Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
If one watched the news on Monday, most of the talk was about the health care debate, the California wildfires and a comic book merger. However a story that shouldnt be lost in the shuffle is that of the life of a true American hero, Marine Corp Sgt Bill Cahir. Sgt Cahir was buried on Monday in Arlington National Cemetary after being killed in battle in Afghanistan. Cahir was 34 years old and found himself in Afghanistan on his third tour of duty as part of the Marine Reserves. After graduating college, Cahir worked in Washington DC for Senator Ted Kennedy for a time, before returning home to Pennsylvania to become a newspaper reporter. After 9/11, Cahir felt a sense of patriotic duty and service that led him to leave his comfortable life at the age of 34 and join the Marine Reserves. He spent two tours of duty in Iraq, often in Fallujah, one of the most dangerous spots of the entire region. While there, his age and personality made him a natural leader and he was beloved by his fellow Marines.
After two tours of duty, he returned to Pennsylvania and attempted to continue his life of public service by running for Congress in his home district. He lost the primary, but soon thereafter was called up for another tour by the Marines. Due to his time of service, he could have requested a specific location that would not be considered a hot spot, but instead asked to be sent to Afghanistan because “this is what I signed up to do.” He was killed August 13 by enemy fire in Afghanistan, just a week before that country’s elections. While his body was in transit home, his wife received a handwritten letter by Ted Kennedy extending his condolences to his former staffer. Kennedy died just a few days after writing the letter and it is believed to be his last known writing. Cahir was buried today, leaving behind a wife pregnant with twins, who will never know personally their heroic father.
At his funeral, his brother offered this eulogy, which I find powerful:
I won’t offer any anecdotes,” he said, “but rather a quote that I think summarized his life from Ben Franklin: ‘If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are gone, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing.’ My view is that my brother did both.”
In a time when political debates can take the most personal of tones and cynicism is often high, it bears remembering individuals like Sgt Bill Cahir, who represent the best of America. May he rest in peace and our prayers are with his family and children.
You can read more of Cahir’s story here
Some news:
(1): Somewhat of a busy day in UK land today as Rich Brooks held his first weekly press conference of the season. He says that the main reason he is excited about the team this year is that is has the most speed of any team he has had while at UK. As those of us that have watched SEC football can surely attest, speed has always been a bit of an issue for UK teams and Brooks’ happiness with the speed and athleticism of the team is good to hear. He says that he is confident going into the season but that a lot of guys now have to step up and perform. Not least of those is Mike Hartline, who now starts year two with a lot of pressure and some expectation. Everyone has raved all summer on Hartline…now we gotta see it.
(2): The depth chart was also released, which made for some interesting viewing. Most surprising to me was to see Russ Bogue at TE and Paul Warford at CB in the starting lineup. Its not that either of those young men are not strong players, but I assumed we would see Drake and Burden at those positions. Still the Warford story especially is very good to see. He spoke today about how close he felt to Brooks and what confidence the Coach showed in giving him another chance to perform at the highest level. With Lindley on the other side, Warford will get picked on. Brooks obviously believes he is the player who is the most solid to be able to handle that attention.
(3): The recruiting world got a little noise today when it came out that Louisville had hired Marquis Teague’s coach as a consultant to the head coach. Whether that means he has the “hide under the table in restaurants” role or not remains to be seen, but the news further confirms what some have believed…mainly that UL is the leader right now for Teague. Some recruiting analysts have gone so far as to suggest that the 2011 star might commit to UL within the next two weeks. Make no mistake about it, Teague is an amazing talent and UK really wants him as part of their class. However Louisville has been in on him for a long time and today’s hire may end up being the final nail in the coffin for other teams and a potential good way for Pitino to deflect some of the attention into something positive.
(4): Midnight Madness tickets go on sale on October 3rd at 7 am, meaning that Ticketmaster better have its server turned off the “KSR” setting at that time. The camping out will surely take place once again as fans try to get into what will be one of the most exciting such events in school history. You can only get two tickets if you are in line and only order 2 if you are online. So be ready for whichever method you are using, because my guess is that it will go super fast.
(5): Here is a great interview from Mike Decoursey with Darius Miller. Definitely worth the read.
We will have the other Blogger entries later today and we get rolling on our Miami (Ohio) preview notes. Stay tuned…and if you want to read a really good story about Woo from behind the scenes, check out the live blog below….it was good….
[powered by WordPress.]
Bill Keightley Report : Never to be forgotten.
28 queries. 0.786 seconds
August 31st, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Great post Matt, may he rest in peace.
August 31st, 2009 at 11:51 pm
The political leadership in this country the past decade is what makes me ashamed to say I’m from here but it is someone like that who makes me proud and safe to be here. May he rest in peace.
August 31st, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Thanks for the link. It’s a shame that more people don’t understand duty and service to country.
September 1st, 2009 at 12:06 am
God bless you and your family, Sgt Cahir. You are a true hero and I wish it didn’t take you making the ultimate sacrifice for me to know your story.
My dad was killed on 9/11 and as that anniversary approaches, I only wish I had the courage to do what Sgt Cahir and many others did to selflessly uproot their lives to defend our country. I’ll forever be grateful to those who have served and continue to serve in our armed forces so that we may live a life of freedom.
RIP Sgt Cahir. Thanks for posting, Matt.
September 1st, 2009 at 12:22 am
So, they’re having the midnight madness tickets go onsale the same day as the Alabama game? That sucks! That’s not very smart, well actually it’s gonna sell out either way, so they probably don’t care. But, most True Blue Fans will be at the football game! So, I guess those who aren’t at the game will get tix, unless we get a noon start time.
They should put them on sale on Friday, that would make sense.
September 1st, 2009 at 12:23 am
oh, just noticed that is says 7 am and not pm. ha, please disregard my previous post.
September 1st, 2009 at 7:07 am
If Teague commits to UL he will cost himself some NBA money. Top players that play for Pitino never flourish their Freshman years because Pitino holds them back. The longer they stay, the more their NBA stock drops. Look at Samardo Samuels. The #1 player out of high school who could have gone straght to the pros. However, after a mediocre freshman year, Samuels might be a 4 year player at UL and he will be lucky to get drafted.
September 1st, 2009 at 7:17 am
7) Not to defend Pitino, BUT Terrance Williams and Earl Clark both had their stocks raised more than they were after their freshman years. And I think things worked out OK for Antoine Walker and Ron Mercer and Jamal Mashburn and Derek Anderson And Fransisco Garcia. It wasn’t Pitino’s fault that Samuels isn’t good enough yet. He just isn’t good enough. Pitino has raised alot more guys stocks than hurt them.
September 1st, 2009 at 7:45 am
The story is good, but the sad thing is the the media forgot about Afghanistan and our politicians are not leaders so our soldiers are frustrated and the media wakes up just to talk about the body count and those who have died. They and the living deserve hero’s recognition, but the war in Afghanistan should not just be about politics and who died.
September 1st, 2009 at 7:47 am
Bogue was leading at TE all fall and Warford was always in the mix this fall. Should not be a surprise. Ashton Cobb fighting for the #2 spot at safety and Randall Cobb as the holder are far more interesting, IMO. Also, Larry Warford landing at #2 means that the talk of the fall was not just talk. Of course, Brooks gets things wrong sometimes, but he always seems to shoot it straight.
September 1st, 2009 at 7:51 am
Jamaal M. all over again. So, does Rick take heat for this blatant recruiting move?
September 1st, 2009 at 8:01 am
That Evony ad girl just keeps evolving doesn’t she? I mean she was an average girl with a nice rack, to a hot girl with a nice rack, to this dark haired chick about to go out for the evening…I’m assuming the next step will be a stripper? I’m anxiously waiting
September 1st, 2009 at 8:45 am
BTI, I’m not defending Pitino either but he has a track record of taking players and turning them into 1st Round picks. Cal’s players could have all been 1st round lottery picks, but they have to go to college for at least a year and with the DDMO he just lets them run free which gives them the most exposure. Works for us though.
September 1st, 2009 at 9:01 am
May Sergeant Cahair and all the members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines who have lost their lives fighing for our freedom rest in peace; they are true American Heroes. And may the families of all the men and women who have perished over seas find comfort in the thought that they are watching over them in the presence of God in Heaven.
September 1st, 2009 at 9:23 am
God Bless Sgt. Cahir. That’s a hero.
September 1st, 2009 at 9:45 am
Pitino supposedly was looking into for reasons other than Teague….supposedly
September 1st, 2009 at 9:53 am
DeCourCY
September 1st, 2009 at 9:55 am
Being a Vet from the Vietnam era all I can say is it’s almost been 40 years to the day I stepped foot back on American soil to see that the men and women of this great nation who serve our country get the accolades the so richly deserve. A heros welcome…… not being chided for doing what we had to do.
To the family of Sgt. Cahir and the thousands of other great American HEROS, we thank you for keeping our great country safe from those who seek to do us harm. “GOD BLESS YOU ALL”
September 1st, 2009 at 10:00 am
God only knows what he was fighting for, but this world could use more heros like Mr. Cahir.
September 1st, 2009 at 10:09 am
Do we have any recruits scheduled to be at our Midnight Madness? And which ones?
I’ve seen several others post this question, but have yet to see any answers. Maybe I missed it, idk. I think there are a lot of people curious about this, though. Could someone please respond, DR maybe…
September 1st, 2009 at 10:36 am
So if the kid commits to Looserville, to me, hiring his dad is little different than paying the kid. Of course there is no NCAA Rule to that regard. If it were Cal that did that, next year the NCAA would forfiet every championship that we had won, all the way back to Rupp.
September 1st, 2009 at 11:10 am
#19 - you may want to ask the president, because he seems to find it pretty darn important
September 1st, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Who, President Bush?
September 1st, 2009 at 4:27 pm
#23 (rancooley), you can ask President Obama who has already commited to sending more troops to Afghanistan and will soon commit to sending 17,000 to 23,000 more.
#19 (Lexslamman), unlike you, who can pick and choose where you work, go to school and which blogs to write posts on, members of the military can’t pick and choose which locations or wars that we feel are just or worthy of fighting. We serve our country and elected leaders wherever they send us. To say that “God only knows” what SGT Cahir was fighting for does him a grave injustice. He was fighting for the idea of what this country stands for and maybe he was trying to make it a better place for his family by doing his duty and what he believed in no matter where he was sent.
Please remember that and be more understanding….