John Calipari offers coal miner's family VIP Rupp Arena experience
On Saturday, the Kentucky Basketball team held the Blue-White Game in Pikeville to raise money and awareness for a region devastated by July’s deadly floods. Not only was the team able to present a check for $162,450 to Governor Andy Beshear for the Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund (on top of the $2 million they raised in August), but the night also brought smiles to the faces of 7,000 fans at Appalachian Wireless Arena. For one family in particular, the fun has just begun.
A photo of a coal miner and his son went viral over the past 24 hours. It shows the father, who clearly came straight from his shift at the mines to the arena, chatting with his young son, who is wearing a CATS shirt. The photo found its way to John Calipari, who tweeted it out this morning with an offer to give the family a VIP experience at Rupp Arena.
“My family’s American dream started in a Clarksburg, WV coal mine, so this picture hits home,” tweeted Calipari. “From what I’ve been told, after his shift, he raced to be with his son & watch our team. Don’t know who this is, but I have tickets for him & his family at Rupp to be treated as VIPs!!”
As you might expect, it didn’t take the BBN long to find the man. Michael Joe McGuire works at Excel Mining in Pike County. His wife Mollie saw the picture making the rounds on Facebook and responded with their story.
“My amazing husband started his day at 4:45 a.m. that morning and worked all day. Then drove straight to the arena to meet us and enjoy the game with our son! We are truly blessed with such an amazing man, and beyond thankful! We love our coal miner.”
Now, Michael, Mollie, and son Easton have a big trip to Lexington to look ahead to and countless messages of love and support flowing in from the Big Blue Nation. Very cool.
John Calipari thanks BBN for help in search
With the search complete, John Calipari took to Twitter to thank the BBN for their efforts in finding the McGuires.
“Thank you everyone for your incredible response to this. No one rallies like the #BBN! We are looking forward to hosting @mcguire_mollie9, her husband Michael and their family at a game soon!!
“This has also made me think a lot today about my grandfather, who worked underground in the mine. He always said something that stuck with me: ‘We go down there together and we come back up together.’ They worked for each other. The ultimate teammates!!”
Kentucky Basketball gives back to Eastern Kentucky
Prior to the game on Saturday, the team took part in a service event, distributing hoodies, sweatshirts, and other winter clothes to those in need at Jenny Wiley State Park in Floyd County.
“We tried to keep them out there staying warm,” guard Antonio Reeves said. “We gave them jackets, sweaters, coats, and things like that to make sure they stay warm for the winter. You know, it has been a good thing for the community and good for the team as well.”
“It was a great experience overall. Me growing up, my parents were all about giving back,” guard Adou Thiero added. “Being able to come here and give back also was a great feeling. … After seeing how much BBN cares for us, it was very important for us to come out and do this for Kentucky in general. It’s all about giving back. We’re blessed to be in the position we’re in and we can’t just be focused on ourselves, we have to give back to those less fortunate.”
It was a player-led initiative, something the Wildcats themselves came up with. It started with the open practice in August, and then again with this event in Pikeville.
“We wanted to know what we could do,” Thiero said. “We had that Red Cross event over at Rupp Arena that raised a lot of money. Then we decided, ‘Why don’t we go somewhere else other than Rupp and play in front of other people who haven’t been able to watch us?’ That’s what we did here today in Pikeville. I hope all of the people, BBN, had a great time watching us.”
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