Memorial Gym, Tater Tots, and Digger Phelps

When I was a grade school cheerleader, there was a school called Clark Elementary that was located at the other end of the county. Let me tell you, I hated the one time a year that we went to Clark for a basketball game. Not because it was far away, nor because were the people were particularly rude. In fact, I even had cousins that went there. My problem with cheering at Clark was the gym. The school was built in a very Mike Brady/ Sixties fashion, kind of along pods. And, it didn't have a standalone gymnasium. Instead, the cafeteria doubled as a gym. And, to a visiting team cheerleader, this gym was horrible. You only had a few inches of sidelines. And, I will never forget that I once slipped on a tater tot as we warmed up in the Clark gym. A tater tot. It was pretty gross, y'all.

For years, I thought of Vanderbilt's Memorial Gym as the Clark gym of the SEC. I'd always heard it was weird. I'd always heard it gave the home team an unfair advantage. But, to tell you the truth, I always thought of it as a minor annoyance. Maybe you'd slip on a tater tot here and there, but when you're used to playing sold-out home games and on far more hostile courts, the gym couldn't really be anything. When my beau and I moved to Nashville, I took one look at Memorial's exterior, and kind of laughed. It didn't seem the size of a Kentucky high school gym. How could it be as scary as people say? My beau quietly said, "Just wait until you go in there. It's hard to describe." He was right, y'all. I don't know how to describe it. It was disconcerting. The weird layout. The orchestra pit-style student section. It was like nothing I'd ever seen. It legitimately did set you off kilter.

But, weird gym or not, I have a whole lot of faith in our team this year. I really don't think that we'll have much trouble with Vandy, so long as we're playing well. Vanderbilt is a tough team. Festus Ezeli is legit. But, we're an amazing team. Our performance against Florida this week was insane. More importantly, I just didn't care to make a big production about the game. I loved living in Nashville. I volunteered through the Nashville Junior League at Vandy Children's Hospital for two years; it was the single most rewarding experience of my entire life. I still have many good friends there, many of whom are Vanderbilt alumni and fans. There was just no point in getting on social media, or among my friends, and making a big deal about how awesome our team is. Everyone already knows.

 Then, earlier today, I ran into my high school friend Robyn's parents. Robyn lives in Nashville, and I'd seen on Facebook that she was headed out to Memorial this morning to take part in the #occupymemorial College GameDay. Her dad told me that Digger Phelps had yelled at Kentucky fans to shut up when they raised chants of "Go Big Blue." Then, I saw this.

And, I heard a day's worth of ESPN anchors spinning the game as "Kentucky vs. the GYM OF DOOM!!!!" We were treated to Andy Kennedy and Rick Stansbury telling us that there's no point in even coaching in THE GYM OF DOOM. (Seriously, those two never disappoint.) And, I started to get really fed up.

Vandy is a good team. We are a great team. The gym is weird. We are arguably the best team in the country right now. (Props to the Orange. I'll give you that.) But, the ESPN fabricated drama is ridiculous. (It's far less GameDay friendly to note that Kevin and Cal hate each other, I suppose.)

 GO BIG BLUE.

 I hope you slip on a tater tot, Digger.