On Tuesday morning, reports surfaced that Mark Pope ran out of gas on one of Lexington's busiest roads. This incident inspired many "relatable" tweets and social media exchanges. A simple tweet from a random X user prompted this story.
Even Mark Pope runs out of gas 😂 https://t.co/OTqSvoSkN0
— Tristan Pharis (@TristanUda) October 22, 2024
Turns out, Mark Pope was actually rescuing his wife, who ran out of gas as he told "The Field of 68" crew. He said that he was about to jump into a compliance meeting on Zoom when his wife called to tell him that she had run out of gas. He jumped off the meeting, grabbed a couple of graduate assistants, and they ran to her rescue.
He said that while he was helping, the police were shutting down the road trying to help, and people were driving by noticing him. Which leads to the tweet above. As Pope describes it, "People are driving by, honking horns, 'LET'S GO CATS!'" Even in the middle of a traffic jam in Lexington caused by the first lady of Kentucky basketball, it's a "GO CATS!" party.
Mark Pope won husband of the day on Monday, leaving a 9am compliance meeting to rescue his wife, whose car ran out of gas.@CoachMarkPope had no comment on who left the tank on E the last time someone drove it ... pic.twitter.com/h7G47F3X25
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) October 23, 2024
Pope said as he started to tell the story, "Lee Anne is going to kill me!" for telling the story. He knew this would be a top 5 embarrassing moment for her. However, it's a great story, and like most people say online, it is very relatable.
Here's the kicker: Just a few days ago, Lee Anne told a story about a gas station and her and Mark's first date. She said that Mark picked her up and took her to the local gas station, where he said she could "pick out anything you want." Through laughter, she said, “He said, ‘Go crazy, baby!’ … But it worked! 25 years this August!”
The full-circle gas station moment happened for them today, as they made a memorable impression the day before the season's first exhibition game. From the first date to running out of gas, it sure seems like gas stations are a part of their story.