The father didn’t want to miss his son’s first Kentucky game
Micheal McGuire was doing what any dad would do for his son, so when a photo of him wearing his coal mining uniform at a University of Kentucky uniform went viral, he and his wife were pretty surprised.
“We just are just like any other family here in Eastern Ky, this was just a normal evening for us where we had plans but he had to work late,” writes Mollie McGuire, Micheal’s wife, on Facebook. “He was after 5 pm that evening getting off work and the game started at 6, he called and said I will meet you all there go ahead and take bub in!”
Rather than head home, shower and miss half the game, Micheal headed straight to the arena to be with his son for his first game––covered in coal dust. The sight of him seated next to his son, Easton, caught the eye of Kentucky coach, John Calipari who snapped the now-viral photo.
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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
The image hit home for the men’s coach and he shared that his “family’s American dream started in a Clarksburg, WV coal mine.” Not knowing who the man and son were, he took to social media to find them and offer them VIP tickets to a game at Rupp Arena.
Thanks to Big Blue Nation, it didn’t take long to identify them as Micheal and Easton. McGuire shared in an interview with WKYT that he was underground when Calipari’s tweet out. Once he came above ground and got service again, he was shocked and humbled. To he and his wife, he is just doing his job.
“My husband choose the job he has to support our family so that I could be home to raise our wonderful children, there are many times he misses out on these events due to work. So any chance he can be there he is, no matter how tired or dirty,” Mollie shares on Facebook. “It never even crossed either of our minds that something like this would happen simply because he had to attend in uniform, however in my eyes it has been a blessing to show him the love and support everyone else has for coal miners!”
Micheal is proof that not all heroes wear capes––sometimes they wear coal mining uniforms.
