On Sunday, thousands of basketball fans surrounded the court at Shawnee Park in nearly triple-digit temperatures. Two neighborhood men’s teams were in an intense battle with two opponents: the summer heat and each other.
In the end, The Mighty Mighty East End men’s basketball team, representing Smoketown, defeated Park Hill with a five-point lead. The buzzer rang through the park, onlookers erupted in cheers and fans flooded the court to celebrate the 2024 Dirt Bowl champions.
The sights and sounds of the Dirt Bowl
Ravon Churchill has been coming to the Dirt Bowl since he was four years old. Now, he’s a lead organizer and one of the announcers at the games.
He said the Dirt Bowl brings summer Saturdays and Sundays to life at Shawnee Park.
“We bring out thousands of people every single summer, every weekend,” Churchill said, “and there's not really another event that is like the Dirt Bowl.”
For Churchill and many other Dirt Bowl regulars, it's more than a basketball tournament.
Surrounding the games, dozens of food vendors sell their signature dishes, like barbeque, fried fish, lemonades, snow cones and desserts during the games. Along nearby roads, other Dirt Bowl fans line up to show off their cars and motorcycles. Small business owners set up stands around the court selling T-shirts, jewelry and shoes.
Churchill said everything that happens at the Dirt Bowl is a part of its 55-year legacy in the community.
“It's much more about the culture than the basketball,” he said. “Some people have no idea who's winning the game, and they don't care. But they're gonna come through Shawnee Park on Sunday.”
‘I said bang!’
Some prominent figures who are a part of Dirt Bowl culture — like announcer Cornell Bradley — have been around for decades. Bradley said he got his shot when the scheduled game announcer didn’t show up one day in 1979. He filled in, and now Bradley is known as “the voice of the Dirt Bowl.”
His commentary is also part of his legacy, including the words he says after every three-pointer.
“Bang…I said bang!” Bradley shouts to the crowd.
Bradley’s catchphrase is a rallying cry for the Dirt Bowl. At 72 years old, Bradley now announces on the court that is named for him.
“Sometimes I don't know how many more years I will be here,” Bradley said. “but I'm not ready to stop yet.”
Bradley’s contribution to the Dirt Bowl inspired a new era of announcers like Dre Watters, also known as “Lil Dre the Giant.” Before he was an announcer, Watters played basketball for Kentucky State University, and he played in the Dirt Bowl for the East End team in the ‘90s.
“I've been a basketball player all my life,” he said. “So I know the game at a high level.”
He said Dirt Bowl basketball is nothing like what you would see at a professional game. He called it “the jungle.”
“The Dirt Bowl is turning into high-level basketball with a little edge to it. Because this is the jungle. Every foul ain’t gonna be called. You got to come out here with your teeth and claws. And you know what you're coming into,” he said.
He said while the Dirt Bowl can be intense, it’s also a place for camaraderie.
“The people in the community have been respecting the Dirt Bowl in its history, the 55 years of community.”
A beacon of peace and escape
The Dirt Bowl began in 1969 at Algonquin Park because of two volunteers from Louisville Metro Parks and Recreation.
One of the Dirt Bowl’s founders, Ben Watkins, who died from cancer in 2020, said the tournament was created following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Watkins explained the Dirt Bowl’s beginnings in the 2017 documentary, “I Said Bang! A History of the Dirt Bowl” produced by WFPL, the Louisville Story Program and Ravon Churchill.
“People were just looking for a release point, something to do,” Watkins said in the documentary. “They couldn't go out in the street because they’re afraid of being hurt or victimized. So they will look for release points as a way of getting away from it all. And the Dirt Bowl was one main reason.”
A few years after the Dirt Bowl began, the tournament moved to Shawnee Park, where it has been held for decades.
The games featured future stars like Darrell “Dr. Dunkenstein” Griffith, a University of Louisville basketball player and 1980s Utah Jazz shooting guard, and 1970s Golden State Warrior and Kentucky native Butch Beard. Both played in the Dirt Bowl before their professional careers.
Kamari Harper, a young participant, said the Dirt Bowl still serves its intended purpose: to be a beacon of peace and escape.
“It's the community of people around you,” she said. “You don't gotta worry about gun violence. It's just a way to bring the community together, knowing that gun violence rates are high right now.”
Harper is a 16-year-old basketball player and a sophomore at Butler High School. She’s also Churchill’s niece and the newest announcer at the Dirt Bowl. She said she hopes she can be a part of the next generation of Dirt Bowl legends.
“The more people we get to come down and the more peace we have in the community because we show people that we don't always have to all come together just to fight and shoot and kill each other. We all have to stand together as one,” Harper said.
For now, Harper and the rest of the Dirt Bowl announcers said they’re looking forward to next year’s tournament. They said they hope the Dirt Bowl’s legacy continues to grow for another 55 years.
