Oct 24, 2026 Kentucky 34, Vanderbilt 17
In our Who the Blue are You series, Heart of BBN asked our internet followers to help us identify this Big Blue Santa. It took less than 10 minutes for his daughter Loren to message us that he was her dad, Mike May from Virgie, KY.
Mike’s Kentucky roots run deep. Growing up in Pike County, he played basketball at Virgie High School and later at Pikeville College. His younger brother Todd May was a Kentucky high school legend and Mr. Basketball in 1982, signed to play for the Wildcats under Joe B. Hall, but transferred to Wake Forest after appearing in only 5 games. Mike remembers helping Todd move out of Wildcat Lodge, sitting on the bed in the room Todd shared with Kenny Walker. He still wonders what might have been had his brother stayed.
Despite the basketball pedigree, Kentucky football is Mike’s passion. He’s been a die-hard season ticket holder for 30 years.
And he’s paid a price for that devotion. During the 2009 Liberty Bowl trip, to Memphis, somebody stole his Chevy Tahoe and his game tickets. Mike attended anyway, then squeezed into a rented Toyota Yaris for the drive home. Worth it?
“Oh yeah. We won the game.”
But the best part of being a Kentucky fan isn’t always the football.
It’s calling his daughter after a big victory, sharing Saturdays with family, and making friends with strangers in the stands.
One such friend used a wheelchair and sat near Mike for years. Eventually, stadium reseating separated their families, but they still seek each other out on game days.
“Just friendship,” Mike explained. “People you’ll never forget.”
You’ll find Mike in Section 17.
Just look for Santa Claus.
