"I can't hide it any longer," Smith told the Jester.
"I'm officially coming out, and admitting to the world that I'm not a UofL fan, but actually a UK fan."
Smith's parents were diehard UofL fans.
"My parents met in college at a pep rally before a Cincinatti game, or as they called them Cinci-NASTY," recalled Smith, "they were both painted up as cardinal birds."
When John and Susan had Julian, they asked Baptist East if they could put their son inside of a red egg they had constructed out of Papier Mâché.
"Luckily, the hospital refused."
Yet, once little Julian arrived to a temple of UofL worship.
"Our house is a shrine of Cardinal memories, and my wallpaper growing up was a paneled picture of a Darrell Griffith dunk...my bed was covered in red birds"
Smith was forced to watch each and every single UofL men's football and basketball games, and women's soccer and softball games, and mentioned that DVR really took the family's cardinal obsession.
"Some families never miss an episode of Homeland or the The Good Wife, but my family, once DVR became available, we never missed anything that featured a Cardinal beak," according to Smith.
The Smith family was front row at many UofL sporting events, and Julian remembered his dad always trying to snag memoribelia.
"My dad has a UofL wristband collection of nearly 5,000."
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| Smith's Childhood wallpaper |
Yet, as Julian began to get older, he started to realize that he was not really ever excited to watch the Cards take flight, he never felt the passion or down right obsession his parent's showcased for the Tom Jurich all-stars.
"I started to realize I was different from them, and from all of their friends, I didn't feel I belonged," said Smith.
"And that's when it started happening."
Smith recalled three years ago during one of the first Pitino versus Calipari games, that he felt a little tingle inside him.
"All of a sudden I got excited when John Wall went in for a driving layup...I couldn't believe it," says Smith.
"I visited the school counselor the following week."
Smith felt the blue inside him continue to grow, but he was afraid to tell his friends and family.
One day he asked his parents in a joking manner:
"Ma, what if I was a UK fan?"
"We would disown you," was Susan's response said Julian.
Yet as the rivalry between the UK Wildcats and the UofL Cardinals continues to grow, so did Julian's attraction for Wildcat nation.
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| Smith's favorite Wildcat |
"I started wearing white, as it's a mutual team color. In addition, I started reading blogs, and sneaking a radio into my room late at night to hear what was going on Kentucky Sports Radio," said Smith.
"It came to the point that I wasn't afraid of my parents anymore, I was proud to be a fan of UK...I just didn't know how to come out and tell them."
John and Susan never saw the signs of Julians Cardinal fandom slipping away.
"They were oblivious," said Julian.
One day Julian recieved a brochure on attending UK, as he has begun his college search.
"The burned it, and laughed, as my pa' yelled, 'no son of mine is a wildcat," recalled Julian.
That's when Julian decided to tell his parents...over and over again.
"They thought it was so funny, and said I should start acting, as they really didn't believe that I was actually a UK fan," said Smith.
"I must have told them a hundred times."
So Smith bought himself a hoodie and came home one day wearing blue.
"Mom fainted, and Dad said the joke had gone too far," said Smith.
"They said I needed to get my act together, and refocus on what mattered most in life...Cardinal athletics."
Smith then tried to convert back to a UofL fan for about a year, but he couldn't manage to get over the emotional barrier that was the Wildcat connection.
That's when Smith decided to come to Louisville's newest media source--The Jester--and deliver this message:
"Mom, Dad, Section D5 Tailgating Crew, Audubon Country Club, Rick Pitino, and Ellis Myles...I'm sorry, but...Go Big Blue!"