Tell me about Stokely Athletic Center.

[garry123]

One of the non-basketball events I attended was Big John Tate's Fight against Mike Weaver. I am sure that was probably the only heavy weight championship fight in Stokley. Things were going good for the home crowd until the fifteenth and final round when Big John got knocked out.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I also saw Eagles there in November of 1979. The Long Run tour, also known as the Joe Walsh for President tour. Sold out, packed, great concert.
March of 1980 was the John Tate / Michael Weaver Hwt boxing championship. Tate had him beat, but wanted a knockout in front of the hometown crowd. Got too close, Weaver connected and Tate went down like an oak tree. Less than a minute left in the fight. Took several minutes to revive Tate, he was out cold..

Big John never recovered from that day. Around 1990 he rear ended a guy that I knew on Chapman Highway. IIRC, Big John was driving his girl friend’s car. After wrecking Big John ran away on foot into the SoKno wilderness. Big John had several other run ins with the law. Probably spent all of his heavyweight boxing winnings on cocaine.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I believe that Elton John played Stokely. Elvis and Janice Joplin had concerts there.

 

[nate from decatur]

One of the non-basketball events I attended was Big John Tate's Fight against Mike Weaver. I am sure that was probably the only heavy weight championship fight in Stokley. Things were going good for the home crowd until the fifteenth and final round when Big John got knocked out.

My dad took me to that fight. What an unexpected ending.

 

[TartanTurff]

It was a poorly lit, quite loud, antiquated old barn that once served as an armory, that was expanded on the courtsides, with a published seating capacity of 12,500, but regularly exceeded that capacity with standing room tickets and a few regular trespassers who would sit on some of the interesting ledges and concrete shelves along the walls. Usually only the lights over the court were on, much like a boxing venue, for the one or two games each year that were televised, additional rows of lights were hung in the rafters on two sides of a large four sided homemade scoreboard that hung midcourt. Player introductions came crashing through the T, bursting through the orange paper, illuminated in the dark by a couple of spotlights, out to center court lit by a floodlight in the old scoreboard to meet old orange Smokey, flash bulbs and flash cubes exploding, as Haywood Harris gave their height, their class rank, their position, hometown, the number and then their name, as only he could roll it out into a radio tube crackling PA system, "a 5-10 sophomore, point guard from Four Mile, Kentucky, number ten, Rodney Woods" and the introduction music was the expected and increasing thunder, cheer and applause from the 12,500 standing amid the excitement that engulfed the cramped, cozy, but homey old gym we simply called Stokely, after the generous alumni family that stepped up when super donors, premium seating and skyboxes were still 30 years away.

The only thing that survived the migration from Stokely to Thompson Boling was the buzzer, a hard sounding alert that Haywood had something to say, perhaps better suited for a game show missed answer, that does still echo some of the sounds and harkens back some of those images of days gone by. Most of the individuals recognized on the banners hanging in Thompson Boling made their mark in Stokely proving the long time fans comfort for the present, pleasant memories of the past and hope for the future of a game that once cost $5.00 to attend, 50 cents for a program and tip, popcorn was a quarter for an atmosphere that was truly priceless and incapable of replication in any way.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

My dad took me to that fight. What an unexpected ending.

Wiki:

WBA heavyweight champion
In March 1980 fought John Tate for the WBA title, in Tate's backyard of Knoxville, Tennessee. Tate was an amateur star from the 1976 Olympic team. As a pro he had put together a 20-0 record and won the vacant WBA title by decisioning South African Gerrie Coetzee over fifteen rounds, in front of 86,000 hostile fans in Pretoria, South Africa.

Weaver vs. Tate produced one of the divisions finest knockouts ever. The taller Tate dominated Weaver for all the first 10 rounds. But then with sheer determination a battered Weaver suddenly turned it around, pushing Tate backward. But he'd left it too late, according to the commentators, as only 5 rounds remained and Tate was expected to resume his lead. However, with only 40 seconds left in the 15th round, Weaver caught Tate bouncing off the ropes towards him with a devastating left hook. It dropped Tate to the canvas out cold for well over a minute. Press pictures showed Tate sound asleep whilst Weaver did a handstand alongside to celebrate.

 

[cpavol]

The 'riot' was a state tournament game with one team from Chattanooga. Stokely was a great venue for the old 'boys regional' tournaments. Early on, bleachers on one side and one end. One of the downsides of the bb set up was that the rise of the seats was so shallow that the top rows were waaay back from the court.

The riot was after Fulton beat Austin-East in a region tournament game in 1971.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

It was a poorly lit, quite loud, antiquated old barn that once served as an armory, that was expanded on the courtsides, with a published seating capacity of 12,500, but regularly exceeded that capacity with standing room tickets and a few regular trespassers who would sit on some of the interesting ledges and concrete shelves along the walls. Usually only the lights over the court were on, much like a boxing venue, for the one or two games each year that were televised, additional rows of lights were hung in the rafters on two sides of a large four sided homemade scoreboard that hung midcourt. Player introductions came crashing through the T, bursting through the orange paper, illuminated in the dark by a couple of spotlights, out to center court lit by a floodlight in the old scoreboard to meet old orange Smokey, flash bulbs and flash cubes exploding, as Haywood Harris gave their height, their class rank, their position, hometown, the number and then their name, as only he could roll it out into a radio tube crackling PA system, "a 5-10 sophomore, point guard from Four Mile, Kentucky, number ten, Rodney Woods" and the introduction music was the expected and increasing thunder, cheer and applause from the 12,500 standing amid the excitement that engulfed the cramped, cozy, but homey old gym we simply called Stokely, after the generous alumni family that stepped up when super donors, premium seating and skyboxes were still 30 years away.

The only thing that survived the migration from Stokely to Thompson Boling was the buzzer, a hard sounding alert that Haywood had something to say, perhaps better suited for a game show missed answer, that does still echo some of the sounds and harkens back some of those images of days gone by. Most of the individuals recognized on the banners hanging in Thompson Boling made their mark in Stokely proving the long time fans comfort for the present, pleasant memories of the past and hope for the future of a game that once cost $5.00 to attend, 50 cents for a program and tip, popcorn was a quarter for an atmosphere that was truly priceless and incapable of replication in any way.

There was a huge, manned spotlight that was in the back row of the end zone upper deck behind the visitors side bench.

 

[Hacksaw]

1983 Police Synchronicity Tour in Stokely was awesome.

I was there!

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

The riot was after Fulton beat Austin-East in a region tournament game in 1971.

I tried to Google that a couple of years ago and couldn’t find a thing. I guess it is in the Knoxville News-Sentinel and UT Daily Beacon archives. It was a huge, ugly mess. Fans threw the folding chairs and beat each other with them. They totally trashed the concourse and the displays.

 

[nate from decatur]

Sit Joe Sit!

 

[SaintLouisVol]

I actually saw Larry Bird and the Celtics play Julius Erving and the 76ers at Stokely. Those guys only played a couple of quarters, but it was pretty dang cool for a kid. I believe it was part of the World’s Fair events.

 

[robby487]

I think it was 1969 or 1970 the first time i ever went to watch a football game at Neyland, we always had watched them play in Memphis once every year. So a friend and myself drove there from Memphis and got there about daylight. We found the ticket office which i think was Stokely and set out front waiting on it to open. This man walked up and ask us, what you boys doing here so early and we explained it was a first time for us and we drove from Memphis. So he got his keys and open the door and showed us around and gave us two tickets, it was Coach Cafego.

 

[Illinoisvolfan2]

Saw a few games there back in the day. Saw Pistol Pete play once. Great place.

 

[alvinkamara]

It was a poorly lit, quite loud, antiquated old barn that once served as an armory, that was expanded on the courtsides, with a published seating capacity of 12,500, but regularly exceeded that capacity with standing room tickets and a few regular trespassers who would sit on some of the interesting ledges and concrete shelves along the walls. Usually only the lights over the court were on, much like a boxing venue, for the one or two games each year that were televised, additional rows of lights were hung in the rafters on two sides of a large four sided homemade scoreboard that hung midcourt. Player introductions came crashing through the T, bursting through the orange paper, illuminated in the dark by a couple of spotlights, out to center court lit by a floodlight in the old scoreboard to meet old orange Smokey, flash bulbs and flash cubes exploding, as Haywood Harris gave their height, their class rank, their position, hometown, the number and then their name, as only he could roll it out into a radio tube crackling PA system, "a 5-10 sophomore, point guard from Four Mile, Kentucky, number ten, Rodney Woods" and the introduction music was the expected and increasing thunder, cheer and applause from the 12,500 standing amid the excitement that engulfed the cramped, cozy, but homey old gym we simply called Stokely, after the generous alumni family that stepped up when super donors, premium seating and skyboxes were still 30 years away.

The only thing that survived the migration from Stokely to Thompson Boling was the buzzer, a hard sounding alert that Haywood had something to say, perhaps better suited for a game show missed answer, that does still echo some of the sounds and harkens back some of those images of days gone by. Most of the individuals recognized on the banners hanging in Thompson Boling made their mark in Stokely proving the long time fans comfort for the present, pleasant memories of the past and hope for the future of a game that once cost $5.00 to attend, 50 cents for a program and tip, popcorn was a quarter for an atmosphere that was truly priceless and incapable of replication in any way.

Damn Tartan, that is some fine descriptive prose.....you put me inside the arena with a box of popcorn on my lap

 

[feathersax]

Adolph Rupp and Joe Hall hated Stokely. Tennessee had a distinct home court advantage when games were played there, especially when Kentucky came to play. No matter how good Kentucky was, teams came there to die. In 1980 - my freshman year at UT - an unranked Tennessee team with two of its best players suspended beat the number 2 Kentucky Wildcats. The atmosphere was electric that day.

Tartan floor, which Rupp & Hall blamed for Kentucky losses. They whined like turpentined kitties.

 

[hbvol1982]

If you sat on the top rows, sometimes you would find your view blocked (if you stood up) by ductwork or a piece of mechanical equipment or piping hung from the ceiling. At Christmas 1981, the Vols were all but beaten by American University in the Vol Classic holiday tournament. Gary Carter stole the in-bounds pass near half-court and threw in a prayer for a 59-58 win. I went to dozens of events there and that place is a cherished memory. Saw the Commodores, Stevie Nicks, EJ, and the 1983 NCAA tourney game between Louisville and Kentucky when they had not played each other in 45 years. One of my favorite memories was sneaking in with my roommate during a Georgia practice before a Saturday game. Dominique Wilkins drove left baseline, jumped up and grabbed the support for the bottom of the backboard, swung himself to the other side and reverse dunked with his opposite hand. We screamed in disbelief, were found by the staff and escorted from the building. Man I loved that place. Also it was crazy hot in there, so during a game everyone lost weight from sweating.

 

[hbvol1982]

Some of my events...

 

[iluvsmesumdooley]

It was where REAl basketball was played.

 

[Volrocketman]

Jimmy Buffet played a show around 1980. There was a rumor going around that he was killed in a plane crash heading to Knoxville. His show started with a guitar and his hat hanging on the mic stand and then he came out and joked about the rumor.

I was at that show as well and remember the hat and guitar mounted on a stand in the center of the stage. I seem to recall there was also one of his jackets hanging on the stand. The rumor of the plane crash came out on one of the Knoxville radio stations late on Wednesday evening and the concert was scheduled for Saturday night. The station started playing a bunch of Jimmy’s songs in tribute and it was several hours (maybe even into early Thursday morning) before the rumor was refuted. As you can imagine the atmosphere was quite electric by Saturday night. The Coral Reefer Band came out first and started an instrumental intro and the only light was a spotlight on the guitar, hat, and jacket. The PA announcer then called Jimmy onstage with “And here he is, back from the dead after three days, Jimmy Buffet!” A bit sacrilegious but all-in-all, good fun. A great show.

I also saw Steve Martin in Stokely in ‘79 or ‘80. Those of you who remember Steve in his prime know he was one of those non-stop stand-up comics who hit the stage ”running” and never slowed up. I remember it being fairly warm in Stokely that night. After about 45 minutes of an outstanding show, Steve abruptly stopped, turned around, and walked straight off the back of the stage and out a side door of the building. The audience was a bit stunned at first but eventually began cheering for him to return. After several minutes someone came out on the stage and announced that Steve had become ill and would not be able to finish the show. I heard later he ”puked his guts out” as soon as he left the building. While we were a little disappointed at the length of the show, it was still a good one, and definitely a memorable one.

 

[rbjnet]

I remember seeing Bernard King go for a monster dunk at Stokely. He missed the dunk but the ball ricocheted high enough to almost hit the ceiling. I also remember going through class registration in Stokely. Good times.

 

[TNnative]

I walked into Stokely for the first time as a new freshman in 1971 to pick up my class registration for the quarter. All the tables spread out across the floor. Big boxes of paper forms. You'd get the results of the computer's attempt at giving you your pre-registration requested classes. And there were always problems. As a poor freshman, you had lowest priority. So, off you went to the mile-long drop/add line which took about an hour to wait through. And if your requested schedule change was not available, that meant leaving the computer station to go work on a different registration request, and then wait another hour through the line.

What few knew was the ag campus had a much shorter line for their drop and add set-up. I had to endure a 2 hour wait my first fall quarter. When I picked up my winter quarter schedule, several of the guys from my dorm floor went over to pick up them up. I got in line and a guy I knew from Alpha Gamma Rho got in behind me. We were both needing to drop and add. We were walking toward the area where usual drop and add took place, and he told me to follow him to the bus stop at the back side of the student center. We get on the Ag Hill Loop bus. Followed him into (I think it was) Morgan Hall. There were only about 15 to 20 people in there, and most of them were finished. We were done in ten minutes. Got back to the dorm, ate, and was watching MASH when the other guys from my floor got back from the main drop and add circus.

 

[TNnative]

I was at that show as well and remember the hat and guitar mounted on a stand in the center of the stage. I seem to recall there was also one of his jackets hanging on the stand. The rumor of the plane crash came out on one of the Knoxville radio stations late on Wednesday evening and the concert was scheduled for Saturday night. The station started playing a bunch of Jimmy’s songs in tribute and it was several hours (maybe even into early Thursday morning) before the rumor was refuted. As you can imagine the atmosphere was quite electric by Saturday night. The Coral Reefer Band came out first and started an instrumental intro and the only light was a spotlight on the guitar, hat, and jacket. The PA announcer then called Jimmy onstage with “And here he is, back from the dead after three days, Jimmy Buffet!” A bit sacrilegious but all-in-all, good fun. A great show.

I also saw Steve Martin in Stokely in ‘79 or ‘80. Those of you who remember Steve in his prime know he was one of those non-stop stand-up comics who hit the stage ”running” and never slowed up. I remember it being fairly warm in Stokely that night. After about 45 minutes of an outstanding show, Steve abruptly stopped, turned around, and walked straight off the back of the stage and out a side door of the building. The audience was a bit stunned at first but eventually began cheering for him to return. After several minutes someone came out on the stage and announced that Steve had become ill and would not be able to finish the show. I heard later he ”puked his guts out” as soon as he left the building. While we were a little disappointed at the length of the show, it was still a good one, and definitely a memorable one.

It was 79. Stokely's air handling units (It was not air conditioned) were not running too well that night, and it was humid on campus that day. I don't know if Martin had caught the stomach virus that a few people I knew had, or if he just came on stage slightly dehydrated. But I was told he damn near had a heat stroke, and was given several units of fluid at UT hospital. Or so said one of the paramedics who hauled him over there.

 

[MAD]

I believe that Elton John played Stokely. Elvis and Janice Joplin had concerts there.

Photo of Elvis playing Stokley May 20 1977, 3 months before he died.

 

[1982Alum]

Danny Ainge and Dominique Wilkins are two stars I saw when their teams came to Stokely.