CONCERNED FANS FOR

BASKETBALL

Tennessee Ernie Ford made his debut in April 1949
In Dec. his third charted song was his first #1 (4 weeks),
"Mule Train"
Written by Merle Travis
who also does the 'whip effect' in the back.

TUBBY SMITH HAS A TEN MULE TRAIN
TO PULL HIS PLOW

The Ten Mule Team [SEE ENDNOTES]

Kentucky's Head Basketball Coach, Orlando "Tubby" Smith, and a young muleskinner named David Hobbs came up with the idea of playing basketball games at Rupp Arena by hitching two five-mule teams together to form a 10-mule team. The basketballs had to be carried up and down the floor, overcoming taller, faster opponents to reach the basket and score. These 80-possession games often started with the team in big holes, as much as 10 to 20 points below their opponents, as they pulled that plow and attempted to reach the goal. Specialized plows were needed to properly harness the mules.

The plows were built at a cost of the worlds greatest basketball program. Each five-mule team was assembled to withstand the grueling task masters Smith and Hobbs, and to grind through the hardwoods of the basketball floor. The team's rear line typically measured seven-feet-high and immobile and the front line measured six-foot-high and only moved east and west but never north and south. The mules were made of one inch thick skin, and many potential team mules had thin skin and could not bear the plow's load and could not make one of these teams. The plowed beds measured 94 feet long, 47 feet wide, and the plow seemed to cut deeper with each new plowing season.

The original concept was Eight mules and two horses, hitched together by single and double trees to form the ten mule team. However, before long, the horses learned that pulling these plows is mule work, not horse work, and the horses either refused the harness or bucked out at their first opportunity until Tubby only had mules left in the yoke. They were then latched to long chain running the entire length of the team, which was fastened directly onto the lead plow. A long rope ran through the collar ring of each left-hand mule up to the lead mules. This rope was called the "jerk line" and was the primary method the driver had of controlling the team. A steady and hard pull of the jerk line turned the mule team to the left to take a place on the bench.

Three men were needed to operate the ten mules team. The "Driver" sat on top of the plow and held the reins while guiding the team around the rugged terrain of the Basketball Schedule. The "Teamster" or "Muleskinner" rode one of the horses [now also a mule] which were the last two animals in the line, and one of the "Muleskinner's" primary responsibilities was harnessing and unharnessing the team and handling the brake of the plow, lest it make progress too quickly. The "Swamper" rode on the near bench and was responsible for manning the auxilliary brake when the team was on top and facing a steep downhill descent. He was also the chief mule recruiter.

The Ten Mule Teams produced more 10 loss seasons by Kentucky basketball coach between 1998 and 2007 than had ever been achieved by a Kentucky basketball coach before Smith and Hobbs, a total of 5 as of 2007. To demonstrate the resolve of the Ten Mule Team approach, Coach Rupp could only achieve 10 losses twice between 1930 and 1972. Coach Hall could only get 10 losses four times between 1973 and 1985. Coach's Sutton and Pitino together were only able to produce 10 or more losses three times between 1986 and 1997.

This is why Concerned Fans want to memorialized Tubby Smith's Ten Mule Team approach for its ability to produce 10 loss seasons with such regularity and apparent ease.

End Notes:

1. The NCAA Authorizes Tubby to Operate with Up To 13 Mules, but Tubby seldom operates with a full team, and has attempted to pull his plow with as few as 8 mules. However, Tubby Smith's preferred number of mules was 10, because he preferred to make 5 for 5 substitutions in mid-haul.

2. We all remember Borax and The Twenty Mule Team. You can read all about this wonderful part of Americana history at the Borax website using this LINK. This Parody is drawn from the original narrative of the History of The Twenty Mule Team presented at The Twenty Mule Team Museum.

The Original Borax Twenty Mule Train

Submitted by Richard Cheeks

Go Back