Time to say goodbye to our friend Al Benninger. A fixture at University of Louisville athletic events for three quarters of a century. He passed away August 3 at the Eastern Star Home. He was 99.
Al was the chief statistician for UofL basketball and football for many years. Under his leadership Al’s team became the official stat crew for all NCAA Final Four basketball action in 1969, continuing through this year’s tournament and into the future. They also served as the stat crew for 13 Division II basketball championships and nine Orange Bowls, as well as 13 seasons for the Kentucky Colonels in the old American Basketball Association. He was given lifetime press credentials after his retirement.
Al was only a familiar face from TV to me until we were assigned adjacent seats at a press table at a UofL basketball game in 2009. We had been following Louisville sports for many years so we had much in common, reminiscing often about great moments in the school’s history. One will never forget him making his way over to Asia Durr after a UofL women’s game in 2018 when she scored 36 points against Notre Dame. He wanted to thank her personally and tell her that her performance would go down in history. One could tell his comments meant a lot to her.
Another highlight was welcoming him home at Muhammad Ali airport following his return from a Bluegrass Honor Flight to Washingt0n, D.C. in the summer of 2018. He was a Navy veteran, having served during World War II. I was honored to have filled out the application to get him on the flight.
Al was a longtime participant, well into his eighties in senior league softball games at Camp Taylor Park on Poplar Level Road. They named the field after him in 2019.
In recent years, Al’s eyesight began to fail and he was unable to attend the games any longer. He would frequently call me at home to discuss recent games or happenings. He could recall intricate details dating back to the days of Johnny Unitas in the early fifties. Those telephone calls were rarely under an hour’s duration.
One of his favorite memories was Coach Denny Crum buying steak dinners for the stat crew. Denny believed one of his guards had more than four assists during a game but after a film review conceded the accuracy of the statistics.
He was pure class, a gentleman in every respect. I never heard utter a profanity or unfairly criticize an athlete, coach or administrator.
One never ceased to amazed at Al’s recall abilities. Well into his nineties, Al had a sharp mind, with unrivaled insights into the growth of UofL athletics over the years. I was deeply honored to be included in his circle of friends that included many UofL greats and recognizable names in NCAA doings.
Al took a lot of UofL’s institutional history with him, along with the enduring respect of so many colleagues and admirers.
