All Right, I'll Be The Guy

I am the first here to disagree with you. Mr. Wildcat was a very humble man all the years while serving UK basketball. In no way do I think the University has gone overboard with what they have done to memorialize his years serving the team, players, assistant managers, the University as a whole. Coach BCG had less than a year with him and loved him dearly. That in itself speaks volumes of Keightley’s personality.

And the Oral History Project…that had been in the making for several years.

I have already listened to many of his interviews with many people about UK basketball and coaches on utube in the past before he even passed away.

…that to many UK fans, basketball is their god, so in that respect this makes total sense.

(There JL, that should take some of the spotlight off you. *wink*)

Posting this on this thread?…totally unrelated to subject. If any want to read there I am sure they have already bookmarked.

JL makes a sound point, but frankly, I don’t care if they name rename Rupp Arena Rupp/Keightley Arena. I loved Mr. Wildcat just like anyone else, but I don’t have an opinion on how best to remember him.

For my money, a spot on the floor and a memorial service is sufficient, and wearing a device on the uniform in memoriam is just fine, too. Oral History projects are always fine by me, I think they have value especially in a tradition-rich program like Kentucky which has many oral history projects associated both with the University and around the state itself.

But at some point, Mr. Wildcat would want us to move on. Keeping his chair unoccupied and making sitting in it some kind of reward is probably over the top. More than one memorial is probably too many.

All of these things are great for the family, those really close to the program and Mr. Keightley, but it does seem like they are dragging it out a tad bit. Nice jestures by the university, but so much is not entirely necessary.

OK maybe it is getting a little excessive, I don’t feel so, but the point is a valid one to those who do. Mr. Keightley is someone I always respected and revered growing up with the Big Blue Nation and in a way looked at as a grandfatherly figure to us all. In this case I think doing too much is a safer way to celebrate his life than to leave anyone feeling that enough wasn’t done.

Mr Wildcat’s family… if they are ok with it, then I’m fine with it…

I don’t really agree with JL, but then I don’t exactly disagree either. It’s a bit much and maybe dilutes the power of any ONE tribute, but the thing is, it’s not hurting anyone. I mean, really, who cares? It’ll be a big weepy scene, some people will have loved it, some will have been uncomfortable with the excess sentimentality, but then it’ll be over and no harm done. If the team and staff and coaches and most importantly the Keightley family—those people who knew him personally—feel these gestures are the appropriate way to remember a beloved figure, then I don’t know why it should matter to the rest of us. I’m not supercomfortable with gooey sentimentality myself, but like bigbluestu said, I think when it comes to honoring or appreciating who was undoubtedly an excellent human being who is beloved by so many, “too much” is probably better than “not enough.”

I think what you are missing is the Mr. Keightley is PART of Kentucky Basketball History.He is not just some equipment manager who paid his dues.His being common and “down to earth” represents what is good about UK fandom.There was only 1 Rupp.Only 1 Cawood.And only 1 “Mr. Wildcat”.

Pickin’ on a dead dude? Talk about kickin’ whilst a man is down!

Hey pot, meet spoon

Or more like egg, meet whisk.

I bet you are one of those New York elite types with a tattoo, beard, shaggy hair and a hip little home life complete with a kid who you dress all cool.

I hate those yella bellied freak-o’s like that.

:-)

I have no opinion. Will it help us win? Cool. Will it deflate our excitement and energy after BCG’s 6 hour game day practice has us whipped up and ready to go, so we loose? Not cool.

Other than that….

But IMO any of those would tell you that Keightley’s time at UK and their personal experiences are invaluable. That is all I have to say to say and you are entitled to your opinion.

If that’s what the school wants to do, then so be it. He earned his legacy. (Geez, I can’t even believe we’re discussing this…)

If it will beneit kids in some way I don’t feel there can be enough of them these days.

As vinceuk1 said about the family, if they are cool with attending another ceremony, more power.

As a fan, I believe it’s nice that the university is taking an interest in a person that had the greatest gig in the world.

SInce I never met Bill I wouldn’t know whether he would’ve thought this over the top or not. I do know that people like to be recognized for their work. He might be a little embarrassed about all the attention but I feel that he would just grin and enjoy the attention and when it was all over he would get back to doing what he did best….support the team.

Having said all that, should we be discussing this again next year i.e. more memorials, etc. I would have a bone to pick.

Concerning Cawood, I may be wrong about this, but I believe the distinction between the lavish attention paid to Mr Keightley and the meager attention paid to Cawood differs in that Cawood was a media personality and Bill was a university personality. By that I mean that Cawood was a media type and Bill was just a university employee. The media types come and go with the wind often times as do equipment managers, but media types often get their accolades while they are still around. Equipment managers often get more dirty laundry. The fact that Mr Keightley was a “famous personality” is an anamoly itself. How many other programs, professional or college, can boast someone in a related job of equal stature? Not many I’m sure.

Two years ago we (KATV family) lost “the nicest guy in the world” or “everyone’s best friend” Paul Eells, The Voice of the Razorbacks! He was our main sports anchor but he was mostly known for his radio broadcasts of Arkansas football. He also did some radio and TV for the basketball team. He was best known for his radio calls of “TOUCHDOWN ARKANSAS!…OH MY!” Just like Cawood meant to us, Paul was to the Razorback fan. You know how we talk about turning down the sound on the TV to hear the radio broadcast? If you went someplace where the game was on, unless you were in a bar or some other ASCAP, BMI place, you were guaranteed to be hearing Paul’s voice.

Part of what made him so endearing to the fans and general public was how nice he was to EVERYONE. He was humble enough to take a few minutes of his time and chat with you no matter who you were. Once, I was at a restaurant (Doe’s in Hot Springs, I reccomend them should you ever go there) doing a remote newscast the first year I started at KATV. While I was running cables and setting up cameras I noticed Paul arriving for the 5 o’clock show. He had no sooner set foot on their deck when two middle aged women came up to him (out of the shadows!) planted kisses on his cheeks, got pictures with him, chatted with him and walked away looking like excited school girls. Shortly after that he was stopped by a couple of teenage boys who got his autograph, chatted with him for a minute and walked away looking as if Christmas had come in June. Hell, I got see him often over the six years I knew him and every time I got done talking with him I felt like a million bucks. He even knew I was a Wildcat fan! :)

What I mean by all this is that immortality is easily laid at the feet of those who regularly come into contact with the masses while folks who spend the majority of their years at a typically thankless job are rarely noticed by so many and so ferverently.

One more quick Paul story…..We were doing a promo to kick off our coverage of another Razorback football season. We set up cameras in the team meeting room while Houston Nutt was talking to the team about the upcoming season. At one point in his speech he said he had someone there who he asked to speak to the team. At this point Paul comes into the room and steps up to the podium. As he’s walking towards the podium you can see the players sitting up, poking each other and pointing towards Paul. When the room was deathly still and all attention was on Paul, he looked up from some papers he had brought in with him and said, “Gentlemen, I only have one thing to say to you……TOUCHDOWN ARKANSAS!” The team went crazy! They all jumped up and began shouting and woofing and cheering! I still to this day believe it was the best promo we’ve ever done with him.

GO BIG BLUE!!!

What some of you may not know, is that he started this blog site and I do not know when. So I do respect his opinion, I just don’t agree, and that is what this blog is all about. But I am sure he loves UK and the history.

No disrespect, of course.

And NYC rocks.