I Wish I Was in the Land of Football – Kentucky Needs an NFL Team!

When people ask me where I live, and I tell them "Kentucky," the first thing that always pops out of their mouth is, "Oh, WILDCATS!" This drives me up a wall! I am NOT a fan of the Wildcats (no offense to anyone who is) and I am kind of tired of everyone equating Kentucky with UK, bourbon and horse racing. Granted, these things have been around for forever, are grandfathered in (and two out of the three things I really enjoy). But if I could change one thing about this state it would be to bring in a pro team so that we'd have something real to rally behind.

In my ectopic world, the NFL would choose Kentucky for their next franchise. Let's stop and think about the culture of this state. We live and breathe sports - particularly basketball. We are divided by red and blue and will fight to the death when it comes to our teams. I could see a franchise making a ton of money in this market because of pure loyalty.

As soon as Tennessee got the Titans, the whole southern half of Kentucky went Titans and even though they haven't been performing well, they are extremely loyal. The whole northern half of the state is loyal to the Colts and we don't even like Hoosiers!

I think a professional basketball or football team would not only unify the state but it would drive so much tourism and revenue. Look at what bringing NASCAR to Kentucky has done. Smithville Highway is shut down due to overwhelming traffic to and from the course in Sparta only allowing outbound traffic after a race.

The reason I think a football team would do best is because I think a pro basketball team would get lost in the UK/UL shuffle and because of the basketball heritage, a pro team wouldn't measure up to UK or UL in a true fan's mind. But, football is an untapped market. Plus, you know Kentucky rolls - we got tough old boys here and I think they'd kick some butt!

We brainstormed some mascots...