Mary Anne Radmacher: The Inspiration behind Alex Poythress’ ROAR

As the top ranked Kentucky Wildcats basketball team prepared for their game against the North Carolina Tar Heels, the unthinkable happened.  Junior forward Alex Poythress suffered a torn ACL in practice and the word gradually leaked out on social media.  The next day, the UKAA made it official, but even before that happened, there was a social media movement that had taken foot.  It was inspired by a poem by Mary Ann Radmacher entitled “Courage Doesn’t Always Roar”.  The Big Blue Nation does roar and they were showing their support of Alex Poythress.   Poythress’ team mate Todd Lanter was one of the first to echo the sentiment of the poem on his instagram account.

"I’ve never wanted anything but the best for this kid. His hard work, passion, and drive for everything he does in life will ultimately lead him to success. We all stand to learn a lot from this man. Love ya brother! We’re here for ya @alexthegreat22 #couragedoesntalwaysroar #superman"

From there, it snowballed.  The UKAA Twitter account spread the word and a movement was underway.

For the UNC game, the team wore warmup shirts honorong Alex and the slogan. Ironically enough, that game was slated for an Alex Poythress poster day as well.

This was not just a catchy slogan to honor Alex however. The poem by Mary Anne Radmacher had influenced him for quite a while and was even referenced when he arrived at UK a couple of years ago.

"“If we come working hard from day one and we don’t take any days off, just trying to work hard every day, condition every day, listening to what Coach has to say in practice and just taking what he has to say (to heart), I really do believe that we’re going to have a chance to win a national championship,” Poythress said. Poythress intends to back up his belief by leading by example. Easily the most soft-spoken of Kentucky’s heralded freshman class, he lives by a passage he recently discovered from author Mary Anne Radmacher that says, “Courage doesn’t always roar.”"

We all know how Mary Anne Radmacher’s worked has influenced Alex Poythress and inspired the Big Blue Nation, but what does she think about the roar over a poem that she wrote almost thirty years ago?  I was able to get in touch with Mrs. Radmacher and she agreed to talk to us at the Wildcat Blue Nation and I wanted to share her thoughts with you on this Christmas Day.