Die-hard UK fan Steve Cate got to meet Tony Belk at the UK-Tennessee game.
She’s not ready to quit being a Tennessee fan, but Danielle Cate has become a huge Oscar Tshiebwe fan. Her husband, Steve, is a die-hard UK fan. He works at Margaritaville Resort in Gatlinburg and loves greeting and meeting UK fans. If UK beats Tennessee in any sport, he makes sure everyone at Margaritaville knows it. If the Vols beat UK, they all let him know it.
The Cats went to the UK-Tennessee game in Knoxville recently and Steve said his wife is never early for anything. However, she wanted to get to this game early to watch Tshiebwe warm up.
“When I went to Big Blue Madness with my son, I told her about Oscar and he started tweeting about his faith,” Steve Cate said. “So when I was watching him play, Danielle would watch. My mother- and father-in-law have UT season tickets and he always gives me tickets and says, ‘Go watch Kentucky get beat.’
“Danielle has just fallen in love with Oscar. If they talk about Oscar on KSR (Kentucky Sports Radio), I play it back for her. So she could not wait to get to the game to see him.”
Because their seats were only six rows off the court, Danielle said she took videos and pictures of Tshiebwe before the game.
“I was kind of hoping to meet him but Steve told me that stuff happens after games,” Danielle said. “I just think he is awesome. My UT friends understand that. He stands strong for the Lord. He plays well and scores and rebounds a lot. He’s just different and has blessed me. So I just wanted to go early to watch him and maybe get a chance to even talk to him.”
Steve wore his UK gear to the game. Danielle wore her UT colors.
“I have never been a fan of any particular UK player before,” Danielle said. “I just mainly go to the games for Steve. But I loved watching Oscar. I wasn’t sad UT won, but I did wish I could have seen Oscar more happy in that game and he could have gotten on a roll but we kind of held him down and won.”
Danielle does admit that maybe her husband’s love for UK is “rubbing off” on her or maybe it’s her admiration for Tshiebwe.
“Steve was on his way to work and I had the game on at home. I kept updating him on Kentucky and watched the whole game even without him there,” she said.
“I was just hoping for a few updates driving to work and then I realized she was really watching the game,” Steve said. “That’s the power Oscar has.”
