INDIANAPOLIS - Charlie and the Gov. Sitting together. The planets must be in line, the stars attainable. The moon is blue tonight.
How else to explain it? Just a few days ago, Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton and University of Kentucky President Charles Wethington were at each other's throats over the governor's
proposal to overhaul higher education. Saturday night they were at each other's side, in the stands of the RCA Dome.
Seem strange? Consider what was happening on the p>
court: UK was playing in its second straight Final Four, and winning. Tonight, the 'Cats try to become only the second team in the school's fabled history to repeat as national champions.
UK basketball is the strongest unifying force in Kentucky, a state otherwise torn every which direction by political, social, geographical and economic differences. None of Kentucky's three major urban areas identifies with the others - or with the state's vast rural expanses.
But at 9:18 tonight, a tobacco farmer from Lawrenceburg, an engineer from Falmouth, a
car dealer from Jackson and a bank vice president from Crestview Hills all will be of the same mind: Hoping Ron Mercer can pop off a screen and sink that jumper.
A 49-year wait
Darla Townsend, the bank vice president from Crestview Hills, wasn't born the last time UK won consecutive titles. Neither was Jim Fisher, the Central Kentucky tobacco farmer. Bob Wiggins of Falmouth was just a boy, not an engineer.
The 'Cats last won back-to-back titles 49 years ago. Ralph Barnett of Crestview Hills was born that year. Since then he has lived a full life.
Forty-nine years is time enough to grow up in Brooklyn, move to Kentucky, start an appraisal business and soften a Yankee accent. But is it time enough to make history? Mr. Barnett, in Indianapolis to follow the 'Cats in the Final Four, finds out tonight when the 'Cats play Arizona for the championship.
Like many UK fans, Mr. Barnett and Ms. Townsend returned home Sunday. They will work today, then drive back to Indianapolis in time for the final game.
Sunday, on the eve of the championship game, Indianapolis was strangely quiet. 'Cat fans, easily the most plentiful and vocal of all, lived close enough to abandon the city so they might spend Easter at home.
Some, like Jim and Robin Fisher, came without tickets in hopes of buying seats from a scalper. But the demand was too great, the prices were too high.
Bill Fraley, 68, of Lexington, said a scalper had offered to sell him a ticket in the topmost corner of the arena, a seat with a limited view, for $425.
''I'm not dancin' that tune,'' he said.
But then he added: ''I'm gonna be at the game, whatever it takes to get a ticket.''
Said Mr. Fisher: ''There are too many Wildcat fans here.''
The Fishers went home Sunday after watching the Friday game in a bar. Some fans lingered, hanging out in the lobby and bar at the Indianapolis Marriott on East 21st Street to catch a glimpse of the team.
A few were nervous. Van Florence of Lexington paced. Bob Wiggins of Falmouth kept close track of his lucky penny, which he had found heads-up on the sidewalk in San Jose. And Adrian Turner of Jackson choked down her food, her stomach in knots.
Others were confident.
''I just know they're gonna win,'' Mr. Fraley said.
What Mr. Fraley is so sure of is a second straight national title for the 'Cats. A once-in-a-lifetime thing. A Charlie and the Gov hanging. A blue moon over Kentucky.
Bask in the glow, 'Cat fans. But don't get spoiled.
This month, a bouncing baby boy was born to Christopher and Dulcena Whittmore of Owenton. Samuel and Peggy Peacock of Wilmore had a little girl. So did Michael and Adrienne Joseph of Viper.
How old those babies will be when UK wins two in a row again is anybody's guess. But chances are good they'll be closing in on senior-citizen status. And you and I will be long gone, up in that blue heaven.
Rob Kaiser is The Enquirer's Kentucky columnist. He can be reached at 578-5584.