history
I've been working on adding features to the myspace page for the local bar and added some things relevant to my freshman year college, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). Part of my research today has been an interesting look into the Native American history of the region - the Tennessee River winds past the city and the horseshoe shaped curve at the foot of Lookout Mountain is called Moccasin Bend, like the snake. The school mascot at one time was the snake. Then it was the shoe, then in my time, is was what was hoped to be a combination term that honored the Indian history, and was a fictional Indian warrior named Chief Moccanooga. It was later seen as racist and retired in the 90's. It was then replaced instead by a MOCKingbird dressed as a railroad engineer.
Why some compromise wasn't reached so we could continue to honor the people of the Miscogean/Creek people I don't know. Instead we now honor a song (Chattanooga Choo-Choo) and a football coach - the mascot is "Scrappy" (named for Scrappy Moore, former coach back in the 50's).
On the plus side (score one for President George W Bush here folks!) after 50 years of debate about developing the peninsula of land that is cradled by that turn in the river, Moccasin bend Park has been named a historic naional park in legislation that was signed by Bush in 2003. Archeological digs have shown evidence of Indian inhabitation for more than a thousand years. Keeping that land from becoming a theme park or a zoo, or a series of over-developed private properties has been a long battle by the preservationists.
http://www.moccasinbendpark.org/history/index.html
Back on myspace, one "friend" is the UTC Lacrosse Club - recently revived and hoping to raise funds to get their accreditation to become a member of the college sports league. Currently they play on Chamberlain Field and that's where my stroll down memory lane began.
I posted about this place several years ago. My freshman year began with my being housed in a series of off-campus motels due to a dorm room shortage at the school. After the Christmas break, however, I was moved back to the Vine Street Dormitory. They were located under the north grandstands of what was then the nation's 2nd oldest college football stadium, Chamberlain Field. The field had seen the likes of Terry Bradshaw, Johnnie Unitas, Steve McNair, and after my tenure, Terrell Owens (UTC '96). But the building was built in 1908 and was in pretty bad shape. I remember the night I learned of my grandmother's death - I distracted myself with a 6 pack or two of tall boys of something called RedWhiteandBlue, the local version of Pabst, I guess. College stuff, $2 for a six pack, LOL! By the time I finished whatever combo of RWB and drinking at the nearby David's Bar, I was stoked and came back to the stadium dorms, went around to the field, went to a dark corner where the stands met the sidelines, and used the brick wall as a punching bag. I put a crack in the mortar and still have the scars on my knuckle.
My room was street level, over on the east side of the building, 3 rooms from the door. That end of the building had an entrance tunnel leading from the street to the field. There was a ticket booth for games on the right side of the entry. Above the sidewalk adjacent to the tunnel was a blue sign advertising tickets. Something like this :
As a matter of fact, EXACTLY like that, heh-heh! Before returning to my room that night, bloodied hand and all, I decided that even if I had been unable to punch that stadium down, I was at least ripping a part of it off.
As you can see, the stadium north bleachers/dorm was demolished 2 years ago and these were the first photos I had been able to find about the event - faculty, administration, and alumni sat in the pressbox in the stands on the opposite side of the field and watched the wrecking ball do its deed. The Mocs since 1997 have played in a state of the art stadium off campus near downtown and once again a field, Chamberlain field serves as a practice and playing venue for the UTC Lacrosse club as well as other school intra-mural teams.
In case you are wondering how these two thoughts, lacrosse and Indian history sparked my day - lacross, aka, stickball, aka tewaarathon : 'little brother of war' to the Iroquois, baggataway to the Algonquin, toli to the Choctaw, was the name given by French exporers, the first whites to see this sport, seen as everything short of being murderous, who thought the sticks resembled a bishops cross.
