Norton West Louisville Hospital, Frazier’s 120 Exhibit Opens with History-Making Performance, Brian West on Kenny Payne’s Exit, and More
When we started our Bridging the Divide programs at the Frazier in 2019, I hoped for more dialogue in our city on tough issues, more connections between us as a community, certainly more understanding and compassion for each other, and ways the Frazier could be a conduit to any kind of progress to move us forward as one.
That kind of work is never done. But I will say an upcoming free program on April 9 has me hopeful that Louisville is taking an important step forward in bridging divides, and we can be that conduit to help.
Bridging the Divide: Norton West Louisville Hospital flyer. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
The Frazier is partnering with Norton Healthcare for a community conversation about Norton West Louisville Hospital opening in November. You’ll be able to meet the leadership team here at the Frazier and learn about job opportunities at the new hospital.
We’ll also talk with Russell F. Cox, president and CEO of Norton Healthcare, who says your zip code can no longer come into play with your health status. And you’ll meet Corenza Townsend, the chief administrative officer of the new hospital, the powerhouse who helped plant the seed to build the first hospital in more than 150 years in West Louisville.
Goodwill Opportunity Center rendering. Credit: Goodwill Industries.
There is another sign of hope at Twenty-eighth and Broadway: Goodwill Industries will officially open its West Louisville Opportunity Center on that same campus this week.
Add together both ventures and you have the Norton Healthcare Goodwill Opportunity Campus, a campus of lifestyle enrichment and healthcare. It adds up to an investment of about $100 million—money well spent to bridge divides that have plagued this city for far too long.
Join us April 9 to learn more about this major step forward for our community. Click here to reserve your space.
Rachel Platt
VP of Mission
Frazier History Museum
This Week in the Museum
Yodeler Phoebe White (Laurel County) and the Frazier’s Mick Sullivan and Kent Klarer lead a special rendition of “Blue Moon of Kentucky” to kick off the opening of the Frazier’s 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit, March 15, 2024. Singing backup are over thirty Kentucky musicians whose songs are featured in the exhibit: from left, Tiny Tiny (Pulaski County), Asly Toro (Jefferson County), Samantha Ayres of RYVOLI (Fayette County), Cade Crider (Crittenden County), Sue Massek (Washington County), Aunt Molly Jackson portrayed by Anne Shelby (Clay County), Scout Larken (Carlisle County), Our Transient Lives (Simpson County), Gravel Switch (Russell County), Larnelle Harris (Boyle County), Fred Keams (Mercer County), Jeff Murray (Bracken County), Nine Pound Hammer (Daviess County), Senora May (Estill County), Hong Shao (Jessamine County), RISK (Lyon County), and Nappy Roots (Warren County). Out of frame are the Kentucky Gentlemen (Woodford County), Army of Life (Meade County), Lorinda Jones (Monroe County), and Kelley Ray King (Robertson County). Credit: Frazier History Museum.
On Friday, the Frazier made Kentucky magic happen.
We hosted an open house to showcase our new 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit. The exhibit consists of two large touch screen monitors that display maps of Kentucky, in addition to select images and objects from around the state. When you touch a county on the maps, you’ll find a text story and image, a video, and a song by an artist from that county.
To celebrate the opening, we invited some of the 120 musicians whose songs are featured in the exhibit to be honored in front our visitors. Since I was the staff member who curated the 120-song playlist, I got to introduce thirty-four of these musicians, one by one, in front of an audience of hundreds of Kentuckians from all across the state. At the end, the musician representing Laurel County—a fourteen-year-old yodeling sensation named Phoebe White—led my colleagues Mick Sullivan and Kent Klarer in a rousing rendition of Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” The honored musicians—a grab bag of indie, country, folk, gospel, hip hop, Chinese traditional, Irish traditional, Latin pop, Native American flute, cowpunk, garage rock, “prison rock,” feminist hillbilly, and ambient artists—sang backup vocals.
It was a banner moment in Kentucky music history!
The exhibit opening featured much more than just music, though. The vendors included tourism bureaus, scholars, historians, podcasters, museums, libraries, battle sites, distilleries, breweries, wineries, restaurants, and cultural organizations from all corners of the Commonwealth. Visitors played rolley-hole marbles (Monroe County), drank Ale-8-One (Clark County), tasted wines (Bracken County) and Bourbons (Breckinridge County), and sampled delicious barbecue (Henderson County). Costumed reenactors brought Civil War camp scenes and nineteenth-century harmonies to life. Colonel and Claudia Sanders reenactors posed for photos. Best of all, visitors got to use the 120 touch screen to learn stories, myths, and legends from their own counties and many, many more.
I extended a heartfelt thank you to everyone who made the trip to Louisville on Friday to partake in this one-of-a-kind exhibit opening. In the weeks and months to come, we’ll continue to share with you content from our 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit!
For a small selection of photos of the event, click the link below.
Frazier president Andy Treinen introduces a performance by yodeler Phoebe White (Laurel County), March 15, 2024. Credit: Meade County Tourism.
Rock band Army of Life (Meade County) poses beside the Brandenburg-based River Forge Brewery table, March 15, 2024. Credit: Meade County Tourism.
From front, visitors check out tables for Richmond Tourism (Madison County), the Lincoln Museum (LaRue County), and the band RISK (Lyon County), March 15, 2024. Credit: Meade County Tourism.
Visitors gather around the 120 exhibit, March 15, 2024. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
Franklin Tourism (Simpson County) and Smith Holler Distillery (Breckinridge County) offer promotional materials and tastings, March 15, 2024. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
A vendor offers merchandise and a rolley-hole marble game (Monroe County), March 15, 2024. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
Buffalo Stille of Nappy Roots (Jefferson County) in cowboy hat and drummer D. Wayne of RISK (Lyon County) in baseball cap pose, March 15, 2024. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
Ambient pianist Jared Rosdeutscher (Simpson County), who makes music under the name Our Transient Lives, and his partner Mercy read the Simpson County story in 120, March 15, 2024. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
The Stephen Foster Singers (Nelson County) perform, March 15, 2024. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
Buffalo Stille of Nappy Roots (Jefferson County) dances for yodeler Phoebe White (Laurel County), March 15, 2024. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
Simon Meiners
Communications & Research Specialist
Frazier’s Free Family Day Attracts 800 Kids, Parents, and Guests
Select photos from the Frazier’s last Free Family Day, March 9, 2024. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
Huzzah! Thanks to everyone who came out and made our recent Saturday Family Day so great! We had a full house of excited families (around 800 guests!) and wonderful performances. Thanks especially to the Fund for the Arts, Frazier staff, Mary Shelley Electric Co. (for puppets and accompaniment), Thomas Deakin and Ken Allday (for great music in the Great Hall), and our community partners who spread the word. We are so proud and excited when we can share our resources with so many community members. Let’s do it again soon.
On that note, camps are next on the Education team’s agenda. We’ll keep the fun going with Spring Break Camp, April 2–4, and then Summer Camp, June 3–July 26. Learn more or register here!
Zach Bramel
Manager of Youth & Family Programs
Beats by Ponyboy to DJ Rooftop Afterparty at Frazier Gala
Beats by Ponyboy Rooftop Afterparty flyer. Credit: Beats by Ponyboy.
As we prepare for the April 12 gala, a Night at the Museum: Celebrating 20 Years of the Frazier, we’re excited to announce that Beats by Ponyboy will DJ the Rooftop Afterparty! Secure your access now by getting Party Tickets or Late Night Party tickets to the event. Learn more about the food, drinks, activations, and entertainment here!
Sippin’ with Stephen: Lexington Lemonades with RD1’s Sydney Disponett
As the official starting point of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, the Frazier History Museum shares stories of the people, places, and producers of the Kentucky Bourbon industry. To learn more, visit our Kentucky Bourbon Trail® Welcome Center or tour our Spirit of Kentucky® exhibition.—Simon Meiners, Communications & Research Specialist
In today’s episode of Sippin’ with Stephen, I chat with my friend Sydney Disponett. Sydney is the Kentucky state sales manager for RD1 Spirits, located in Lexington. We discuss RD1’s core product offerings, distillery expansion, tourism opportunities, and the fact that RD1 is the next release in Bourbon Limited! Finally, Sydney highlights one of RD1’s signature cocktails, Lexington Lemonade.
Recipe for Lexington Lemonade
Ingredients:
2 oz. RD1 Bourbon
2 oz. lemonade
2 oz. orange juice
Instructions:
Pour ingredients into large pitcher and stir well. Serve over ice and garnish with an orange or lemon wheel. For those hot summer days, consider substituting frozen lemonade for a blended icy cocktail.
Stephen Yates
Community & Corporate Sales Manager
Jack Harlow to Bring Gazebo Festival to Waterfront Park
Gazebo Festival flyer. Credit: Gazebo.
If you haven’t heard, there’s a new music festival coming to town. Hometown hero Jack Harlow recently improved his already stellar record of supporting Louisville and the local music industry by announcing Gazebo Festival, a two-day event featuring (mostly) hip-hop artists at Louisville’s Waterfront Park on Memorial Day weekend, May 25 and 26. Jack headlines the show along with SZA, as part of her SOS Tour and coming off multiple recent Grammy wins. The rest of the lineup mixes artists at the height of their careers with several rapidly rising acts, including Kentucky-raised rapper James Savage.
Artwork for Before the First Leaf Falls by James Savage that depicts a Kentucky boat registration, 2023. Credit: IV.
In many ways, Gazebo Festival is filling the gap left by Forecastle’s hiatus. The last Forecastle Festival in 2022 was also Memorial Day weekend, also at Waterfront Park, and also featured Jack Harlow. With no plans announced for Forecastle’s return, Gazebo is a welcome and well-timed addition to Louisville’s festival calendar and complements the wide variety of music already available. We’ve got rock & roll at Louder Than Life, blues at Garvin Gate, jazz, reggae, and even an entire Beatles tribute festival—but Gazebo found its opening and is bringing fresh ideas to an eager audience. General admission and VIP tickets are available now with a portion of the proceeds benefiting local community organizations through the Jack Harlow Foundation.
Jack isn’t shy about philanthropy and has been one of Louisville’s highest-profile champions in the years since his 2020 debut album That’s What They All Say. He has made donations both independently and through his foundation to local organizations like Adelante Hispanic Achievers, Louisville Ballet, and Neighborhood House, given away 1,000 pairs of shoes through Metro United Way, and teamed up with Yum! Brands to donate $250,000 to the American Red Cross after the 2021 tornado in Western Kentucky. He’s a Frazier supporter, too, having recently contributed to our 20th anniversary campaign.
As a celebrated Kentuckian and friend of the museum, Jack is represented in the Frazier’s Cool Kentucky exhibition. You can find his MTV Video Music Award in our Entertaining Kentucky gallery alongside memorabilia from his appearance on The Tonight Show and his role in White Men Can’t Jump. And while you’re patiently waiting for the Gazebo Festival’s mobile app to be released, you can learn about other Kentucky entertainers and so much more on our mobile app Frazier+.
Kent Klarer
Grant Manager & Writer
20th Anniversary Photo: Jack Harlow Crashes our Alley, 2017
Still from music video for “DARK KNIGHT” by Jack Harlow, 2017. Credit: BCSPhotography.
On October 27, 2017, a baby-faced local rapper named Jack Harlow released the music video for his song “DARK KNIGHT” on YouTube. The video for the song (caution: it has explicit lyrics) was filmed behind the Frazier and its neighbors, on Washington Street between Eighth and Ninth, where Jack and his crew dance, pose, and play with fidget spinners. “DARK KNIGHT” would be the second single off his EP Gazebo—a name he would, in 2024, recycle for his debut music festival at Waterfront Park!
Simon Meiners
Communications & Research Specialist
Frazier 20th anniversary graphic. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
To mark our 20th anniversary, every other month in 2024, we’re publishing a new 20-item listicle in Frazier Weekly. Today, we’re spotlighting 20 different exhibitions the Frazier has hosted!
British Royal Armouries USA, May 22, 2004–January 19, 2015. On display were 300 European artifacts dating from 1066 to the 1960s borrowed from the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds.
Fontaine Ferry Park: A Time of Innocence, May 16–September 8, 2009. This exhibition explored the warts-and-all history of the Louisville amusement park that operated from 1905 to 1969.
Water Works, October 23, 2010–May 1, 2011. This exhibition explored Louisville Water’s evolution from deadly contamination issues to winning “Best-Tasting Tap Water in America.”
The Good, the Bad, the Cuddly, November 20, 2010–March 27, 2011. This exhibition about toys and the movies included toys, art, and memorabilia from all three Disney/PIXAR Toy Story films.
Da Vinci: The Genius, May 14–September 18, 2011. This exhibition celebrated Italian Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci with replicas of full-scale machines drawn in his notebooks.
Samurai, May 12–September 30, 2012. Featuring arms, armor, and cultural artifacts, Samurai explored the arts and philosophy of the military nobility of medieval and early modern Japan.
Diana: A Celebration, September 15, 2012–January 13, 2013. This retrospective on Diana, Princess of Wales, featured more than 150 of her belongings, including her royal wedding gown.
Spirits of the Passage: The Story of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, February 2–June 16, 2013. On display were 150 objects salvaged from the Henrietta Marie, a slave ship that sank in 1700.
Mythic Creatures, May 11–September 15, 2013. This exhibition on cryptozoology looked at the origins of dragons, kraken, mermaids, Pegasus, phoenixes, unicorns, and other mythic creatures.
The Stewart Historic Miniatures Collection, opened September 27, 2016. This permanent exhibition includes some 30,000 miniatures donated by Frankfort collector Charles W. Stewart.
The Hunger Games: The Exhibition, April 1–September 10, 2017. On display were maps, props, and costumes from the dystopian film franchise, include Katniss’s bow and Girl on Fire dress.
Magnificent Mona Bismarck, March 15–July 29, 2018. This exhibition on a 1930s style icon from Louisville featured clothes made by Cristóbal Balencia, Hubert de Givenchy, and Emilio Pucci.
The Spirit of Kentucky®, opened August 30, 2018. This permanent exhibition celebrates the history, craft, and culture of Kentucky Bourbon whiskey, America’s only native spirit.
Kentucky Craft Luminaries, November 19, 2018–March 24, 2019. On display were artworks from eighteen Kentucky artists, including quilts, ceramics, baskets, bead art, and furniture.
Freak Power: Hunter S. Thompson’s Campaign for Sheriff, April 30–September 2, 2019. This exhibition featured memorabilia from the Louisville native’s 1970 campaign for sheriff of Aspen.
Celebrating the Sounds of Kentucky, September 13, 2019–January 2021. This exhibition explore Kentucky music from folk and bluegrass to Loretta Lynn, Bryson Tiller, and My Morning Jacket.
What is a Vote Worth? Suffrage Then and Now, June 11, 2020–August 1, 2021. This exhibition marked the centennial of women’s suffrage with artifacts and miscellanea from the movement.
Cool Kentucky, opened December 3, 2020. This permanent exhibition on Kentucky pop culture includes artifacts from rapper Jack Harlow, actor Jennifer Lawrence, and novelist Sue Grafton.
West of Ninth: Race, Reckoning, and Reconciliation, September 18, 2021–September 2022. Curated by Walt and Shae Smith, this exhibition explored the neighborhoods of West Louisville.
Commonwealth: Divided we Fall, opened June 1, 2022. This permanent exhibition sheds lights on the lives of workers, families, and ordinary Kentuckians from the Ice Age to the 1900s.
Simon Meiners
Communications & Research Specialist
Bridging the Divide
Breaking the Color Barrier: Black Women in Baseball
Our Bridging the Divide program next week will cover how Baseball Commissioner and Kentucky native A. B. “Happy” Chandler was pivotal in breaking baseball’s “color barrier” by giving the necessary approval to Jackie Robinson’s contract in 1947. But what about before that? Specifically, in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) that began in 1943. It was a league in which Black women were not allowed to play. However, like the strong, Black women they were, they still found a way to play—and much earlier than the 1940s, too.
“In 1883, newspapers started carrying stories of a team called the Dolly Vardens playing in the Philadelphia area,” National Baseball Hall of Fame curatorial consultant Leslie Heaphy writes. “Reading these stories surprised many to discover the team was a roster of Black women . . . One of their opponents was another Black women’s team called Captain Jinks. Wearing their long skirts, colorful belts, and caps, these ladies entertained fans with some high-scoring games. The Dolly Vardens played a variety of local competition . . . though the results were rarely covered. Reporters tended to focus more on their attire and their gender than they did the actual games.”
Sound familiar?
Talking about this always brings up scenes in my head of my favorite movie, A League of their Own (1992). In the movie, we follow the Rockford Peaches during their “training”—a training that involves attending charm and beauty school that teaches “proper” etiquette and mannerisms. Meanwhile, the players are forced to comply with one of the tightest and most unorthodox dress codes for athletes that has most likely ever been seen. There are scenes of non-athletic men mocking and heckling the women who were warming up for their games; there are even heinous scenes of the players being forced to kiss men in the stands for publicity reasons to garner more traction within their community.
Victorian mansion used in the 1992 movie A League Of their Own, undated. The house is located 612 North Main Street, Henderson, Kentucky. Credit: Kentucky Travels, Facebook.
But the scenes that I love the most are those filmed within the Rockford Peaches Boarding House. Why? Because that house has roots in Kentucky. Although most of the filming during production was completed in Illinois and Evansville, Indiana, the boarding house is a Kentucky community staple. The Soaper-Esser House, located at 612 North Main Street in Henderson, is made up of three stories and a full basement. Although this Victorian Mansion home was built in 1894, the house was decorated to fit the look of a 1940s boarding house.
Knowing that my favorite movie has a Kentucky connection makes me love it that much more!
Make sure to come out to our Bridging the Divide program next week to celebrate another way that Kentucky has ties to America’s favorite pastime live and direct from the lineage that made Jackie Robinson’s career possible.
Experience more by saving more—Contributor-level members and above save $5 per ticket!
Amanda Egan
Membership Manager
History All Around Us
A Brief History of Louisville’s Ties to France, 1770s–Present
Fleur-de-lis, Bourbon, Louis-ville . . . take a stroll through one of Louisville’s neighborhoods like Portland, NuLu, or the Highlands, and you will find countless allusions to our historical ties to France.
Selected France- and French culture–inspired locations in Louisville, March 2024. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
March 20 is International Francophone Day, or La Journée internationale de la francophonie. I thought this week an ideal time to celebrate the beautiful connections between my hometown, Louisville, Kentucky, and France, a country that has captivated my heart time and time again.
I grew up recognizing the fleur-de-lis as the symbol of our city, and for many of us Louisvillians, this floral emblem is a badge of honor and point of pride. The French monarchy adopted the fleur-de-lis on its coat of arms as far back as the High Middle Ages, and it was the unique right of the royal French family to wear that symbol upon their person. I sometimes wonder what Henri II and Louis XIV would think of us today clothed in fleur-de-lis t-shirts and bearing their fleur-de-lis tattooed on our skin!
Our friendship with France dates to the American Revolution, George Rogers Clark and Jean-Marie Marquis de Lafayette, the settlements of the Ohio River Valley, and the Shippingport neighborhood. In fact, some speculate that the origin of Kentucky’s favorite spirit, Bourbon, originated in this very neighborhood thanks to the ingenuity of two French brothers, Jean and Louis Tarascon. If there is any truth to this myth, then I must give a grand merci to these enterprising brothers for charring their barrels and aging white dog into Bourbon! This could be the perfect moment for a joke about entrepreneur being a French word, but instead I will highlight a modern business that opened in NuLu this past year. GoJob is a digital staffing agency, and their founder and CEO, Pascal Lorne, recognized the upward growth and vital energy of Louisville when he chose it for his headquarters. They are not the only company to see potential in Louisville! Scientific pharmaceutical company Eurofins and automotive manufacturer Faurecia have also invested in the city in the past few years.
Is it a coincidence that GoJob is situated next door to a boutique that sells one of France’s most iconic desserts? Walk down Market Street and you will not want to pass up Macaron Bar, a small establishment that carries creative and scrumptious flavors of meringue desserts. Paristown, situated between Smoketown and the Original Highlands, has much to offer and boasts a lively night scene with an outdoor music venue, café, and bars. Just a hop away discover the ambiance of Nouvelle, a neighborhood wine bar and bottle shop with outdoor terrasse ideal for conversation, community, and conviviality. Owner John Grisanti believes that “Life is too short to drink bad wine,” and I could not agree more!
I am constantly introduced to new experiences and people in Louisville who reinforce my connection to France and my nostalgia for a delicious croissant, artfully cultivated wine, and smelly French cheese, among other things. On March 20, I encourage you to discover French culture in Louisville for yourself. I encourage you to visit Louisville’s Alliance Française chapter website to stay up to date on all things Francophone in the city.
Leslie Anderson
Partnership Manager
Former U of L coach Denny Crum hugs incoming coach Kenny Payne as Payne arrives in Louisville, March 17, 2022. Credit: Eric Crawford, WDRB.
Kenny Payne, center, is greeted by his former U of L basketball coaches Denny Crum, left, and Wade Houston, right, as Payne arrives in Louisville, March 17, 2022. Credit: Pat McDonogh, Courier Journal.
We all remember the pictures of Denny Crum and Wade Houston embracing Kenny Payne as he arrived by plane in Louisville as the new head basketball coach on March 17, 2022. It was Payne’s first job as a head coach. He also became the first Black head coach at his alma mater. Both Crum and Houston were personally invested in the hire since they coached Payne at U of L from 1985 to 1989, including that national championship in 1986. On December 7, 2022, the Frazier hosted a program to honor Denny Crum as his health began to wane, with many players from his two championship teams showing up to pay tribute to Crum, who watched the program from home. That night, many of those players pledged their support for Payne, who was on the road recruiting and couldn’t join us. It was a full circle moment, a passing of the torch to a new era with such high hopes. It hasn’t turned out the way anyone wanted, and just about everyone has an opinion. I don’t know Payne, but he seems like a good guy, and I hate it for him. I know Denny would, too. Our resident diehard U of L fan Brian West has his own take on things. See what you think.—Rachel Platt, VP of Mission
Friends, Cards fans, Kentuckians—lend me your ears;
I come to parse Payne’s career, not to praise it!
Shakespeare parody aside, Kenny Payne’s dismissal as Louisville’s head basketball coach was dispatched almost quickly as the death of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March. Two days before the anniversary of that ominous day—when in 44 BC the dictator was killed by a group of senators in Ancient Rome—the school announced that Payne would not return next season as Louisville men’s basketball head coach. This happened shortly after Payne had arrived back in Louisville via a flight from Washington, DC, the location of the team’s inevitable exit from the year’s ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament.
It is a steep fall from grace for Payne, whose arrival was hailed by many fans as a new hope after the school and Chris Mack had agreed to part ways in January 2022. Instead, Payne’s time as coach translated into two abysmal seasons of futility and confusion for players and fans, on the court and off the court. The off-the-court confusion did not rear its ugly head until year two.
Before the second act of this modern Shakespearean tragedy played out, there remained a time of grace. In fact, in December 2022 former teammates of Payne’s from Louisville’s 1986 National Championship team, along with other Louisville basketball legends and coaches, vouchsafed Payne as the right hire for U of L during an evening event at the Frazier to honor Denny Crum (1937–2023).
As a Louisville fan since the age of nine, I confess that it was wonderful to see all those legends of Louisville basketball (Darrell Griffith, Roger Burkman, Wiley Brown, Daryl Cleveland [Mr. Jerry’s son-in-law … iykyk], Milt Wagner, Lancaster Gordon, Wade Houston, et al.) together for one night, one last time before Coach Crum eventually passed.
I was deeply touched by the love they all showed to Crum, and the support shown for Kenny Payne while under extreme duress. Nevertheless, despite the sentiments expressed that night, the on-the-court struggles for Kenny Payne’s Cards did not cease in 2022, continuing well into the new year, and beyond.
And sadly, to my and many other fans’ chagrin, the coup de grace of this entire affair was thrust by Payne himself, minutes after Louisville’s last game of the 2023–24 season. After the Cards’ season-ending loss in the ACC Tournament, Payne was asked by WDRB sports director Tyler Greever about his future as U of L’s head coach.
Payne’s response was worthy of Caesar before the fall, reminding the media that on his first day with the program he said “I needed everyone on the same page.” He then added that, “We sort of forgot that . . . I needed all of Louisville with me. We sort of forgot that . . . It’s gonna take time, and I am gonna watch and see who jumped off and on [sic] the Titanic. We sort of forgot that.”
If I were Greever, I would have said, “You are keen, my lord, you are keen.” But I digress.
That Titanic line was not something Payne had said verbatim on his first day on the job in 2022 as U of L’s coach. (Longtime local sports journalist Rick Bozich kindly embedded a link to the transcript of Payne’s introduction at U of L from March 2022.) Rather, it was a line he relayed to Judge Derwin Webb this year.
Again, based on Bozich’s reporting, Payne relayed that sinking ship comment during an interview with the Honorable Derwin Webb on the judge’s podcast series Perspective with Derwin L. Webb. That episode—more than likely recorded before Louisville’s last regular season game versus Boston College—was uploaded as a video on YouTube on March 9, 2024.
To be fair, Payne did say in 2022 that he needed the support of the community and fans when “things are really going bad” and couldn’t “do the job by myself,” but never did he say or imply that he would be mindful of those who gave and those who dropped their support. To add, it’s also fair to report that during that same presser, when asked by then-WLKY sports director Fred Cowgill about the changing landscape of recruiting and development in the face of “Name, Image, and Likeness,” Payne offered this as a response.
“If I do my job, which I’m not going to do by myself, it’s never going to be about Kenny Payne. It’s always going to be the kids who do it. I’ll take the blame, you’ll help me take the blame, but I’m going to put the success of the program on the kids.”
Yet, the problem, in this author’s estimation (to be sure from a passionate fan’s perspective, not that of either a sports entertainment personality or a journalist) was that Payne never took the blame when he and the team faltered. He would place the onus on the players and the media.
Playing the Devil’s Advocate, I will say that this year Payne and the program did face struggles on the court which, in some respects, were more stark than any Louisville had faced in the previous year: a career-ending medical diagnosis for freshman and 5-star recruit Dennis Evans; a season-ending shoulder injury to upperclassman JJ Traynor; and injuries to playmakers Ty-Laur Johnson and Skyy Clark during key stretches of the season, when at one point the team could only field seven players total for a game.
But, more importantly, even with on-the-court maladies, Payne would often ask for support from the community, and fans, but failed to ask for help from those who could have really provided him with succor: donors, supporters of the University.
It is no secret that during his tenure Payne declined to mine the portal for experienced upperclassmen and refused to lean into NIL to attract more recruits, a resource which Eric Crawford himself has said is one of the richest in college basketball.
Ultimately, since Division I athletics is a cold business, and the University of Louisville remains a basketball destination (if you don’t believe me, ask Matt Jones), Payne need look no further than the mirror to find the person with whom things went wrong with the program and fans; the one who is primarily responsible for sinking the aspirations of himself, his staff, the city, and the community, and Louisville men’s basketball.
Payne never helmed on the Titanic. The Titanic sunk 111 years ago (may God bless the souls of those who perished aboard her). To her credit, before that actual tragedy, she did have enough steam in her at the beginning to leave the dock and head somewhere!
By contrast, Payne to his discredit could only move the needle here twice during his sixty-four games as head coach: two upset wins, both of which happened well into his second year as head coach; one at Miami in early January and another versus Florida State last month.
Otherwise—even after the threat of NCAA sanctions had been lifted, even when Payne got his guys in for his second year—Payne and his crew lost any momentum they had from those “signature” wins, and remained permanently docked onshore, like the Belle does during wintertime.
Regrettably, Kenny Payne’s time here in Louisville as a head coach turned out to be a failure to launch.
In the end, Kenny Payne didn’t win those games, after all.
Postscript:
Josh Heird knows, the fans know, and the school knows that a repeat performance of the box office bomb that was the Kenny Payne Era must be avoided, at all costs. Eric Crawford said as much during a WDRB news segment last Wednesday, stating that when the time comes U of L donors will be ready to donate money, both Payne’s buyout and that for his successor. Heird guaranteed, during the press conference announcing Payne’s firing, that the next hire must be an already-proven commodity as a head coach.
I think Baylor head coach Scott Drew—the current favorite—would be Fool’s Gold for the program. He has won it all, but like Jared Stillman said, does he have twenty years of coaching left in him? Heird himself said that he wants someone who will be here for the long haul.
That argument would also cancel out UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin as a candidate. Still, though he’s got some tread on those tires, the rims have made a lot of runs through the Tournament. And if media reports (and Twitter trolls) are to be believed, he likes the horses here in Kentucky, and would “crawl” his way to Louisville, if offered the chance to captain the ship.
Jamie Dixon does not appeal to me, at all. Dusty May and Josh Schertz seem like leaders in waiting, but maybe not ready for primetime, yet.
Personally speaking, if Billy Donovan were offered the job, and he accepted it, I would carry his luggage as soon as his plane touched down at Louisville International.
Seriously, until Josh Heird and the school reveal more info about their search and their short list (which could take time), “the rest is silence.”
Brian West
Teaching Artist
