By LARRY VAUGHT

Atonio “Tony” Holmes, 48, camped out for Big Blue Madness tickets for only the second time this year.

“I did it last year because Big Blue Madness was on my birthday and a group of us wanted to attend to celebrate. I did it this year because last year was a blast. My wife as well as another couple camped with me. I also did it because I love the Cats and have seen them in every setting from exhibitions to championships but had never camped for Madness. It is now a tradition,” Holmes said. “I will be bringing my 15-year-old son next year.

“I’m a 6-1 black guy with a not often seen 1996 national championship jacket and I always wear a surgeon’s style UK head cover. Meeting the fans – I know everybody says the players who were amazing by the way – was the highlight of the camping. Last year a guy in his early 70′s twisted his knee during the ticket distribution. My friend and I took him back to his tent and this year he was there with his family and they all thanked us for helping him. That’s why I go and that’s why I’m a UK fan. It’s the fans you meet that make it so great.”

But wait. There?s much more to why I wanted to let Holmes share his Big Blue experience and how his 1996 national championship jacket helped him watch UK play in the 1997 title game. It’s an interesting story I thought all of you would like.

The Nutter Training Center at UK is named in honor of the late Ervin J. Nutter, a UK alumnus who contributed one million dollars to start the fund-raising campaign. When Kentucky was playing in the 1997 Final Four in Indianapolis, Holmes went and met the Nutter family at the Marriott.

“My plan was to go there and buy one ticket for Saturday and then get two for Monday from a fan of a losing team,” he said.

“I have only seen one other person with this coat on and I’ve been to a lot of games,? Holmes said. “We stood around the hotel bar and traded UK stories till after midnight that Friday. I met coach Pitino and the entire team after his workout their 11 p.m. team meeting. I was by myself and just a black man from Louisville and they were great to me.

“Pitino noticed I let others in front of me to get his autograph and when I asked to speak with him he said sure and let me walk with him to the team meeting. Then told me to wait outside the room to get the players?’autographs on my hat. I even got Mr. Bill’s.

“I think it speaks to the true unity of our fan base even though some often try to show us as all one color and type. I’ve been a fan since 1974 and have bunches of stories like that one about our great fans.”

The next morning, the Nutters called him since he was staying at his sister’s house in Indianapolis and offered him a ticket for Saturday’s semifinal games at cost.

“I had a sign that said I would trade my wife for two tickets and a nice couple from Charlotte sold me the tickets for the championship game,” he said. “I was 35 and my son was 12. The best part of the game was Anthony Epps’ 3-pointer to send it into overtime. Our seats were 27 rows up under that goal.”

So will he go back to Indianapolis this year if Kentucky returns for the Final Four there?

“Of course I will be in Indy when they get there (if),” Holmes, who grew up in Radcliffe, said. “My sister lived in the same apartment complex that Jack Givens lived in, so I met him and most of the 1978 team there. I use to take a Greyhound to Lexington from Ft. Knox just to see the games but it was worth it. That how I became a Kentucky fan.

“I have never had the opportunity to thank the Nutters for what is still one of the highlights of my son’s and my life. Hopefully they will see the blog and know what it meant to my family.”

I hope they do, too, because this truly is one of those stories that makes Kentucky basketball as special as it is.

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