Source:louisville.com
University of Kentucky basketball has its No. 1 celebrity fan, actress
Ashley Judd. Now Kevin Richardson of Backstreet Boys fame rightly can claim
that honor for UK football.
The last time I talked with Kevin, he was a guest in the UK trustees' part
of the football press box. I asked if he was going to stay there and he said
that he liked to be on the sidelines where the action is. He became a
Wildcat football fan while playing high school football for Estill County in
our hometown of Irvine.
One of Kevin's homes is in Hollywood Hills, Calif. He is an environmentalist
and he recently bought a 2004 GMC Yukon sport-utility vehicle. He had a
5.3-liter V-8 engine with about 300 horsepower.
He still is concerned
He isn't getting away from his desire to keep the environment clean. He is
spending $10,000 to convert the vehicle to run on compressed natural gas
that is less polluting than gasoline.Where does he fill up? Well, The New
York Times
reports that he is installing a refueling system in his garage that will let
him fill up by using the same gas line that supplies his house.
The Times used two big photos of Kevin filling up. It was a good plug for
UK. He wore a UK hat and a Wildcat sweatshirt. To make sure that his fans
know that he has not deserted the cause, on the back of his SUV are the
words "powered by CLEAN natural gas."
Backstreet revival!
Kevin told The Times, "I didn't want to be a hypocrite anymore. I want to
walk the walk if I'm going to talk the talk." He runs an environmental
foundation, "Just Within Reach."
He also has a farm near Lexington and spends some time in Louisville helping
aspiring musicians get started. A young friend informs me that he and the
rest of the Backstreet Boys were on Oprah Winfrey's show recently. One
member who had a drug problem says that he is now clean and the band plans
to restart their careers.