I think it has to do with royalty or nobility. Medieval term I believe.
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The Spanish used the phrase sangre azul (blue blood) to distinguish ppl of high social class in the 19th century, but according to studies of artifacts from long ago (2500 BCE) it appears that a similar phrasing was used much earlier. Has to do with the apparent blue color of blood & veins of European royalty that supposedly were caused by the use of so much silver as cutlery & dishes that caused argyria which causes veins to be more pronounced as a blue color, making blood, on the exterior, appear blue. That, and incredibly pale skin of royalty because they rarely went/worked out in the sun, along with supposed common rh negative blood factor that most European families have all contribute to royalty being called sangre azul, or blue blood.
So blue blood corresponding with college basketball âroyaltyâ makes sense. Still comes down to your own individual definition of what college basketball royalty is.
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WaitâŚSo I thought âblue bloodsâ was just strictly a basketball term that originated from UNC, Kansas, Duke, and Kentucky all having blue as their primary school color. Didnt everybody else think that this was where we get the term âBlue Bloodsâ or has that been something my own mind made up this entire timeâŚ
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Nah. I think that that was just you. âBlue Bloodâ has been used, almost as a pejorative in many cases, in drama and fiction when describing aristocracy, or, more often, when describing a characterâs ancestry.
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To is right. I donât really care what we are called. IT doesnât matter. All that matters is its working real good
Tu I mean. Autocorrect got me Tu.
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As someone said up-thread, fans of a school donât determine this â the rest of the sports world does. Until I hear the talking heads refer to us as a blue blood, weâre not.
Plus, looking at the facts, we have nowhere hear the history or media cache of the blue-blood programs â D*ke, UNC, Kansas, and Kentucky. We might match them on recent success (which is an important requirement), but we need much more sustained winning for many more seasons before we deserve the label â and more consequently before others think we do.
Right now, weâre an elite program. One of the best. But thatâs a level below being a âblue blood.â
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wow never knew. Assumed was basketball specific term all this time haha. thanks @73CAV as well for the follow.
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Just catching up on this thread. Thank @73CAV and @brogdonfanpage for the history lessona nd providing some context. Always good to learn something new.
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Nice to know Im not the only one!
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Just my 2 cents but I think both of you are right. The label was applied because it fit in both ways. And I know this isnât exactly what is being discussed but in recruiting circles when Blue Blood is used itâs understood that they mean UNC Duke Kentucky and Kansas. No one else, ever.
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I would agree with those 3 being the only blue bloods in college basketball today. Others have been there, UCLA or Indiana for example, but not today.
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My question is did they use the term blue blood back then? Long before my time, or certainly the UCLA glory days were.
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This old blood doesnât recall that term back in the UCLA and Indiana glory years. Donât believe it was used then
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Agree. Iâm not old enough to remember either IU or UCLAâs glory days but I donât remember seeing that term thrown around in regrads to them. I feel like it came into vogue in the early 90s late 80s.
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If not later
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Youâre probably right, I feel like it may be an ESPNâism as SportCenter and that type of programming took off.
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Just now catching up on this thread. Super interesting, and I learned something new