*THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED*

That’s right, we are back again with another blog giveaway. This time around the Horsemen Football is helping us to hook you all up with an awesome experience for you and your friends. There are two more home games left for the Horsemen. Two lucky winners (one for each game) chosen at random will win themselves 4 tickets to the game. Not only will you get to go to the game, but the winner and one of his/her guests will be brought on field during one of the breaks in the game to box each other with over-sized boxing gloves. The winner of the boxing match will win 14 free passes to LA Boxing at Brannon Crossing.

The rules are simple as always:

- Leave a comment on this post

- In your comment, tell us something different you’d like to see at a Horsemen Football game

- Be sure to leave the comment with an email address you check frequently, since that will be how we will contact you if you are one of the winners.

The giveaway will end at 5:00pm EST on Thursday, July 10. After it is over, we will take all the entries and have our super-awesome-state of the art-crazy-monkey operated-random-post comment-picker-machine determine a winner. We have trained our monkey well, and if he detects that someone has entered more than once then not only will they be disqualified, but they will get bad luck for 5 years and a visit from the IRS. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment, so be sure to enter ONLY ONCE.

The final two Horsemen Football games are on July 12 at 7:30pm and July 19 at 7:30pm. We hope that even if you aren’t one of the lucky winners, you will still come out and join us and help cheer them on when they are boxing. Good luck to all who enter!

More info about LA Boxing – LABoxing.com :: More info about the Horsemen – HorsemenFootball.com

*THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED*

That’s right, its time for another giveaway. This time we have some WWE tickets and swag that one lucky person will get their mitts on. This will be similar to our previous giveaways in that we will randomly choose a winner from all those who entered. Now for what we are giving away…

One lucky winner will snag him or herself two tickets to the upcoming WWE Summerslam event on July 11. In addition to that, they will receive two extra-large WWE T-shirts, a Wrestlemania XXIV sack pack and a WWE slinky (everyone loves a slinky right?).

Follow the simple steps below in order to enter yourself into the drawing for the giveaway:

- Leave a comment on this post

- In your comment, tell us your name as a wrestler. It could be something as simple as another person’s name (sort of like a stage name) or could be similar to a title like The Waffler.

- Be sure to leave the comment using the appropriate email address for us to contact you at if you are the winner. Choose one that you use and check frequently

The giveaway will end at 5:00pm EST on Wednesday, July 9. After we lock it down, we will take all the entries and run them through our super-awesome-state of the art-crazy-monkey operated-random-post comment-picker-machine and determine a winner. The catch (if you can call it that) is that we have a smart monkey. If he detects that someone has entered more than once then not only will they be disqualified, but they might open their front door and find a heaping pile of rotten banana peels. No one wants that, trust me, so be sure to enter ONLY ONCE.

Now, one more thing. This one is important… GOOD LUCK!

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has made lots of news lately for his innovative ways to release music and interactivity with the Nine Inch Nails fan base. In line with their recent generosity (releasing a full album for free online), Nine Inch Nails has released some media (desktop wallpapers, buddy icons, posters, etc.) for their upcoming Lights In The Sky Over North America 2008 tour that will be at Rupp Arena on August 31st. I thought people may be interested in downloading the PDF of the tour poster. You can either download the whole extras pack, or click on the image below to download just the poster.

What is even more exciting is that the free downloads don’t stop there. Nine Inch Nails released a tour EP that you can download for free on their site. It features a Nine Inch Nails song off their newest album as well as a song by the bands that are opening for them around the country at various venues. It is a great way to listen to the opening talent and get a feel for their sound before seeing them on stage. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen a band only to fully appreciate them a month after I saw them. With this, if you like their music, then you could listen to them more and have an understanding of them already when you see them in concert. Click on the below image of the EP album art and it will direct you to the Nine Inch Nails site where you can download it for free.

If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet because you are in question about the show, let me give you some insight. Nine Inch Nails is just as visually appealing and innovative as they are socially innovative online. Their show in 2006 was absolutely stunning and had some of the coolest stage lighting and effects that I have ever seen. I hope everyone is able to go and experience it for themselves.

This past Saturday the Lexington Horseman squared off against the Albany Conquest. The game was excellent, from start to finish. There were plenty of exciting plays such as last second touchdowns, interceptions and a safety. Coach Mike Harmon had this to say about the game (from the Lexington Horsemen Website):

“It was very exciting tonight,” Horsemen head coach Mike Harmon said. “There was definitely no quit in either of the teams. Both teams needed a victory because we were both on losing streaks. It showed in some respects and we still made some mistakes, but, all-in-all, it was a decent effort tonight.”

With a minute left, the Horsemen were only ahead by one touchdown and the Conquest had the ball. The Horsemen defense made a clutch play and sacked the quarterback in the endzone getting a safety and extending the lead by 2 more points. Albany almost got another touchdown but was denied from a penalty. I had ole trusty camera with me at the game and took a lot of photos which can be found up on our Flickr site in the Albany Conquest set. Below are four of the photos that I took of the game.

If you were at the game and took photos then we would love to see them. Send us an email and either attach the photos or link us to them. There are only a two more Horsemen homegames left in the season, both in July, so if you haven’t had a chance to come and see them then you should do your best to come. If you are not a member of our First in Line club then you may want to join now since we are working on some exciting promotional things for the remaining Horsemen games. The tickets are cheap, the seats are great, and the games are very exciting. See you on July 12 when they face off against the Green Bay Blizzard.

About a week ago Rupp Arena hosted it’s second Mixed Martial Arts event this year. This time around it was the XFC Salute to the Armed Forces. Although the stands weren’t filled, there were definitely a lot more people in attendance at this event than the last MMA event on March 7. It is no surprise that Mixed Martial Arts is one of the fastest growing sports right now. Although Kentucky may be a bit behind the trend, it does seem to be catching on here as well.

From the viewpoint of an average person, not ‘in the know’ about the sport, the fights seemed much more exciting this time around. There were a lot of body drops, some extremely effective holds and people that left the ring with more than their ego bruised. As the sport gets more steam (more so in KY), it is attracting serious athletes, some military, others experienced martial artists.

I was on hand (or rather in seat) with camera at-the-ready snapping as many photos as I could of the event. Below are a few examples of some that I took. You can find them all on our Flickr page in the MMA XFC photo collection.

As with all of our events, we love to see the photos the fans took. If you were able to attend the XFC Salute to Our Armed Forces event on June 7th and took your digital camera, camera phone, or can sketch really fast on paper, then we would love to see what you have. With your permission, we will even add anything you send us to a fan set on our Flickr page under the photo collection for this event (and give you credit of course). Send all photos to rupparenablog@gmail.com.

This past Friday the Rowdy Frynds Tour came to Rupp Arena. For those of you who attended, you know how exciting it was. For those of you who didn’t, you definitely missed out, but I will do my best to provide you with some great pictures to ease your mind.

As I may have mentioned in the past, I primarily listen to rock music, all across the spectrum. Although I don’t listen to Hank Williams Jr. I definitely know who he is and have an appreciation for what he has brought to the music industry as a whole. Lynyrd Skynyrd on the other hand is more southern rock and less country so I definitely know all their hit songs and love quite a few of them.

Preshow

The night started off with some pre-show music in The Shops at Lexington Center which was hosted by 98.1 The Bull. The music was pretty good and had a local band who played covers and some original music, but definitely got all the fans in the mood for the concert (pictures will be on our Flickr page shortly).

Starting off the show was James Otto who is an up and coming country/rock musician. He did a great job of recognizing and thanking Lynyrd and Hank and had some great original music as well as a spot-on Bob Segar cover of Night Moves. He did a good performance and definitely caught the interest of most of the crowd.

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd is a recognizable name to anyone. If you don’t know of Free Bird (even if you don’t listen to it or like it), then you may as well not exist. Skynyrd is known for the southern style and extreme guitar solos. One of the amazing things is that they have seven people in their current touring group and three of them are guitarists. With most bands you usually have one guitarist who steals the show. With Lynyrd Skynyrd it seems like all of their guitarists (as well as the rest of the band) are equally talented and dedicated to their music.

Some of the songs they played were What’s Your Name?, That Smell, Gimme Three Steps, Simple Man, Tuesday’s Gone, Sweet Home Alabama, and of course Free Bird. I really wanted to hear Simple Man and Free Bird as well as Tuesday’s Gone (which I heard they didn’t play at some other venues). All in all it was an amazing performance with some of the best guitar solos I have heard and seen.

Hank Williams Jr.

Hank Jr. has a name that is recognized by many, both for his talent and the talent of his father. He had a great introduction video where it had Jimmy Kimmel and some others talking about the importance of the “Are You Ready For Some Football?” song, which Hank Jr. performs. Although his entrance wasn’t elaborate by any means (he just walked on to the stage waving), it definitely brought the audience to their feet and had everyone yelling to hear some of his music.

Hank did a great job of getting the audience pumped up and rounding out the night as a great concert. Although I may be a bit biased, I think Lynyrd Skynyrd stole the show. There were not really an weak points in all three performers, but Skynyrd rocked the house on so many songs and had everyone dancing and getting into the music. It seemed like they really put the rowdiness in the Rowdy Frynds Tour.

All the photos in this recap are ones that I snapped. In the next few days I will be adding photos from Bullnanza and from this event to our Flickr page. There will be lots of amazing photos taken by our house photographers and some ones I took from my seat. As always, if you managed to take any photos of either event then we would love to see them and put them in a Fan Photo set (giving you credit) on our Flickr site so anyone can check them out. Email any photos to rupparenablog@gmail.com. I hope everyone enjoyed the Rowdy Frynds Tour. It seemed like there weren’t any disappointed faces at the end of the night. To close, here are some various stats from the event: 2,620 gallons of beer were bought, 65 bottles of spirits were used to make drinks, and 517 gallons of soft drinks were swallowed.

I know what you are thinking right, Bullnanza??? I am a city girl; I really have no knowledge of bull riding or even cows for that matter. But, for the past few weeks a friend at work has been hyping up bullnanza to me. She kind of explained the whole thing to me since I was unsure as to what to expect. She showed me some video of bull riding and told me I would be throughly disappointed if I missed this year’s event. So I told her, sure why not, I hadn’t been to anything like that before.

Let me explain what bullriding is for those who dont know. The object is for the bull rider to stay on the bull for 8 seconds once he is let out of the pin. If the rider falls off before 8 seconds, they are awarded no points. If they stay on 8 seconds or longer, the judges judge their ride based on their technique and a few other things.

I think the most exciting part of bull riding is when they are let out of their holding pen to start their run. The bull comes out of there kicking and bucking with its fullest power and the rider is holding on to just a braided rope. Frankly, I am not sure how they can even hold on to that thing and it just not slip right through his hands. The bulls range from just normal size bulls to some of the largest bulls I have ever seen in my life! It’s hard to describe actually watching this event, so I shot some video for you:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_yENDqYiOg]

One of things I expected was for this to be really country, which it’s definitely not. Ya, there are some cowboys there, but nothing over the top. I think why this event appeals to so many people is because they try to make sure that there is something for everyone. They played everything from rock music, to popular hits that everyone knows, to country and even some rap! I think having the broad spectrum of genres there helps it appeal to everyone’s taste.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gUH18r44CY]

One of the (i don’t want to use scarriest, but it really is) scarriest parts of the whole thing is when the rider falls of the bull. You can hear the crowd as a whole say things like, “watch out” or “oooooh”. A lot of times I guess the bull is trained to go back into the holding pen where they come from. But also a lot of the time, that is not the case. It almost looks like the bull wants a little revenge and he abruptly turns around and starts heading for the rider or the “clown”. I promise you you will not be able to take your eyes off of it when it happens. Most of the time the rider can get right up and runs to the side, but sometimes the bull is just too quick and that’s when the “clown” comes in. He tries to distract the bull and even sometimes pull him away from the rider on the ground. And even sometimes, which is funny, the bull tries to attack the “clown” and starts running after him. I am not really sure what the “clowns” are called now, but they have their faces painted and wear brightly colored clothing, but not like a traditional clown, to try to get the bull to notice them, so that is what I call them. And then sometimes, the bulls aren’t even distracted by the clowns and the guy and his horse have to come lasso the bull and pull him back into the pin.

One of the promotions they had was an audience member got to come out onto the floor and get down on all fours, and being blindfolded look for a $100 bill that was placed in dirt somewhere. I don’t know about you, but $100 isn’t worth it for me to get down in my good clothes and rummage around in the nasty dirt. (Also, notice the clown i was talking about before; he is the guy with the cowboy hat on.)

This bull riding competition was part of the PBR group and they evidentally tour nationally. So the cool thing is that they have the opportunity to come back to Lexington for their next competition. I would say this is just something that you have to see in person. Watching the video is nothing like being there and watching these riders try to hang on to these bulls for dear life. You have to just be there to experience the excitement! I know i will definitely go again next time they come around!

On my way to my computer to put the Keith & Carrie concert pictures on Flickr I got kidnapped and blindfolded. Apparently the pictures are highly sought after. I was held prisoner for a week in a secret hideout which I could only assume was the basement of an eccentric fan. I managed to break free and run away with my captors chasing me. Just as I cut a corner to escape for good I heard them yell “Don’t show those pictures to anyone, or else…” Despite the gruesome threat, I have decided to accept my fate and post them all up on Flickr for everyone to see. Yes, it is a week later than I would have liked, but at least I have a good excuse right? [Lame? Really? At least I tried...]

Below are a few pictures from the concert that you can find in our Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood Flickr Collection. Since we had a guest blogger with iPhone in hand, myself with my camera at the ready, and our house photographer Michael Wright on point, there are plenty of pictures from a variety of different angles (and devices) for your viewing pleasure.

Last but certainly not least, there are a few treats for you to check out. If you have been keeping up with the blog, I may have noticed I love to make panoramics from concerts and events. Luckily, this one did not escape my obsession so there are two below for you to click on and view.

If you happen to be one of the 17,000 people in attendance and took some photos of your own then we would LOVE to see them. Please email them to us at rupparenablog@gmail.com. With your permission, we will put them up in the Fan Photos set on our Flickr site, and give you credit.

“What the Hell are They Drinking in Hazard?” as Said by Keith Urban, of Course.

So I have to admit, I am not really a country music fan. But after watching the Carrie Underwood/Keith Urban show tonight, I can no longer say that. I liked both acts so much that I will be buying their CDs.

The night started out with Carrie Underwood. The fans were screaming so incredibly loud as she made her way up through the floor, even if I tried to speak, I wouldn’t be able to hear myself. She was dressed in all black except for the coolest looking belt that was made of some kind of rhinestones. The way they had the stage positioned allowed her to kind of “walk through” the crowd and let everyone see her up close. I had attended a 3 Doors Down concert a couple years back and they just had the one stage up front. So there would be no way, unless you had one of the first rows that you would actually get to see what the band looked like. That’s why at tonight’s show, almost everyone on the floor and all around the bottom of the arena gave you an up close and personal view. Not only did they have the cool stage, but they had two big hanging projection screens. So if you were unable to see Carrie as she moved around, you could always watch her on the bigger-than-life screens.

Carrie’s song set included most of her hits songs from her two CDs. I think the song that I like most from her was “I Ain’t In Checotah Anymore.” She told the audience that on the big screen behind her were pictures she took herself in her hometown of Checotah, Oklahoma. It’s so easy to forget that she actually is a real person, who has a life outside of performing. I really enjoyed seeing pictures of where she was from and knowing that she took them herself. Her set tonight was really amazing; there is definitely a reason she won season four of American Idol!

I do have to say though, my main motive for wanting to come to this concert tonight was to just see Carrie Underwood. I knew who Keith Urban was, and had heard of a few of his songs here and there, but never have been a real big fan. All I can say after watching him perform live tonight is, WOW! He is an awesome performer, and not to mention one of the best guitarists I have heard. I could have just sit there and listen to him play guitar all night. He wasn’t all that bad to look at either…

Right up front, Keith let everyone know that they were filming tonight’s show for an upcoming DVD. Therefore, the show was going to be extra long and that we are all to be on our “worst behavior.” And trust me, some of the people in the crowd definitely were. There was one girl behind us that was just dying to get backstage and was doing everything in her willpower to do just that, if you know what I mean. How cool is it that they picked Lexington to be the place to film their DVD?? The crew had all of these handheld cameras in the crowd taping everyone. I am sure there will be a lot of people who watch the DVD that will recognize at least one person.

One of the coolest things that happened during the show though was someone from the crowd got to come up and play guitar with Keith as he sang! Evidentially a few people in the crowd all had the same sign. “Let her play your guitar” and were all pointing to this teenage girl. After Keith was done playing one of his songs, he said okay, if you want to play my guitar, then come up here. So this young girl comes up on stage and says her name was Leslie from Hazard. Keith asked her what she wanted to play and she said she knew the solo of one of his songs. So she played the lead guitar and he played backup guitar and sang. How cool is that???? I was amazed that he asked her to come up on stage and even more amazed that she was so freaking good! As she was walking off stage, Keith asked the crowd, “What the hell are they drinking in Hazard?” He was really amazed that she was so good; I am sure like the rest of us were too! All I can say is that I am glad I stayed to listen to Keith Urban; otherwise I definitely would have missed out. I can guarantee that even non-country fans would have liked tonight’s show!

Editor’s Note: The above recap was written by Julie Johnson for use on the Rupp Arena Blog. All photos shown were taken by house photographer Michael Wright. More photos will be posted up here in the next week.

THIS CONTEST HAS NOW ENDED – CHECK BACK ON MONDAY, APRIL 21 FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNER

Today marks the start of a contest for one lucky person to win a pair of tickets and a pair of concert T-shirts for Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood’s Love, Pain & the whole crazy Carnival Ride Tour coming to Rupp Arena on April 26th. This will be a great way for you to get tickets to the show if you missed out. The tickets we are giving away are in Section 22, Row PP. In case you didn’t know, that is located on the end risers in the bottom half of the lower arena. You will be only a number of rows away from the tip of the stage. Here is a map, since visuals are always better. Check it out!

You need to do the following in order to be able to win the tickets and shirts:

• Leave a comment on this post.
• Include in the comment your favorite Keith Urban and /or Carrie Underwood song.
• Be sure to leave the comment under the email address you want us to contact you at if you win.
• Sit back, wait patiently, and enjoy the ‘whole crazy carnival ride.’

Pretty simple huh? We will then run all the comments through our super-awesome-state of the art-crazy-monkey operated-random-post comment-picker-machine to select a winner. Since it is random, as long as you make sure to post your favorite song by either artist, then you have just as good of a chance as anyone else who enters. Please enter only once as all duplicate entries will be removed and passed along to the worst spam mail site we can find (only kidding, although they will be discarded).

The contest will be running from today, April 11th until Friday, April 18th at 12pm EST. The winner will be announced that following Monday, April 21. The contest will run for a week exactly, and then we will announce the winner almost a week before the concert (technically five days), so there is plenty of time to decide which of your friends or family is going to join you in your extra seat. Not only will you be in some great seats, but you will have concert shirts on your back, all courtesy of the Rupp Arena Blog. With our usual recap of the show, we’ll post a picture of the winners! Think about it, you can be super internet famous as the first Rupp Arena Blog contest winner!

Leave your comment with favorite song(s) below and good luck!