Bluegrass Stallions in Frankfort 1/31/10

Anyone that reads my blog (hi mom) knows that I love independent pro sports teams. I admire everything that goes into one.


First, an investor takes the huge gamble of buying in to the league. That investor really has a lot to lose, and little to gain. Check out the thousands of independent pro sports teams that have not made it.


Lexington has had some good teams come and go. A couple of hockey teams come to mind. The Horsemen football team seems to be gone (though their web site suggest that they might not be done yet).


Now Lexington has the Bluegrass Stallions. I have talked about them before. I do hope they are able to keep things going. This is a great opportunity to catch a professional team in the area. I truly hope one day we can tell our grand kids we were able to see the Stallions during their first season, and I hope we aren't telling them about the one season professional basketball was here.



The Stallions have had their obstacles to face during this first season. They have been unable to continue playing at their original venue, and have scheduled home games at different places in the area.


In some ways this is a good thing. For one, I had an excuse to go to Frankfort Saturday to catch the Stallions playing the Columbus Life.


Columbus Life looked pretty good when they took the floor for practice. My friend and I speculated on what their mascot might be at their home games. I checked wikipedia and the ABA homepage to find out more about the team. Sadly, the link to their site has been disabled at this time.


The Stallions have 4 former UK players, including the 7 foot tall Lucas Obrzut and they dominated the Life. In fact, at one point, the Stallions had about a 50 point lead.


The Stallions were pulling off some pretty spectacular plays. They were hitting everything. This is a fun, talented, experienced team and they looked amazing. I would feel bad about comparing them to the Globetrotters, who I saw at Rupp a couple of weeks ago (see my previous post on that) but it was similar. The Stallions were making those kind of plays.


So, with about 3 minutes left in this obvious Stallions victory, the legend, coach Kyle Macy put in the 13th man. I know this is one of those unique things about the ABA and I don't totally understand it, but there is a rule about letting someone from the community take practice and set on the bench with the team. I am not sure of the exact qualifications one must have to be a 13th man, but I think you have to be at least a recognized person in the community, and a generally good guy.


From what I hear, Frankfort radio personality Steve Sullivan fits that description. He practiced with the team before the game and took his place on the bench during it. And, with the score a bit lopsided, Steve officially checked in to the game.


Now, Steve Sullivan can add professional basketball player to his resume in addition to his work at Star 103.7. How cool is that?


With time running out, the unselfish Stallions got the ball to Steve a couple of times. As he was in the middle of shooting, one of the Life players bumped him.


As Steve Sullivan stood at the line for his 2 free throws, the Stallions on field announcer/funnyman Steve Tressler announced that if Sullivan made the shot, he would be the 1st 13th man in Stallions history to officially score a point in a game. Sullivan made both shots!


After the game, the team, the cheerleaders, and coach Macy signed autographs and took pictures with fans. Several of the players actually thanked me for coming out to support the team. I talked briefly with the always classy Coach Macy about the team and their various venues. I over heard several players asking kids about what sports they played in school. One little girl showed the cheerleaders some of her cheering skills. They encouraged her.

I walked around the Frankfort Convention Center during halftime. I walked next to a dad and his son for a few seconds. The 5 or 6 year old son said to his dad at least three times, "this is awesome!" He was so excited and happy to be there.

I love seeing a UK game at Rupp as much as the next guy. I am so pumped about the Cats. I am excited about the Legends this coming April too. BUT there is some exciting sports action going on in the area that gets overlooked. The Stallions have games scheduled in Owensboro, Lexington AND Corbin. A dad and his son can have an "awesome" time for lot cheaper than a Rupp game. They can walk out with something signed by the whole team, including some UK legends, and they can have a great memory.

www.star1037.com

www.bluegrassstallions.com