During chat with Calipari, former president likens life to basketball, not golf.
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Coffee with Cal
University of Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari is hosting a weekly show on Facebook Live called “Coffee with Cal” in which he interviews influential individuals from the worlds of sports, media, politics and beyond. The shows are designed to benefit COVID-19 relief and draw attention to the Black Lives Matter movement. Click below to read the Herald-Leader’s stories recapping previous shows.
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Basketball and the coronavirus pandemic came together on the second episode of the “Coffee with Cal” show on Facebook on Monday. Kentucky Coach John Calipari asked his guest, former president Bill Clinton, about striking an optimistic tone.
Clinton answered with a reference to sports.
“Life is more like basketball than golf,” he said. “You play it together.”
Both host and guest called for a unity of purpose during the nearly hourlong show to benefit COVID-19 relief efforts.
“I think when the smoke clears, we’ll do what you do after a game,” Clinton told Calipari. “We say, ‘OK, here’s what we could have done better. Here’s what we can do to make it better going forward.’”
Calipari lamented what he called “tribalism,” which he defined as a widespread us-versus-them mentality in the country.
Clinton said that issues can and should be debated. But disagreement should not invite a demonization of someone on the other side.
One of the country’s strengths is its diversity, he said.
“We need to think of our differences as making life more interesting,” Clinton said. “But our common humanity matters even more.”
Clinton offered two examples of disagreement not devolving into personal attacks. He recalled being told that Trent Lott, then the leader of Republicans in the Senate, called him a “spoiled brat” on a Sunday morning interview show.
Clinton said he called Lott to commiserate about such shows. He said he told Lott he imagined the senator did not want to do the show, had a headache and was baited into calling the president a brat. Lott said that was more or less what led to the comment.
“We had three or four good weeks just because I put myself in his shoes instead of mine,” Clinton said. “We need to do more of that.”
When he was governor of Arkansas, Clinton said he and his wife, Hillary Clinton, sat with then-president George H.W. Bush at a luncheon. Hillary told Bush that the country’s child mortality rate was too high. Bush doubted that was true, so Hillary offered to provide collaborating data. Bush said he would look into it.
The next day, Bush acknowledged that Hillary Clinton had been correct.
“He didn’t feel weakened by that,” Clinton said. “He felt enlarged by that.”
A moment later, Clinton added, “There was such a thing as facts back then.”
Presidents as coaches
Calipari and Clinton returned to the twinning of basketball and politics later in the show. Calipari asked what former presidents might have excelled as coaches.
“I think it’s almost easier to say what basketball coach would make the best president,” Clinton quipped.
Clinton then suggested Barack Obama “because, like me, he’s just obsessed with the game.”
Of Franklin Roosevelt, Clinton said, “He was so full of guts and he never gave up. I think he would have been very inspirational.”
Clinton also mentioned Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman and President Bush, father and son.
‘Excited after a loss’
Calipari recalled Clinton attending a game in which UMass played at George Washington. GW won.
“Normally, I’m devastated after a loss,” Calipari said.
This time Calipari was told immediately after the game that the president wanted to speak to the UMass team. Permission was granted, and Calipari noticed that Clinton knew the players’ names.
“It was the only time in my career I was, like, excited after a loss,” Calipari said.
Basketball fandom
Calipari asked why Clinton became a basketball fan.
Clinton cited his friendship with Eddie Sutton when Sutton was Arkansas coach. During one of Clinton’s races, Sutton’s wife, Patsy, led his campaign in Washington County, which is where the University of Arkansas is.
Clinton also befriended Sutton’s successor, Nolan Richardson. He said he defended Richardson when the coach missed some games because a daughter had leukemia.
“Some of the people who I thought were totally clueless jumped all over him because he missed a few games,” Clinton said. “And because we didn’t go to the (NCAA) tournament that year.
“And I thought, what’s the matter with these people. So, I took up for him, and we became friends.”
UK’s Zion?
Calipari and Clinton kidded around about Kentucky having already successfully recruited the former president’s new grandson. Jasper Clinton Mezvinsky was born last July.
“I think he’s going to be Kentucky’s Zion Williamson,” Clinton said. “Because he’s already the size of the average 2-year-old. He’s in his 3-year-old brother’s clothes. He’s so big I can hardly pick him up.”
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 3:44 PM.
