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Loran Smith: On Blue Cain

Christopher Blue Lonergan Cain, Georgia’s 6-5 guard, functions with cagey stealth, cunning defensive acumen, and touch from the three-point line, along with competitive embers which seem to burn more intensely as the game goes on.  His name is a mouthful, and he is often a handful in Southeastern Conference competition.  He is only satisfied when his teammates raise clenched fists that confirm victory.

“Blue is part of his legal name,” says Mike Mobley, men’s basketball sports information director, one of the most competent members of the UGA Athletic Association staff. “His parents named him for the colors of his dad’s alma mater, Duke University Blue Devils.”

Lonergan is his mother’s maiden name, which reflects that the Cains are as family-oriented as the Bradys and the Cleavers.  A roll call reflects that they all have Division I pedigrees: Dad, Chris, played golf well enough at Duke to reach the advanced stages of the ACC and NCAA championships.  His mom, Myriah, is a member of the George Washington basketball Hall of Fame, and his sister, Sophie, was a setter in volleyball at Appalachian State.  

They all thrive on competition, and it was a red-letter day when Blue beat his dad on the golf course for the first time.  On a family vacation to Scotland last summer, father and son took their clubs and introduced themselves to the famous courses where the Open Championship is played each year.  And some of the lesser-known courses that offer beauty, charm and challenge.  They have a deep and abiding reverence for the environs of “Old Tom Morris.” 

They always try to take in the Masters in the spring, treating the tournament like a seasoned fisherman who casts from sunrise to sunset.  They simply can’t get enough of the game. 

Lately, however, Blue has been helping Georgia become substantial in SEC competition.  His movement on the court is quick and deft. He gets in an opponent’s face more often than Donald Trump.  He plays much taller than his published height, and when he’s on, he collects three pointers as adroitly as any 6-5 guard in the league.

When the competition under the basket is keenest, there are a lot of elbows and slings and arrows.  Blue enjoys mixing it up and can hold his own.  He can be the aggressor, and he often makes salient and defining plays coming out of the endless scrums that take place on the court.

You might describe his enduring facial expression as being pensive, but he is never without passion and commitment.  His anticipatory skills are consistently redeeming as he assesses opportunity and then moves with aplomb to the basket. Fade away, accurate arch, and the crowd is on its feet with a resounding crescendo.

A Catholic kid who grew up in Knoxville, Tenn., of all places, Blue was headed to Georgia Tech where Josh Pastner was the head coach, but Pastner was fired before Blue enrolled.  Disappointment segued into rapture. The entire Bulldog staff worked overtime to make him feel at home in Athens.  He came, he looked, he stayed.  He now feels that it was somewhat providential.  “I couldn’t be happier than I am here,” he says.  “This is a great place and the coaches are all outstanding. I love being a Bulldog.”

He is helping UGA elevate its basketball program under the introspective Mike White, who underscores the teaching element of his line of work.  Blue and his teammates are athletic.  They can make plays, they fight for the ball, and they uplift the sold-out crowds, which have become commonplace.

It is like the line from “Field of Dreams.”   “Build it, and they will come.”  Put a selfless fivesome on the court, a compatible group proud to wear the “G” with a competitive underscoring of team effort, and you have something that brings a collection of Dawg mania proponents to Stegeman night after night.

“The Steg” is a cozy den of energy, moxie and verve.  Occupants want to help their team gain the advantage, make it uncomfortable for visitors and help basketball resonate with the fan base, a long-suffering core that is now being fulfilled.  

“I’m so glad that Mike White is leading the Dawgs back to prominence,” said former coach Tubby Smith in town for the honoring of the Sweet Sixteen team of 1996.   “He is a fine coach and his team is fun to watch.”  How ‘bout that endorsement!

If White keeps recruiting players like Blue Cain, “The Steg” will continue to rock.  The SEC, long known for its football prowess, can compete with the best at Dr. Naismith’s game.  You have missed something if you don’t watch the basketball Dawgs raise a little “Cain” at “The Steg.”

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