1966 Kittens -- The Coaches: Adolph Rupp

by Truzenzuzex on Dec 14, 2008 6:54 PM EST in Guest Authors Comment 28 comments

From the Editor: This is the fourth in a series of short essays from A Sea of Blue member oldcat'69, who played as a walk-on on Kentucky's freshman team in 1965-66 during the Adolph Rupp era.

“Adolph Rupp is an arrogant man given to sharp repartee and cutting sarcasm. He is awkward in public relations and a genius for saying the wrong thing. He also happens to be the best basketball coach in America.”

Herman Donovan

UK President 1941-1956

Based on my observations in practices and games during one basketball season, President Donovan had it spot on. Coach Rupp was also vain, referring frequently to the basketball instruction book he had written. He possessed the most confidence I’ve ever seen in his own ability to do his job. In my opinion, he viewed that job simply as winning basketball games, and he did it better than anyone before and only three since have done.

There have been far too many words written by more knowledgeable people than myself about Adolph Rupp. Rather than try to add my own assessment of his coaching ability, I’ll just relate a couple of anecdotes that illustrate the man.

During the mid-60s, the teams sat on opposite end-lines rather than on the sidelines as they do now. That presented a problem for Coach Rupp, who wore eyeglasses, but was too vain to wear them other than during a timeout with the team gathered around him, when he had to read the charts.

When a timeout was called, his routine never varied. He stood up, took his glasses out of the inside pocket of his (brown) suit coat, put on the glasses, and buttoned his coat. When the players went back onto the floor, he reversed the procedure, unbuttoning the coat, putting the glasses in the pocket, and sitting down.

One night, the Cats had the ball in front of our own bench, but were shooting on the other end. A timeout was called and Coach Rupp went through his usual sartorial routine. After the timeout, the team in-bounded the ball, went down the floor, and ran exactly the play Coach Rupp had recommended, scoring a layup as a result. He jumped to his feet, almost knocking his chair into my lap (the freshman team sat behind the varsity) and yelled, “Damn nice play!!” Then he sat down, turned to Coach Lancaster and said, “Who was that, Harry?”

At varsity practice one day, the late Tommy Kron, had been screwing up by the numbers during a scrimmage. Now, Tommy would regularly do that and then go out and play an inspired game the next day, proving that practice isn’t always a good predictor of game play. (Do you hear me, BCG?)

Coach Rupp stopped the scrimmage, walked out to the center circle, and, when the team had dutifully gathered around him, turned to Tommy and said, “Son, one of these days I’m going to write a book on how NOT to play this game, and I’m going to devote the first 300 pages to you.”

On another occasion, the varsity had a Saturday night away game somewhere, and the freshman team traveled to the western end of the state to play Paducah Junior College at the same time. This presented a problem, since freshman coach Harry Lancaster needed to be in two places at the same time. The solution was for Coach Hall to travel with the freshmen.

This was during the second semester, when we had only two scholarship players, and we got soundly defeated. After the game, Coach Hall took us to a restaurant recommended by the PJC coach and we had dinner, with most of us opting for steak.

At Monday afternoon’s practice, Coach Rupp questioned Coach Hall about the bill for the dinner, and I happened to be in earshot. It went like this: “Did you take the freshman team out for steaks Saturday night?” “Yes, sir, I did, after the game.” “Well, Harry and I took the varsity out for fried chicken, and, HELL, WE WON!”

You draw your own conclusions.

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excellent

I could listen to those stories all day.

Seriously. All day long. GREAT stuff.

by VentDependent on Dec 14, 2008 7:31 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Thanks

I enjoyed that. Esp. the “I’m gonna devote the first 300 pages to you”. To funny..did anyone DARE laugh out loud after one of those comments?

" I believe in pipedreams"

by Magnoliacat on Dec 14, 2008 7:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

John Lloyd Crigler In The Late 1950's

(From Russell Rice’s Big Blue Basketball book, words MORE OR LESS as spoken by Rupp)

John Lloyd, 150 years from now, there will be no University. No Coliseum. There will have been an atomic war and it will all have been destroyed.

But underneath all the rubble, there will be a memorial saying Here Lies John Lloyd Crigler, Stupidest Basketball Player Ever At Kentucky, Killed by Adolph Rupp.

Because boy, if don’t start playing better, I’m gonna kill you.

I still LOL when I read his words out loud.

by FortyYearCatFan on Dec 14, 2008 7:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If.....

i were a player at that time and around Rupp, id surely be running the bleachers because i’m sure he would have me laughing, unless of course, it was directed toward me!

" I believe in pipedreams"

by Magnoliacat on Dec 14, 2008 10:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Wonderful Rupp Stories

One I heard came in the early season practice after the 1958 national championship. Hatton, Smith, Mills, Crigler graduated but Cox, a senior, was back. The 58-59 team had Johnny and a bunch of younger players.

In one practice session, one of the young guards was repeatedly initiating the offense on the side of the floor opposite Cox. Rupp — having had all he could take — blue his whistle and summoned the young guard to come over to him. He put his arm around him and ushered him down to where Cox stood.

“Son,” Rupp said, “I want to introduce you to somebody. This is Mr. Johnny Cox. He is an All-American, and (his voice rising high in that Kansas twang), I want you to throw the GD ball to him — just once in a whiiile.”

Rupp was a master communicator. He mixed sarcasm and absurdity to convey a humorous but unforgettable message.

by Fortunatus on Dec 14, 2008 10:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Quick! Someone reanitmate Rupp!

We need Zombie Rupp to do the same with our young guards and Patrick Patterson.

"That's not a Sherman tank, it's Frank Thomas!" - Monkeyball

by JLeverenz on Dec 15, 2008 7:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

good stuff, thank you

by khlim2 on Dec 14, 2008 10:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Facade

As I research Rupp, I’m convinced, because he was so kind, personally, to virtually everyone, outside his basketball team, that he was generous and kind guy. The show he put on at practice and for his team was that . . . for the media too . . . a show. Calculated. On purpose. But a show. Because he believed that was how to do it.

by KentuckyWriter on Dec 15, 2008 12:07 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Nice

Keep ’em coming!

by -Zoso- on Dec 15, 2008 6:57 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

thanks KentuckyWriter

glad you pointed that out. I think the media still gets carried away with the Rupp ‘brand’ and not the real person, who all my second hand info tells me was actually a very kind man.

But to Oldcat, pleazze keep sharing your stories. I love them, cannot get enough of them. You are bringing a much valued dimension to ASOB, which was already great, but now has something very special in your stories.

Besides, it is good to be on this blog and not be the oldest Cat around.

by StillCatwoman on Dec 15, 2008 7:41 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Old cat...

I hope Coach Hall took you to Stacey’s for that steak. If it was, it was probably worth the butt-chewing that he took from Coach Rupp.

by racercat98 on Dec 15, 2008 1:34 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Brown suit

I know that Coach Rupp was always reported to be wearing a brown suit. My question is, why? Did it have any particular meaning? Superstition? Or did he just get a great deal on a box of 20 at McAlpin’s or something?

C! A! T! S! CATS! CATS! CATS!

by NYCCats on Dec 15, 2008 1:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

As I Understand It

He bought a new (blue) suit and wore it but UK lost.

After that, he went back to wearing a brown suit.

He was very superstitous.

by FortyYearCatFan on Dec 15, 2008 4:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Nice read oldcat

I am truly loving all these stories and your experiences with the players and coaches.
Also, from the other members here who have contributed in the comments. Great stuff!

by kykat51 on Dec 15, 2008 1:54 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Magnolia,

Ask zbbg (he was a student manager) whether anyone ever laughed out loud at Coach Rupp’s comments. OK, I’ll answer: NO. But there was a lot of coughing into hands after one of his gems. And the steps at Memorial Coliseum were especially difficult to run. There was a wide step, with the seats mounted on it, then a narrow one, then a wide one, etc. You could bust your . . . .face if you weren’t paying attention when you ran them.

Forty, Crigler wasn’t killed, as far as I know. I wore his game pants from ‘58 (with Crig written in the waistband) in our ’65-’66 freshman games (that’s how “frugal” the program was). That’s what Mr. Keightly gave me and that’s what I wore. The smell of death wasn’t on them, but the smell of mothballs, or something, was.

StillCatWoman, I don’t know what class you were in, but, after I had my annual date with the urologist this morning and raked the leaves off my daughter’s yard this afternoon, nobody FEELS older than I do, regardless of whether they out-age me or not.

Well, my wife tells me I left out the best Rupp story, so, to please her, here it is: The varsity and second string were pretty lethargic one day in a scrimmage—no intensity, no hustle, just going through the motions. Coach Rupp yelled, “Hold it”, then walked out to the center circle and bent over, putting his hands on his knees and peering down between his feet. Suddenly, he pointed to a spot on the floor and half-screamed, “What is that? It LOOKS like it might be a drop of sweat. Now, WHERE THE HELL did that come from?”

Glad you guys like the stories. It’s fun writing them. As my wife says, I’m taking a flying leap back into the past. She doesn’t understand men or UK basketball addicts. Hasn’t for forty years the 29th of this month :-))))

by oldcat'69 on Dec 15, 2008 6:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Hey oldcat

We all know Mr. Wildcat was very frugal…one of Coach G’s stories at Keightley’s memorial was that he only received a few pair of sports socks when he arrived as coach and he needed more…nope….no more. I laughed and I cried…cried more after hearing all those people that knew him, talk about him.

The drop of sweat?…lmao at that comment from Rupp.

Wife…how could she not love UK basketball after all these years with you? Is she totally nuts?

by kykat51 on Dec 15, 2008 7:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And that one I have heard about re Pitino

When Mr. Wildcat picked up Pitino to take him to the airport was hilarious. Mr. K had an old pickup at the time that made a lot of noise, do you think Keightley cared? Nope…just gave Coach a ride to the airport.

by kykat51 on Dec 15, 2008 7:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Pitino later gave him a new truck

by Ken Howlett on Dec 16, 2008 12:01 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yes

I thought that was a good deed on Pitino’s part albeit he never had to ride to the airport in an old loud pickup ….darn Keightley deserved a Caddy since he was transferring Rick :-)

by kykat51 on Dec 16, 2008 12:25 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I really doubt

that Keightley would have accepted a Caddy…just too humble a man.

by kykat51 on Dec 16, 2008 12:30 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Oops, racer,

sorry. Don’t know if it was Stacey’s or not, but the steak WAS really good. And it was Coach Hall’s butt, not mine, so it was definitely worth it.

by oldcat'69 on Dec 15, 2008 6:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Oh well,

thanks for answering. It was just a thought. For a long time, Stacey’s was the best place to get a nice piece of beef in Paducah. It’s gone now though, and we miss it.

by racercat98 on Dec 16, 2008 7:19 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Rupp had some great lines

Damn nice play!!" Then he sat down, turned to Coach Lancaster and said, "Who was that, Harry?"

That one really made me laugh!

Tru, I think all of oldcat’s stories should be permanently linked on the sidebar, maybe just below the Fanshot listings.

"That's not a Sherman tank, it's Frank Thomas!" - Monkeyball

by JLeverenz on Dec 15, 2008 7:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

kykat,

Nah, she’s not nuts, except possibly for staying with me all these years. At the risk of quibbling ;-), I didn’t say she wasn’t a fan, just that she didn’t understand my addiction. She’s a great gal.

by oldcat'69 on Dec 15, 2008 7:41 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Ha Ha

My hubby could not understand my addiction either or my loud mouth when watching a UK game on TV. He would sit over in his big plumpy lounge chair and stay so content….drove me nuts! His constant thing to me was…“they cannot hear you”! Well I was loud during a game and most of the time he would just laugh at my enthusiasm , but he was a Cat fan too, just not as loud as I was!

by kykat51 on Dec 15, 2008 9:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Forlorn drop of sweat

Bill,
You beat me to the drop-of-sweat story. I’ve been telling that one for years, especially to my California Cat-fan brother.

Here’s what I recall: In the middle of one of those eerily quiet practices (as I judged them), when the team was going full court ( I and the other freshmen came early to watch), Coach Rupp bounded out of the bleachers from about the sixth row, exhibiting startling agility, and ran to near center court and “discovered” a single drop of sweat (as he put it), pointed to it and in dripping sarcasm (and surely reverse psychology) accused Thad Jaracz of running the floor so hard he actually shed a drop of sweat. I personally was mortified as I am sure Jaracz was, too.

Here’s my interpretation (Bill, let’s hear your take on this) : Coach Rupp, I feel, used Jaracz as whipping boy, to communicate to the whole team. I bet the rest of the team took to heart that message that day. Even sitting in the bleachers, I know I felt the sting of contemplating that single, drop of sweat lying alone on the floor of Memorial Coliseum.

by leedurhamstone on Dec 18, 2008 11:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs