Dark Cloud of Shame

There are times when my friend Kelly bags on me for being from Kentucky. Most of the time he's just a petty child who hates that his Cincinnati Bearcats suck. Plus, all Cincinnati residents are weaned to believe that Kentucky is the seventh circle of hell (for Kentuckians, its Indiana).

But today is just another one of those signs that my week is destined to be terrible (and it's Thursday already ... this week just won't let up on me). I went to UK and still have some of my best friends from there. I love UK basketball and will argue to death about how Wayne Turner was one of the best players in team history even if the numbers don't show it.

Anyway, despite that, there is no doubt that my state has its flaws. They vote Republican despite everything they believe in saying they should vote Democrat. They could be highly investing in green technology and become a midwest/southeast center for green jobs, but they won't because they're fools. Our governors love to sleep with staffmembers and hand our tons of government contracts to their hunting/drinking pals. There are others, but I'm starting to get sad.

Making me more sad is events like this. It stains the university, the students and staff, and whether they truly acknowledge it or not, it stains people like me, who went there and have always thought the school could be taken seriously. I have a hard enough time talking to my coworkers (who all went to Ivy League schools or somewhere much fancier than me) and friends who went to other SEC or high-minded schools. It's a sad day for UK and alums like myself. And this is not the first time crap like this has happened, and I'm getting sick of it.