Long Time Employee to Receive Athletic Spirit Award

Generations of University of Arkansas - Monticello students and fans have come to countless basketball and football games over the last 48 years with just one constant – soft-spoken clock operator Tommy Matthews. While many fans will not recognize Matthews’ name, his long-standing devotion to UAM athletics is evident to anyone who has ever worked with him.

The 71-year-old Matthews has been a fixture at basketball games for the last 48 years and at football games for the last 35. In that time, Matthews estimates he has missed at most three football games and four basketball games since scaling back his schedule three years ago. While Matthews has never been one to seek attention, he’ll get it this coming Thursday as the second recipient of the UAM Athletic Spirit Award to be presented at the UAM Sports Hall of Fame banquet.

Matthews’ longevity on the campus is the type usually reserved for buildings or monuments. His first year keeping the game clock for the Boll Weevils basketball team was also the late Leslie “Shorty” Beard’s first year as head basketball coach, and since his first game he has seen countless changes in his alma mater, from the establishment of a women’s basketball program to 15 different men’s and women’s basketball coaches over the years.

It wasn’t until the 1972 season that Matthews was put in charge of the game clock at football games, and Matthews has seen numerous changes and great players since then as well.

“I really didn’t get to know the football players as well as I did the basketball players,” Matthews said. “Of course sitting on the sidelines you get to see them and know their temperament better than you do sitting up in the press box.”

Matthews’ association with UAM and the Monticello community goes back longer than his association with the University. Born Dec. 7, 1935 to Joe and Ouida Matthews in Texarkana, Texas, Matthews was raised in Monticello and spent the majority of his life living and working in Southeast Arkansas.

Matthews chose to stay close to home after high school and enrolled at Arkansas A&M College, where he was an all-conference performer in tennis. Matthews was typically humble when asked about his performance on the Boll Weevil tennis squad, simply saying, “Oh, I played a little bit of tennis out there.”

Not long after receiving his degree in business administration in 1958, Matthews was approached by Beard and asked to work at Boll Weevil basketball games.

“He just called me up and asked me to come out,” Matthews said. “That’s really how I got started.”

The first season on the sidelines was a thrilling one for Matthews, as the 1959-60 Boll Weevils won the NAIA District 17 championship.

"That was one of the biggest thrills I ever had,” said Mathews. “There were a lot of good players on that team. Harold Mobley and Levin Johnson were two of the best players I’ve seen.”

The list of talented players that Matthews has seen over the years is endless.

“Norman ‘Kangaroo’ Johnson was a talented player,” Matthews said. “He could stop on a dime and jump high in the air and hit his shot; that’s why they called him ‘Kangaroo.’ He’s one of the best players I’ve seen. And going back, Goat Thurman, Jim Trimm and Jack Jordan were all good players.”

With the debut of women’s basketball at UAM came a different style of game, but Matthews wasted no time praising some of the talented Cotton Blossoms that have played.

“Tina Webb was absolutely great,” Matthews said. “She’s the best I’ve ever seen. Rose Avery was way above average as well.

“Pearlean Davidson was a really good player, and I really liked her temperament,” Matthews said. “and Anita McChristian was a very good all-around player.”

Matthews also saw a number of talented players come through Steelman Fieldhouse playing for other teams, most notably future NBA All-Star Scottie Pippen, who played at AIC rival Central Arkansas.

“He really didn’t impress me at first,” Matthews said, “in high school or in college, but over his last two years he really matured and became a much better player. We all know how he turned out.”

While Matthews hasn’t gotten to know the football players as well as the basketball players, one Boll Weevil standout immediately comes to mind.

“Cory Allred was an amazing player,” Matthews said. “He could be running full-speed and then just throw the ball downfield like it took no effort.”

Matthews has certainly had his hands full over the years with his connection to UAM sports, but found time along the way for a 33-year career as a teacher and elementary school principal at Monticello Elementary School.

“I still run into some of my former students occasionally,” Matthews said. “I will even see some of our old basketball players. I really enjoy talking to them all.”

Matthews has been married to his wife Pat for 39 years, and the couple will celebrate their 40^th anniversary April 12, 2008. They have two children, Bynum and Ann.

Three years ago, the Matthews family moved north to Maumelle. “We wanted to be able to spend some more time with our grandchildren,” Matthews said. “We really enjoy our time with them.”

But despite the over-200 mile round trip, Matthews still makes the drive to Monticello on fall Saturdays to run the clock at Boll Weevil football games, just like he has for the last 35 years. And while Matthews has scaled back his work schedule at basketball games, only working doubleheaders during conference season, he returns to a familiar seat – a seat that has been his for the last 48 years – and keeps the game clock.

“The biggest change I’ve seen over the years is that the kids are stronger now, and the game is faster, much quicker,” Matthews said. “The shooting is better. That’s where it’s changed. My part hasn’t.”

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©The Voice 2007
Revised 09/17/2007 09:07:11 PM — http://www.uamont.edu/Organizations/TheVoice/5_6/spirit.htm