Rivals need not be rancorous. Competitors can coexist. Former Kentucky basketball coach Joe B. Hall will observe his 93rd birthday on Tuesday surrounded by greeting cards prompted in large part by a Facebook post from Denny Crum's wife, Susan.
"It's unbelievable," said long-time friend Richard Moloney. "I walked in and said, 'Holy Toledo.' I thought I was looking at Santa Claus. I said 'Buddy, I didn't know you were that well-liked.' "
The coach of Kentucky's 1978 NCAA Championship team, until recently a fixture at Wildcats' home games at Rupp Arena, lives in a nursing home now and is, Moloney said, "going through a tough time.