Paula Juels Jones fought back tears during her acceptance speech, and pitcher A.J. Burnett fought back a dart for fellow 2009 World Series starting pitcher Cliff Lee for all of 45 seconds before he just couldn't hold it any longer. "A man amongst boys in that World Series," he said of Lee. "Fun to watch but I got the ring, brother."
The 2016 class of Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame inductees featured stars from the gridiron, the links and the speedway. Along with Burnett (baseball) and Jones (tennis), there was NASCAR owner Bill Davis, golfer Bryce Molder, and four footballers -- Bill Phillips of Harrison, who was drafted by the Denver Broncos; football coach Barry Lunney Sr. of Fort Smith; Razorbacks player Greg Koch, who's already in the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame; and Razorbacks National Championship quarterback Fred Marshall.
More tears were shed for three of the sports stars inducted posthumously, including boxer Pete Mead, a Trumann native; former University of Arkansas basketball standout Almer Lee; and Niall O'Shaughnessy, the Razorbacks distance runner who was Hall of Fame coach John McDonnell's first standout, sometimes called the man who lit the fire.
It was the 58th annual induction ceremony and took place at the Statehouse Convention Center, inside the ballroom that's often mistakenly called the Wally Hall (it's the Wally Allen). Hall, the longtime sports editor and columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, was on hand to receive the Meritorious Service Award from state Sen. Keith Ingram of West Memphis, current president of the Hall. For the players, including many past inductees paraded out at the start of the show, Chuck Barrett and Jim Rasco had the play-by-play.
New Hall of Fame executive director Terri Conder-Johnson, herself a member (basketball, 2005), was introduced.
High Profile on 03/13/2016