Terry Trovato learned a lot of things while he was a student at the University of Kentucky from 1961-1965.
But perhaps the lesson that stuck with him the most was some words of wisdom that legendary basketball coach Adolph Rupp gave to Trovato and his fellow freshmen during registration.
“Now when you graduate from Kentucky, you’ll go out and make our state a better place to live,” Rupp said according to Trovato. “And by God, you’ll know good basketball from bad.”
“We never forgot that,” Trovato said. “And we do, we do know good basketball from bad.”
Trovato has a lot to be excited about this basketball season, as the Wildcats have been ranked in the top five most of the year and ascended to No. 1 for the first time in seven years earlier this season.
“It’s wonderful,” Trovato said. “They call Kentucky the Roman Empire of college basketball. It’s a tremendous following set by Adolph Rupp over 50 years ago.”
Born and raised in the Bluegrass State, Trovato has lived in Natchez for the past 16 years, where most people either bleed LSU purple and gold, Ole Miss red and blue, Mississippi State maroon and white or Southern Miss black and gold.
But the strong bonds around him — and being the odd man out — haven’t tempered his love for his alma mater one bit.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Trovato, who was a drummer in the UK marching band. “It’s a beautiful place, and the really attractive things were the horse farms. When I was in school you could take a date, go to Colonel Sanders to get a chicken lunch and go out to those horse farms, sit and have lunch and enjoy the beauty of the horses.”
But for Trovato, his love for Natchez equaled or even eclipsed his love for Kentucky.
“I came down here because I loved the architecture and antiques, and it is so charming,” Trovato said. “I’ve lived in big cities like Louisville, New Orleans and I was ready for something like this. I was very fortunate that I got on with Callon Petroleum, and I’ve been here 16 years.”
And now that Trovato is in LSU country, he is a little more discreet proclaiming his love for the Wildcats.
While many people put stickers, flags and license plates proclaiming their love for their alma mater all over their car, the only UK memorabilia is a tiny Wildcat sticker on his license plate.
“That’s the only thing you’ll see on my car,” Trovato said with a laugh. “I’m very discreet and don’t gloat over anything because I have to live with all these people, especially the LSU folks.”
While Trovato is discreet with his Kentucky support, Bill Murphy lets everyone that passes his house on Park Place know his allegiance to Oklahoma University.
A large OU flag hangs from his front porch letting the world know his love of his alma mater.
Murphy is originally from Oklahoma City, and graduated from OU in 1967.
After living in Vicksburg for 38 years, Murphy moved to Natchez after his retirement from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
He knew as an Oklahoma fan he would be outnumbered by LSU fans, but he didn’t know by how much.
“I was real surprised (by the number of LSU fans) when I moved here,” Murphy said. “There were some in Vicksburg, but it’s nothing like it is here.”
But Murphy has learned to live with LSU, as well as Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Miss fans by abiding by a simple principle.
“You kind of have to stay in the background a little bit and hope your team wins every now and then so you can get some bragging rights,” Murphy said. “Of course when they play badly you throw all that stuff in the closet.”
Murphy also quickly learned that LSU fans, as well as fans of most SEC schools, can be a little short sighted when it comes to schools outside of their conference.
“Some of these LSU fans don’t even know other teams exist,” he said with a laugh. “I talked to a woman who was a died in the wool LSU fan, and she didn’t even know where Oklahoma (University) was, much less know that they have seven (football) national championships.”
Trovato has also learned when to stay in the background, especially when Kentucky and LSU play each other.
“The overtime football game in 2007 (when Kentucky defeated No. 1 ranked LSU), I was watching that game with Bradley and Genny Harrison,” Trovato said. “He’s an LSU graduate and had some other LSU people over there, and they were all decked out in purple and gold. I had on my UK stuff just for fun, and I never thought Kentucky could win. But at the end of the game when Kentucky stopped LSU on fourth down in overtime, it got very quiet in the room.
“I wasn’t going to aggravate them because they’re my friends. I just stayed very quiet and just said ‘Well I can’t believe it.’”
But Trovato’s LSU fans do have a comeback for him if the 2007 game is mentioned.
“They still remind me about the Bluegrass Miracle (when LSU scored on a 75-yard touchdown pass as time expired to beat Kentucky 33-30 in 2002) by the way,” Trovato said. “But that’s OK.”
And it is, because for Trovato, Murphy and others who are far away from their alma mater, the bonds they have created with Natchez are just as strong or stronger than those tying them to their college.
“I love Natchez and I love all my friends who are rival school fans,” Trovato said. “We enjoy going to The Grove at Ole Miss when they play Kentucky. The Grove is wonderful and we have Ole Miss friends there.
“We love going to Starkville when Kentucky plays Mississippi State. We have some State fans there that let us tailgate with them. And in Baton Rouge, when you go by, everybody’s cooking jambalaya and gumbo. And of course the atmosphere for football in Tiger Stadium is absolutely wonderful.
“I love Kentucky, but I love Natchez and the people. I’ve had a great time down here.”
