NITRO-FUELED WILDCAT?

First, a little background to explain and underscore this posting... For some time now, the standing (running?) joke around here has been that Lynne and I continue to survive in a mixed marriage. Say what? How can that be? Please allow me to explain. The fact is that while I am a BYU Cougar Club member and an ardent supporter of all things that are contained within the sphere of BYU athletics, I am also a fairly avid Louisville Cardinals fan. You need to understand that to make such an open admission of Cardinals loyalty in certain areas of the Bluegrass State is somewhat akin to espousing devotion to the Utah Utes while living in the BYU Blue regions of Provo/Orem, Utah County or anywhere else in Happy Valley, Utah.

In other words, it is tantamount to blasphemy, rankles the noses and hides of the 'decent' folk and brings to the surface simmering emotions that can make the legendary "Hatfields and McCoys" feud appear tame by comparison. While I describe myself as an avid Cardinals fan, Lynne is a rabid Kentucky Wildcats fan. Actually, rabid may not be a sufficiently strong adjective to describe her feelings of devotion to her ''Cats". Her blood, like the majority of native and transplanted Kentuckians runs blue... bluegrass blue... Wildcat blue. Her Kentucky Wildcat roots run deep. She was on the staff of former Kentucky Governor Brereton Jones at the Capitol and Governor's Mansion in Frankfort. She is a member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels (. . . yes, there really is such a noble and esteemed organization) and she is a native Kentuckian. . . true blue, through and through.

Many of you - particularly those of you from Utah, Idaho, etc. - are familiar with the strife that arises within families because some family members' loyalties lie with the Utes while others in the family live and die with the Cougars....the "Holy War"... right? Well, take that strife and multiply it about ten-fold and you'll begin to have an appreciation of what it can be like to have Cardinal-Cat loyalties in the same family. Some maintain that families split apart by Civil War alliances didn't know this level of . . uh . . . enthusiasm.

Anyway, Lynne and I do just fine with this uneasy, sometimes unsettling situation. I have even been known to cheer for Kentucky and she for Louisville when they aren't playing each other. . . you know the drill.

Last year for my birthday/father's day, Lynne bought me a personalized license plate for my Mitsubishi that says, 'HUTCHS'. It's pretty cool and I get a lot of comments on it. When we bought the Dodge Nitro for Lynne last year, I seriously wanted to get her a personalized plate. All of the real good Kentucky Wildcat tags have been LONG gone. She was ready to settle on LYNNE or LHUTCH or KYWOMN or KYWMAN (Kentucky Woman, get it?) because WLDCAT, WLDKAT, KYCAT, KYCATS, CATS, CATZ, KATS, KATZ, etc., were unavailable.

However, the other day I did a search on personalized plates and found that WLDCAT was now available because the previous owner didn't renew it in 2006. I got it for her. She is freaking out! It will be here in 2-3 weeks.

So she will now have a Nitro that says WLDCAT on the license plate. A 'Nitro fueled Wildcat".. get it? She's ecstatic and high as a kite. As for me? I'm somewhat more reserved because, you see, from time to time I drive her Nitro. . . the same Nitro that will soon be sporting a Kentucky Wildcat plate. Oh the humanity, the shame..... keeps me hunble.