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The Boys of Yore

The Boys of Yore

Yessir, it’s football season again and I have the pleasure of living in FOOTBALL COUNTRY, a.k.a. TEXAS. Friday night lights are in full swing in the high schools—you can’t drive down any highway or back road in the state of Texas on a Friday night and not see the stadium lights somewhere ahead of you...

September 14, 2023September 14, 2023
Encyclopedic Terry Todd

Encyclopedic Terry Todd

Let me start by saying, I have never met the man, or if I have, it was only briefly and only incidentally. Last month was the five-year anniversary of the passing of Dr. Terry Todd. While I never had the privilege or the honor of sitting down and spending time with the man, I did...

August 25, 2023September 14, 2023
A Tale of Two U.T. Cheerleader Barbies

A Tale of Two U.T. Cheerleader Barbies

I’ve walked past her a hundred times since I started working at the Stark Center a few months ago. She’s at the end of a row on the top shelf, housed amongst the trophies, plaques, and awards of iconic U.T. Coaches, seemingly a bit out of place. She’s one of thousands of artifacts hidden behind...

August 11, 2023September 14, 2023
Treasures Behind Locked Doors

Treasures Behind Locked Doors

I’ve spent a lifetime around people who passionately pursue the perfect body. In my younger days, I was a dedicated gym rat and trained shoulder to shoulder with Olympians, top college athletes, and professional athletes, all who looked like they were carved out of stone like statues of Greek gods and goddesses. My motivation in...

July 12, 2023September 14, 2023
Bill Freeman Donates Early Nike Prototype to Stark Center

Bill Freeman Donates Early Nike Prototype to Stark Center

The Nike story actually begins well before Jordan, however. It began when legendary Oregon track and field coach, and co-founder of Nike, Bill Bowerman began trying to make a better track shoe. In 1948, Bill Bowerman moved his family to Eugene where he took the head coaching job for the track and field team at...

June 21, 2023September 14, 2023
Paintings by Igor Galanin on display in the Stark Center lobby.

CLOSING SOON: Igor Galanin’s Women of Strength and Skill

Having brought a rich new color palette to the Stark Center lobby for the past eight months, the paintings of Igor Galanin, graciously on loan from the artist and his family, will be coming down from our walls and returning to their rightful homes in New York. June 9th will be the last day that...

June 1, 2023June 1, 2023
A photo of (L-R) Charles A. Smith, Joe Weider, Reg Park’s mother, British bodybuilder Reg Park, Reg’s father, and an unidentified man taken outside of the Weider offices in Jersey City.

Celebrating Jewish-American Heritage Month with Joe Weider

In celebration of Jewish-American Heritage Month, The Stark Center would like to recognize Joe Weider, the man who made bodybuilding part of global culture. Born in Montreal, Canada, Weider began his athletic career as a competitive weightlifter and, during his lifetime, he led weight training from the closets and primitive gyms of the first half of the 20th century...

May 23, 2023May 23, 2023
Walter Imahara raises his arm during the introductions of athletes before competition.

Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month with Walter Imahara

In celebration of Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, The Stark Center would like to recognize the career of weightlifter Walter Imahara. Like so many other families of Japanese heritage, the Imahara family was relocated to an internment camp during WWII while Walter was only six years old. In 1955, Imahara began classes at Southwestern...

May 15, 2023May 23, 2023
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