University of Kentucky coach John Calipari was so touched by the coal miner who rushed to the arena to be with his young son to see the Wildcats play that he offered the father-son pair VIP tickets.
On Saturday, the team played its Blue-White game in Pikesville to raise money and awareness for the region that had been hard hit by deadly floods in June. But after the game, a photo of a coal miner and his son went viral. In the photo, the miner sat next to his pre-teen son and was still in his safety-stiped work gear, his face still black with coal dust and staring down as his boy enjoyed the game.
It was clear that the miner had finished work, rushed to the game for a night out with his son, and didn’t even have time to clean up and change clothes.
After seeing the photo, Calipari was touched by the sentiment and the long tradition of mining in the area.
“My family’s American dream started in a Clarksburg, WV coal mine, so this picture hits home,” Calipari tweeted on Monday. “From what I’ve been told, after his shift, he raced to be with his son & watch our team. I don’t know who this is, but I have tickets for him & his family at Rupp to be treated as VIPs!!
Calipari added that the photo made him think of his grandfather.
“I’ve thought a lot today about my grandfather, who worked underground in the mine. I’ve also had the privilege to go underground with miners in KY, and a comment stuck out to me: “We go down together, and we come up together,” he wrote, adding, “They work for each other. The ultimate teammates!!”
Soon enough, the man’s wife, Millie, responded to Calipari’s tweet identifying the man as her husband, Michael Joe McGuire.
It has been confirmed by Kentucky Sports Radio that Calipari has hooked up with the McGuire family, and they will soon be headed to Lexington for the full VIP experience.
The Wildcats’ season begins in two weeks with home games against Howard and Duquesne.
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