TBT Nate Sestina

Nate Sestina reacts to one of his six three-pointers iin La Familia's TBT win over The Ville in Freedom Hall.

 ERIC CRAWFORD

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The Basketball Tournament brought its wonderfully entertaining mid-summer event to Louisville in 2023 and added Lexington to the menu this year.

TBT organizers quickly discovered something talk radio hosts, sports writers, headline writers and click-bait kings have known for years:

Louisville vs. Kentucky (or if you prefer UK vs. U of L) moves the needle with gusto, any time, any place, anywhere, no matter the stakes.

But after watching La Familia’s victory over The Ville Monday night, I left Freedom Hall wondering this:

When will the needle snap?

When will we experience our first legitimate brawl or worse?

Why do reasonable people lose their minds over Ls up and Ls down?

And what can we do to keep the rivalry at full intensity but also fully within the bounds of the unfashionably outdated idea of sportsmanship (grab a dictionary or Google the word)?

I don’t have an answer.

IMAGES | La Familia beats The Ville in an intense TBT matchup in Freedom Hall

It got so intense. It was nearly too intense. A wonderfully competitive game nearly ended with a totally unnecessary brawl.  LaFamilia 70, The Ville 61.

I just believe we should ask the questions — and discuss it before, not after, we have something uglier to lament than spit flying in face of a player, as happened Monday night after Andrew Harrison’s game-winning shot in the TBT game.

We’ve had numerous nasty moments on the football field in this rivalry for years. Even coaches have been in the middle of the hooting, hollering and finger-pointing.

There appears to be a higher level of respect and civility between UK football coach Mark Stoops and U of L coach Jeff Brohm than there was between previous regimes at the two programs. I don’t remember many Rich Brooks-Bobby Petrino fist bumps or love letters.

It was encouraging to watch Stoops and Brohm enjoy a civil conversation before the game at L&N Cardinal Stadium last season. Their public comments to each other have been respectful.

After several years of occasional sniping between John Calipari (UK) and Rick Pitino (UK, then U of L), the Calipari-Kenny Payne games proceeded without incident — other than a lopsided scoreboard.

I have not sensed any flashing lights between Pat Kelsey (U of L) and Mark Pope (UK).

I’m certain they’ll get after each other as doggedly as Denny Crum and Joe B. Hall got after each other. I believe they will do it with the admiration that Hall and Crum developed for each other. Their willingness to speak together at the 2024 Leadership Louisville luncheon on Aug. 28 is a solid first step.

But …

… the toxic ending of the La Familia/Ville game was a technicolor reminder that the danger zone is only one bonus gesture or comment away.

That moment, the one that primarily involved Nate Sestina of La Familia and Chinanu Onuaku of The Ville, inched dangerously close to a incident that could have expanded into the crowd along the baseline at the north end of the building.

There were folks ready to rumble. Hat tip to security for prompt deescalation.

The formula is not complicated: Crowd psychology + several hours of alcoholic refreshments + school pride = bad brew.

The former UK players enjoyed their solid performance in front of a primarily Louisville crowd — and they enjoyed letting everybody know how thoroughly they enjoyed it.

The Ls down flew after every made three-point shot — and LaFamilia made a dozen of them. They did it knowing the Ls down are an instant trigger. As U of L women's coach Jeff Walz always says, if you don't like the Ls down, win the game.

But a million Ls down should not translate into spitting at somebody’s face the way Chinanu Onuaku went after Sestina after the game.

That’s a vile, repulsive and indefensible move, which would have drawn a harsher public rebuke several years ago when COVID was the topic of the day.

Onuaku knows that. After adding context to the incident with a post on X (formerly Twitter) that Sestina also called him a word that should be reserved for a female dog, Onuaku later tweeted an apology for his actions.

Maybe he’ll grow from the mistake. But Sestina and teammate Willie Cauley-Stein also could have handled the moment with more grace.

After the game, with their trip to the TBT semifinals on Friday night in Philadelphia secure, they flashed another round of Ls down in the media room — and did it with the same enthusiasm they showed on the court.

After Sestina finished his explanation of his interaction with Onuaku, Cauley-Stein quickly interjected: “Ls down.”

That prompted Sestina to take it up a notch and say: “Ls down, always.”

Always?

How about: It was a phenomenal game. They brought the best out of us. We’re thrilled to move on and try to win $1 million.

Or, it's too bad it happened.

Instead, Sestina and Cauley-Stein provided a bit of insight into why Onuaku was highly perturbed.

There’s a way to lose, but there’s also a way to win. Take your victory and let people remember you for the half-dozen three-point field goals you made. That didn’t happen.

What did happen was we got a warning about quickly a rivalry can get to the danger zone. Better to talk about dialing it down now — before it goes too far.

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