I was fortunate enough to grow up with Cotton, and let me tell you, he's one of the all-time class acts I've ever been lucky enough to be around. Also, absolutely funnier than hell.
Cotton coached Little League up north with my dad for years. They alternated having the best teams in the league every year and always ended up coaching the All-Stars together, becoming best friends. At that time, Cotton wasn't far removed from his time at UK, so you can imagine how cool it was to have a superstar teaching the kids his favorite game.
And yes, his favorite game was baseball, by far. Although he was way better at basketball, Cotton would be the first to admit he was a little lazy, and being able to sip a beer in the dugout sounded way better than running up and down for 40 minutes.
He got drafted by both the Angels and the Lakers out of college. A little-known fact is that he was also offered a contract to play tight end for the Dallas Cowboys. He played a few years with Jerry West in LA but made it clear he'd be going to spring training instead of playing in the NBA playoffs, and that kind of pissed them off. He didn't care much; baseball paid more, and he didn't have to run his balls off.
One of my favorite stories Cotton ever told me was about his days at UK. He and Rupp were always at each other's throats. Rupp thought Cotton was lazy, and Cotton thought Rupp was a prick. Cotton was far and away the best player on the team, though, so he always had a leg up.
One day, Cotton's parents were coming to town for a game, and he had to ask Rupp for tickets. Rupp told him, "Cotton, you no good son of a bitch, you ain't getting no damn tickets."
Cotton responded, "Hey, that's no problem; we'll just go to the movies instead." As you can imagine, the tickets showed up.
As time went on, Cotton ended up hosting one of the most epic Super Bowl parties of all time, probably for 40 years. I was lucky enough to be there for probably 25-30 of those. At one time, it was a real who's who of UK athletics and Lexington in general. Governors, federal judges, and all sorts of UK greats packed his house every year.
He picked me when I was about 7 years old to run his Super Bowl squares, which was awesome. I got to have talks with everyone from Pat Riley, Kevin Grevey, Ralph Beard, Sam Bowie, and a ton more I can't even think of right now. As a kid who grew to be an enormous UK fan, it was a dream. And I think I kept running that pool until the party started to fizzle out 5-6 years ago.
We always ran a Derby party he'd come to every year, and he was just the star of the show.
A lot of people don't realize how successful Cotton was in the harness racing business. He had multiple big-time stakes winners and even a Breeders Crown and Hambletonian to his credit.
His wife Julie, their 3 kids Pat, Richey, and Audrey, and the trillion grandkids are all just as good as gold too.
So rest in peace, old Cotton. You'll be missed more than you know. Keep an old-fashioned Coors cold and a cigar ready for me up there; I'll see you on the other side.
Cotton coached Little League up north with my dad for years. They alternated having the best teams in the league every year and always ended up coaching the All-Stars together, becoming best friends. At that time, Cotton wasn't far removed from his time at UK, so you can imagine how cool it was to have a superstar teaching the kids his favorite game.
And yes, his favorite game was baseball, by far. Although he was way better at basketball, Cotton would be the first to admit he was a little lazy, and being able to sip a beer in the dugout sounded way better than running up and down for 40 minutes.
He got drafted by both the Angels and the Lakers out of college. A little-known fact is that he was also offered a contract to play tight end for the Dallas Cowboys. He played a few years with Jerry West in LA but made it clear he'd be going to spring training instead of playing in the NBA playoffs, and that kind of pissed them off. He didn't care much; baseball paid more, and he didn't have to run his balls off.
One of my favorite stories Cotton ever told me was about his days at UK. He and Rupp were always at each other's throats. Rupp thought Cotton was lazy, and Cotton thought Rupp was a prick. Cotton was far and away the best player on the team, though, so he always had a leg up.
One day, Cotton's parents were coming to town for a game, and he had to ask Rupp for tickets. Rupp told him, "Cotton, you no good son of a bitch, you ain't getting no damn tickets."
Cotton responded, "Hey, that's no problem; we'll just go to the movies instead." As you can imagine, the tickets showed up.
As time went on, Cotton ended up hosting one of the most epic Super Bowl parties of all time, probably for 40 years. I was lucky enough to be there for probably 25-30 of those. At one time, it was a real who's who of UK athletics and Lexington in general. Governors, federal judges, and all sorts of UK greats packed his house every year.
He picked me when I was about 7 years old to run his Super Bowl squares, which was awesome. I got to have talks with everyone from Pat Riley, Kevin Grevey, Ralph Beard, Sam Bowie, and a ton more I can't even think of right now. As a kid who grew to be an enormous UK fan, it was a dream. And I think I kept running that pool until the party started to fizzle out 5-6 years ago.
We always ran a Derby party he'd come to every year, and he was just the star of the show.
A lot of people don't realize how successful Cotton was in the harness racing business. He had multiple big-time stakes winners and even a Breeders Crown and Hambletonian to his credit.
His wife Julie, their 3 kids Pat, Richey, and Audrey, and the trillion grandkids are all just as good as gold too.
So rest in peace, old Cotton. You'll be missed more than you know. Keep an old-fashioned Coors cold and a cigar ready for me up there; I'll see you on the other side.
Last edited:
