Easily one of my all-time favorite players and he's coming to my work on Sunday to promote his new book, do a Q&A, and sign books (tickets are available to the public fyi). We get the chance to talk with him and was curious if you had any favorite memories or good stories or questions to come up with?
I never hear anything about the Bryan Station or NBA days but was curious what people remember about Goose from then.
I am way too young (32) to have any Goose memories. But my mom got the chance to meet him and said he was extremely nice, and down to earth.
My mom has served her community as a nurse all her life, which has mostly been in Louisville Kentucky. I’m not sure where she was or what hospital she was working in, but one day she got a very tall patient. Spoiler alert: it was the Goose.
She didn’t recognize him and she said during the initial examination, “you’re really tall, you should’ve played basketball!” When he heard this he looked over to his wife and they giggled, not in a mean way. Jack said, “that’s very kind of you to say.” When my mom left the room the doctor who’d been in there with her said, “you don’t know who that is??” She said, “no, should I?” He said, “that’s the Goose! Jack Givens! He played basketball for Kentucky and was a big deal there!” She went in and apologized but they both laughed and told her to think nothing of it. She said he was one of the nicest patients she’s ever taken care of.
She did graduate from UK (both my parents did, it’s where they met). But she didn’t take to following the basketball team until later after school. She was a very focused student. Plus, back then (as many of you know) tvs were a luxury. And so if she did listen to a game it was on the radio.
