Monday, December 21 is a date that will, I imagine, live on in Kentucky (basketball) history for quite a long time. That was the night that the Univ. of Kentucky Wildcats became the first NCAA basketball team to reach 2,000 wins. Ever. The team’s first win was in 1903, so this has been a long time coming. Both UK and the Univ. of North Carolina were close to the milestone, but it was every True Blue UK fan’s wish, of course, that the Cats get there first.

My husband and a friend were lucky enough to be at the milestone game, which was a blowout win against Drexel … 88 to 44. Usually, even the ever-faithful UK fans start heading for the doors a few minutes before the end of home games … to beat the traffic home, I guess. But last night, everyone (more than 24,000) stayed for the after-party.

There was confetti and streamers, and music, and jubilant fans. And there were short but heartfelt speeches from the current coach (John Calipari), a former coach (Joe B. Hall), the son of the legendary coach (Mr. Rupp), and even, at the prompting of his teammates, the junior leader of the team, Patrick Patterson.

after the milestone win, all the fans stayed; the cheerleaders, team, coaches, and media gathered on the floor; and the confetti started flying ...

... and it flew and flew and flew ... confetti and streamers covered the floor, the stands, and the players and fans

Now that this amazing team has reached (and celebrated) this particular milestone, I think everyone’s attentions and hopes are focused on the NCAA tournament in March.