UK alum Tom Leach has been the play-by-play “Voice of the Wildcats” for the football Cats for 12 years and nine years for men’s basketball. He is a four-time winner of the Kentucky Sportscaster of the Year award. Tom offers an entertaining and insightful perspective into UK athletics. Column entries will be posted twice per week through April. Read Tom’s full biography
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“Not a day goes by where I don’t miss it a lot. I want them to win, of course, but it is hard seeing them win and for me to not be a part of it although I probably could have. So I don’t regret my decision to stop playing but it still is hard to realize that I am not a part of something like this that is so great.”
The speaker is Michael Porter, the starting point guard for last year’s Kentucky basketball team. He decided to forego his final season with the Wildcats to get started on a business career and because he and wife, Bryanna, were expecting their first child (Payslie, now just over six months old). Porter says he occasionally talks to some of his former teammates and he does notice a change from last season.
“I have gotten that from them,” Porter said. “Things are a little different this year. Not only coaching-wise, but pressure from the fans and different areas, all those things combined has made things less stressful for them.”
Porter is back in his home state of California but he’s worked for a Paducah, Ky.-based technology firm named Zonson. One of the latest projects on which he’s working is the new iPhone application for coach John Calipari’s Web site.
“We know that Coach Cal is very popular and along with his new Web site, we figured that doing an iPhone app for him would be not only a good thing him but for us, too,” Porter said. “So after working with some people, we created an iPhone app similar to his Web site but is something you can look at on your phone. We had a lot of work to do but I think it looks good. There is still going to be a lot of things that we are going to do with it, but now we have one of the things you can do with it is a ‘where’s Cal’ feature. … Right now, people already know where he is most of the time but the offseason will be different. It’s kind of a cool thing and a lot of the fans will like that.
“There is also a trivia game that has UK facts and that is something the Web site does not have right now. We want to add a lot more features, some more games and more interactive things like live blogs and more interactive things like that for the fans.”
Fans can purchase the application through the iTunes store online for $2.99, with proceeds benefitting the charitable foundation of coach Cal and his wife, Ellen. It was recently ranked as high as No. 2 among all sports apps.
So how did Porter hook up with Zonson?
“They knew that I was looking for a job after I graduated,” said Porter, whose role is primarily sales-oriented. “We hooked up and talked about what their company was about and what they hoped for the future. I saw a bright future with them and really liked my boss. I have three of them. I felt comfortable with the company and that is pretty much why I chose them.”
“Right now I am very happy with what I am doing,” Porter said. “I can see myself possibly coaching one day, depending on what really happens. I can’t see myself being away from sports that long. It really kind of depends on what happens with what is going on right now and how well it takes off. I am hoping it takes off really well. But I am happy where I am now.”
