(Editor’s note: as we head into the final hours preceding the U.S. Presidential Election, we revisit and republish some of the sports and pop culture stories that we have run in recent years relating to the electoral process. Here is one from 2016 about Gene Keady)
Speaking in Cleveland today, Donald Trump covered a litany of topics, first and foremost his much discussed and hyper analyzed Republican National Convention Acceptance speech from last night.
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Trump then shifted gears to his notorious feud with Texas Senator Ted Cruz before discussing his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence.
The Republican nominee then described why he loves the state of Indiana and this included mentioning a cadre of coaches with elite won-loss records.
The names mentioned were Bobby Knight, Digger Phelps (ok, not everybody on this list has an elite record), Lou Holtz and “Gene.”
Trump, who didn’t mention any of the schools affiliated with the coaches by name, struggled to locate the name Gene Keady in his memory bank. It was more of a “you know, Gene” or “that Gene guy” kind of, for a lack of a better phrase, shout-out.
Here’s a Tweet from the Executive sports producer at WBAL-TV, Baltimore
Gene Keady was the coach he was searching for.
— Chris Dachille (@WBALDash) July 22, 2016
In other words, Trump probably has no actual idea who Gene Keady really is, or what he’s accomplished in the Big Ten, but an advisor probably informed him that the court at Mackey Arena is named after somebody important and he should list that somebody important if he wants to appeal to Purdue Boilermakers everywhere.
The remarks also transparently convey his attempt to appeal to Indiana Hoosiers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish fans as well. Trump needs to turn Indiana from slightly red to solid red in order to stand any chance in the electoral college map.
While the Gene Keady mention was just an awkward minor glitch, the Lou Holtz reference was an obvious blatant political mistake.
Holtz, who has a statue erected of him at Notre Dame Stadium, is completely toxic right now due to his bizarre and bigoted anti-immigrant rant on Tuesday at the RNC.
Why Trump would continue to associate his/the GOP brand with Holtz in the wake of the former ND’s expressed xenophobic and intolerant views is beyond the scope of reason. Alluding to Digger probably won’t register as Phelps is too obscure a figure these days.
Referencing Bobby Knight could be risky too, as Knight is notorious for his extremist and fringe worldview.
But hey, there’s a reason we draw parallels between Trump and the President in the 2006 Mike Judge film Idiocracy.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.