LITTLE ROCK — It is, without a doubt, the most interesting meeting of the year for the board of directors of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.
Last week, a majority of the board met above the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce to vote on this year’s honorees.
As a whole, the board is made up of people who have a background in sports or a genuine passion for athletics and Arkansas.
By no stretch of the imagination does that mean the 30-plus people who were on hand were on the same page.
Every year we have the discussion on how many people to induct, and every year your trusty scribe loses the argument that we are inducting too many.
My concern has nothing to do with the banquet and how long it takes. Executive director Ray Tucker does a great job of keeping it moving.
From the dynamic introductions of past honorees by Jim Rasco, the unofficial historian of all things sports in the Natural State, until the final thank-you, the whole affair is right at two hours, tops.
No, my opinion is that it is such a great honor to be inducted in the ASHOF that less is better.
However, no complaint will be heard about this year’s class that includes six, plus three from the senior list and two from the deceased list.
There are factions on the board, some who want to control the organization and more who push for a school, city or geographic area in the voting.
Impassioned talks are common on selection day. Including lunch, the meeting takes almost two hours, and in that time there are interruptions, introductions and more interruptions.
It was my pleasure during last week’s meeting to sit by two of the most distinguished inductees of all time, Bobby Tiner and Ray Rodgers. Tiner was one of the greatest athletes this state ever produced, and Rodgers has a national reputation beyond reproach in the world of boxing.
Just don’t ask me who they voted for, because the ballots are cast in secret and counted by Cheddy Wigginton, a certified public account with Frost PLLC.
The main thing to remember for anyone considering joining this great organization — it’s just $50 a year, and applications can be found at arksportshalloffame.com or can be picked up at the museum in Verizon Arena — is that the general membership votes automatically put two members in from the regular voting list.
The top two receiving votes from the membership are discussed, but the bylaws call for induction.
For the record, though, the six inductees from the regular voting class members and two of the three from the seniors list were the top votegetters by the more than 700 members.
The class of Lee Mayberry, Terry Wallace, Bill Keedy, U.S. Reed, Harry Jones, Pat Jones, B. Lindsey, Bob Ford, Margaret Downing, Lonnie Clayton and Raymond Bright will be honored Feb. 3, 2012.
Members are also allowed to nominate for the Hall of Fame.
The board also voted unanimously to honor the 1994 Arkansas Razorbacks national champion basketball team.
In a very nice touch, they were recommended by Nelson Catalina, the former head coach at Arkansas State.
Last week, the board of directors of the Arkansas Hall of Fame approved the newest group of honorees, and they did so with the general membership vote strongly considered.
It was a lively meeting.
Sports, Pages 23 on 10/26/2011