Cover; Half-title; Title; Copyright; Contents; List of Illustrations; List of Tables; Preface; Introduction; 1. The Arrival of Football on Campus; 2. The First Athletic Scandal; 3. A Brief Moment in the Sun; 4. A Shelter from the Storm; 5. The Early McVey Years; 6. Banning Women's Sports at the University; 7. From Humble Origins to Signature Sport; 8. Expansion, Depression, and Fiscal Chaos; 9. The Purge of 1938; Epilogue; Notes; Bibliography; Index
Summary
In the heart of the Bluegrass, basketball is king of collegiate athletics. But it wasn't always so. Before Big Blue chronicles the early history of organized sports at the University of Kentucky, from the tenuous beginnings under student leadership, through the early scandals, financial instability, and clashes with administration, to the Purge of 1938 that paved the way for basketball's ascendancy. Once upon a time in Lexington, football ruled the athletic department. In the 1890s and 1900s the most intense competition was with crosstown rival Transylvania University. The annual Thanksgiving
