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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. |
