I started in earnest when Ron Widby was playing
I don't go back that far.
But I remember Jimmy England...
Listening to John Ward call the play by play, in Memphis, on the old fruit gum stereo console in the living room... man, he was great. Painted the picture with words. We had a good run in the late 60s...
Then, in HS in Georgia -- everyone knew I was a big UT fan. But it was rough times. The 70s. The Vols got worse on the gridiron every year. That long streak to Bama -- I was in college when it finally ended, an upperclassman, and had become disinterested in the Vols' mediocrity. I had much bigger fish to fry...
But '75, 76. Ernie and Bernie. Cover of SI. My buddy and I -- both shooting guards/forwards -- got dubbed "Ernie and Bernie". I once got hot, and poured in 29. Got my picture in the paper. Still have the clipping. 12 of 21, "mostly from 15-25 feet." Before the 3-point line. I figure I woulda scored 35 or so with it. 8 minute quarters, if I recall. Maybe 10. Don't remember.
My moment of hardwood glory. ( ^ ;
Only I almost never played on hardwood. Mostly poured concrete, covered with tile. Like a Walmart. I discovered I could dunk late in 10th grade. Spent an afternoon just running around the gym, throwing 'em down. In old Chuck Taylor All-Stars. Flip-flops, with a canvas upper.
My knees still hurt from playing 3 years on those floors (I played before that, in Memphis. can't remember what kind of floor my JHS gym had. 9th grade, they bussed in Melrose kids. I still started. We played 'em, home and home. I've written about that before...). And 20 years of jogging in cheap shoes.
Was in a fraternity with a guy from Marietta. A UGA fan who went to school with Dale Ellis. He was more excited about Dale's success at UT than I was.
The 90s were pretty dreadful. For hoops. Great for FB, of course.
Jerry Green (?) brought us some success. I was older now, had reignited my Vol passion during the 90s.
Buzzball came along. I remember going to a football game, and catching a hoops exhibition that evening. Buzz made a bad impression on my older brother. The team would huddle on the floor during timeouts. Buzz snapped his fingers at some ball boy or something, and pointed to where his chair should go. My brother thought he was a prissy little jerk. Oh well...
Then Bruce. Happy days. Great, exciting basketball. I worked with a guy -- he was my supervisor my first couple of years. Viet Nam vet, served in Germany after that. He came from the Hood. But had acquired some polish. He made about the highest Sergeant you could make. He was a good man to work for. Early on, I was still trying to compromise my party ways with having a "real" job. He came up to me one morning, and told me "man, you got the dragon breath." I just nodded. I was still hungover. "Don't come in here like that no mo'. Heah?"
That was it. I didn't.
He was in a long-term relationship with a woman from Kentucky. He met her while stationed there. They weren't married. Except they were. He still kept a picture of his lover from Germany on a shelf behind his desk. Okay...
His "son" -- that's what he called him; his girlfriend's boy -- played ball with Chris Lofton in Mayfield. He was good, too -- wound up on the bench at Kentucky as a... teaching assistant? What do you call them?
We marveled together at Chris' success on the Hill. Talked about the game last night, that sort of thing...
What an era for UT Hoops.
And now Barnes. One of the best runs we've had. Man, I hope we get to the FF...
