Viral photo of coal miner and son at Kentucky game shows power sport has to unite | Opinion
One photo will not erase the anger and hopelessness so many of us feel. It won’t bridge the divides that, especially now, can seem insurmountable.
But it can remind us that pure goodness remains. And that, if we wish, we can find common ground in sports.
“It hit me right between the eyes when I saw it,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said.
“It” is the now-viral photo and story of Micheal McGuire, a coal miner who wanted so badly to be with his 3-year-old son when the boy saw Kentucky play for the first time that he showed up at last weekend’s Blue-White scrimmage still in his miner’s uniform -- his arms and face coated in the same coal dust that had colored his red beard black.
The joy in the faces of both father and son was recognizable to any sports fan. For so many of us, our fandom and allegiances to specific teams and players are rooted in family, passed down from parents and grandparents and shared with friends.
Watching a game, talking about a team or player, obsessing over stats and seasons – these aren’t just things to do to pass the time. They create memories that will carry us through good times and bad, and give us a common language when we can find nothing else to say.
They’re a way for us to connect.
“We know the power of basketball in our state,” Calipari said Tuesday. “That’s what this was about. (McGuire) wanted to be there so bad that he was willing to leave without showering, without changing, just get in his car and go because he got out of the mine late. It wasn't about that. It was that he wanted to be there with his son. That's why he did it.”
The photo, sweet as it is, might not have gotten notice beyond the Kentucky fanbase had Mark Hill, the Wildcats’ strength and conditioning coach, not spotted it and sent it to Calipari.
For Calipari, seeing McGuire and his son was a callback to his own family. Now a Hall of Fame coach who is a millionaire several times over, Calipari’s grandfather, an immigrant from Italy, was a miner just as McGuire is, but in West Virginia.
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Calipari’s grandfather has long since passed. But the Kentucky coach recognized that McGuire is linked to his grandfather because of the sacrifices both men made for their families, and decided to honor that through the bond he and McGuire now share.
Sports. Kentucky basketball, in particular.
Calipari posted the photo of McGuire and his son to Twitter on Monday, asking for help identifying them because he wanted to give them a VIP trip to Rupp Arena for a game. Within hours, he was on the phone with McGuire’s wife, Mollie.
He’d tried to call Micheal McGuire, too, but couldn’t get through because McGuire was back at work, hundreds of feet below the earth.
The story took off from there, with the McGuires being featured in national newspapers and on CNN and the TODAY Show. Companies also have offered the family everything from meals to hotel stays to cars, Calipari said.
“Isn't it neat for someone like that, who is a quiet, humble guy, to know people appreciate you, and we appreciate what you stand for,” Calipari said.
It’s more than that, though. McGuire’s story strikes such a chord because anyone who counts themselves as a sports fan, and that’s most Americans, recognizes and can identify with those bonds forged through basketball, first between McGuire and his son and now between McGuire and Calipari.
There will come a time, probably in a decade or so, when McGuire and his son won’t see eye-to-eye on anything. But that photo will remind them that there will always be something they can share.
A week ago, the humble miner from eastern Kentucky and the basketball coach whose success has afforded him opportunities all over the world would have seemed to have nothing in common. Now they do.
Sports has that same power for all of us. Even when there is nothing else.