John Ward/Tennessee multi media archive, what I'd like to see

#1
ptcarter

ptcarter

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#1
The effect of John Ward's passing on this fan base has been amazing to witness. My feelings towards him are very personal, yet I see I'm not alone. Even if you weren't born until after he retired, you still (to some degree) get it. That's a tribute to the man.

Me: Born in '57, Graduated from UT in '80. I was blessed to be a student during the Bernie/Ernie years. Those days were pure magic at Stokely.

Yes, this is a football forum, and JW's football calls are legendary. My fondest John Ward memories are of basketball. My Dad loved the Vols, and worked for Werner Von Braun here in Huntsville. During my middle school and high school years, we listened to about every basketball game on the radio. We could (barely) pick up the Fayetteville TN station. Dad would put the game on in the den. He'd sit in his chair, and I'd get a pillow and lay on the shag carpet. He'd get the room dark too. You didn't even have to close your eyes - it was just John Ward painting the canvas with his words.

Gosh- those players became my heros. Widby, Hahn, Croft, England, Boerwinkle, Justis, just to name a few.

So, you ask, where is he going with this thread? What I'd like (and this is the age of the internet, so this could happen), is a complete archive to be available. I'd love to relive not only some of those games, but maybe, on one of those cold winters, sit down and relive an entire season.

I remember a game in 1974. Must have been the VOL classic. Dad fired up the console and UT was playing Temple. John Ward at the helm.. Temple realized the only way to attempt to beat UT was to stall. Stall they did. No shot clock then - final score UT 11, Temple 6.
John Ward was in rare form.

1973-74 Tennessee Volunteers Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Yes there are tidbits out there. Like the UT-Kentucky game with Bernie and Ernie (link follows at the end of the post).

And I'm not just talking about John Ward - Kessling too. Would love to not only hear the broadcasts, but the coaches shows were pretty entertaining too.

There is a site, archive.org, that someone at NASA put the mission control audio out there. One of my other childhood memories was the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs - my Dad was heavily involved in.

I'm just using this as an example - this site has air/ground audio for those early missions, and it's amazing to listen too if you know the stories.
NASA Audio Collection : Free Movies : Free Download, Borrow and Streaming : Internet Archive

I'd like to see a UT sports archive in a similar format.

Anybody here have contacts with the VOL network that could relay that request? I'd be curious to know the roadblocks that exist in getting that media available. It'd be great.

I'll end with this. Ray Mears once commented that John Ward's description of basketball defenses was uncanny. He watched some of the replays and said "John knew what the other team was doing before I did". I'd believe it - his basketball play by play was so precise. Here is a prime example of how good he was. UT/KY in stokely with Bernie and Ernie (and I was there)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPa_nYylf78[/youtube]
 
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#2
#2
I've been watching and rewatching that video of the 1975 Kentucky Tennessee basketball game, reliving my very youthful memories of that game and listening to it on my home transistor radio as 13 year-old youth.

John Ward, the basketball announcer, is where the majority of my lasting and vivid memories lie, especially during the King/Grunfeld era.

BTW, look closely at the images of the team being introduced. You will see that those introductions were apparently "harvested" from the Alabama game that same year. If you look closely you can see the players in the background have on red uniforms and a very young C. M. Newton is looking on.

EDIT: BTW, I just noticed in the very opening moments of the game where John Ward says "Woods saunters past the time line". Who in sports broadcasting has ever used the English language in such an artful and unscripted way to describe the action?

There will never be another John Ward in our lifetimes. I believe that is the thing that makes me so sad today and fills me so much with a feeling of nostalgia.
 
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#3
#3
esarmstrong said:
I've been watching and rewatching that video of the 1975 Kentucky Tennessee basketball game, reliving my very youthful memories of that game and listening to it on my home transistor radio as 13 year-old youth.

John Ward, the basketball announcer, is where the majority of my lasting and vivid memories lie, especially during the King/Grunfeld era.

BTW, look closely at the images of the team being introduced. You will see that those introductions were apparently "harvested" from the Alabama game that same year. If you look closely you can see the players in the background have on red uniforms and a very young C. M. Newton is looking on.

EDIT: BTW, I just noticed in the very opening moments of the game where John Ward says "Woods saunters past the time line". Who in sports broadcasting has ever used the English language in such an artful and unscripted way to describe the action?

There will never be another John Ward in our lifetimes. I believe that is the thing that makes me so sad today and fills me so much with a feeling of nostalgia.
Click to expand...

Saunters.. Yes, one of many little gems that Ward threw out there.

Ward did not want the spotlight on him, and in doing so, some of us did EXACTLY that. By the time I got to UT, I was so enamored with John Ward - I'd go to Stokely for the games and have my ear bud in listening to the call on the transistor radio.

I'd also cast my gazes up to the catwalk above the arena where Ward did the play by play.. yup.. up there in the roof next to all that ductwork that distinguished immediately the fact that it was Stokely. I watched him as much as the game.

I did a lot of black and white photography in those days. There was a darkroom in Alumni Gym in the basement, free to use if you knew about it. Below is a picture I took at one of those games. I went to the top row in the middle and shot this. You can see the catwalk above the clock.
 

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#4
#4
esarmstrong said:
I've been watching and rewatching that video of the 1975 Kentucky Tennessee basketball game, reliving my very youthful memories of that game and listening to it on my home transistor radio as 13 year-old youth.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Going back to my original post - Yup, I've rewatched this video several times myself, just for the same reason. I guess I'm greedy, but just think if you had access and could cherry pick the games you wanted, in both football and basketball?

There will never be another John Ward in our lifetimes. I believe that is the thing that makes me so sad today and fills me so much with a feeling of nostalgia.
Click to expand...

I know.. I probably come off as a sentimental old fool, that cares way to much about the VOLS, and is living in the past. My thinking: the past wasn't so bad, and it's folks like John Ward who helped galvanize my connection to the place. Yup, as I start hitting my golden feeble years, and they are coming.. why not, on a cold winter night, put on a set of headphones and listen to some audio of something special that happened in your youth? Everyone's mileage will vary on this too, I understand.
 
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#7
#7
Thats great! I remembered hearing that live about “the sec east Champion is clad in orange!where have I heard that before ?” Had not seen it mentioned in all tributes but it was one of my favorite John Ward calls. I was close to 20 and about to move intro my first apartment on that fine Sunday afternoon . I’m glad to know that I didn’t imagine it .
 
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#8
#8
I wish we could go back to doing layup lines like the Globetrotters. That type of ball movement is a thing of beauty.
 
#9
#9
VolPack22 said:
I wish we could go back to doing layup lines like the Globetrotters. That type of ball movement is a thing of beauty.
Click to expand...

Mears had one of them (can't remember who) come out juggling basketballs on a unicycle. Now THAT's entertainment! Especially with those striped sweat pants.

Found this:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0rPQufG2ZE[/youtube]
 
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#11
#11
esarmstrong said:
I've been watching and rewatching that video of the 1975 Kentucky Tennessee basketball game, reliving my very youthful memories of that game and listening to it on my home transistor radio as 13 year-old youth.

John Ward, the basketball announcer, is where the majority of my lasting and vivid memories lie, especially during the King/Grunfeld era.

BTW, look closely at the images of the team being introduced. You will see that those introductions were apparently "harvested" from the Alabama game that same year. If you look closely you can see the players in the background have on red uniforms and a very young C. M. Newton is looking on.

EDIT: BTW, I just noticed in the very opening moments of the game where John Ward says "Woods saunters past the time line". Who in sports broadcasting has ever used the English language in such an artful and unscripted way to describe the action?

There will never be another John Ward in our lifetimes. I believe that is the thing that makes me so sad today and fills me so much with a feeling of nostalgia.
Click to expand...

We are the same age. I remember those games well. Great stuff!!!!
 
#12
#12
ptcarter said:
The effect of John Ward's passing on this fan base has been amazing to witness. My feelings towards him are very personal, yet I see I'm not alone. Even if you weren't born until after he retired, you still (to some degree) get it. That's a tribute to the man.

Me: Born in '57, Graduated from UT in '80. I was blessed to be a student during the Bernie/Ernie years. Those days were pure magic at Stokely.

Yes, this is a football forum, and JW's football calls are legendary. My fondest John Ward memories are of basketball. My Dad loved the Vols, and worked for Werner Von Braun here in Huntsville. During my middle school and high school years, we listened to about every basketball game on the radio. We could (barely) pick up the Fayetteville TN station. Dad would put the game on in the den. He'd sit in his chair, and I'd get a pillow and lay on the shag carpet. He'd get the room dark too. You didn't even have to close your eyes - it was just John Ward painting the canvas with his words.
Click to expand...
Small world. I was also born in '57. Graduated UT in '79. I grew up in Huntsville. My Dad worked for IBM which made the Saturn V Instrument Unit. I went to school with Peter Von Braun at Randolph for a while. The Double Trouble from Tennessee years were indeed awesome (minus UCLA, VMI and Syracuse). And we got to live half of those moments through John Ward on the radio (other half we attended at Stokely).
 
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#13
#13
ZZ13 said:
Small world. I was also born in '57. Graduated UT in '79. I grew up in Huntsville. My Dad worked for IBM which made the Saturn V Instrument Unit. I went to school with Peter Von Braun at Randolph for a while. The Double Trouble from Tennessee years were indeed awesome (minus UCLA, VMI and Syracuse). And we got to live half of those moments through John Ward on the radio (other half we attended at Stokely).
Click to expand...

Wow.. Amazing. Growing up in Huntsville was something. I worked for years for a fellow named Jim Medlock (founded Intergraph) whose roots were in that instrumentation ring on the Saturn V. Not many people know the story, but when Apollo 12 was hit by lightning during powered ascent, redundancy in that ring kept the thing flying. There is some good youtubes of the audio of the crew freaking out ("We've lost the platform") on youtube. Not a place here for that discussion though.

High school? Me: Butler class of '75. It took me more than 4 years. I should have been out in '79.

If you want to take this discussion offline, email ptcarter AT gmail.com
 
#14
#14
ptcarter said:
Wow.. Amazing. Growing up in Huntsville was something. I worked for years for a fellow named Jim Medlock (founded Intergraph) whose roots were in that instrumentation ring on the Saturn V. Not many people know the story, but when Apollo 12 was hit by lightning during powered ascent, redundancy in that ring kept the thing flying. There is some good youtubes of the audio of the crew freaking out ("We've lost the platform") on youtube. Not a place here for that discussion though.



High school? Me: Butler class of '75. It took me more than 4 years. I should have been out in '79.



If you want to take this discussion offline, email ptcarter AT gmail.com
Click to expand...

HHS '75. Dad knew Jim Medlock well. To bring it back to UT related stuff, Dad also hired Condredge Holloway's mom into IBM.

I'll email you. Now back to the topic at hand...
 
#15
#15
ZZ13 said:
Small world. I was also born in '57. Graduated UT in '79. I grew up in Huntsville. My Dad worked for IBM which made the Saturn V Instrument Unit. I went to school with Peter Von Braun at Randolph for a while. The Double Trouble from Tennessee years were indeed awesome (minus UCLA, VMI and Syracuse). And we got to live half of those moments through John Ward on the radio (other half we attended at Stokely).
Click to expand...

You are my exact age and those games JW called on cold, lonely midweek games was a main stay in my house. Having a brother two years older was instrumental in my youth for all things UT and St Louis Cards and still to this day when we’re together it’s not but just a minute and the conversation goes that way. I too am sentimental and getting worse as I age but this is a great time to be alive and able to relive those memories online...now I know there’s obviously many more important things in life but really these games of our youth were more about relationships and connecting with others than just a mere game. Thanks for posting...I’ll wipe the tears away now!
 
#16
#16
tennrich1 said:
You are my exact age and those games JW called on cold, lonely midweek games was a main stay in my house. Having a brother two years older was instrumental in my youth for all things UT and St Louis Cards and still to this day when we’re together it’s not but just a minute and the conversation goes that way. I too am sentimental and getting worse as I age but this is a great time to be alive and able to relive those memories online...now I know there’s obviously many more important things in life but really these games of our youth were more about relationships and connecting with others than just a mere game. Thanks for posting...I’ll wipe the tears away now!
Click to expand...

For some reason we picked up KMOX out of St. Louis great in Huntsville. So I spent my high school evenings listening to Jack Buck and Dan Kelly (Blues). Gary Unger was the man. And the Plager brothers.

Guess we should rename this the "born in '57 memory lane" thread.
 
#17
#17
tennrich1 said:
You are my exact age and those games JW called on cold, lonely midweek games was a main stay in my house. Having a brother two years older was instrumental in my youth for all things UT and St Louis Cards and still to this day when we’re together it’s not but just a minute and the conversation goes that way. I too am sentimental and getting worse as I age but this is a great time to be alive and able to relive those memories online...now I know there’s obviously many more important things in life but really these games of our youth were more about relationships and connecting with others than just a mere game. Thanks for posting...I’ll wipe the tears away now!
Click to expand...

I’m seriously considering driving to Knoxville Wednesday for the event. I told my son tonight, who, by the way, was honored with a diploma in the same venue a little over a month ago, that I don’t know many people that you have never heard anything said bad about them. John Ward is one of those. Class act and perhaps the secret is a combination of hard work, intelligence, and a large dose of humility. I’m sure the folks that show up to eulogize him will be the same, and some good stories will be told. I’m bringing a hanky.
 
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#18
#18
ZZ13 said:
For some reason we picked up KMOX out of St. Louis great in Huntsville. So I spent my high school evenings listening to Jack Buck and Dan Kelly (Blues). Gary Unger was the man. And the Plager brothers.

Guess we should rename this the "born in '57 memory lane" thread.
Click to expand...

Ok getting a little off topic. What month in ‘57?
Me: April
 
#19
#19
way to go pt...nice...won't see the likes of Mr Ward again...we were very fortunate to have him...pure VFL...:salute:
 
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#21
#21
ptcarter said:
The effect of John Ward's passing on this fan base has been amazing to witness. My feelings towards him are very personal, yet I see I'm not alone. Even if you weren't born until after he retired, you still (to some degree) get it. That's a tribute to the man.

Me: Born in '57, Graduated from UT in '80. I was blessed to be a student during the Bernie/Ernie years. Those days were pure magic at Stokely.

Yes, this is a football forum, and JW's football calls are legendary. My fondest John Ward memories are of basketball. My Dad loved the Vols, and worked for Werner Von Braun here in Huntsville. During my middle school and high school years, we listened to about every basketball game on the radio. We could (barely) pick up the Fayetteville TN station. Dad would put the game on in the den. He'd sit in his chair, and I'd get a pillow and lay on the shag carpet. He'd get the room dark too. You didn't even have to close your eyes - it was just John Ward painting the canvas with his words.

Gosh- those players became my heros. Widby, Hahn, Croft, England, Boerwinkle, Justis, just to name a few.

So, you ask, where is he going with this thread? What I'd like (and this is the age of the internet, so this could happen), is a complete archive to be available. I'd love to relive not only some of those games, but maybe, on one of those cold winters, sit down and relive an entire season.

I remember a game in 1974. Must have been the VOL classic. Dad fired up the console and UT was playing Temple. John Ward at the helm.. Temple realized the only way to attempt to beat UT was to stall. Stall they did. No shot clock then - final score UT 11, Temple 6.
John Ward was in rare form.

1973-74 Tennessee Volunteers Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Yes there are tidbits out there. Like the UT-Kentucky game with Bernie and Ernie (link follows at the end of the post).

And I'm not just talking about John Ward - Kessling too. Would love to not only hear the broadcasts, but the coaches shows were pretty entertaining too.

There is a site, archive.org, that someone at NASA put the mission control audio out there. One of my other childhood memories was the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs - my Dad was heavily involved in.

I'm just using this as an example - this site has air/ground audio for those early missions, and it's amazing to listen too if you know the stories.
NASA Audio Collection : Free Movies : Free Download, Borrow and Streaming : Internet Archive

I'd like to see a UT sports archive in a similar format.

Anybody here have contacts with the VOL network that could relay that request? I'd be curious to know the roadblocks that exist in getting that media available. It'd be great.

I'll end with this. Ray Mears once commented that John Ward's description of basketball defenses was uncanny. He watched some of the replays and said "John knew what the other team was doing before I did". I'd believe it - his basketball play by play was so precise. Here is a prime example of how good he was. UT/KY in stokely with Bernie and Ernie (and I was there)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPa_nYylf78[/youtube]
Click to expand...

Great post. I enjoyed reading it. I hope we can put it together.
 
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#22
#22
stevenrich2003 said:
Great post. I enjoyed reading it. I hope we can put it together.
Click to expand...

It's getting better. Stuff is trickling into youtube. It's random though.

For example, I found something, and this sort of goes against what the "official" John Ward story is.

It is the 1967 Tennessee Alabama game (from Legion field in Birmingham). Kenny Stabler at the helm for Alabama, Bobby Scott for Tennessee.

Now I always thought John Ward's first game was the beginning of 1968, the Georgia game, the very first college football game ever played on artificial turf, by the way.

But dang, It's obviously Ward calling the game. A year early?? Anybody know the story on that?

Here's the link:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIFeSUSG-YE[/youtube]
 
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#23
#23
George Mooney was John Ward’s immediate predecessor, serving as the Vols' play-by-play announcer from 1952-67 (Vol Network Announcer George Mooney Dies - University of Tennessee Athletics). Perhaps Mooney was ill for the ’67 Alabama game and John filled in. According to this source (John Ward (broadcaster - Wikipedia)), John’s first “broadcast of a UT basketball game for the Vol Network came in 1958. . . . Shortly after, Ward joined the Army.

After returning to Knoxville, Ward went to work at an advertising agency. In 1964 he began handling the duties as announcer-host-coordinator for UT coaches television shows in football and basketball. His broadcasting career blossomed when he became the Vols' radio play-by-play voice, first, for basketball in 1965 and three years later for football (1968).”
 
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#25
#25
I was in Stokley for TN v KY in 1975, and, quite simply, it was the greatest BB game I have ever seen.
 
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