By: LARRY VAUGHT
If you were at yesterday's Cat Walk before Kentucky played Florida, there was something missing.
Stanley Williams, the father of UK running back Boom Williams, entertained fans at the Cat Walk last year and then this season came out in shoulder pads, cleats, football pants, jersey and even eye black for the Louisiana-Lafayette game and really got the Cat Walk crowd hyped before the players arrived. ESPN liked it so much that they featured him on air.
He wore the same gear at South Carolina — and also had his megaphone with him again — and once again was a hit with fans.
Today he arrived at the stadium about nine hours before kickoff and roamed the area talking and mingling with fans. I spent about 20 minutes with him and 30 fans came to take pictures.
“I must have taken 200 photos at one spot earlier,” Williams said.
But as the Cat Walk crowd gathered, he suddenly vanished.
What happened?
“The (UK) policeman told me that (UK coach Mark) Stoops did not want me out there and I couldn’t be,” Williams said.
Say what? The UK coach would not want the father of a player helping energize Commonwealth Stadium’s second straight sellout crowd and setting the pregame tone for enthusiasm.
Fan after fan came saw Williams and asked him why he was not out there.
Comments ranged from “do it anyway” to “tell Stoops to kiss my A?!” to “how crazy is that even for Kentucky.”
In fairness, there’s no way of knowing if Stoops really sent that message or not. I would tend to think he would have delivered any message like that directly to Williams himself instead of just happening to mention it to a random policeman who happened to be exactly where Williams was at the Cat Walk getting ready to energize fans.
Kentucky football needs more excitement, not less. While Boom Williams can provide the excitement on the field, his father has done a great job with the pregame atmosphere and has become a fan favorite. He even wore a blue wig today as a new touch for his game-day outfit.
We’re going to discuss this on WLAP (630 AM) Sunday morning along with having singer J.D. Shelburne, who did a great job with the pregame concert, on to discuss the pregame and game.
Hopefully whatever happened this week can be worked out and Williams will be back out energizing and entertaining fans when UK hosts Missouri Sept. 26.
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