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Ab Kirwan (left) speaking into microphone for KRLD
Television on New Year's Day, 1952, after the University of Kentucky's victory
over Texas Christian University in the Cotton Bowl.
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Have you ever wondered why Euclid Avenue turns into the
Avenue of Champions from Rose to Limestone Streets? In 1952, the name was
changed after UK won the Cotton Bowl championship in Dallas, Texas. UK Alumnus,
T. Jere Bean of Louisville, suggested the name change to recognize the
championship UK football and basketball teams.
The Lexington Board of City Commissioners renamed the street under a
suspension of rules and Mayor Tom Mooney presided at the official hanging of
the sign.
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Quarterback Vito "Babe" Parilli holding the new
street sign "Avenue of Champions"
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During this time Bernie A. Shively was the UK Athletics
Director. Shively came to the University of Kentucky in 1927 as an assistant
football and head track coach. He served
as Athletics Director from 1938 until his death in December of 1967. The
athletics program grew substantially under the direction of Bernie
Shively. He directly supervised doubling
the seating capacity of the football stadium, the construction of a sports
center to provide top facilities for spring sports and football practice, and
moving the basketball team into Memorial Coliseum, which at the time was
considered the finest collegiate basketball arena in the nation upon its
completion in 1951.
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Celebration dinner after UK victory over Oklahoma in the
Sugar Bowl, New Year's Day, 1951; pictured from right, Charles Grenrod, Ab
Kirwan, Betty Kirwan, Governor A. B. Chandler, Athletics Director Bernie
Shively, Mrs. Chandler, UK President Herman Donovan; others are unidentified.
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Shively played a key role in bringing Paul “Bear” Bryant to
UK as football coach in 1946, and was critical in promoting harmony between
Coach Bryant and Coach Adolph Rupp. During the Bryant and Rupp years, the
Wildcats won four NCAA, one NIT, three Bowl and 19 SEC championships. They also won the collegiate bracket of the
Olympic Trials, sending five basketball players and Rupp to gold medal
victories in the 1948 Olympics. Bernie Shively was a major influence in UK
Athletics.
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