Yea, guess we kinda hijacked the thread, but damn good memories to share here.
Thought those of you that can remember an old clip from 1975,Kentucky vs Tennessee..Damn I miss those days..This team would eventually beat an undefeated Indiana team in the Mideast Regional Final and go all the way to the final game before losing to UCLA,in John Wooden's final game..enjoy
He's not the only one that hated Galvan. He was my ex-wife's principal at Trimble Tech HS in Fort Worth and is now retired. I've mentioned this before but my ex ran into him one day and she happened to mention that she was married to a UK Alum. He laughed and said something to the effect that "I really used to get under their skin". What a classic jerk!That is great info. My DAD hated Mears.. I mean hated him called him a sawed-off sob every time we played them. He also hated Paul Galvan the ref that used to do UK games. That guy is great compared some of these guys today.
Every game down there was a nightmare. Guys think officiating is bad now (which it is). But I believe it was worse back then. Not as much tv so absolutely no accountability at all. I always told my dad that UK could go down there with Larry Bird, Jordan and Walton and UT would have them in foul trouble in no time and beat UK in Stokely.Remember those days well and that Stokley floor. For those who talk about referees today, well going in to Stokley to play Ray Mears seemed almost always to be a one sided game by the officials. Guess I was wearing the blue tinted shades even then....
You are right. Had forgotten about that. He wasn't very old. Great recruiter. Remember him going to Germany and getting a guy about 7'4 (Nels Akerboom I think). They had a picture of him and Ackerboom side by side at stokley. Stu didn't come up to his belt. Akerboom never came to UT but the pic , in the News Sentenal , was hillarious
I remember those days. Mears built that entire ****-show circus with one objective: BEAT KENTUCKY, then collapse. Want to know why they've never been to the Final Four, or done much of anything else in March? That's why. There's no solid foundation there, just an insane obsession with beating us. Pi** on them.
Do any of you " old" timers remember why Mears got fired?Every UK fan hated Mears, because we could not win there.
I also recall the LSU Tiger mascot rappelling from the rafters in Baton Rouge in the Dale Brown days. Much more entertaining than tee-shirt night, if you ask me.
I swear Barry Goheen played for Vanderbilt for 15 years. Always seemed to play great against us. Was happy to see him go.speaking of kentucky kids we didnt recruit. It seems Vandy would come up and get these shooters like Phil Cox and Barry Goheen and light us up with them. Used to make me so angry that we didnt get those kids.
I do not.Do any of you " old" timers remember why Mears got fired?
He retired due to health issues after UT went 11-16.I do not.
Do any of you " old" timers remember why Mears got fired?
It was, apparently he was battling depression as well.I thought that it was health reasons.
It was, apparently he was battling depression as well.
Ben you are dead on:cool2:I always thought that if they did a movie about Mear's life, they would cast Danny DeVito as Ray.
He suffered from depressionDo any of you " old" timers remember why Mears got fired?
According to Wikipedia, you are correct. He coached there 15 years and was also a head coach six years prior to coming to UT and never had a losing record. He left coaching due to health issues (depression) with his last season being the last year of Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King, the infamous Ernie and Bernie show. UT had a losing record the first season without Mears as their coach.I might be wrong but I don’t think he had a losing season at UT.
According to Wikipedia, you are correct. He coached there 15 years and was also a head coach six years prior to coming to UT and never had a losing record. He left coaching due to health issues (depression) with his last season being the last year of Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King, the infamous Ernie and Bernie show. UT had a losing record the first season without Mears as their coach.
Jugglers, unicycles, trampolines ... It was the cirque du soleil. He was in lake Shore hospital for a bit because of depression. Sorry for the way his and Aberdeens lives ended.He was a crazy dude, he would do anything to get their up for us.
He did not but the 11-16 record was after he took a leave of absence and the interim coach took over. It was after that when he retired.I might be wrong but I don’t think he had a losing season at UT.
He did not but the 11-16 record was after he took a leave of absence and the interim coach took over. It was after that when he retired.
Much like Coach K when he was out for his medical issues I think in the late 90s or early 2000s, that season did not go against Mears as he was not actively coaching the team.He did not but the 11-16 record was after he took a leave of absence and the interim coach took over. It was after that when he retired.
That was before Thompson-Boling. That was Stokely Athletic Center, which was just as bad if not worse!
Heck, Ray Mears even brought out Unicycle riders and Jugglers when UK came to town. Felt like Barnum & Bailey Circus.[eyeroll]
They would show these games on tape delay on saturday night and we would stay up late and watch them. While watching the sports they would say "anyone who is watching the game" please turn away from your set while we flash the score. I remember peeking and seeing the score and hoping the whole game that I was wrong... unfortunately what I saw was correct. Ernie and Bernie were no joke those guys could play. The little point guard UT had was a kentucky kid that we did not recruit. I think he is a high school coach now. He was a big factor in this game as well.
I got to know Rodney in later years playing softball tournaments. He and he brother, Kenny (Nubs), were really good guys.Rodney Woods from Lone Jack was the guy and yes he has been a coach at Wayne Co for I think over 30 years.