Fred Keeley at the March 29 Santa Cruz Warriors game. Photo by Steve Palopoli.
When Santa Cruz Warrior Taylor Griffin missed a clutch free throw with a minute-and-a-half to play against the Los Angeles D-Fenders on Friday night, Santa Cruz County Treasurer Fred Keeley looked over at his godson. The 14-year-old avid basketball fan was feeling discouraged. The Warriors had bounced back from a 16-point deficit, but were still down by one.
“It’s all right. It’s all right,” Keeley told him, as D-Fender Courtney Fourtson advanced the ball down the court after a rebound.
“I’m irrationally optimistic about everything,” Keeley told the Weekly after the game. “That’s the way I live my life.”
Later, as D-Fender Jerome Jordan got ready to shoot two free throws with a four-point lead and four seconds left on the clock, the Kaiser Permanete arena was quiet with dread. Keeley leaned forward, rubbed his palms together and smiled with anticipation. Jordan drilled one of those two shots, en route to a 111-104 Los Angeles win.
Keeley shouted. “It’s OK! LA’s going to be watching us on TV in the playoffs!” Coming from the affable former congressman, that’s downright trash talk.
Keeley, whose bald dome can be seen glittering in the arena’s fluorescent light at Warriors games, has become a fixture of Santa Cruz basketball culture. He didn’t miss a single home game this season, and between his courtside seats and animated support for the team, he’s become our own Jack Nicholson. Like Lakers icon Nicholson, he’s got signature moves—Keeley claps more than Nancy Pelosi at an Obama State of the Union address, and is known to hold out his arms like an eagle for a Travis Leslie dunk, or point to draw the refs’ attention to a foul by the other team. Sometimes, he’s as entertaining to watch as the game itself.
Appropriately, Keeley played an important role in the Warriors’ path to Santa Cruz. Chosen by then-mayor Don Lane, Keeley chaired a blue-ribbon committee this past year tasked with evaluating whether or not a Warriors’ home in Santa Cruz would be a good deal for the town.
The Warriors’ regular season wraps up April 6, and the team looks poised to secure the fourth seed in the playoffs.
The officials weren’t popular at Friday’s game, and at times the walls felt like they might to collapse under mounting boos.
But godfather Keeley (who wouldn’t admit to us he loves channeling his inner Jack) says the officials called a fair game.
“Referees are human beings,” Keeley says. “I know a lot of people don’t agree with that, but they’re doing the best they can. Stuff usually evens out. They miss a call here, or make a call that shouldn’t have been made. If a team has got to worry about the refs, you’re worried about the wrong thing.”
