A sad day in Kentucky

by Truzenzuzex on Apr 1, 2008 7:22 AM EDT in News Comment 11 comments

Kentucky equipment manager Bill Keightley has passed away. He died last night at 7:45 PM in Cincinnati of internal bleeding caused by an undiagnosed tumor after he fell down on the way to a Cincinnati Reds game.

Bill Keightley was 81 years young.

I know everyone will be as sad about this as I am. At this point in time I am not prepared to write a long article about Mr. Keightley, but I will be updating this post with news stories about this unhappy day as events unfold.

Our sincerest regrets and prayers go out to the Keightley family and friends, of which there are very, very many. May God hold you in his hands, and ease the pain of his passing. All Wildcat fans will surely miss him on the sidelines.

[editor's note, by Truzenzuzex] If anyone has written a tribute to Bill Keightley on their blog that is not listed here, please comment below or email me and I will post a link to it.

Thanks to all who have written in memory of Mr. Wildcat.

0 recs | Comment 11 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Wow

I was listening to NPR news this morning while making breakfast, and thought I caught the WFPL news person mentioning that Mr. Keightley passed. I was running late and could not verify until I got to the office.

I'm 26 years old, so Mr. Keightley was a part of my entire life-long interest in UK basketball. Throughout the years, players coming and going, and coaching changes, Mr. Keightley was always the constant, the rock, for UK basketball. His facial expressions on the bench were classic, sometimes hilarious, sometimes telling.

He will be missed by his fans, and my deepest condolences to his family and friends.

by blbskue on Apr 1, 2008 8:17 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Mr. Wildcat

The Kentucky bench will always seem a little empty now. He will be missed. This is a very sad day.

by kentuckygirl0724 on Apr 1, 2008 8:57 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Mr. Wildcat

Very sad day in the hearts of UK fans everywhere if you liked Kentucky basketball you loved Bill Kieghtley. Just imagine the stories he had about Big Blue Basketball? You will be sadly missed sir!

by ukblue20 on Apr 1, 2008 9:24 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

keep his chair open

I think they should keep his seat empty from now on. No one should every sit in that first seat. I know that will be hard with the 30 players we will be dressing next year but I think leaving that seat open would be a great rememrance of Mr. Wildcat and the fact that he can't be replaced.

travis york

by travyork on Apr 1, 2008 9:54 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Mr. Wildcat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlJ2UVGLvos

by kykat51 on Apr 1, 2008 11:29 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Two more tributes

http://www.cardchronicle.com/story/2008/4/1/14016/10856

and from Tom Leach:
http://ukathletics.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=-1&url_article_id=21613&change_well_i d=2

by Thomas Hunt Morgan on Apr 1, 2008 5:59 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hard to imagine...

watching games next year and not seeing Mr. Keightley sitting next to coach. What a huge loss to the Kentucky family and more importantly the Keightley family. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.

As hard as it is to express how one feels when experiencing a loss of this magnitude, I think Acdixon's diary was perfect and Ken, your poem was great. It helps to smile even a little at a time like this.....Thanks

by wldcatsfreak on Apr 1, 2008 6:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Thank you for your kind comment.

by Ken Howlett on Apr 2, 2008 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Role model

Mr. Bill was a role model in every sense of the term, and will be sorely missed. We could all take his example to heart, and support our team and coach 1,000% win, lose or draw, day in, day out, no matter what - cry over the losses and then come to work early the next morning to make sure they don't happen too often - and keep our mouths shut about the petty things.
The Class of the Commonwealth, no doubt.
We should all try to live our lives in such a way that, when we go, people won't have to try to think of something to say about us - it will already be right there. Rick Pitino was quoted in the national press about what a class act Bill was just a day before he died - how many others do you know get an advance obit like that?
Maybe we should start living like that.
Thanks for the life lessons, Mr. Bill!
Keep the seat reserved forever.

by Way2blue4SorryFairWeatherFew on Apr 1, 2008 11:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs