People on the Internet were quick to find McGuire and his son Easton, from Kentucky.
Michael McGuire knew he had to drive 45 minutes to get from his job at a coal mine to the Kentucky basketball Blue-White scrimmage with his son on Sunday. But what he didn't expect was for his picture with his son to go viral. Thanks to coach John Calipari.
My family’s American dream started in a Clarksburg, WV coal mine, so this picture hits home.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) October 24, 2022
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!! pic.twitter.com/a5BJXUnK2v
He posted a picture of the father-son duo on his Twitter and Instagram pages. He wrote, "My family’s American dream started in a Clarksburg, WV coal mine, so this picture hits home. 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!!"
The father looked fatigued sitting with his son after a long shift, which made the coach offer them VIP tickets for future games. People on the Internet were quick to find McGuire and his son Easton, from Kentucky. His wife, Mollie McGuire said that her husband had been awake since 4:45 am before rushing home to take his family for the fame. She added that he averages about 50 hours a week on the job with Excel Mining, as reported by USA Today. And this year's Blue-White scrimmage, one of the UK's biggest fan events ahead of the regular season, was scheduled on a work day for Michael. But he really wanted to be in the crowd with his family. A user also shared Mollie's comment on Twitter, "We are truly blessed with such an amazing man, and beyond thankful! We love our coal miner."
"When the guys would slam dunk or they would shoot a 3 and the crowd would holler, he would get excited and clap his hands," Mollie McGuire said. "And every time they would have a timeout, I mean, then they turned the music on, he would get down on the floor and dance for everybody. Our entire section had a show every time the music would play."
However, she said that they had not been to a game for the past four years. Their son Easton recently started to show interest in sports so they wanted to introduce him to the team. Many on the Internet resonated with Michael. A user commented, "Son of a Coal Trucker, my dad missed many high school and college games but he made sure I never missed anything. This is a true Eastern KY dad and it's very cool Cal recognized it..well deserved."Another person wrote, "Good job coach. My dad used to come to my games like this, but covered in dirt and dust instead of coal dust and mud from running a strip mine."
No leaving early in the energy sector and I bet he worked a long and grueling shift and didn’t have time to get out of his FRs so he could make his boy’s dream come true. He’s a hero. (I went from Due Process Stable to the natural gas fields of Clarksburg)
— Happy (@vagabondgolfpro) October 24, 2022
Michael spoke to WKYT about the attention he received after the picture went viral. He said that he didn't want his son to miss his first basketball game experience. "It was either go straight there or miss half the game to go home and take a shower and everything." He didn't realize that he had gone viral on social media until after he got service on his phone after the game. He said, "it went crazy...I couldn’t believe that it was real."
"It’s mind-blowing that everybody came together like that," he added. McGuire stated that he spoke with Calipari Monday evening, who informed him of the VIP tickets he wishes to give his family. He said that they haven't decided which game they will go for in Lexington, but they are wanting to watch the Cats play at Rupp.
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Cover Image Source: Instagram | John Calipari
