I got your promotion right here

 The guy who thought this up. That's who I'm lighting a candle for today. 

I'm uttering a few words of comfort for this poor dope, who apparently went to a brainstorming session one day and, left his brain in his office. Forgot he was in, you know, Indiana. Said this, or something like it:

Hey, we're gonna have a Ball State hat night, an IUPUI hat night and an IU hat night. Let's have a Kentucky Wildcat hat night for all the Kentucky fans here in Indiana! Back the Blue!

Yikes.

And so will come to pass Kentucky Hat Night at an upcoming Indiana Pacers home game, and shortly afterward will come the ceremonial Rain of the Kentucky Hats, sailing down on the Gainbridge Fieldhouse floor like a flock of bluebirds. Later, those who held onto their UK hats will gather in Monument Circle with a jug of lighter fluid for the ceremonial Witch Hat Burning, which is how people on this side of the Ohio River refer to Kentucky fans when they're trying not to use bad words.

And, OK, so the Blob will stop with the jokes here, and even give the Pacers the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they heard from a lonely cadre of UK fans, holed up in a remote cabin like some weird religious cult. Maybe they heard them say "Hey, what about us?" And maybe they decided, well, we're a team of the people, and these are people.

So why not?

Sounds good in the boardroom over coffee and Krispy Kremes. Outside in the real world, however ...

Well. Do we need to remind the Pacers that Indiana and Kentucky stopped playing one another 11 years ago because they couldn't even agree on where the annual game should be played? Indiana wanted to keep playing alternate years in Assembly Hall; Kentucky wanted to play at a neutral site (like they used to in the old Hoosier Dome). Neither would budge.

The Blob's take on that: Both of 'em were chicken.

In any event, that sort of enmity tends to resonate. And we all know what happens when you feed that enmity.

Flying hats. Burning hats. That sort of thing.

Truth is, it's usually a bad idea to hand fans anything flightworthy when they come to a game. I'm reminded here of the infamous Ice Scraper Incident at a Fort Wayne Komets game many years back, when the fans got ice scrapers as part of a promotion as they entered the arena. This led to the Incident, also known as the Rain of Ice Scrapers when things didn't go the home team's way.

And who could forget the epic Rain of Hockey Pucks back n 1972, when the Philadelphia Blazers of the old WHA passed out red souvenir pucks to commemorate the team's inaugural home game?

The Zamboni broke through the ice during pregame resurfacing, and the game had to be canceled. Disappointed fans, thoughtfully pre-armed, unleased a Red Death of souvenir pucks on the ice as the players fled for the safety of the locker room.

The good news for the Pacers here: At least the hats are non-lethal.

Small blessings.