Kentucky fan Tiffany Yarbrough got to meet UK players, from left, CJ Fredrick, Jacob Toppin and Sahvir Wheeler in Georgetown.
Last week’s five-city autograph/picture tour by Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari and his players/staff seemed like a huge success to me but I wondered if I might be biased because I took my 10-year-old grandson to London where he loved seeing Calipari, Orlando Antigua, KT Turner, Cason Wallace, Chris Livingston and Brennan Canada.
I saw where Tiffany Yarbrough, a terrific UK fan and regular listener to WLAP Sunday Morning Sports Talk, went to Georgetown a day after we went to London so I reached out to check on her experience.
“We arrived about 12:45 and did not get our items signed until about 3 p.m., so two hours and 15 minutes in line in the hot sun. Signings were supposed to be 1-2:30, but Coach Cal stayed until every person had their items signed,” she said.
Yarbrough had paid attention to the crowds in Louisville and Lexington for the tour and came prepared.
“We brought umbrellas and ice water which was a big help. Kroger also supplied free ice water, which was nice. I’m guessing there were around 300 people in line,” she said. “Coach (Chin) Coleman, the players and Wildcat mascot took pictures with fans outside. Coach Cal and Jack Givens were inside.”
She would have liked for numbers to have been given out to those in line so fans could have gone to get something to eat or just somewhere to cool off.
“With technology the way it is now, people could be texted (about when to come back). However, it was a free event — I did make a donation — so I can’t complain too much,” she said.
Good point, especially since Calipari and the players stayed extra long not only at Georgetown but at the other four tour stops as well.
“I was a little surprised the players could not sign items. There was nothing said about that in the advertising. We were told if an event has a corporate sponsor (Kroger) that players cannot sign as part of the NIL agreement and that UK was trying to be ‘careful’ with that,” she said.
The players could not sign because with NIL the university cannot be involved in any promotion of paid autograph signing with a corporate sponsor.
“I always enjoy meeting BBN fans in these event lines, love hearing their stories —and telling mine and it makes time go by faster. It was a total surprise to make it inside and see Goose Givens holding the 1978 (national) championship trophy. Wow, I didn’t know he was there or was coming, so that was pretty cool,” she said.
“Honestly that was my favorite part of the experience and the ’78 team was my favorite championship team as well.”
Yarbrough also told me she has waited in longer lines than what she did last week to get Calipari’s autograph and meet the players. She remembers waiting over four hours to get UK football star Benny Snell’s photo after Kentucky won the Citrus Bowl and said the line for the 1998 NCAA Tournament championship seniors was 2 1/2 hours.
“Cal really is right when he says, ‘You people are crazy!’” she said.
