RIP John Y Brown

[dixiehack]

Dude was involved in a helluva lot of stuff. One-time Celtics owner. Married to Phyllis George. Helped buy out KFC from the Colonel and take it big time. Mediocre governor of Kentucky.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/11/23/john-y-brown-kentucky-governor-kfc/

 

[Songbird]

Pamela Brown from CNN's dad.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Horrible owner of the Celtics. Let wife George (who to be fair knew more about sports than he did) come up with trades. Had he not sold the team, Red Auerbach was gonna quit.

 

[OscarMadison]

I think Phyllis George personified the concept of "better half." Not everything she came up with was a slam dunk. However, among her successes for the commonwealth, she revitalized the creative market in Kentucky and protected a generation or two of artisans from being exploited.

 

[garrow]

RIP. Guy would make a great subject for a book-length bio.

 

[Liut]

Horrible owner of the Celtics. Let wife George (who to be fair knew more about sports than he did) come up with trades. Had he not sold the team, Red Auerbach was gonna quit.

Hadn’t Red come up with two first round draft picks, but Brown traded them to the Knicks? For Bob MacAdoo, maybe? IIRC, Auerbach almost fled to the Knicks.

 

[Liut]

Dude was involved in a helluva lot of stuff. One-time Celtics owner. Married to Phyllis George. Helped buy out KFC from the Colonel and take it big time. Mediocre governor of Kentucky.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/11/23/john-y-brown-kentucky-governor-kfc/

Several years ago I read a book about KFC. The Colonel had partnered up with a guy in Utah at some point prior to the sale. IIRC, Brown screwed the Colonel over, or at least Sanders thought that was the case.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Hadn’t Red come up with two first round draft picks, but Brown traded them to the Knicks? For Bob MacAdoo, maybe? IIRC, Auerbach almost fled to the Knicks.

That was it. The story was that he did so because MacAdoo was his wife's favorite player.

 

[jr/shotglass]

His third wife after Phyllis George was our Miss Everything in high school, the former Jill Horneys. Pretty much the perfect blonde high school dream. First she married minor-league pitcher Dane Anthony, then went on to become Mrs. Kentucky and married Brown, 27 years her elder.

 

[HanSenSE]

IIRC from Terry Pluto's book, he wanted out of pro basketball at the time of the merger, so he folded the Colonels instead of joining the NBA. Shortly afterward.l. he bought the Celtics.

 

[dixiehack]

Actually bought the Buffalo Braves, then did a franchise swap.

 

[Liut]

Actually bought the Buffalo Braves, then did a franchise swap.

Harry Mangurian won that deal.

 

[mpcincal]

IIRC from Terry Pluto's book, he wanted out of pro basketball at the time of the merger, so he folded the Colonels instead of joining the NBA. Shortly afterward.l. he bought the Celtics.

After reading that book, and seeing some of the markets that the NBA has now (Memphis, San Antonio, Orlando), I think it's a shame the Colonels weren't allowed to make a go of it in the NBA. I could say Brown should have fought a little harder for that, but I think the NBA owners had their minds made up that they were only going to let in the four teams (Pacers, Nets, Nuggets, Spurs) in the merger.

Michael Gee's note about Phyllis George making a couple trades for the Celtics was interesting, because when he owned the Colonels, his then-wife Ellie was the president (or equivalent high-ranking exec) of the franchise.

Also, whatever one may think of his deal to get the Celtics, it did bring the NBA back to San Diego after Ira Levin moved the Braves there (although that dip**** Sterling took the team away a few years later).

 

[swingline]

I wouldn’t feed KFC to a dog.

 

[LanceyHoward]

After reading that book, and seeing some of the markets that the NBA has now (Memphis, San Antonio, Orlando), I think it's a shame the Colonels weren't allowed to make a go of it in the NBA. I could say Brown should have fought a little harder for that, but I think the NBA owners had their minds made up that they were only going to let in the four teams (Pacers, Nets, Nuggets, Spurs) in the merger.

Michael Gee's note about Phyllis George making a couple trades for the Celtics was interesting, because when he owned the Colonels, his then-wife Ellie was the president (or equivalent high-ranking exec) of the franchise.

Also, whatever one may think of his deal to get the Celtics, it did bring the NBA back to San Diego after Ira Levin moved the Braves there (although that dip**** Sterling took the team away a few years later).

I think Louisville could have gotten into the league if Brown had fought harder but he just wanted out, Boston is a better place to have a sports franchise than Louisville.

It was also remember reports in the press at the time that Ellie Brown was a huge basketball fan and she was more than a figurehead.