In bloom - Feature photo
March 31, 2008
Two students walked yesterday behind the Grehan Journalism Building on their way to the Kentucky Clinic yesterday afternoon. Photo by Elliott Hess | Staff
Ramel Bradley finishes up album, releases single
March 31, 2008
Former UK basketball player Ramel Bradley is releasing his first single, titled “Smooth Operator,” from his upcoming album today.
Bradley’s album, “Do You Know,” is set for release April 15.
Meghan Blackburn, the publicist for Bradley’s album, said she is working on debuting the single on Lexington-area radio stations today.
The former guard sampled the single for various media members at St. Claire Studios in Lexington on Monday, where he and local musician Jonathan Webb answered questions regarding the album. Webb appears on two songs on the album and also helped produce it.
Bradley described “Smooth Operator” as one of the more upbeat songs on the album, and he said it uses an urban sound familiar in today’s hip-hop and rap genres.
More samples of other songs featured on Bradley’s album are on his MySpace page (www.myspace.com/rsbeezy3).
Compiled by Travis Waldron | Staff
Photographer: Assignment more like kickin’ it with Ramel than work
March 31, 2008
It was one of those assignments that you see and instantly call dibs.
Beat writer Travis Waldron told me he would be hanging out with UK basketball star Ramel Bradley while he polished off his single before releasing it and I knew this was an assignment I wanted. I spent all of my days in high school recording music and I still love music studios. The whole process is very similar to writing a story in that you take time fixing all the little details until it’s as far as you can take it.
I ‘m also a Ramel fan. He plays with a lot of heart and I admire that about him. Also, if you have ever seen his news conferences then you know how well he handles himself. So the chance to combine music, Ramel and photography was an obvious choice.
The challenging part of assignments like this one is to find a shot that is different from what everyone else is going to have. Everyone you see in the photo above besides Ramel is with the media. I shot this frame only to show the setting. Former Kernel photo adviser Dave LaBelle always told me not to just get caught up in the subject, but to take a step back and look at the media madness your subject draws. I think that’s good advice.
The only problem with some of the photos you pull from one of these shoots is that they’re basically completely staged for the media. I doubt Ramel would have been in this situation if it weren’t for the half a dozen media outlets who were covering this one song recording. But that’s part of what our audience wants to see with this story, Ramel off the court. I just try to keep in mind what my goals are. To show the audience a true representation of a scenario they can’t get to themselves.
Please check out the mixed media piece to get the full experience.
‘Greatest Wildcat of them all’ dies
March 31, 2008
Story by Eric Lindsey and Travis Waldron
Longtime basketball equipment manager Bill Keightley died last night at the University of Cincinnati Hospital from internal bleeding caused by a previously undiagnosed tumor on his spine.
He was 81.
Doctors believe the internal bleeding began yesterday afternoon in Cincinnati where Keightley and his longtime friend Van Florence were attending the Reds’ season opener, according to a UK press release. Keightley was taken to the university hospital, where doctors were unable to stop the bleeding, according to Dr. Pete Muskat, Clinical Director of Trauma Services.
Bill Keightley, right, stands with head coach Billy Gillispie during the playing of the national anthem before UK’s first-round loss to Marquette in the NCAA Tournament. It was the final game of Keightley’s 48-year UK career. Photo by Elliott Hess | Staff
“This is one of the saddest days of my life,” UK head coach Billy Gillispie said last night from Cincinnati through a press release. “I commented earlier today that at the age of 81, he’s become one of my very best friends, and the person I was talking to said, ‘That’s what makes him so great, because everyone feels he’s their best friend.’ And that’s because he was so genuine and so caring about others.”
Affectionately known as “Mr. Wildcat,” Keightley had been a fixture with the UK basketball program since 1962 where he worked in the equipment room.
In 1997, UK honored Keightley by raising a retired jersey bearing his name to the Rupp Arena rafters. Along with legendary radio broadcaster Cawood Ledford, Keightley is one of only two non-players and non-coaches to receive such an honor.
“For many Kentuckians, and, indeed, for much of the country, Bill Keightley was not only the face of UK Wildcat basketball, but the University of Kentucky itself,” UK President Lee Todd said in a statement. “In his five decades with the university, Mr. Keightley represented UK and the Big Blue Nation with class, with devotion and with an abiding love for our players and fans. He was as much a part of the basketball program as any player or coach. He was ‘Mr. Wildcat.’ ”
Finance senior Pat McMahon, with candle, stands with telecommunications senior David Noble and Andrew Johnson, a business management junior, in front of Memorial Coliseum to honor Bill Keightley, who died yesterday. Photo by Brad Luttrell | Staff
“It’s my belief,” Todd said, “that in heaven he’s already helping organize a game or two and telling stories of Wildcat lore to anyone who will listen.”
Keightley fell off a bus yesterday before entering Great American Ballpark with Van Florence, said Lois Florence, Van’s wife. Van Florence told his wife that he did not believe the injuries were serious at first.
Former UK head coach Joe B. Hall said that he received a call from Van Florence at the hospital shortly after Keightley arrived. Hall, who worked with Keightley for 20 years as an assistant and head coach at UK, said Keightley had a “50-50″ chance of surviving the fall.
Hall received another call a couple hours later saying that Keightley had passed away. Keightley died at 7:45 p.m., with his family and friends with him at the hospital.
“I was totally shocked because the news came so sudden,” Hall said. “I couldn’t talk to anyone at first because I couldn’t believe it.”
Bill Keightley hugs ex-Wildcat and Arkansas head coach John Pelphrey after UK defeated Arkansas on Feb. 23. Keightley died yesterday. He was with the Wildcats for 48 seasons. Photo by Brad Luttrell | Staff
Keightley served as the equipment manager at UK under the last six UK head coaches - Adolph Rupp, Hall, Eddie Sutton, Rick Pitino, Orlando “Tubby” Smith and Gillispie. He was on the bench for UK’s 1976 National Invitation Tournament title, three national championships (1978, ‘96 and ‘98) and eight of UK’s 13 Final Four appearances.
During those 48 seasons, UK compiled a 1,113-351 record with Keightley on the sideline.
Todd and his wife, Patsy, honored Keightley at the 2005 CATSPY awards, presenting him with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
After receiving the award, Keightley told a crowd of UK athletes and students what his time at UK meant to his life.
“Years ago I thought I was here to mold young people,” Keightley said. “But now you have molded me.”
But few people molded lives like Keightley, Hall said.
“He always had a smile on his face and he was always upbeat,” Hall said. “He always made everyone feel like they were his best friend.”
Kenny “Sky” Walker, who played at UK from 1983-86, said Keightley always took a great interest in people no matter who they were.
“It was no secret why he was so well liked, because he liked everyone,” Walker said. “He wasn’t just like that with me. He was like that for everyone at the University of Kentucky.”
Integrated strategic communications senior Logan Mayer, public service and leadership senior Matt Gandolfo and finance senior Pat McMahon organized a candlelight vigil at about 10 p.m. yesterday to honor Keightley. Mayer, who had a chance meeting with Keightley on Sunday during the UK women’s basketball game, echoed Walker’s sentiments about Keightley’s friendliness.
All three students said UK needs to honor Keightley next season by leaving his trademark chair on UK’s bench empty for the year.
“It’s just going to be very hard to see that seat at the end of the bench filled by somebody else,” Mayer said. “We were actually just talking about how there should be a petition going around to have that one seat empty from here on out as a token to him.”
No matter how UK chooses to honor Keightley, the UK bench will always be without a man Walker said “brought together generations” of UK fans and players.
“He was probably, in my mind, the greatest Wildcat of them all,” Walker said.
Before his time at UK, Keightley served as a Marine in World War II and worked for the U.S. Postal Service.
Keightley is survived by his wife, the former Hazel Robinson of Lawrenceburg, Ky.; his daughter, Karen, a UK employee in the veterinary sciences department; and son-in-law Alden Marlowe.
Information about memorial services for Keightley were not available at press time.
E-mail sports@kykernel.com.
Covering the Clintons
March 30, 2008
I had my first shot at covering political figures Bill and Hillary Clinton this week. Both have more national and political prominence than anyone I’ve ever written about. Everything from the actual speeches to the check-ins — where dogs sniffed my bags at one event and a policeman scanned me with a metal detector at the other — was a new and exciting experience.
I loved the crowd’s energy and way of making both events seem larger-than-life. It got me excited about my role as a journalist. Think about it. Only about 2,500 people could be there to see Hillary speak on Saturday at duPont Manual High School in Louisville. So my job, along with photographer Brad Luttrell, was to make sure that everyone else who couldn’t make it could see what the event was like. Here are a few things that didn’t fit in my story.
Representing the Student Vote
Two UK students with a U of L friend stood front and center in the crowd on the floor. Right behind them was a pair from Indiana University, both energetic Clinton supporters. And to the pair’s right were two more UK students who are featured in Brad’s multimedia presentation. I saw other familiar UK faces scattered throughout the crowd.
I talked to many of these people and wish I had room to put more than two of them in my article, because they were all intelligent individuals invested in the election.
Whether you’re a Democrat, Republican or independent, it’s a historic time for the U.S. I was glad to meet students who really care and are making efforts to get informed.
Covering the Political “Higher Ups”
When I heard Bill and Hillary were coming to town, I jumped on the opportunity to see them. Journalists were everywhere, representing print, radio and television. Then there was the traveling press, who had their own special area. Brad and I talked about how awesome it would be to follow a presidential campaign for a paper or wire service. Politics fascinate me, and if I ever got the chance to cover something like that, I’m sure it would be amazing.
I sat next to a reporter from WKU’s student paper, the College Heights Herald. We chatted for a bit about the event, friends and acquaintances we had in common and tips on how to sneak out of the designated press area and interview the crowd on the floor. Sometimes you have to break the rules, and in this case, they weren’t really enforcing them that strictly anyway. It was fun meeting a fellow student journalist, and I’m glad more than one college paper covered the event.
Lessons Learned
Don’t leave backup batteries in the car, especially when covering Hillary Clinton — My voice recorder died less than two minutes after Hillary came on stage. Brad got some of the event on film, which helped. But I was left with just a pen and pad to record her 40-minute speech. I don’t usually use a tape recorder unless I know it’s going to be a long speech where I might need to double-check my notes. It was a bit stressful, but it all worked out.
Pay attention to the crowd and details — This is what makes the event different from every other political rally. People indeed want to know what Hillary said, but they also want to know how she interacted with the foot-stomping, fist-pumping supporters who really want her to win or the protestors who don’t (I only saw one protester at Bill’s speech and none at Hillary’s).
And finally, enjoy the moment — Enjoy every minute of covering something as influential as a presidential candidate coming to town. I hope Barack Obama and John McCain make their way to the Bluegrass soon.
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