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I'll miss Dudley Sanders Gymnasium.
I understand that progress dictates change. Gleason High School for 55
seasons played its basketball games in Dudley Sanders Gym and next year the
Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs will defend a new Dog Pound.
This is a good thing. It's also a sad thing. Gleason will reluctantly
abandon its old confines to hold court in a new arena, one that will hold
nearly 1,500 spectators. As a result, Gleason will comfortably be able to
host district, regional and substate events without having to venture across
West Tennessee.
That's a good thing.
Twice, Gleason had to hit the road for substate/sectional action when it
won its two girls' state basketball championships.
When the Gleason boys reached the regional tournament for the first time
in 20 years, it did so on Eric Belew's free throw against Dresden with
virtually no time left...at UT-Martin's Lady Pacer Fieldhouse, as it was
known then.
I've covered hundreds of games at Dudley Sanders Gym. I was even
fortunate enough to interview the man for whom the facility was named.
He recounted Gleason's state tournament travels back in 1969. He remarked
that it was fun for the team to go on the road and "stay in the motel."
That was a real event for high school kids in those days.
I actually played a pickup game on that floor before it was renovated. I
can't remember names, but from time to time, I still see people from Gleason
who took on we McKenzie folk that evening back in 1981.
The atmosphere in that small gym during key games was unmatched. I can
remember Gleason coach Randy Frazier calling me at my office in Martin that
winter in 1987. He asked me to come down and cover his team's game with No.
4-ranked Bradford. Frazier knew something special was brewing.
Frazier's mentor David Russell was in town and it was time for the
student to school the teacher. That's what happened. Gleason toppled the
mighty Lady Red Devils and a rivalry was hatched.
It was a fierce rivalry with great players. I can remember Kellie
McElhiney, Angie Blaylock, Vanessa Belew, Monica Aylor, Beth Steele, the
Lehmkuhl sisters, the Parham sisters, the Margrave sisters, the Crowe
sisters and April Leffler. No, the Lennon Sisters never played there, best I
can tell.
All staters like Ashley and Kellie McElhiney, Alisha Lehmkuhl, Lee Ann
Bell, Kara Sanders and Janie Mayo helped make the Lady Bulldogs one of the
most dominant teams in the state.
I remember once interviewing old players about the Gleason-Bradford
rivalry. Beth Steele once told me that she had blotches on her neck because
she was so nervous...as a spectator. She said she never got nervous as a
player. It was a passionate rivalry. There were some heated games with
Dresden, but that rivalry cooled a bit as the 1990s advanced.
I can remember my sister Susy Steele going up against Gleason's Amy
Steele. That baffled coaches. Both were all-district and all-region
performers. And they aren't related.
I covered some pretty good boys' teams. Coaches Mike Bennett, Shane Sisco
and Pete Angelos have been miracle workers on that hardwood. It has produced
pretty good players like Brian Arnold, Bryan Sanders, Mike Snider, Stacey
Collins, to name a few. All staters like Mark Hardy, Popeye Jones, Larry
Porch, Derrick Jones, the Krause brothers, Paul Drewry and Peanut Winn trod
upon those boards. Miss Basketball winners Sanders, McElhiney, Tonya Tuggles,
Jennifer Henson, Jessica Henson, Ashley Richardson and Michelle Street
delighted fans.
I have great memories of that old gym. It's not going away. The history
and memories remain. Now it's time for this new litter of Bulldogs and Lady
Bulldogs to create their own legacies. |
