Former Wildcat Stars Should Be Honored
It's time to rectify a gross injustice to the dozens of outstanding athletes who have toiled and brought much fame to the University of Kentucky.
Over the years, stars such as Ralph Beard, Alex Groza, George Blanda, Cliff Hagan, Bob Gain, Steve Meilin-ger, Frank Ramsey, Dom Fucci, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Babe Parilli, Mark Nenow, Adolph Rupp, and many others have never been awarded their just recognition.
What we're speaking of is the absence of a University of Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame. For some unknown reason, Kentucky has never felt it important to create such a recognition process.
While others retire jersies or numbers of their very best alumni, UK usually has waited for one of the national shrines to honor her former athletes, like the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame or the College Football Hall of Fame.
But there is a more revered place to honor the very best and it would be right here in Lexington.
Since 1976, there has been talk of an Adolph Rupp Basketball Museum at Rupp Arena. It has never gotten off the ground. It was first scheduled for completion in 1977 and the project has dragged on and on and apparently is doomed to failure.
Latest word is that it may result in a few showcases inside the Lexington Center which would be a tragic mistake, not to mention cheapening UK's great heroes by just decorating a few windows for the benefits of a few commercial businesses.
What University of Kentucky officials should do is to build its own complete Hall of Fame on campus, perhaps near Commonwealth Stadium and the K-Men's House. Instead of just a basketball museum, it should be for all sports. Of course, the heavy emphasis should be on basketball and football.
What brings all this to mind is last week's retirement announcement of Dan Issel of the Denver Nuggets. After 16 years in the pros, Dan will be hanging it up this spring.
And despite his numerous contributions to the .University of Kentucky program, he has never been recognized publicly for those accomplishments. Of course it's early and perhaps University officials are preparing a special night for him at Rupp Arena. The sad part is that many UK greats have gone before him without recognition.
One of the greatest is UK athletics director Cliff Hagan. Another is Frank Ramsey, a long-time member of the UK Board of Trustees and athletics board member. Both were honored by the National Basketball Hall of Fame,
but I'd bet my lunch money each would admit a greater satisfaction for a local celebration.
That's what a local Hall of Fame could accomplish. There would be inductees each year, voted on perhaps by a panel of sportswriters and old-timers, much like the other national hall of fame balloting.
Ceremonies could be held annually, either during a football game at Commonwealth Stadium or a basketball game at Rupp Arena. A banquet on the evening before the contest would be one of the most attractive events of the year.
The Hall of Fame would not have to be limited to just ex-UK athletes. It should include provisions to recognize outstanding individuals who have made major contributions to the sports programs at the University, such as people who helped conceive the Rupp Arena idea (see Mel Holbrook's column elsewhere in this edition), people who have been dedicated public servants in the interest of sports like trainers, managers, athletics board members.
But above all, the membership should be very selective, certainly a mark of excellence should have been achieved so as not to cheapen the very idea. No person should qualify for membership for at least five years after their departure from the campus.
I would love to see the day I could walk into such a place and relive the great by-gone days of Bear Bryant in the early fifties and the national championship of the Fabulous Five. And ten years from now, again go back and see how history remembers the great athletes of today.
Perhaps I'm only dreaming, but such a facility would be an immense success, not to mention the assets in recruiting it would create for all coaches at the University.
Unfortunately, a Hall of Fame is not associated with huge profits. Almost always, museums (no matter how large or small) are run at deficits. With that in mind, most school officials don't even want to engage in such a conversation. Shame on them.
Are they ready to admit they're exposing the student-athlete for every penny they can get from their talents and then drop them?
A sports museum operated by a university would not be that expensive. The pluses would far outweigh the minuses. That's not saying it would make a profit, but it could become close to self-sustaining and would be a great place for any recruit (student, athlete, alumni or fan) to tour when visiting Lexington. The
University of Alabama is launching a similar project on its campus.
Perhaps University officials are unaware of such interest, or maybe there isn't interest and I'm the lone nut who loves to relive the past. If you'd like to see such a plan carried out at UK, we'd like to hear from you. Drop us a line and we'll pass along your comments to UK officials.
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After back-to-back losses to Georgia and Tennessee on the road last week, Kentucky faces a win-or-else situation against LSU at home on Thursday and then it's on the road the next day for a date with Auburn on Saturday.
If Kentucky is unable to sidetrack the Bengal Tigers, then Coach Joe B. Hall's crew is squarely facing the possibility of a losing season once again. A loss to LSU and the Kentucky season record is 9-9 with two straight road games facing them.
Against Georgia, the Wildcats played fairly well, considering all things, except the defense broke down terribly in the final half. The encouraging signs came from the field goal range where the Cats shot 55.4 percent for the game. That's the good news. Bad news is that UK shot that well and still lost by eight.
Sunday was another matter.
For the 12th time in thirteen trips to Knoxville, UK came away a loser to the Vols in the Joe B. Hall era. It's become ole hat in K-town.
While Kentucky played well in the first half, everything went to pieces in the last twenty minutes when turnovers, lack of assists and poor shooting took over.
Other than Kenny Walker's 23-point exhibition, the only other bright spot was Robert Lock's 8 points and six rebounds in ten minutes of playing time.
Kentucky again was victimized by outstanding guard play. Michael Brooks was unstoppable, scorching the nets for 34 points. When all was said and done, UT's guards outscored the Wildcats' backcourt men 48-14.
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Kentucky's football recruiting has really taken off in the past few days and the biggest news of the recruiting season came last weekend when Parade Magazine Ail-American Mike Pfeifer announced he will sign with UK on the national letter-of-intent signing date in February. Within hours, teammate Carwell Gardner, another blue-chipper, also committed.
Pfeifer is a big, strong lineman, the kind of athletes that don't come along every day and that's the type athlete
coach Jerry Claiborne sorely needs to shore up his lines.
Those close to the scene believe some other major verbal committments are just around the corner. The way things shape up right now, Claiborne may enjoy his finest year of recruiting yet at Kentuckysand that's saying something after last year's group headed by Mark Higgs.
With national signing date less than two weeks away, we have some special football recruiting coverage for you this week including a handy recruiting chart (pages 16-17) which shows all the coaches' respective recruiting areas.
There's also an updated list of verbal committments and comments from Mike Pfeifer (who has since announced he will attend UK) taken from an interview last week.
Because of the obvious recruiting wars being waged by all schools, UK is keeping mum about out-of-state prospects. But reports are that the Wildcats are in very good shape with three or four recruits.
Since Claiborne has done a masterful job handling his talent with red-shirting the past three years, UK will have only 20 or 21 scholarships to offer next month and while it may not seem right, that's extremely good news for the program.
The State of Kentucky is down in quality, as far as numbers are concerned, this year so this is a good time when you don't have the full NCAA limit of 30 scholarships to offer.
So far, all of the major committments coming from Kentucky preps-ters have been in favor of the Big Blue. It'll be interesting to see how they continue.
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HITS AND MISSES. . .Although the 1985 signing date hasn't even arrived, there's as much talk about a Kentucky junior as any of the seniors. Reports have it that all the big ones (Notre Dame, Georgia, Alabama, Nebraska, Oklahoma, UCLA, etc.) are already beating the door down at Trigg County where running back Al Baker is expected to become one of if not the greatest prep running back in the state's history. Responsible for handling UK's recruiting chores in that upcoming battle is Farrell Sheridan who says the kid can "flat play college football today." Humml. . .Some players take it easy in the off season, but not junior-to-be quarterback Bill Ransdell. He never misses the opportunity to improve himself. Just last
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