Louisville basketball head coach Chris Mack and Cardinals Hall of Famer Eric Wood teamed up for a funny video two months ago that has become the unintentional fuel for rivalry game fire.
Is there anything more KSR than releasing a video of Chris Mack that’s supposed to be a bad look after the worst Louisville basketball loss since World War II? This feels right on brand.
A video of Mack and former Louisville football and Buffalo Bills center Eric Wood made its way around the Twittersphere courtesy of Drew Franklin. A video that appeared screengrabbed by someone else and shared without the consent of the parties featured (another total KSR move).
In said video, a clearly blitzed duo of Wood and Mack celebrate Louisville’s first win over Kentucky since 2017.
Wood drunkenly takes a few stabs at John Calipari, screaming “KENNY PAYNE WON THOSE GAMES,” to which Mack is grinning ear to ear. Occasionally pitching in a hype man-like “yeah” or cheer. (Did you have Eric Wood making Kenny Payne jokes on your 2021 bingo card?)
As always, a portion of the Louisville fanbase had some extreme takes. I don’t know if it was the 45 point blowout or not having basketball for 20 days, but it felt like a lot of pent-up anger was unleashed; all towards Mack.
Louisville basketball fans react
Of course Louisville basketball fans on social media were going to take this well. As we all know, the same website that is full of people thinking Vatican City is in the United States should be full of well-reasoned critical thinkers.
However, let’s take a look at some of the more rational opinions.
Good question from our buddy Ethan Moore of Louisville Sports Live.
Clearly someone wanted to get this video into the hands of a website with a crazed cult-like following. That ill-intentioned person was trying to stoke controversy. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer, Chris.
Hatfield always comes through with the timely memes.
Brian’s response might be the most in line with the pulse of the fanbase. In the age of social media, people are inclined to overreact.
Is that why there’s no beer at Kentucky games?
Hmmm. Is Perrin onto something? More on this later.
Jacob’s take
I found out about the Chris Mack video from a text and immediately was unsure of what I was watching. As I listened more and more to Eric Wood (I had no idea he was this close of friends with Coach Mack) drunkenly ramble on about Kenny Payne and the Cards/Cats rivalry, I couldn’t help but laugh. This came hours after a Louisville beatdown and was the smile that I needed.
I’ve always thought that a drunk Chris Mack would be great, but this was even better than I could’ve imagined. Did you see that smile?
Yet, some Louisville fans are upset by this? Why?
For YEARSSSS Louisville basketball fans complained about how annoying it was that the head coach of the Cards lived a highfalutin celebrity lifestyle and wasn’t anything like the people who cheered for the program. Whether it was that he only frequented elite establishments, or that he wore nothing but Armani suits, or that he spent too much time at his beach house in Miami. That was just the tip of the iceberg of the complaints.
Fans celebrated Mack when he was hired for his down-to-earth, wing eat, beer drinking personality and now it’s the very thing fans are trashing. Seriously, this week I read a Facebook post about why Chris Mack should stop going to Roosters and focus on coaching more. It’s crazy how fans have lost their minds and this video is another example.
Mack shows a little bit of his personality and the world is ending? Nah. That’s my head coach. How many of you all reading this have had this exact thing happen? I legit can picture tons of you all in this exact scenario.
So please, stop it.
Give me sloppy drunk, background hype man, boot cut jean wearing, Kenny Payne-joking Chris Mack any day of the week.
Trending: Relax Louisville basketball fans; the Cards are fine
Presley’s take
I think that the angle most fail to consider is Mack and Wood’s relationship with Kenny Payne.
Payne is well-known around the Louisville community and has forged tight relationships with many in the city over the years. As a former Louisville basketball player and a member of the 1986 National Championship team, Payne is still beloved by many in the area. So much so that there was a push by many former players, boosters, and fans to hire Payne when Louisville had a head coaching vacancy in 2018.
That explains the relationship between Payne and many prominent figures in the Louisville area.
Local businessman and CFO of Junior Bridgeman’s MANNA Inc. Troy Hanke figures to be among those that call Payne a friend. As are Wood- a Louisville resident- and Mack.
So, when Hanke tweeted (then deleted) that he was behind the camera for the viral video, things started to click a bit more.
“I filmed this video,” read Hanke’s deleted tweet. “Eric (Wood) and I are great friends with KP (on and off the golf course). We sent it to him as a joke after the game. If I could get KP (Payne) on to Twitter, he’d confirm this in a second.”
That seems like a legitimate origin story to me. Hanke and Wood are good buddies with Wood, who is neighbors with Mack. While sharing some celebratory beverages, Wood and his buddy decided to give John Calipari some grief.
Payne was on Calipari’s staff at Kentucky for a decade, and considered an integral part of the Wildcats’ staff. Obviously, since his departure, Kentucky is having one of its worst seasons in school history.
Is this a big deal?
Is this a big deal? Probably not. But, in a rivalry that can turn even the most mundane into a problem, I understand Kentucky fans getting their feathers a little ruffled.
From the perspective of a Louisville fan, I love the smack talk and wish Wood, Mack, or a member of their crew would have posted this video when it was taken.
The only issue I am willing to hear about here is the lack of COVID protocol. Mack’s Louisville team has struggled to stay coronavirus-free this season. In a year where many have made sacrifices, cancelled holidays, birthdays, and other gatherings to not contract or transmit COVID, it’s never a great look to see your coach up close and personal (and maskless) with someone that is not his team or family.
There is a lot we don’t know about Chris Mack’s inner circle. Mack and Wood live close to each other and perhaps he is one of few friends that spends close time around him. We don’t know whether Wood or anyone else that spends time with Mack have contracted COVID previously. There is a lot left to question.
However, the biggest storyline locally will be the fuel that it unintentionally poured on the rivalry fire. As far as that goes, I couldn’t give a rip about how much it offends Kentucky fans. The saltier, the better.
One thought on “Louisville basketball: Chris Mack and Eric Wood team up for incredible video”