Forget the Cheeseheads! When it comes to avid antics, Cards' fans stand second to none.

They love to wear it, wave it, even wrap presents in it. They hang blue flags on their porches, sport blue ties and sweaters at work and bake cakes with blue icing-all in honor of their favorite team, the UK Wildcats.

But in the midst of all the indigo inundation, in the heart of downtown, stands one colossal symbol of defiance-a gleaming cherry-red awning embellished with a massive Cardinal head. This testament of support for University of Louisville athletics stands out like an embassy in a foreign country.

"It drives the UK fans nuts," Dennis Raisor says proudly, with a hint of mischief in his voice.

Raisor, a CPA, has waged a long-standing battle with friends and neighbors to keep the Cardinal bird above the office building he leases to the tourism center. He says you can count on one hand the number of U of L fans who live among the Big Blue backers in this town of 4,000.

"You're thought of as a second-class citizen if you're for U of L," claims Raisor, who has followed the Cards for 25 years and whose daughter, Lesley, is a U of L student. "The rivalry is a hot topic in our office."

Although Raisor may feel alone in his hometown, he has plenty of company when he arrives in Louisville to cheer on the Cards. Last season, U of L basketball averaged 19,180 fans per game at Freedom Hall, the fourth-best draw for a collegiate team in the nation. By mid-October, the U of L football team already had two sellouts through three home games at the 42,000-seat Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

Those fervid fans make quite an impact, as any Cardinal team member can tell you.

"The fans were kind of getting on us a little bit," says U of L quaterback Dave Ragone of how Cardinal supporters expressed their dismay at his team's thin 10-9 halftime lead over the University of Connecticut on Sept. 30.

And when the fans talk, as Ragone will tell you, the Cards listen. They went on to win 41-22. "We looked each other in the eye at halftime and said, 'We've got to get this thing going right,' " he recalls.

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