April 1, 1996: An Umpire Dies On the Field

April 1, 1996, 30 years ago: Umpire John McSherry dies of a heart attack while officiating at the Opening Day game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Montreal Expos, at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. He was 51 years old, and listed at 325 pounds. The game was called and postponed.

McSherry had just begun his 26th season as a National League umpire (the 2 Leagues have had a combined umpiring crew since 2000), and was one of the most respected "men in blue." He officiated in 12 postseasons, including the 1977 and 1987 World Series, plus 3 All-Star Games.

Opening Day is a big deal in Cincinnati, perhaps more so that in any other Major League Baseball city. Because it was home to the 1st openly professional baseball team, the 1869-70 Cincinnati Red Stockings -- the current Reds team dates to 1882 -- it was traditional for them to start the day before the rest of the National League teams, and have a parade before the game.

Reds owner Marge Schott was a Cincinnati native, and loved the Opening Day tradition. She expressed concern that the children in the stands saw a man die, which was a reasonable concern. But she made it sound like the tradition was more important than a man's life, saying, "Snow this morning, and now this. I don't believe it. I feel cheated. This isn't supposed to happen to us, not in Cincinnati. This is our history, our tradition, our team. Nobody feels worse than me."

Eventually, the controversies, including several incidents of bigotry, piled up, and the other MLB team owners forced her to sell the team in 1999. She died in 2004.

The game was restarted the next day, with the statistics already tallied thrown out. The Reds won, 4-1.

McSherry was buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, Westchester County, New York – the same cemetery as Babe Ruth.

*

In addition, the Final of the NCAA Tournament was held that day, at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, at what was then known as the Continental Airlines Arena. Kentucky beat Syracuse, 76-67.

This is the only time the NCAA Final Four has ever been held in New Jersey, and the only time it's been held in the New York Tri-State Area since 1950. And it's the last time the Final Four has been held in a venue with fewer than 40,000 seats.

March 19, 1966: Texas Western vs. Kentucky

March 19, 1966, 60 years ago: The NCAA hosts the Final of its University Division Men's Basketball Tournament, at Cole Field House, on the campus of the University of Maryland, in College Park, outside Washington, D.C.

The University of Kentucky went into the game 27-1, having lost only to the University of Tennessee. Their players included Louie Dampier, who would team with later Kentucky star Dan Issel to lead the Kentucky Colonels to the 1975 ABA Championship; and Pat Riley, who would play for the Los Angeles Lakers' 1972 NBA Champions, and then coach the Lakers to 4 titles and the Miami Heat to 1.

The Wildcats were coached by Adolph Rupp, known as the Baron of the Bluegrass. He was 64 years old, looked older, and had been their head coach since 1930. He had already coached them to 22 Southeastern Conference (SEC) regular-season Championships, 13 SEC Tournament wins, 6 berths in what would now be known as the Final Four, and 4 National Championships: 1948, 1949, 1951 and 1958. That did not include the 1954 season, when they were undefeated, but chose not to play in the NCAA Tournament, because 2 players were declared ineligible for having already graduated -- a rule since overturned.

Rupp was from Kansas, and was not known to be personally racist. However, Kentucky was a Southern State, and, while the Wildcats' arch-rivals, the University of Louisville, had racially integrated, UK had not.

But the writing was on the wall. The Civil Rights Movement had made great gains. And a black man from Louisville, Muhammad Ali -- born Cassius Clay, and that Sports Illustrated cover shown above still listed him as such, 2 years after he changed his name -- was the Heavyweight Champion of the World.

Rupp had asked University President John W. Oswald to take the program out of the SEC, so that he could recruit black players. At one point during the 1965-66 season, Rupp did some writing of his own. He wrote the top 3 teams in the Associated Press poll on his blackboard at practice:

1. KENTUCKY

2. DUKE

3. VANDERBILT

Duke University is in Durham, North Carolina. Vanderbilt University is in Nashville, Tennessee. Rupp told his players, "Look at that. The top three teams in the country. All Southern. All white. You'll never see that again." He knew that Southern teams that integrated would be able to compete for national honors, and those that were slow to do so would get left in the dust. Not just in basketball, but in football, and in every other sport.

Previous Rupp teams had had nicknames: His 1948 National Champions were the "Fabulous Five." His 1958 team didn't look so good at first, and he complained to the press that they were "just fiddling around." So they were known as the "Fiddlin' Five," but won the title, anyway. His 1966 team was short, and were known as "Rupp's Runts."

At the time, the NCAA Tournament had 24 teams, with only conference champions and a few independents invited. Kentucky were SEC Champions, and got a bye into the round of 16, the Regional Semifinals, where they beat the University of Dayton. They beat Michigan to make the Final Four at Cole Field House. In the National Semifinal, they beat Number 2 Duke 83-79. They figured that was "the real final," because they underestimated their Final opponents.

That team was Texas Western University, based in El Paso, Texas, on the State Line with New Mexico and the national border with Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Their head coach was Don Haskins, only 36, and despite Texas being a segregated State, he fielded an integrated team. They finished the regular season ranked Number 3, and also entered the Final at 27-1. Their only loss was 74-72 against Seattle University, then famous as the Alma Mater of Laker superstar Elgin Baylor, who led them to the NCAA Final in 1958, but downgraded to the NAIA in 1980, before being restored to NCAA Division I in 2008.

The Miners entered the NCAA Tournament with an all-black starting lineup: Guards Bobby Joe Hill from Detroit and Orsten Artis from Gary, Indiana, outside Chicago; forwards Dave Lattin from Houston and Harry Flournoy from Gary; and center Willie Cager from New York. Willie Worsley and Nevil Shed were also black players from New York.

In the 1st Round of the tournament, Texas Western beat Oklahoma City University. They needed overtime to beat the University of Cincinnati. They needed double overtime against the University of Kansas to make the Final Four. And they beat the University of Utah in the Semifinal.

The Final began at 10:00 PM Eastern Time, and was not broadcast on national television. While Loyola University of Chicago had won the 1963 NCAA Final with a majority-black starting lineup, four out of five, Texas Western was the first team that had dared to start an all-black starting lineup. Kentucky, of course, was all-white.

Cole Field House. It would host the Final Four again in 1970.

Haskins told Lattin to dunk the ball early if he got the chance, to "send a message" to Kentucky. He did, twice. Hill made steals on back-to-back Wildcat plays, putting the Miners up 16-11. They led at halftime, 34-31.

Curry Kirkpatrick covered the game for Sports Illustrated, and said it was "slow, tedious, almost flat." Disagreeing was Gary Williams, then a junior at the host school, the University of Maryland. He was impressed by the Miners' ball movement, recalling, "There were possessions where Texas Western passed it 10 times before taking a shot." He would be Maryland's captain the next season, and coach them to the National Championship in 2002.

Kentucky continually fouled Texas Western, with 2 players fouling out and 2 relegated to the bench after receiving 4 fouls each. Over a stretch of 37 minutes, the Miners went 26-for-27 on free throws. This made the difference: Had they made 2/3rds of their free throws, they would have lost. Instead, they made 96 percent of them. Final score, Texas Western 72, Kentucky 65.

Point totals: For Texas Western: Hill 20, Lattin 16, Artis 15, Worsley 8, Cager 8, Shed 3, Flournoy 2; for Kentucky: Dampier 19, Riley 19, Larry Conley 10, Thad Jaracz 7, Tom Kron 6, Cliff Berger 4; and Bob Tallent, Jim LeMaster and Gary Gamble played without scoring.

On March 13, 1967, just short of 1 full year later, Texas Western University changed its name to the University of Texas at El-Paso, a.k.a. "Texas-El Paso" or "UTEP," though keeping the team name of Miners.

The Miners were less successful in the pro game than the Wildcats. Bobby Joe Hill, Orsten Artis, Harry Flournoy and Willie Worsley went undrafted. Cager was drafted by the Baltimore Bullets, but a heart condition prevented him from playing. Nevil Shed was drafted by the Boston Celtics, but was injured in his 1st training camp, and never played a professional game.

Dave Lattin played the 1967-68 season with the San Francisco Warriors, 1968-69 as an original member of the Phoenix Suns, 1970-71 and 1971-72 with the ABA's Pittsburgh Condors, and 1972-73 with the ABA's Memphis Tams.

Indeed, despite the team's great achievement, the man who turned out to be the most famous athlete at the school at the time was Bob Beamon, who set a stunning world record in the long jump at the 1968 Olympics.

Rupp finally recruited a black player for the 1970-71 season, Tom Payne. But he became a disciplinary issue. He played 1 season in the NBA, 1971-72, for the Atlanta Hawks. Three times, he would be convicted and imprisoned for rape.

Rupp retired in 1972, having won 876 games, more than any college basketball coach before him. He died in 1977, a few months before his former assistant and successor, Joe B. Hall, took Kentucky to its 1st National Championship in 20 years.

Both head coaches now have their names on their respective schools' buildings: Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center opened in downtown Lexington, Kentucky in 1976; and the Special Events Center opened on the UTEP campus in 1977, renamed the Don Haskins Center in 1998.

Haskins never got past the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen again, but remained at UTEP through the 1999 season. He won 7 regular season titles and 4 Tournaments in the Western Athletic Conference. His career record was 719-353. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2006, on the 40th Anniversary of the title, the entire team was elected to the Hall as a unit.

Among the other players Haskins coached at TWU/UTEP were Nolan Richardson, who coached the University of Arkansas to the 1994 National Championship; and Nate "Tiny" Archibald and Tim Hardaway Sr., who have joined Haskins, Richardson and the entire 1965-66 TWU Miners team in the Hall of Fame.

Hill died in 2002, Haskins in 2008, Flournoy in 2016. Artis in 2017, and Cager, despite his heart condition, lived until March 19, 2023, the 57th Anniversary of the epochal game. The rest are still alive.

TWU/UTEP were the only team from Texas to win the NCAA Tournament until Baylor University did it in 2021.

September 16, 1950: The Cleveland Browns Announce Their Presence

Marion Motley carrying the ball -- painted white,

to be more visible in a night game. This did not catch on.

September 16, 1950, 75 years ago: The National Football League features a season-opening game between their defending Champions and those of a newly-defunct rival league.

The game was played at the 105,000-seat Municipal Stadium in South Philadelphia. Usually playing their home games at Shibe Park in North Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Eagles had played home games at Municipal Stadium from 1936 to 1939, and select games thereafter.

Municipal Stadium, by this point named John F. Kennedy Stadium.

Just to the north was The Spectrum; to the north of that, Veterans Stadium.

This game was, as soccer fans would call it, a "Charity Shield" or "Super Cup" game: The 2-time defending NFL Champion Eagles vs. the Cleveland Browns, 4-time titlists in the All-America Football Conference. The Browns were 47-4-3 over the AAFC's 4-season history; the Eagles, 22-3-1 over the last 2 years, thanks to a 5-2 alignment that was the 1st defensive unit to have a memorable nickname: Before San Diego, Detroit and Los Angeles had lines that became known as the Fearsome Foursome, Philly had the Suicide Seven.

Some people then called it "The Game of the Century," and some now think of as an unofficial "first Super Bowl." Such a name is ironic, since it took the Eagles until 2018 to win an NFL Championship in the Super Bowl era, and, through the 2024 season, the Browns haven't even been to a Super Bowl yet.

Playing on a Saturday night -- making it, sort of, not just "the 1st Super Bowl" but "the 1st Monday Night Football game" -- in front of 71,237 fans, still the largest crowd ever to watch a professional football game in Pennsylvania (and nearly double the capacity of Shibe Park, which really limited the Eagles' attendance), the Browns put on a show.

Paul Brown, having mastered his craft at every level below the NFL -- at Massillon High School outside Cleveland, at Ohio State University where he won the 1942 National Championship, and with the Browns in the AAFC -- was the greatest offensive mind the game of football had yet seen. With Otto Graham as his quarterback, passing to Dante Lavelli, Mac Speedie and Dub Jones, and with the acceptance of black players like fullback Marion Motley and guard Bill Willis, he had won those 4 AAFC titles.

Paul Brown

(The Browns were named for Paul Brown. The story that Brown, or the original owner, Arthur B. McBride, wanted to name the team the Cleveland Brown Bombers in honor of Joe Louis, then the Heavyweight Champion of the World, is a myth. McBride had run a fan contest to determine the name, and the winner was "Cleveland Panthers," who played from 1919 to 1933, including in the 1st American Football League in 1926, but Paul Brown called them a failed team that he wanted no part of. So, over Brown's objection, McBride named them the Browns.)

And that Saturday night in South Philly, Brown let his team put on a show. The Eagles took an early lead on a field goal by Cliff Patton. But Graham threw freely, and the Browns scored the next 4 touchdowns: A 59-yard pass from Graham to Jones, a 26-yard pass from Graham to Lavelli, a 13-yard pass from Graham to Speedie (that was his real name: He was born Mac Curtis Speedie), and a 1-yard run by Graham.

It was 7-3 Browns at the end of the 1st quarter, 14-3 Browns at the half, 21-3 Browns after 3 quarters, and 28-3 Browns before Bill Mackrides threw a touchdown pass to Pete Pihos to get the Eagles into double figures. Late in the game, Rex Bumgardner ran for a touchdown, making the final score Browns 35, Eagles 10. To borrow a line from Bull Durham, a movie from another sport, the Browns had announced their presence with authority.

The Eagles actually had more 1st downs, 24-23; more rushing yards, 148-141; and fewer penalties, 3 for 45 yards to the Browns' 12 for 98 yards. And there were plenty of turnovers on both sides: 5 for Philadelphia, 4 for Cleveland.

But Graham completed 21 of 38 passes for 346 yards, a display that NFL fans, even with Sid Luckman of the Chicago Bears and Sammy Baugh of the Washington Redskins still active, simply weren't used to. It forced the Eagles into the air: Between them, Mackrides and Tommy Thompson attempted 32 passes, but only completed 11.

Until 1951, the Browns wore white helmets,

and Otto Graham wore Number 60. After that,

he switched to 14, and the Browns have worn

orange helmets ever since.

The performance stunned football fans all over the nation. Eagle coach Earle "Greasy" Neale was contemptuous of the aerial assault, calling the Browns "a basketball team." When the teams met again on December 3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Brown told Graham not to throw a single pass, just to make a point, and he didn't. And the Browns didn't score a single offensive touchdown. They didn't need to: Warren Lahr intercepted a Thompson pass, and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown, while Lou Groza added 2 field goals, and the Browns won, 13-7. Brown had a great defense, too.

The Eagles never recovered, going 6-6, and didn't reach the NFL Championship Game again for 10 years. The Browns won the NFL title that year, and appeared in 7 title games in 8 years, winning 3: 1950, 1954 and 1955. Brown and 8 of his 1950 Browns would be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Graham, Motley, Groza, Lavelli, Speedie, Willis, end Len Ford and center Frank Gatski.

Paul Brown would be fired by new team owner Art Modell after the 1962 season. Cleveland fans treated this as the 1st time Modell aggrieved them, and it would be far from the last, or the worst. In 1968, Brown founded a team in the American Football League, the Cincinnati Bengals. He tried to remake the team in the old Browns' image, using the same colors and the same offense. They even had the same initials, although there had been a previous team with the Cincinnati Bengals name, which played in the 2nd (1936-37) and 3rd (1940-41) leagues with the AFL name.

Don McCafferty (1970 NFL Champion Colts) coached under him at Ohio State. Among his coaches with the Browns were Weeb Ewbank (1958 and '59 NFL Champion Baltimore Colts, 1968 World Champion New York Jets), Blanton Collier (his replacement as Brown coach, 1964 NFL Champions), Lou Saban (1964 and '65 AFL Champion Buffalo Bills) and Don Shula (1968 NFL Champion Colts, 1972 and '73 NFL Champion Miami Dolphins). Among his coaches with the Bengals were Bill Walsh and Sam Wyche (who, among their other achievements, opposed each other in Super Bowl XXIII in 1989).

Take it to the next level, and his "3rd generation" coaches include Red Miller (1977 AFC Champion Denver Broncos), Howard Schenllenberger (1983 NCAA Champion Miami), Dick MacPherson (undefeated season with Syracuse in 1987), George Seifert (1990 and '94 NFL Champion San Francisco 49ers), Paul Holmgren (1996 NFL Champion Green Bay Packers, 2005 AFC Champion Seattle Seahawks), Marty Schottenheimer (4 AFC Championship Games, although he lost them all), Tony Dungy (2006 NFL Champion Indianapolis Colts), Doug Pederson (2017 NFL Champion Philadelphia Eagles) and Andy Reid (2019, '22 and '23 NFL Champion Kansas City Chiefs).

Through Schottenheimer, his "coaching tree" also includes Bill Cowher (2005 NFL Champion Pittsburgh Steelers), Lovie Smith (2006 NFC Champion Chicago Bears), Mike Tomlin and Ken Whisehunt (who, among their other achievements, opposed each other in Super Bowl XLIII in 2009), Mike McCarthy (2010 NFL Champion Packers), Gary Kubiak (2015 NFL Champion Broncos) and Bruce Arians (2020 NFL Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers). So Brown's NFL legacy spans that much: 1950 to 2023, including 24 of the 1st 59 Super Bowls, and 27 of the last 75 NFL Championships.

The Browns won the 1964 NFL Championship under Collier, reached the NFL Championship Game in 1968 and '69, and reached the AFC Championship Game in 1986, '87 and '89. After the 1995 season, Modell moved them, and they became the Baltimore Ravens. Cleveland was granted a replacement team, and the new Browns began in 1999. They have mostly struggled since. As have the Bengals, although they have won AFC Championships in 1981, 1988 and 2021.

Paul Brown died in 1991. When the Bengals moved into a new stadium for the 2000 season, it was named Paul Brown Stadium. It held that name until Paul's son, Mike Brown, often ridiculed as one of the NFL's cheapest owners (hence, their struggles), finally took his father's name off the stadium and sold the naming rights: In 2022, it became Paycor Stadium.

Speaking of stadiums: The Eagles moved to the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field in 1958, then returned to the South Philadelphia sports complex in Veterans Stadium in 1971, replacing that with Lincoln Financial Field in 2003. They won the NFL Championship in 1960, the NFC Championship in 1980 and 2004, and finally won a Super Bowl in the 2017 season.

In 1964, Philadelphia Municipal Stadium was renamed John F. Kennedy Stadium. On August 16, 1966, the Beatles played there. On July 13, 1985, it hosted the American end of Live Aid. But that show exposed to the world that it already falling apart. The Rolling Stones, who had packed the place on their 1981 Tattoo You tour, chose the considerably smaller Vet for Steel Wheels in 1989. It was demolished in 1992, and the new arena opened on the site in 1996.

March 31, 1975: The End of the John Wooden UCLA Dynasty

March 31, 1975. 50 years ago: The Final of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament is held at the San Diego Sports Arena. (It's now named the Pechanga Arena.)

The NCAA Tournament had varied from between 22 and 25 teams since 1953. For the 1974-75 season, due to the frustrations of teams unable to win the Conference Tournaments, and thus qualify for the NCAA Tournament, despite previously having exceptional seasons, the NCAA expanded the Tournament to 32 teams, and allowed teams that failed to win their conference in.

In the Mideast Regional Final, at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio, on March 22, Indiana, then undefeated at 31-0 and ranked Number 1 in the country, faced Number 5 Kentucky, who were 24-3, with 1 of their losses coming to Indiana in Bloomington. This time, Joe B. Hall's Wildcats beat Bobby Knight's Hoosiers, 92-90, and secure Kentucky's 1st berth in what would later be called "the Final Four" since losing the 1966 Final. This would be the only game that Indiana would lose between March 11, 1974 and December 1, 1976, a stretch over which they went 66-1.

The University of California at Los Angeles had won 7 straight titles, and 9 out of 10, under coach John Wooden, before losing in the 1974 Semifinal to North Carolina State. In 1974-75, the Bruins finished the regular season 23-3, losing only away to Stanford by 4 points, away to Notre Dame (again) by 6, and, in their only bad game of the season, away to Washington by 22.

At the time, the league then known as the Pacific-Eight Conference had no Conference Tournament, but UCLA easily won the regular-season title. The Bruins struggled in the NCAA Tournament: They needed overtime to beat Michigan, beat the University of Montana by only 3 points, beat Arizona State to get to the Final Four, and needed overtime to beat the University of Louisville, coached by Wooden's former assistant, Denny Crum.

After that Semifinal win over Louisville, Wooden announced his retirement: Win or lose, the Final against Kentucky would be his last game.

The game was tight. So were the Bruins, as if they were trying too hard to send Wooden out a winner. The lead changed hands several times in the 1st half, which ended with UCLA ahead, 43-40. Kentucky stayed close, and were within 76-75 with less than 7 minutes left.

Dave Meyers -- brother of UCLA women's star Ann Meyers -- was called for an offensive foul on a shot attempt during which he bumped into Grevey. Meyers yelled at referee Hank Nichols for this, and was assessed a technical foul. This led the normally mild-mannered Wooden to run onto the court, and call Nichols a "crook."

Maybe this shook the Wildcats up, because Kevin Grevey, their best player, missed all 3 free throws. Kentucky never recovered, and UCLA won, 92-85. Wooden and UCLA had their 10th National Championship, all within the last 12 years.

As with so many other great college coaches, Wooden cast a shadow that his successors found it difficult to get out of. The following year, Gene Bartow got UCLA back to the Final Four, but lost to Indiana, with Knight leading them to what remains the last undefeated season for an NCAA Division I men's basketball team.

In 1978, Hall led Kentucky to their 1st National Championship in 20 years, while Grevey helped the Washington Bullets win the NBA Championship. Under Larry Brown, UCLA got back to the Final in 1980, losing to Louisville and Wooden's former assistant Crum, who would win the National Championship again in 1986.

UCLA has won 1 National Championship without Wooden, in 1995, under Jim Harrick Sr. In 2006, Ben Howland took them to the Final, where they lost to Florida.

Of Wooden's '75 Bruins: Marques Johnson starred with the Milwaukee Bucks, becoming a 5-time NBA All-Star; Dave Meyers was his teammate on the Bucks; Andre McCarter played a season each with the Kansas City Kings and the Bullets; Ralph Drollinger played 1 season, the expansion season of the Dallas Mavericks, 1980-81; Brett Vroman, that same season, played 11 games with his home-State Utah Jazz, the extent of his NBA career, though he also played in Europe, mostly in Italy; Richard Washington, named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, played 6 seasons in the NBA, including 1 as a teammate of Johnson and Meyers, and another as a teammate of Drollinger; and Wilbert Olinde never played in the NBA, but starred in Germany's basketball league.

And then there was Gavin Smith. He transferred to the University of Hawaii, where he set the school's single-season scoring record, which still stands. He became a stuntman, an actor, and a film studio executive. In 2012, he disappeared after leaving a friend's house in the Los Angeles suburbs. Two years later, his remains were found, and a man was convicted of his murder.

John Wooden had been a star player at Purdue University in the early 1930s, before coaching at Indiana State (later the Alma Mater of Larry Bird) from 1946 to 1948, and then at UCLA until 1975. His career record was 664-162 -- including 335-22 from 1963 to 1975, for a percentage of .938.

He won National Championships in 1964, with Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich; 1965, with Goodrich; 1967 and 1968, with Lew Alcindor, who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; 1969, with Kareem and Sidney Wicks; 1970 and 1971, with Wicks; 1972 and 1973, with Bill Walton and Keith Wilkes, who later changed his name to Jamaal Wilkes; and 1975, with Marques Johnson.

It's worth noting that Wooden titled his autobiography They Call Me Coach. Even long after his retirement, his former players, even those who had gone into coaching themselves, still called him "Coach" rather than "John." It's also worth noting that Kareem only let 2 people continue to call him "Lewis": His father, Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Sr.; and Wooden.

It's also worth noting that Wooden was just 64 when he retired, though he looked older. To put this in perspective: Dean Smith and Gary Williams each coached their last college game at 66, Bobby Knight and Jud Heathcote 67, Don Haskins 69, Roy Williams 70, Lute Olson 72, Denny Crum 74, Mike Krzyzewski and Larry Brown 75, Jim Calhoun 79, Rollie Massimino 83. As of March 31, 2022, Jim Boeheim and Tom Izzo are still coaching at 67, Rick Pitino at 69.

He was the 1st person elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach, the former in 1960 and the latter while still coaching in 1973. His success led to UCLA building the Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion in 1965. In 2003, the school named the playing surface the Nell and John Wooden Court. John insisted that, if he were going to be so honored, his late wife's name should go first. That same year, President George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He died in 2010, 4 months short of his 100th birthday.

How to Attend the Kentucky-Louisville Basketball Rivalry

Downtown Louisville, Kentucky

Next Friday night, the basketball teams of the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville will renew one of the biggest rivalries in college hoops, playing at UK's home court, Rupp Arena in Lexington.

This will also allow me to get a Trip Guide done for a 49th State, leaving just 1 to go. Unfortunately, the schedule dictates that I won't get to do the 50th and final State, in this case Nevada, until March 7, 2018, as the New Jersey Devils don't make their 1st trip to the expansion Vegas Golden Knights until March 14.

Before You Go. Kentucky can get really hot in the Summer, but this will be the Winter. Both the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Louisville-based Courier-Journal are predicting this for next weekend: Low 30s by day, high teens by night. Bundle up.

Although the Western part of the State is in the Central Time Zone, most of Kentucky, including Lexington and Louisville, are is in the Eastern Time Zone, so you won't have to set your clocks back. And, while Kentucky is, despite its appearance on a map to be Midwestern, historically a Southern State, it never seceded from the Union. Regardless, you won't need a passport, and you won't have to change your money.

Tickets. Good luck. Rupp Arena seats 23,500 people. The Yum Center seats a little less, 22,090. Those are big arenas, but this game would sell out at either one. You may have to go to StubHub or a similar site.

Ordinarily, Kentucky basketball tickets go for $75 and up, when available. Louisville basketball tickets are a lot cheaper. Only the upper deck usually stays on sale, $65 between the baskets and $25 behind them.

Getting There. It's 706 miles from Times Square in New York to downtown Lexington, and 740 to downtown Louisville. United Airlines does fly nonstop from Newark to both, and a round-trip fare to each city can be had for under $800.

Amtrak doesn't go to either Louisville or Lexington. Greyhound does. Round-trip fare to Louisville is $556, and to Lexington it's $414. These fares can drop to, respectively, $331 and $327 with advanced purchase. The Louisville station is downtown, at 720 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd. The Lexington station is at 477 NW New Circle Road, about 3 miles northeast of downtown. Take Bus 6 to get there.

If you decide to drive, it's far enough that it will help to get someone to go with you and split the duties, and to trade off driving and sleeping. Take Interstate 78 West across New Jersey to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. There, switch to Interstate 81 South to Williamsport, Maryland. There, switch to Interstate 68 West into West Virginia, to Morgantown. There, switch to Interstate 79 South, to the State capital, Charleston. There, switch to Interstate 64 West, which will take you into Kentucky, and to both Lexington and Louisville.

If you do it right, you should spend an hour and 15 minutes in New Jersey, 2 hours and 45 minutes in Pennsylvania, an hour and a half in Maryland, 4 hours in West Virginia, and, if your destination is Lexington, 2 hours in Kentucky, for a total of 11 and a half hours. Counting rest stops, it's more like 15 hours. If you're going on to Louisville, it'll be more like 3 hours and 15 minutes in Kentucky, for a total of 12 hours and 45 minutes, making it more like 17 hours with rest stops.

Once In the City. Like Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia, Kentucky officially calls itself a "Commonwealth" rather than a "State," thinking it more independent-sounding. Legally, though, there is no difference. The State is named for the Kentucky River, which itself appears to trace its name to an Iroquois word meaning "on the meadow."

Kentucky Turnpike logo.

Note that it has a Cardinal, not a Wildcat.

Kentucky was given permission from Virginia to separate on December 18, 1789, and was admitted to the Union as the 15th State on June 1, 1792. As a slave State and a border State, it never seceded from the Union during the American Civil War, but representatives from 68 of the Commonwealth's 110 Counties met at Russellville and passed an Ordinance of Secession on November 20, 1861, setting up a counter-capital at Bowling Green.

The Confederate federal government thus considered Kentucky one of its States, but, officially, it never left the Union. Oddly, the Presidents of both countries were born in Kentucky: Abraham Lincoln in Hodgenville, outside Elizabethtown; and Jefferson Davis in Fairview, in the western part of the State. But neither man lived there as an adult: Lincoln was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives by Illinois, Davis to the U.S. Senate by Mississippi.

Kentucky is famously known for its grass, often called "Kentucky bluegrass," even though it's all green. It's "the Bluegrass State," and the bluegrass form of country music, made up entirely of stringed instruments, traces its origin to the State. It has been said to have been invented by Rosine, Kentucky native Bill Monroe, and even if he isn't the inventor, he and his brother Charlie Monroe popularized term, because their band was known as the Blue Grass Boys.

At any rate, the University of Kentucky used blue as its color before either bluegrass or the blues were invented, but it's convenient. Most likely, the University of Louisville chose cardinal red as a contrast.

Bill Monroe is also known for having written "Blue Moon of Kentucky," which was one side of the 1st record made by Elvis Presley, in Memphis in 1954, on the other side of the blue song "That's All Right." Steve Martin and John Candy famously sang it in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," even though they were in Illinois at the time. (Although Michael McKean's uniform and car are clearly those of the Wisconsin State Police, which is because the scene was filmed in Wisconsin.)

Louisville -- and that's pronounced LOO-uh-vull, maybe LOO-ee-vill, but never LOO-iss-vill -- is home to 760,000 people, which is more than half of the cities that currently have a Major League Baseball team. But its metro area of just 1.5 million would make it last in MLB and MLS, but larger than New Orleans in the NFL; New Orleans, Oklahoma City and Memphis in the NBA; and Calgary, Ottawa, Edmonton and Winnipeg in the NHL.

Louisville was founded in 1778 by General George Rogers Clark, older brother of William Clark of Lewis & Clark fame. Louisville Gas & Electric (LG&E) runs the electricity. The city is about 72 percent white, 23 percent black, 3 percent Hispanic and 2 percent Asian.

Lexington, originally named McConnell Springs but renamed when the residents heard about the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, and incorporated as a city in 1783, has about 320,000 people, about 76 percent white, 14 percent black, 7 percent Hispanic and 3 percent Asian. Overall, Kentucky has about 4.4 million residents.

Louisville was struck by anti-German riots in 1855. Eastern Kentucky, along the Big Sandy River which formed a State Line with West Virginia, was the site of the Hatfield-McCoy Feud, which lasted from 1863 to 1891. (The Hatfields were on the West Virginia side, the McCoys on the Kentucky side.)

There was a riot in Louisville in 1968 -- not on April 4, when Martin Luther King was assassinated, but on May 27, when a rumor spread that civil rights activist Stokley Carmichael, who was supposed to speak there, was held up by police before he could get there. In fact, Carmichael had never even been contacted about making an appearance in Louisville.

(UPDATE: On March 13, 2020, just as America was going into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 3 white plainclothes officers of the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) forced their way into the home of Breonna Taylor. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, claimed he hadn't heard them announce themselves as police, thought they were intruders, and fired his gun at them, wounding one. In return, they fired 32 shots. Walker wasn't hit, but Ms. Taylor was, 6 times, and died. One of the officers was fired, but all criminal charges against the 3 officers were dropped. The City of Louisville awarded Ms. Taylor's family $12 million in restitution.)

ZIP Codes for Kentucky begin with the digits 40 and 41, including 402 for Louisville and 405 for Lexington. The Area Code for all of Kentucky used to be 502. It still is for Louisville. But when a new one was needed, and Lexington was to be included, it was made 859 -- or UKY for the University on the keypad. The sales tax is 6 percent. The capital is Frankfort, 54 miles east of Louisville, and 25 miles northwest of Lexington.

The State House in Frankfort

In Lexington, Limestone Street is the street address divider between East and West, and Main Street between North and South. In Louisville, Main Street is the North-South divider, and 1st Street the East-West. Lexington has no beltway, but Louisville has one, Interstate 465.

The Transit Authority of River City (TARC) runs Louisville's buses. A single ride is $1.75. Lextran runs the buses in Lexington, and it's even cheaper: $1.00.

I was very surprised to find out that the University of Louisville is by far the older school, founded in 1798, while the University of Kentucky wasn't founded until 1865, shockingly late, considering that Kentucky was 1 of the 1st 15 States in the Union.

Notable non-sports graduates of UK include 14 Governors of Kentucky, and 2 of other States: J.C.W. Beckham (Class of) 1889, William J. Fields 1896, James Scrugham 1900 of Nevada, Earle Clements 1917, Keen Johnson '22, Albert "Happy" Chandler '24 (Commissioner of Baseball 1945-51), Bert Combs '37, Ned Breathitt '48, Julian Carroll '54, John Y. Brown Jr. '57, Martha Layne Collins and Paul Patton '59, Steve Beshear '66, Ted Strickland '66 of Ohio, Beverly Perdue '69 of North Carolina, and Ernie Fletcher '74.

They also include Sportscaster Tom Hammond '67, Outback Steakhouse founder Chris Sullivan '72, Cartoonist Don Rosa '73, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Michael York '74, and actress Ashley Judd, who got famous years before going back and completing her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2007.  Actor Harry Dean Stanton left the University before getting his degree to serve in World War II, went into acting, and, unlike Judd, never went back.

Alas, aside from Johnny Unitas, the most notable graduate of UL is Mitch McConnell '64, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate and poisoner of the American political process.

Going In. The official address of Rupp Arena is 430 W. Vine Street, in downtown Lexington, and about a mile north of the University of Kentucky campus. UK is the only Southeastern Conference school to play its home basketball games in an off-campus facility. If you drive in, parking is $10.

Adolph Rupp, a son of German immigrants, learned basketball in the early 1920s, from its inventor, Dr. James Naismith, and legendary coach Forrest "Phog" Allen, when theywas teaching and coaching at the University of Kansas. He went to Marshalltown, Iowa, was hired as the coach of the wrestling team, a sport he knew nothing about, read a book, and coached them to a State Championship.

He then coached basketball and taught history and economics at Freeport High School in northern Illinois -- and coached the school's 1st black player, William Mosely. It appears that Mosely's race was not an issue for Rupp, who was not a Southerner.

In 1930, he was hired to coach basketball at the University of Kentucky. "The Baron of the Bluegrass" left the post in 1972, for one reason and one reason only: He turned 70, the mandatory retirement age for University employees. He lived long enough to be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame (while still coaching) and to see the arena that bears his name opened.

Within 2 weeks of this cover, UK would lose the NCAA Final.

Even the Baron wasn't immune to The Dreaded SI Cover Jinx.

Despite hosting UK basketball, and being named for the school's leading athletic figure, it is owned not by the University, but by Fayette County. It opened in 1976, about a year before Rupp's death, with 23,500 seats, making it the largest basketball-specific building in the world. Only the Charlotte Coliseum would surpass it, and, as it has been demolished, Rupp Arena is, again, 1st in that regard. The court runs southwest-to-northeast.

It hosted the NCAA Final Four in 1985, during what turned out to be a down period in UK hoops history. (This is a bit like the Miami Dolphins being in the Super Bowl and hosting it a few times each, but never in the same season.) In addition to Wildcat basketball, it has hosted a pair of minor-league hockey teams, each with a name that ties into Kentucky's tradition of thoroughbred horse racing: The Kentucky Thoroughblades of the American Hockey League (1996-2001) and the Lexington Men O' War of the East Coast Hockey League, named for 1920 superhorse Man O' War (2002-03). It's also hosted concerts and professional "wrestling."

The official address of the KFC Yum! Center is 1 Arena Plaza, bounded by the downtown streets of River Road, 2nd Street, Main Street and 3rd Street, about 3 miles north of the University of Louisville campus. If you drive in, parking starts at $17 and goes up from there.

Yum! Brands, headquartered in Louisville, owns the State's greatest culinary icon, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and also Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and WingStreet. Previously, it owned Long John Silver's and A&W Restaurants.

It opened in 2010, not because Freedom Hall was too small or in bad shape (despite its age, it was neither), but because it didn't have the precious luxury boxes. There was opposition to the downtown site, as some people wanted the new arena at the Exposition Center site (which includes Freedom Hall), and others wanted it on campus. In the end, things were smoothed over, and the only member of the task force responsible for building the arena to vote against the downtown site was... John Schnatter, the bigoted, greedy founder of Papa John's Pizza.

The court is aligned north-to-south, and it is also Kentucky's leading concert center.

Food. As you might guess, concessions at the KFC Yum! Center are dominated by the Yum! Brands: KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. But since it's the University of Louisville, Papa John's has also slithered in. They also have roasted nuts, ice cream, and Skinny Skins potatoes.

The Rupp Arena website is less specific, but mentions, beyond the usual array of comestibles (hot dogs, pretzels, popcorn, soda, ice cream), pizza (Hunt Brothers, not Pizza Hut or Papa John's), bratwursts, grilled chicken sandwiches, pulled pork BBQ sandwiches, and not "hamburgers" or "cheeseburgers," but "Steakburgers."

Team History Displays. Much like the Yankees, the Montreal Canadiens, and, more to the point of basketball, the Boston Celtics and, more recently, Duke University, the University of Kentucky has so much history, and they don't mind telling you all about it, or even shoving it in your face. The word "insufferable" comes to mind.

They've won 50 regular-season Conference Championships since 1926 -- 47 since the founding of the Southeastern Conference in 1933. They've won 31 Conference Tournaments. They've reached the NCAA Final Four 17 times, most recently in 2015. And they've won the NCAA Championship 8 times, 2nd only to UCLA's 11. Various agencies have retroactively awarded pre-NCAA titles, so, by some reckonings, Kentucky may have 11.

The Final Four and National Championship banners.

They don't hang banners for the retroactive titles.

Adolph Rupp won 28 regular-season Conference titles, won 13 Conference Tournaments, reached 6 Final Fours, and won 4 (or 5, or 6, or 7) National Championships. He won them in 1948, 1949, 1951 and 1958. They were retroactively awarded National Championships in 1933 and 1934.

The 1948 and '49 teams were nicknamed the Fabulous Five, and several of their players led the U.S. team to the Gold Medal at the 1948 Olympics in London. Rupp wasn't too confident about his 1958 team, saying they were just "fiddlin' around," so when they made their successful run at the title, they became the Fiddlin' Five.

The NCAA came down on UK after the 1951 point-shaving scandal, found that they'd done other things, and had their 1952-53 season canceled. They then went 25-0 in 1953-54, but when their graduate students were prohibited from playing in the NCAA Tournament, Rupp "took his ball and went home," boycotting the tourney rather than use his remaining players. The Helms Foundation recognized them as National Champions, rather than NCAA Champion LaSalle or NIT winners Holy Cross.

But the most famous game Rupp coached was one that he lost. As the other Southern States were struggling with legally-enforced racial integration, including whether to put black students on their sports teams, Rupp knew the end was near.

At one point, he told his 1965-66 players -- including a not-quite-21-year-old Pat Riley -- that they were ranked Number 1 in the country, Duke was Number 2, and Vanderbilt was Number 3. He wrote this on a chalkboard, and said, "Look at that! One, two, three! All Southern! All white! And you'll never see that again!" He was right.

This team, generally short and thus nicknamed "Rupp's Runts," got to the Final, at the University of Maryland, but their all-white team was defeated by the all-black starting lineup of Texas Western University (soon to become the University of Texas at El Paso, or UTEP), on March 19, 1966. As much as the 1979 Final between Magic Johnson's Michigan State and Larry Bird's Indiana State, this was a watershed moment in college basketball -- and while Rupp made what we now call the Elite Eight 3 more times, he never made the Final Four again.

Rupp was succeeded by Joe B. Hall, who got them to the 1975 Final and won the 1978 National Championship. He was succeeded by Eddie Sutton, who got them to the Final Four in 1984 (part of his unique feat of getting 4 different schools to the Final Four), but another scandal almost got them another "death penalty" in 1989.

Enter Rick Pitino. Having gotten Providence College to a Final Four, he left the Knicks to take over at UK, got them to the Elite Eight in 1992 (losing an overtime thriller to Duke), got them to the Final Four in 1993, won the 1996 National Championship, and got them back to the Final in 1997 -- and then he abandoned perhaps college basketball's most storied team to run the NBA's, the Celtics.

His assistant, Orlando "Tubby" Smith, became the team's 1st black head coach, and he won the 1998 National Championship. John Calipari came aboard in 2009, and won the 2012 National Championship, also reaching the Final Four in 2011, 2014 and 2015. Along the way in 2012, they beat Louisville in the Semifinal, the biggest bragging rights in the State's sports history. (For comparison's sake, Duke and North Carolina have made the same Final Four only once, in 1991. North Carolina lost their Semifinal to Michigan, who then lost the Final to Duke.)

The Wildcats do not retire numbers. They do hang banners of jerseys, with the numbers, honoring 37 players in this manner:

* From the 1920s: Basil Hayden, Burgess Carey and Carey Spicer.

* From the 1930s: Forest Sale, John DeMoisey and Layton Rouse.

* From the 1948 National Champions, all of the Fabulous Five: 12, Ralph Beard; 15, Alex Groza; 22, Cliff Barker; 26, Kenny Rollins; and 27, Wallace "Wah-Wah" Jones. All but Rollins were also members of the 1949 National Champions.

* From the 1951 National Champions: 77, Frank Spivey.

* From the 1954 "National Champions": 6, Cliff Hagan; 16, Lou Tsioropoulos; 20, Gayle Rose; 30, Frank Ramsey; and 42, Bill Evans.

* From the mid-1950s: 22, Jerry Bird; 44, Phil Grawemeyer; and 50, Bob Burrow.

* From the 1958 National Champions, two of the Fiddlin' Five: 24, Johnny Cox; and 52, Vernon Hatton.

* From the 1960s: 10, Louie Dampier; 42, Pat Riley; 44, Cotton Nash; and another 44, Dan Issel.

* From the 1975 NCAA runners-up: 35, Kevin Grevey.

* From the 1978 National Champions: 4, Kyle Macy; 21, Jack "Goose" Givens; and 53, Rick Robey.

* From the 1984 Final Four team: 34, Kenny "Sky" Walker.

* From the 1992 Final Four team: 11, Sean Woods; 12, Deron Feldhaus; 24, Jamal Mashburn; 32, Richie Farmer; and 34, John Pelphrey.

* From the 1996 National Champions: 0 (number zero), Tony Delk. No more recent players have been honored.

Hagan, Ramsey, Dampier, Issel, and coaches Rupp, Pitino and Calipari have been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. So have "Fabulous Five" member C.M. Newton and "Rupp's Runts" member Pat Riley, but as coaches elsewhere. So has Adrian Smith, from the 1950s, not honored with a banner. So has Cawood Ledford, who received the Curt Gowdy Award, the Hall of Fame's award for broadcasters. The coaches and Ledford have been given banners. So has Bill Keightley, longtime equipment manager.

Louisville's history isn't nearly as storied. It's sort of like the Michigan State has with Michigan in football: They can hold their heads high with almost anybody, but there's those insufferable, arrogant blue bastards across the State that never shut up about their achievements!

The Cardinals have 15 regular-season Conference Championships, the 1st in 1967, and the last 3 since moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC); 19 Conference Tournament wins, starting in 1928; won the most recent of each in 2014; have been to 10 Final Fours, 1959, 1972, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1986, 2005, 2012 and 2013; and have won 3 National Championships,  in 1980, 1986 and 2013.

They have retired 4 numbers: 8, for forward Charlie Tyra, Class of 1957, who played 4 seasons for the Knicks; 31, for center Wes Unseld, Class of 1968, a Hall-of-Famer for the Washington Bullets; 35, for guard Darrell Griffith, star of their 1980 National Champions, a.k.a. "Doctor Dunkenstein," and a star with the Utah Jazz; and 42, for center Pervis Ellison, who led them to the 1986 National Championship just before turning 19, known as "Never Nervous Pervis," but whose injury-riddled pro career got him nicknamed "Out of Service Pervis."

Louisville honors 20 players with banners, in addition to those 4:

* From the 1940s: 13, center George Hauptfuhrer; 13, guard Kenny Reeves (not to be confused with the coach from The White Shadow); and 16, forward Jack Coleman.

* From the 1950s: Tyra; 9, guard Phil Rollins; 12, guard Jim Morgan; 16, forward Chuck Noble; 20, forward Bob Lochmueller; and 24, forward Don Goldstein.

* From the 1960s: Unseld; 13, center Bud Olsen; 14, guard Butch Beard; and 22, forward John Turner.

* From the 1972 Final Four team: 15, guard Jim Price.

* From the 1975 Final Four team: 10, guard Junior Bridgeman; and 20, guard Allen Murphy.

* From the 1980 National Champions: Griffith; 22, forward Rodney McCray; and 43, guard Derek Smith.

* From the 1982 and 1983 Final Four teams: McCray, Smith, and 4, guard Lancaster Gordon.

* From the 1986 National Champions: Ellison, and a pair of players from Camden, New Jersey, who would go on to play for the Los Angeles Lakers' 1987 and 1988 NBA Champions: 20, guard Milt Wagner; and 55, forward Billy Thompson.

* From the 1990s: 32, guard DeJuan Wheat.

Unseld is the only Louisville player in the Basketball Hall of Fame. The coaches of their National Champions are also in: Denny Crum, 1980 and 1986; and... Rick Pitino, once despised by Cardinal fans for having coached UK, but he revived their program as much as he revived the Wildcats', and took them to the 2013 title.

For a while, both teams were damn near impossible to root for, because both coaches, Pitino and Calipari, were raging egomaniacs, seemingly more concerned with their hair, their suits, and their own glory, rather than their teams', and not unwilling to treat the rules of ethics as things that didn't apply to them.

I used to think Washington Post columnist and ESPN Pardon the Interruption co-host Tony Kornheiser coined the phrase "preening schmo" to describe one of them, but I couldn't remember which. (Turned out, it was neither: It was Brian Billick, then the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens.)

This past June 15, the NCAA ended the Pitino-Calipari rivalry by charging Pitino with failure to monitor his program, as a result of a sex-for-pay scandal. The investigative process is not yet done: While St. Joseph's in 1961, both Villanova and Western Kentucky in 1971, UCLA in 1980 (when they lost to Louisville in the Final), Memphis in both 1985 and 2008, Michigan's "Fab Five" in 1992 and 1993, Massachusetts in 1996 (coached by Calipari), Minnesota in 1997 (losing to Kentucky in the Semifinal), and Ohio State in 1999 were stripped of their Final Four berths by the NCAA, Louisville could end up being the 1st NCAA basketball program to be stripped of a National Championship.

Kentucky and Louisville have actually not met each other on the court as many times as you might think, largely due to not being in the same league. They first met in 1913, but met only 3 times from 1922 to 1983, before being paired in the Elite Eight of the 1983 NCAA Tournament in Knoxville, Tennessee. (UL won.) They've met in the Big Dance twice more, Kentucky winning both times, in the 2012 Semifinal in New Orleans, and in the 2014 Sweet Sixteen in Indianapolis. UL won the most recent meeting, but UK won 8 of the previous 9, and holds a 34-16 overall edge.

In football, they first met in 1912, but it was a rare rivalry until 1994, when they began to meet for the Governor's Cup. Louisville won this year's game, to tie the series at 15-15.

Kentucky also has rivalries with Southeastern Conference teams Tennessee (fueled mainly by football), Mississippi State (by basketball), and Louisiana State (by both). They also have a cross-conference rivalry in both sports with Indiana. Louisville has rivalries with the universities of Cincinnati (their football teams play for a trophy known as the Keg of Nails) and Memphis.

(UPDATE: Through the 2019 football season, Kentucky leads Louisville 37-16 in basketball, and has taken the lead in football, 17-15. In their other major football rivalry, Kentucky trails Tennessee by a whopping 81-25-9; in their other major rivalry, Kentucky leads Indiana 32-25 in basketball, but trails them 18-17-1 in football.)

The schools have been much less successful in football. UK has only 1 outright SEC Championship, won in 1950, coached by Bear Bryant, and quarterbacked by Babe Parilli, later Joe Namath's backup on the Super Bowl Jets. They shared the SEC title with Georgia in 1976. And that's it. Their legends include Parilli, George Blanda, Bob Gain, Steve Meilinger, Lou Michaels, Art Still, Jeff Van Note, Dermontti Dawson and Tim Couch.

They have 2 retired numbers, but none of those are among them: 21, for 1950s running back Calvin Bird; and 22, for 1980s running back Mark Higgs. I can't figure out why: Neither led them to a major title, neither had a great pro career, and neither (as is sometimes the case with retired numbers) died while still an active player.

Louisville has been more successful in football than Kentucky, winning Conference titles in 1970, 1972 (both in the Missouri Valley Conference), 2000, 2001, 2004 (those 3 in Conference USA), 2006, 2011 and 2012 (those 3 in the Big East, before moving into the ACC). In 2006, they were awarded the Lambert Trophy, for "the best college football team in the East."

As for notable players, in 1954, the produced perhaps the greatest quarterback who has ever lived, Johnny Unitas. His Number 16 is the only one they've retired, and a statue of him stands outside Cardinal Stadium. (UPDATE: They have since added the Number 8 of Lamar Jackson, the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner.)

Other Cardinal football greats include Super Bowl-winning Jet John Neidert, Doug Buffone, Bruce Armstrong, Joe Jacoby, Mark Clayton, Frank Minnifield, David Akers and Deion Branch.

Stuff. The Cardinal Authentic Store is in the Yum! Center's main lobby. Adidas makes all of UL's clothing. There is a UK Team Shop at Rupp Arena, but the University website doesn't say where it is. UK's bookstore is at 334 Lexington Avenue, UL's at the Swain Student Activities Center at 2100 S. Floyd Street.

Last year, Tom Wallace and Cotton Nash collaborated on The University of Kentucky Basketball Encyclopedia. The DVD 100 Years of Kentucky Basketball was released in 2006. There don't seem to be corresponding books and DVDs about Louisville basketball. Also available are DVDs of the National Championship games of 1978 (UK), 1980 (UL), 1986 (UL), 1996 (UK), 1998 (UK), 2012 (UK) and 2013 (UL).

During the Game. Kentucky is in the South, so the best advice I can give you is to stick with the home fans, and don't antagonize the visitors. If you abide by this, your experience will be more "Southern hospitality" than "Southern sports rivalry."

Louisville's fight song is "Fight! U of L." Kentucky's is "On, On, U of K." Not particularly imaginative. Louisville's mascot is officially "The Cardinal Bird," but is nicknamed Louie, as in "Louie-ville." His face resembles the logo on their football helmets, rather than any other Cardinals known to sports, such as the St. Louis baseball team.

Kentucky's mascot is a bit more complicated. They have a live one, not a wildcat, but a bobcat, named Blue. He is kept at the Salato Wildlife Education Center, near the State capital of Frankfort, and is never taken to games. Not because he'd be too dangerous. In fact, it's the opposite: Despite being the mascot of many high schools, a few colleges, and, formerly, the Charlotte NBA team that has reclaimed the Hornets name, bobcats are naturally shy, and don't handle crowds well.

Instead, UK uses 2 costumed mascots. The 1st one, who debuted in 1976 (no doubt due to the success of the San Diego Chicken), is usually called simply "The Wildcat." At some point, people began calling him "Scratch." A few years later, a secondary mascot -- possibly meant to be the son of the preceding character -- was introduced, and he is officially named Scratch. He's said to be more child-friendly. He wears his hat backwards, drinks Mountain Dew, and "loves to party." In other words, he's stuck in the early 1990s.

The Wildcat, left, and Scratch.

After the Game. The downtowns of both Louisville and Lexington, and the campuses (campii?) of each school, should be safe. I've never heard of either city having much of a crime problem.

I can find no references to well-known postgame bars, or to places where New Yorkers gather in or around Louisville or Lexington.

If you visit Kentucky during the European soccer season, which is now around its midpoint, the main "football pub" in Louisville is Molly Malone's, at 933 Baxter Avenue, about 2 miles southeast of downtown. Bus 23 or Bus 40.

Sidelights. Before the Yum! Center, UL played basketball at the 18,865-seat Freedom Hall from 1956 to 2010. It was home to the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976, winning the 1975 ABA Championship.

Freedom Hall hosted 6 NCAA Final Fours. Kentucky's Fiddlin' Five beat the University of Seattle, led by future Laker star Elgin Baylor, in 1958. The University of California, with Darrall Imhoff, beat West Virginia, with Jerry West, in 1959. Cincinnati, with Paul Hogue, beat Ohio State, with Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek, in 1962. Cincinnati was then dethroned by Loyola of Chicago in 1963. UCLA and Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) completed an undefeated season by defeating the University of Dayton in 1967. And Lew/Kareem completed his incredible college career at 88-2 as UCLA topped Purdue in 1969.

It was home to 2 brief minor-league hockey teams, the Louisville Rebels of the International Hockey League from 1957 to 1960, and the Louisville Panthers of the American Hockey League from 1999 to 2001. Louisville native Muhammad Ali, then still Cassius Clay, had his 1st professional fight there, winning a 6-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker on October 29, 1960.

The Beatles never played in Kentucky, but Elvis Presley sang at Freedom Hall on November 7, 1971; June 26, 1974; July 23, 1976; and May 21, 1977.

Despite its age and its replacement by the Yum! Center, there are no plans to close or demolish Freedom Hall. It remains part of the Kentucky Exposition Center, site of the State Fair. Also part of the complex is Cardinal Stadium. Known as Fairgrounds Stadium from 1956 to 1982, it is one of the largest and greatest stadiums in minor-league baseball history, seating up to 47,925 fans for Triple-A baseball or University of Louisville football.

The Louisville Colonels won International League Pennants there in 1960, 1961, and 1962. The Louisville Redbirds won American Association Pennants there in 1984, 1985 and 1995. Charlie Finley wanted to move the Kansas City Athletics there for the 1964 season, and had even signed a contract to do so, but the move was voted down by the other American League owners, voiding the contract, and the A's moved to Oakland 4 years later.

Louisville thus remained, and still does, without a Major League Baseball team since 1899. As it would rank dead last in metropolitan area population in MLB and MLS, next-to-last in the NFL, 4th-from-last in the NBA, and last among U.S. teams (5th-from-last counting Canadian ones) in the NHL, don't count on it getting a team in any major league anytime soon.

The Kentucky Exposition Center site also includes the Kentucky Kingdom theme park. 937 Phillips Lane, on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center. Bus 18.

Before the construction of Cardinal Stadium, the Colonels played at Parkway Field from 1923 to 1956. Here, they won IL Pennants in 1925, 1926, 1930, 1939, 1940, 1944, 1945, 1946 and 1954. The stadium is gone, but the field still exists. 101 Eastern Parkway, on the UL campus. Bus 2.

This was the 1st professional home of Louisville native Harold "Pee Wee" Reese, later the shortstop and Captain of the Brooklyn Dodgers' "Boys of Summer." Other legends who played home games here include Yankee Hall-of-Famers Earle Combs (a Kentucky native) and Joe McCarthy (the future manager never reached the majors as a player), Billy Herman and Phil Niekro.

Previously, Louisville baseball teams had played at wooden stadiums named Eclipse Park. The 1st was at 2801 W. Broadway, at 28th Street, about a mile west of downtown. It opened in 1874, and the Louisville Eclipse of the American Association began playing there in 1882, changed their name to the Louisville Colonels in 1885, won the AA Pennant in 1890, and joined the National League in 1893. But the ballpark burned down after that season. A Taco Bell is now on the site.

The 2nd Eclipse Park opened in 1894, across the street, at 2800 W. Broadway. It burned down in 1899, and this is a major reason why the team was folded by the NL after the season, its assets bought by the Pittsburgh Pirates -- mainly because their greatest asset was the contract of their best player, Pittsburgh native Honus Wagner. This team also featured Fred Clarke, Pete Browning, Hugh Jennings, Rube Waddell, and William "Dummy" Hoy, a fantastic all-around player despite being deaf. An industrial park is on the site now. For both, Bus 23.

The best picture I could find of Eclipse Park II.

I couldn't find any of Eclipse Park I.

The 3rd and last Eclipse Park opened in 1902, for a minor-league team that assumed the Colonels name. They won IL Pennants there in 1909, 1916 and 1921. The Louisville Breckenridges, or Brecks for short, played football there from 1902 to 1922, including the 1st 3 seasons of the NFL (1920-22). And UL played football there from 1909 to 1922. Buildings of Simmons College are now on the site. 1000 S. 7th Street at Kentucky Street, about a mile south of downtown, in the formerly Irish neighborhood of Limerick. Bus 4.

Eclipse Park III

The current local nine is named the Louisville Bats. Obviously, named after the Louisville Slugger, but Hillerich & Bradsby, who bought the naming rights to the ballpark, and named it Louisville Slugger Field, wasn't willing to get the team named the Louisville Sluggers.

Currently a Cincinnati Reds farm club, after spending most of their history with the St. Louis Cardinals (hence "Redbirds," not named for the UL Cardinals), the Louisville baseball club has featured such legends as Honus Wagner, Willie McGee, Vince Coleman, Deion Sanders, Adam Dunn, Joey Votto and Aroldis Chapman.

Louisville Slugger Field opened in 2000, with 13,131 seats, making it one of the largest in the minor leagues. The Bats won the Pennant in 2001, the 19th and most recent Pennant won by a Louisville team. It is also home to Louisville City FC of the United Soccer League, the 2nd division of American soccer. 401 E. Main Street, downtown, just short of the Ohio River waterfront, at the interchange of Interstates 64 and 65.

UPDATE: In 2020, the 11,700-seat Lynn Family Stadium opened, and Louisville City's owners moved the team into it. In 2021, the owners also entered the National Women's Soccer League, introducing Racing Louisville FC, who also play at Lynn Family Stadium. This team is named partly for Kentucky's horse racing tradition, but also for several European teams, which started out as footracing clubs. 350 Adams Street, about 2 miles east of downtown. Bus 15 will get you to Market & Shelby, a 15-minute walk away.

Lynn Family Stadium, with the Louisville skyline in the background

But the most famous sports venue, and the most famous building, in Kentucky is Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, known as "The Run for the Roses" and "The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports," since it opened in 1875. The current grandstand, with the famed twin spires, opened in 1895. Luxury suites were added in 2005, almost obscuring the spires, but the place is still loaded with tradition.

The front entrance. The statue is of Barbaro

2006 Kentucky Derby winner, whose career ended

and whose life was cut short by an injury in the Preakness.

The Derby, the 1st leg of U.S. thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown, is still run annually, shortly after 6:00 PM on the 1st Saturday in May. Other than the Triple Crown, the biggest day in U.S. racing is the Breeders' Cup, and Churchill Downs has hosted it more often than any other track, 8 times: 1988, 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2010 and 2011. It will host the Cup again in 2018.

There is a Kentucky Derby Museum on the grounds. 700 Central Avenue, about 4 miles south of downtown. Bus 4.

Almost right across from Churchill Downs is the current home of UL football, Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Opened in 1998, the stadium is currently undergoing an expansion to 65,000 seats. Its field, which has always been artificial, is surrounded by, appropriately, a horseshoe shape, open at the north end. 2800 S. Floyd Street.

UPDATE: Because of racist remarks made by Papa John's founder and CEO John Schnatter, the Papa John's name was taken off, and it's now just Cardinal Stadium.

Before Rupp Arena opened in downtown Lexington, Kentucky played at the 10,000-seat Memorial Coliseum from 1950 to 1976. It was here that they fielded the teams that won the 1951 and 1958 National Championships. 201 Avenue of Champions, about a mile south of downtown. Bus 1.

Before that, from 1924 to 1950, the Wildcats played at Alumni Gymnasium, until 2,800 seats proved too small for Adolph Rupp's Fabulous Five. It is still open as a student recreation and intramural center. 120 Avenue of Champions, almost across the street from the Coliseum.

Directly across from the Coliseum is the site of what's generally regarded as the 1st college football game in the South, with Transylvania University of Lexington defeating Centre College of Danville, Kentucky, 13 and 3/4 to 0 in 1880. (No, I don't have information about how it was then possible to score three-quarters of a point.)

It was named Stoll Field, and a stadium for UK football was built on the site in 1916, renamed McLean Stadium in 1924, named for Price McLean, a Kentucky center who died from injuries sustained in a game against the University of Cincinnati the year before. Its 37,000 seats proved too small for modern college football, and the new stadium was built. The UK marching band now practices on the site.

UK plays football at Kroger Field, which was known as Commonwealth Stadium from its 1973 opening under earlier this year, when the Kroger supermarket chain bought the naming rights. Unusual among football fields, due to the angle of the Sun, the 61,000-seat bowl has a field pointing east-to-west. Ironically, the stadium in the State known for its grass has had artificial turf since 2015. 1540 University Drive, about 2 miles south of downtown. Bus 5 from downtown.

For both campuses, the closest MLB and NFL teams are in Cincinnati, 82 miles from Lexington and 102 from Louisville. The closest NBA team is the Indiana Pacers, 117 from Louisville and 188 from Lexington. (This would also be the distance for the NFL's Indianapolis Colts.)

The closest NHL team is different for each: The Nashville Predators and 177 from Louisville, and 214 from Lexington, while the Columbus Blue Jackets are 189 from Lexington and 206 from Louisville. For the moment, the Columbus Crew are the closest MLS team, 192 from Lexington and 213 from Louisville. The new Nashville franchise would complicate this even if the Crew don't end up moving to Austin.

Kentucky State University, in the capital of Frankfort, won the "National Championship of black college football" 3 straight seasons: 1933, 1934 and 1935. With integration allowing black students into UK and UL, KSU's enrollment seriously declined, and the school now competes in NCAA Division II.

In addition to his Freedom Hall shows, Elvis sang at the Rialto Theater (now the Palace Theatre, 625 S. 4th Street) on December 8, 1955; and the Jefferson County Armory (now the Louisville Gardens, also downtown at 525 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd.) on November 25, 1956.

The aforementioned Pee Wee Reese is buried at Resthaven Memorial Park, 4400 Bardstown Road, about 9 miles southeast of downtown Louisville. Bus 40. The aforementioned Earle Combs is buried at Richmond Cemetery, 606 E. Main Street in Richmond, about 30 miles southeast of Lexington, and not reachable by public transportation.

The Kentucky Horse Park is a working horse farm and an educational theme park that opened in 1978, "dedicated to man's relationship with the horse." Man o' War, the leading racehorse of the 1920s and a benchmark for them thereafter, is buried there. So is Cigar, the winner of the 1995 Breeders' Cup Classic who retired as the all-time money-winning horse. So is John Henry, the 1980s horse that Cigar replaced as the all-time money-winning horse. 4089 Iron Works Parkway, about 9 miles north of downtown Lexington. No public transportation.

The Kentucky Horse Park also has a statue of Secretariat, the 1973 Triple Crown winner, but he's buried at Claiborne Farm. 703 Winchester Road in Paris, 91 miles east of Louisville and 19 miles northeast of Lexington. No public transportation.

Whirlaway, the 1941 Triple Crown winner, and Citation, the 1948 Triple Crown winner, both ridden by Eddie Arcaro (the only jockey to win the Triple Crown twice), were born, trained, housed, died and buried at Calumet Farm. 3301 Versailles Road, about 6 miles west of downtown Lexington. No public transportation.

Keeneland Race Track hosted the 2015 Breeders' Cup, and annually hosts the Blue Grass Stakes. 4201 Versailles Road, in Lexington, about 6 miles west of downtown. Bus 21.

Of course, Louisville's, Kentucky's, and perhaps America's and even the world's greatest sports icon -- emphasis on "The Greatest" -- was not a horse. Rather, he floated like a butterfly, and stung like a bee. The Muhammad Ali Center opened in 2005 in the Champ's hometown, even though he hadn't lived there since 1960. (He lived, subsequently, in Las Vegas, Miami Beach, Houston; Cherry Hill, New Jersey; Berrien Springs, Michigan; and Phoenix.)

As he got older, Ali became philosophical about his life and legacy, saying, "There are better things to do in life than beating up people," and, "If you're the same man at 50 that you were at 30, then you've wasted 20 years of your life."

He and his wife Lonnie established the Center to teach, and to show how his life reflected, what they called his "six core principles of confidence, conviction, dedication, giving, respect, and spirituality." Indeed, his dedication changed him from an unknown young man, to one of the most exciting men alive, to (following his decision to refuse to accept being drafted) one of the most hated men alive, to (once people realized he had a point) one of the most admired men alive. 144 N. 6th Street. Admission is $12.

Ali is buried at Cave Hill Cemetery. So is Pete Browning, the Louisville native and star outfielder for the 1880s Louisville Eclipse, who first contacted John F. "Bud" Hillerich Jr., son of the founder of Hillerich & Bradsby, about making him a proper bat. As Browning was nicknamed the Louisville Slugger, so that became the name of any bat the company produced. Oddly, despite this role, and a .341 lifetime batting average, he is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Also buried there is Harland Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken. He never served in the military: "Kentucky Colonel" is a civilian award given by the Governor (in Sanders' case, Ruby Laffoon in 1935) for meritorious service to the State.

Also buried there is the city's founder, George Rogers Clark; his brother William's grandson, Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., founder of Churchill Downs (but William is buried in St. Louis); Thruston Morton, who served Kentucky in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953 and the Senate from 1957 to 1968; and Harry Pulliam, the National League President who ruled that the 1908 New York Giants-Chicago Cubs "Fred Merkle Game" had to be replayed, giving the Cubs the Pennant, and was driven to suicide by the controversy. 701 Baxter Avenue, about 2 miles southeast of downtown. Bus 23 or Bus 40.

A block to the west of the Ali Center, at 727 W. Main Street, is the Kentucky Science Center. A block to the west of that, at 829 W. Main Street, is the Frazier History Museum -- not named for Ali's great rival, Smokin' Joe Frazier. As far as I know, neither the Ali Center nor the Frazier Museum is run by a man named George whose title is "Foreman."

Across the street from the Frazier Museum, at 800 W. Main Street, is the Louisville Slugger Museum, dedicated to the history of baseball bats, in particular the eponymous bat made by Hillerich & Bradsby. A mockup they call "The World's Largest Baseball Bat" is outside, although, at 120 feet, it is exactly as tall as the smokestack built outside the old Yankee Stadium, designed to look like a Babe Ruth model Louisville Slugger (with the company's participation).

In UK's seat of Lexington, the Mary Todd Lincoln House, where Abe's wife grew up, is at 578 W. Main Street, just a block north of Rupp Arena. Ashland, the estate of early Kentucky political figure Henry Clay, is at 120 Sycamore Road, about 2 miles southeast of downtown. Bus 11.

In 1853, Stephen Foster wrote "My Old Kentucky Home," which is recognized as the State Song, and is played before the running of the Kentucky Derby, allegedly making even the most hardened and cynical of people weep with sentiment. Somehow, the song became associated with Federal Hill, the farm and mansion owned by U.S. Senator John Rowan, which is now My Old Kentucky Home State Park. 501 E. Stephen Foster Avenue, in Bardstown, 42 miles southeast of Louisville, and 58 miles southwest of Lexington. No public transportation.

There are 2 Presidents traditionally associated with Kentucky. Although born in Virginia, Zachary Taylor grew up in Louisville, became the main hero of the Mexican-American War, and was elected President in 1848. The former General known as Old Rough and Ready tried to reconcile the two sides of the debate over slavery, but died in office on July 9, 1850.

His house, Springfield, is at 5608 Apache Road, 7 miles east of downtown Louisville. He is interred at Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, at 4701 Brownsboro Road, a 15-minute walk away. Both can be reached by Bus 15.

I said that Churchill Downs was the most famous building in Kentucky, but this is because the log cabin that serves as Abraham Lincoln's "birthplace" is a re-creation of the original. Actually, 7 Presidents were born in log cabins. Chronologically: Andrew Jackson, Taylor, Millard Fillmore, James Buchanan, Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and James Garfield. But not, as the 1840 campaign songs said, William Henry Harrison.

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park consists of a recreated log cabin, designed to look like the one that Abe's father, Thomas Lincoln, built, and where Abe was born on February 12, 1809, and lived for his 1st 7 years. The cabin is indoors, inside what looks like a small Greek temple, making it look more like a tomb than a birthplace. 2995 Lincoln Farm Road, in Hodgenville, 58 miles south of downtown Louisville, and 88 miles southwest of downtown Lexington. No public transportation.

The tallest building in Kentucky known only by its downtown Louisville Address, 400 West Market. Built in 1993, it stands 549 feet tall. The most secure building in Kentucky is the United States Bullion Depository, a gold preserve built in 1937 at Fort Knox, named for Henry Knox, the 1st U.S. Secretary of War (the post now called Secretary of Defense).

The fort also contains a museum dedicated to World War II General George S. Patton. It's 31 miles southwest of downtown Louisville, and you can forget about visiting. The fort, and the Patton Museum, maybe, if you can get permission; the Bullion Depository, not a chance in hell. No public transportation.

Kentucky's role in fiction is extensive. Walter Tevis' 1963 novel The Man Who Fell to Earth is set in the State, and became a movie starring David Bowie. Madison County is the setting for David Morrell's 1972 novel First Blood, which introduced the character of John Rambo. But the most famous novel set in the State was Harriet Beecher Stowe's slap against slavery, Uncle Tom's Cabin. (Reminder: While Kentucky was a slave State, it did not secede from the Union.)

In the 1960s, 2 separate TV shows titled Daniel Boone followed the legendary Kentucky frontiersman. More recently, Justified was set in Harlan. Films set in the State include a few about Boone; Coal Miner's Daughter, the film version of country singer Loretta Lynn's memoir; The People vs. Larry Flynt, about the Kentucky native porn mogul; Elizabethtown, set in the town of the same title; various films about the late 19th Century "family feud" between the Hatfields and the McCoys; various film versions of Uncle Tom's Cabin; and, perhaps, most iconically, Goldfinger, the 1964 James Bond film set partly at a Kentucky horse farm and at Fort Knox. "Operation Grand Slam."

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Kentucky likes football. It likes baseball very much. It loves horses and horse racing. But it is absolutely nuts about basketball. The rivalry between the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville is as intense as any in North American sport.