By Aaron Williams
Some students may be unaware, but there is a king among the student body at the University of Louisville. His throne can be found inside the high walls of his castle, known to all as Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. Seated there among the common folk, the king watches his team of warriors take the gridiron to do battle, in rain, snow or shine. He does all this while encouraging his subjects to join him in cheering his team on.
His name is Red Reign. But students may know him as Scott Beard, a senior mechanical engineering major at U of L. Beard has claimed another title: ESPN and Stub Hub’s Ultimate College Football Fan. He edged out three other finalists from schools such as the University of Florida and the University of Cincinnati.
Beard recently provided some insight about the man behind the paint. He has been attending U of L football games since his freshman year in 2007. Back then, he was part of a spirit group known as the L-Raisers.
“Red Reign started off as a theme from the ‘06 season,” Beard said, referring to the season in which the team went 12-1 and won the Orange Bowl, under former head coach Bobby Petrino. For the 2007 season, Beard adopted a crown and scepter in addition to body paint. From then on, Red Reign has attended as many home football games and home basketball games as possible.
“I try to attend as many [basketball games] as my schedule permits,” said Beard. “It’s going to be a little harder now that the new arena is downtown and I live on campus.”
These days, it takes a minimum of two to three hours for Beard to complete his transformation from engineering student to Red Reign.
“I was in line at 4 a.m. for the College Gameday game against Georgetown,” said Beard, speaking of the whiteout game in Freedom Hall against No. 6 Georgetown University back in 2008. In line at 4 a.m. means that Beard was awake hours earlier, getting into full costume for the event.
Why the fan fanaticism? Beard said that he was taken to an Ohio State University football game as a senior in high school. Here he was exposed to what he called a true college football atmosphere. Since then, Red Reign has been Beard’s attempt at bringing the same spirit and energy to Louisville football and basketball games.
It seems that his quest to capture that same atmosphere has been mostly successful. Red Reign was named the Ultimate College Football Fan in a nationwide contest. Beard said he hasn’t completely realized all that will come with his new title.
“It’s hard to have feelings when you’re stuck in all the schoolwork,” said Beard. “It really hasn’t hit me. Maybe it will when they fly me out to a bowl game and treat me like a king. I try not to let it go to my head.”
On Nov. 9, Beard was notified by phone and e-mail from ESPN that he had won the contest. His family, who was very supportive throughout the competition, was thrilled.
“I thought it was pretty exciting,” said Lyndsey Beard, Scott Beard’s wife. “And then I was like, ‘Crap! He better not choose a bowl game that would cause him to be gone over Christmas.'”
As part of his prize for winning the contest, Beard will receive two tickets to a bowl game. He has selected his friend Russell Maddox to attend the game with him.
“[Scott] is the biggest die-hard Cards fan I’ve ever known,” said Maddox, a senior double major in accounting and finance. “I’m pretty excited about going to the bowl game with him, too. It should be a lot of fun, regardless of where we go.”
Beard has received a lot of attention as a result of his role as Red Reign. He’s done an interview with WAVE-3, been featured on a postcard U of L sent to incoming freshmen, and was shown on the opening video before every home football game last season.
In his career as Red Reign, Beard has seen numerous games. When asked what his favorite football memory was, Beard recalled the 2007 game against Rutgers University.
“It was the last game of the season,” said Beard. “By halftime everyone had left. We came back in the third and fourth quarter and won. It got us bowl eligible, even though we didn’t end up making a bowl game. And it was my first time to rush the field.”
As for basketball, Beard says one game will always stand out in his mind: the University of Kentucky game in Freedom Hall back in 2009. Point guard Edgar Sosa delivered a 3-pointer near the end of regulation to give U of L the 74-71 win over UK.
Red Reign will be present in the KFC Yum! Center when the Wildcats travel back to Louisville to face the Cards again.
“I hope for another close game,” said Beard. “But it’d be awesome if we just blew them out too.”
From second most spirited in his high school at Christian Academy of Louisville, to Ultimate College Football Fan of the nation, the story of Red Reign is a story of Cardinal pride.
