Fightin' Words

More than 100 years ago, the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville met for the first time on the basketball court. More than 30 years ago, the intrastate rivals faced each other in the original “Dream Game.” Fightin’ Words has the inside stories of these games and others from the rivalry, as well as tales of how Louisville coach Denny Crum out-recruited Joe B. Hall for the athletes in inner-city Louisville; how Rick Pitino had a dominant tenure at UK, then left to become the Cardinals’ coach; how John Calipari brought UK back on top; and much more. The book covers everything from the 12 games between the rivals before the 1983 game, the 24-year buildup (and 61 years since the last regular season matchup) to the 1983 game and how it finally became an annual rivalry, and then individual chapters for the 31 UK/UL games since. Each chapter contains pregame analysis, game coverage, and postgame discussion, with firsthand interviews from players involved. The authors reveal the effects of each game on both teams and on the history of college basketball. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Joe Cox grew up a University of Kentucky fan and graduated from the University of Louisville law school. This is his third book. Ryan Clark is a journalist who has also written or cowritten three books on Kentucky basketball. He works for Northern Kentucky University and is pursuing a PhD from the University of Kentucky. Denny Crum was a player and assistant coach under John Wooden at UCLA. He became the head coach of the University of Louisville in 1971 and guided the Cardinals to two NCAA championships. Joe B. Hall was a player and assistant coach under Adolph Rupp at the University of Kentucky. In 1972 he was hired to succeed Rupp as head coach. Hall led Kentucky for 13 seasons before retiring, leading UK to an NCAA championship.