We love to honor our sports heroes.
They receive awards, farewell tours, statues and, if they’re successfully fortunate, inductions into a hall of fame.
But with greatness come controversies and debates.
Who’s the basketball GOAT — Michael Jordan or LeBron James? (The correct answer is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.)
Since the creation of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, relief pitcher Mariano Rivera is the only player receiving 100% of the votes. Babe Ruth was snubbed on 5% of ballots. Adrian Beltre (95.1%) was inducted with a higher percentage of votes than Willie Mays (94.7%), Ted Williams (93.4%) and Roberto Clemente (92.7%).
The annual pitching award is named after Cy Young, who received only 49.1% of the votes on his initial ballot. Six voters left off Nolan Ryan, who threw seven no-hitters and set the record for career strikeouts. And, of course, the game’s hit leader (Pete Rose) and home run champion (Barry Bonds) have not been enshrined.
Locally, the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame has several noteworthy omissions. Sportscaster Chuck Leahey is a member, but his son, Jim, a 19-time recipient as Hawaii Sportscaster of the Year, is not. Dick Tomey and June Jones also have yet to be inducted. And while having a “strong local connection” is supposed to be one of the criteria, surely Jason Elam, Colt Brennan, Yuval Katz and Anthony Carter deserve recognition.
The thing is, maybe the model is outdated. A hall of fame is a museum with displays of past players and accomplishments. A suggestion would be to create a museum — no, a center — that honors past greats while also providing interactive displays for current teams and players. Here’s how this idea would work:
1. The Hawaii Sports Center — two words to keep the ESPN copyright lawyers away — would be funded by the Hawaii Lodging &Tourism Authority. Across the street from Aloha Stadium would be a popular location.
2. No committees, no meetings, no five-year wait. If a fan, friend or family member believes an athlete with Hawaii ties is worthy, a picture goes up on the wall, just like at some restaurants, even if the accomplishment happened last week.
3. There are collectors across the islands. I’ve met many with racks of jerseys and shelves of helmets. Sportscaster Pal Eldredge has an impressive collection of autographed baseballs. Doug Sakamoto has a copy of every UH football media guide. Tim Chang still has the football he threw when he set the NCAA record for passing yards.
Collectors would be asked — pretty please — to lend memorabilia for a certain time period. The collections would be rotated.
If the center existed today, it would include the right glove Max Holloway used to knock out Justin Gaethje.
4. Back in the day, a radio announcer recreated baseball games by reading play-by-play accounts while adding sound effects. Similar to the karaoke booth at Pearlridge, there would be a recording area for fans to read excerpts from noteworthy Hawaii sporting events, such as Jim Leahey’s “how sweet it is …” call.
5. Extending the recreation theme, there would be a replica of Waialae Country Club’s 18th green, where visitors would putt as if a Sony Open title were on the line.
Visitors also could run on the end-zone turf relocated from Aloha Stadium. They can keep the rubber granules that will find a way into their shoes.
And a restaurant’s fake-food props? There would be a display showing what former Hawaii sumotori ate during a typical training day.
6. The center would offer a talk-story hour in which a past or current athlete chatted with fans without a moderator.
7. Gift shop.
8. The concession stand would have a stadium/arena menu featuring hot dogs, saimin, garlic fries and boiled peanuts.
