GA Sports Hall of Fame Induction

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Ernie Harwell among inductees to Georgia Sports Hall of Fame
2/15/2008, 10:44 p.m. EST

The Associated Press
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MACON, Ga. (AP) — Two former NFL players, Earnest Byner and Richard Dent, along with former NBA players Wayne "Tree" Rollins and Elmore Smith, were among nine inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame on Friday night.
Others inducted were high school coach L.C. Baker, former Georgia football player and high school coach Herb St. John, golfer Jim Dent, Ernie Harwell, a longtime major league broadcaster with the Detroit Tigers and the voice of the old Atlanta Crackers and high school basketball coach Norman Carter Jr., who had about 125 former Taylor County High players cheering his induction.
Jim Dent dropped out of The ACE Group Classic in Naples, Fla., to attend the ceremonies.
Harwell, 90, was honored in his hometown of Washington, near Augusta, with an "Ernie Harwell Day" earlier.

__________________

Yeah, there were a bunch of us there from TC.
Some old-timers might remember when Taylor County dominated HS basketball, especially girls BB, in the mid-state.

Here is Coach Carter with three of his best players ever:


My wife, Bunny, on Coach Carter's right, was MVP in State tournaments three years in a row, played two years at Middle GA College, and two years at UGA. She was "Female Scholar Athlete of the Year" at UGA in 1976. Her name is on the big granite monument outside Stegeman Coliseum in Athens.

The ladies on Coach's left are Judy and Sissy Riley. Judy never played in a losing game as a starter and won All-State honors two years. Sissy was MVP in the State Tournament her Jr. and Sr. years.

Taylor County girls' teams won five consecutive State Championships, 1968-69-70-71-72, and racked up a 132 game winning streak during that time. That still stands as a state record for consecutive wins in girls basketball, and fourth nationally. Coach Carter's Butler High School girls team (before Reynolds and Butler schools consolidated) won a State Championship in 1964. His TC High boys team won State in 1967. He coached only twelve years, but won seven State Championships, six girls and one boys.

It was a thrill for me to meet those great athletes. I spoke briefly with Ernie Harwell and Jim Dent. I shook hands with Tree Rollins. Let me tell you, he is BIG.


I shook hands with a Super Bowl MVP (Richard Dent), and had a laugh with a three-time 1000 yard NFL running back (Earnest Byner) about Tree Rollins' HOF jacket being too small.

It was a great night for Coach Carter. I know he was thrilled to be inducted with such a great class.

I think my wife and I are the only married couple to have both played on one of Coach's Championship teams. I always tell folks we have five championships and three MVPs between us; she has four of the championships and all the MVPs.



Here are all this year's inductees:


Left to right: Ernie Harwell; Herb St. John, UGA star football player in the '40s; Richard Dent, Super Bowl XX MVP; Norman Carter; Tree Rollins; Earnest Bynum; Jim Dent, PGA tour and Sr. Tour golfer; Elmore Smith, NBA star; and representative of L. C. Baker, high school coaching great.

We are going to a banquet tonight,honoring the inductees. They will all have an opportunity to make a short talk. It will be at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta. I hope to get a few more pictures there.

[Resica]

Congratulations to all the inductees and you and your wife on your athletic prowess.It looks like all had a good time.

[cobb]

looks like yall had a blast, thanks for sharing

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Carter's players turn out in force
ALUMNI PAY TRIBUTE TO VETERAN COACH AT HALL OF FAME JACKET CEREMONY
By Michael A. Lough - mlough@macon.com

For a little more than two hours, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame did not belong to the state of Georgia.

It was the property of about 125 people, mostly women, who played basketball at Taylor County High School four decades ago.

They paid tribute, often and loud, to a man who was more than a coach to them.

Norman Carter Jr. had dozens of former players on hand Friday night as he and the eight other inductees into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame accepted jackets and rings at the annual pre-induction social at the Hall.

"We played our hearts out for him," former player Dondra Peed Roberts said.

Added Brynda Wade: "He taught us about life outside of basketball."

They showed up to celebrate the victory of getting their coach into the hall.

"We've been trying for years," Wade said. "He deserves it."

Carter, who still looked as if he could stalk the sidelines and do some teaching, will be as strongly represented today when he joins eight others at the induction ceremony at the Cobb Centre Galleria.

"To know my father is to know he doesn't get excited about much," his son, Trey, said. "But this excited him. It's been a lifelong dream."

Carter joins high school coach L.C. Baker, former Georgia football player and high school coach Herb St. John, former NFL standouts Earnest Byner and Richard Dent, ex-NBA forces Wayne "Tree" Rollins and Elmore Smith, broadcaster Ernie Harwell and golfer Jim Dent in this year's class.

This is likely the only class in Hall history with two 7-footers in it: Rollins (7-1) and Smith (7-0).

Rollins was part of one of the funniest jacket ceremony exchanges in recent memory. Hall executive director Jackie Decell, all 5-2 of her, tried valiantly to put the jacket on the towering Rollins.

With the packed theatre laughing, Decell almost climbed onto Rollins' back to finish the job.

"He could be on his knees," master of ceremonies Robbie Burns said, "and you still wouldn't be eyeball to eyeball."

Rollins put the jacket on, and not surprisingly, the sleeves came up a little short. Decell said the right measurements were turned in.

"I've been inducted into about three or four hall of fames," Rollins said, "and the jacket never fit. But they got the closest."

It was the largest, and loudest, crowd to attend the ceremony, about 250 people. Not everybody could fit into the theatre for the presentation.

Jim Dent dropped out of this weekend's The ACE Group Classic in Naples, Fla., to attend the Hall ceremonies.

It was a busy day for Harwell, the longtime broadcaster for the Detroit Tigers. He was honored in his hometown of Washington, near Augusta, on "Ernie Harwell Day."

The 90-year-old drew a few gasps with his spryness at the jacket ceremony. He popped out of his chair, went up the steps to the stage with ease and shook the hands of his new classmates.

Rollins has been busy lately as an honoree. Crisp County retired his jersey Feb. 8 at a Cougars basketball game.

"It just means I'm getting old," said Rollins, head coach of the WNBA Washington Mystics. "When you get inducted into hall of fames, you're getting old."

Friday was a little reunion for Byner and Richard Dent. The former running back and defensive lineman played golf together several months ago in North Carolina.

"And I didn't know he was from Georgia," Richard Dent said. "All those years we played against each other, and we never knew."

Richard Dent doesn't get back to Georgia all that much and will make the most of tonight's ceremony.

"This is where it starts, this is where everything starts," the MVP of Super Bowl XX said. "It's all about thanking the people that helped you get where you are. I'll go down the line and thank the people who helped me find myself, helped me do everything I've been able to do."

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Jaworski impressed by honorees
By Michael A. Lough - mlough@macon.com
SMYRNA --Ron Jaworski had watched and listened for about 45 minutes, and after hearing the accomplishments and the acceptance speeches, he was even more impressed.
"I did not hear the word 'I'," he said. "They told about their family, their coaches, their wives, their kids, their community. That's what this dinner is all about.

"Yes, they're recognized for their incredible talents, but not one of the inductees said, 'It's about me. It was about you.' "

Jaworski was the master of ceremonies at the 2008 Georgia Sports Hall of Fame induction on Saturday night. The ceremony took place in front of about 850 or so in the John Williams Ballroom at the Cobb Galleria Centre.

This year's class of nine has two Super Bowl rings, an NBA record, a combined .872 winning percentage as a high school football and basketball coach, nearly 30 years on the PGA and Champions golf tours, a winning percentage of .916 in girls high school basketball, another NBA career of nearly two decades, a stellar college football career and a legendary run as a Major League Baseball announcer.

Hometowns range from Cordele to the south, Washington to the east and Atlanta to the north. Two coaches, two basketball players, two football players, a football player and coach, golfer and contributor became the latest inductees to the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.

Governor Sonny Perdue paid tribute to the new members.

"It just goes to show you that greatness can be found in Georgians in all sports," he said. "It's recognition deserved for a career of accomplishments."

Most of the acceptance speeches were brief, some lasting less than a minute. Atlanta high school coach L.C. Baker was the only deceased inductee. Five of the nine new members have Middle Georgia connections: Elmore Smith of Macon, Earnest Byner of Milledgeville, Herb St. John of Perry, Norman Carter Jr. of Taylor County and Wayne "Tree" Rollins of Cordele.

Richard Dent had the crowd laughing and his father cringing with a story about a family fishing trip on which his dad not having a fishing license.

A police officer told Dent's father to follow him to the police station, and not long into the ride, the elder Dent turned around.

"They got him a few days later," the son said.

He said sports wasn't a priority early on.

"I had seven brothers and a sister," he said. "My dad thought he had the next Jackson Five."

Byner also thanked those along the way and had some advice for the youngsters on hand.

"Chase your dreams," said Byner, who met his wife when they were both in junior high school. "If a little guy from Milledgeville, spent a lot of time out on fields chasing a lot of dreams ... you never know."

Rollins had friends from almost everywhere he has been, and he said they all had a part in his rise from Cordele to coaching in the WNBA.

"You don't get up on this stage by yourself," Rollins said before listing relatives and friends who kept him straight. "Just because I'm 7-feet, they're not afraid to let me know when I'm doing wrong. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for all the people in my life."

Broadcaster Ernie Harwell sounded as if he could still broadcast as well as anybody, and he appreciated the latest honor in an honor-filled career.

"This is a high moment for me, folks," he said. "And at the age of 90, I've had some high moments."

More than 100 former players attended Friday's jacket and ring ceremony in support of Carter, and dozens made the trip Saturday for their coach.

"I am so excited, I think I could have walked to Atlanta from Butler, Ga.," he said. "I am so proud to be here. I want to give credit where credit is due. I want to thank every player and everyone else who had an active part in my career."

Then he looked to his right to where most of the former Vikings were sitting.

"I would like to ask you to stand," he said to his players. "This is our night."

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Pictures from HOF festivities at the Galleria last night.

Governor Perdue welcomes those attending while my brother stuffs himself


Coach Carter accepts his plaque


1976 Female Scholar Athlete of the Year and 1976 Male Student Athlete of the Year


Wife and me with Tree Rollins


Wife with "General" George Patton, All-SEC, All-American defensive lineman in middle sixties. He was a good'un. The other guy was a backfield coach. I forgot who.


My brother talks with Ernie Harwell


Coach Carter and me.


This shot gives a sense of how large the ballroom is. There were more than 1000 people there. If you look closely, there are two seven-footers in the background, Tree Rollins and Elmore Smith.

[westcobbdog]

very cool and a great read redlevel...I remember most of those names...congrats on the impressive honors your wife recieved.