I don’t believe there is much dissension over the fact that, in the Bluegrass, basketball is king. College basketball, to be more precise. The generations of rivalry between those who bleed blue and those awash in red is something of a precious (although, for the life of me, I do not understand it) heirloom torch, passed on to our offspring like a genetic trait. Hoops in the “Ville” are not to be reckoned with by any stretch of the imagination. But once upon a time Louisville went beyond cheering for our favorite young, sweaty coeds; once upon a time there was a professional team known as the Kentucky Colonels – a Bluegrass experiment in the NBA that was at once both short-lived and storming.
Co-authors Gary P. West and Lloyd “Pink” Gardner revisit the colorful story of Louisville’s championship team that vanished with their new book Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association: The Real Story of a Team Left Behind. West and Gardner offer special and fascinating insight into the team that would win a world championship and then extinguish seemingly overnight. Gardner, a trainer for the Colonels, and West, a sportswriter and color commentator, combine forces to bring to light the accounts of owners, agents and players into one cohesive narrative about the forceful team left behind in a blaze of glory.
Join West and Gardner at Carmichaels’ Frankfort Avenue location this Saturday, January 21st at 4pm to hear the story first hand and revive the Colonels for a new generation of hoop fans. Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association: The Real Story of a Team Left Behind is available for sale at Carmichael’s in hardcover for $29.95; pick up your copy and spend this Saturday celebrating Louisville’s greatest lost team.
Carmichael’s Bookstore has two area locations: 1295 Bardstown Road and 2720 Frankfort Avenue
For more information about the Kentucky Colonels event, visit the event page or call the Frankfort Avenue store at 896-6950
Image: Courtesy of Carmichael’s Bookstore website www.carmichaelsbookstore.com
