added one unit in Louisville (Team Aaron Mikel) and one in Paintsville (Team Ronnie Dee Blair). These two additional Kentucky based units will allow us to capture all the local rivalry excitement. So now you need to keep an eye out for us in Kentucky too! And if you spot us please come say hi and tell us what the rivalry means to you and your family because that’s what Red Versus Blue is all about. To contact us directly please email wade@mbdfilms.com, pg@mbdfilms.com or rory@mbdfilms.com.
Thanks to the Dunkel Brothers for finding this classic Louisville t-shirt. They are two of the biggest Cards fans that I know. Good looking out, guys!
Alright so Wade has been sending me a bunch of UK gear so I guess I have to post it. Sheesh. Magnanimity is overrated.
