CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) – A tweet of an Appalachian coal miner and his son at a Kentucky basketball game has gone viral, and now, the family has been featured on NBC’s TODAY.
The tweet was posted by University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari, and tons of users expressed their thanks to the dad in his mining uniform, now identified as Michael McGuire, for his love and commitment to his son. Some even called him the “dad of the year.”
In an interview with TODAY, Michael’s wife Mollie explained the role that basketball plays in their family’s life and how it is a bonding experience between her husband and their 3-year-old son Easton, who is pictured in the original post.
According to TODAY, Michael works long 6-day weeks as a coal miner 40 minutes away from the stadium, but he just “didn’t want to miss it.”
The entire McGuire family, including their 1-year-old daughter Lynlee, will be attending a game at Rupp Arena as VIP, thanks to tickets from Coach Cal.
For the full TODAY story, click here or watch the player above.
The original tweet from Coach Calipari also mentioned his family’s coal mining start in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
