Highlighted by champions at the local, state, national and world level, the Chattanooga Sports Hall of Fame welcomed the class of 2010 Monday night before a full house at the Chattanooga Convention and Trade Center.

Led by sports legends John Farr, Peggy Thomas and Skipper Fairbanks receiving lifetime achievement awards, 19 hall of famers in 10 categories were honored along with national caliber male and female athletes of the year.

Class of 2010 – Greater Chattanooga Sports Hall of Fame

(short bios and inductee comments)

Baseball
KENNY CHOATE: The All-City baseball star at Central High School in the late 1960s was unable to attend, but was represented by his daughter-in-law and two grandkids.

JIM HARRISON: The coach of the 1977 state champion Soddy Daisy Trojan baseball team acknowledged that he has been married 61 years and stated that “by perseverance you achieve. It is one of your greatest character traits.’’

He also said that, “if you hang around long enough some good things will come your way,’’ which got a laugh from the audience.

He captained the 1949 Tennessee Tech baseball team to the school’s first Ohio Valley Conference championship and is in the school’s hall of fame.
Basketball

SAM BROOKS: Won more than 400 games as a basketball coach at South Pittsburg; member of the TSSAA Hall of Fame; South Pittsburg basketball court is co-named for him.

RICKY CRUTCHER: Two-time basketball All-American at Lee University.

All-state and All-American at City High School.

“I was all-everything in high school basketball, but needed to be taught some of life’s lessons and learned many of those lessons from Chattanooga HOF board member Frank Jones.’’

Boxing
CLARENCE (BURR) BEAVERS: 1946 Southern Golden Gloves champion and currently a judge for amateur boxing matches.

“This is special for me since by brother (Gerald) is also in this hall of fame. Our boxing careers started in our front yard when Gerald bought some boxing gloves at the old Western Auto Store.’’

Beavers opponents wished his brother had never purchased those gloves as he won three Frye Institute titles and five local Golden Gloves championships.

LLOYD SCROGGINS: Arguably one of the greatest boxing trainers in Chattanooga history, if not the best; coached five members of the Chattanooga Sports Hall of Fame.

Football
NATE ANDERSON: First African-American football official in the SEC; president of the SEC officials (1990-91) and chief of umpires (1992-93).

“It’s great to be among the living,’’ Anderson told the audience. “It’s wonderful to receive my flowers while still standing, rather than pushing them up.’’

TERRY EVANS: All-city, all-state and All-American running back as a senior at City High School.
Evans gave God the glory for all he has.

“Life is a dash between two dates. God blesses us with the first and we should honor him with the second.’’
‘‘The Three D’s: Dedication, desire and determination.’’

‘‘The best honor I can have is my great family.’’

MIKE MOORE: Mr. Everything at Brainerd and Middle Tennessee State; All-City and then college All-American. Member of the MTSU Hall of Fame.

He lost his parents when he was 13 and was the youngest of six brothers to play high school football, four of which played in college.

Moore read the following about his
only living brother:

“I wish I could tell you how great you are to me. How instrumental you were in the development of my life. How you always had time to listen, even if it was about what college it would be.

How you watched my cry, because I had no scholarship to school to ruin the Moore name which at that time ran cool.

I would be the first to pay for an education which was unheard of in the Moore Nation.

You told me all would be okay. With scholarship in hand, I left your wedding on my way. You told me that I would play like I practiced and being great was no accident!

I needed to get better day by day and only working hard would pave my way.
Working harder would determine my fate and right now we stand at the Chattanooga Sports Hall of Fame.

Thank you big brother for giving me my game. In closing, again I want to say thank you.’’

Sports Media
STAN CRAWLEY: Award-winning writer who worked for three decades for the Chattanooga Times and later for the Times Free Press; currently writes for Chattanoogan.com; state prep writer of the year in 1995; leader in the formation of the Best of Preps program which still culminates with a banquet each June.

“Buck Johnson (former Chattanooga Times sports editor) is my friend and mentor and if it wasn’t for him and his belief in me as a writer I would not be here tonight.''

Softball
SHEILA COX: All-American softball player for the Provident Vets softball team; led team to eight national championships; selected as most valuable pitcher in the 1983 national tournament that the Vets won.

BOB JOHNSON: A Catcher on 20 state championship fast pitch softball teams; playing mainly for Combustion and Chattanooga Gas, but started at age 14 for Westside Merchants; played in World Softball Tournament twice with a .500 batting average.

“Chattanooga once was the great men’s softball city. First it was fast pitch, then all those real good slow pitch teams and now girls fast pitch is the big show in town and they are doing a great job.’’

Swimming and Diving
ED JOLLEY: Ranked second in the nation in diving as a at one time. A two-time All-American diver at Clemson University and ACC diving champion in 1982 and ’83. USA Sr.

National champion twice and the National Jr. Olympic champion twice.

“My first coach on Signal Mountain told me that I should look for another sport to compete in, but coach John Bonds believed in me.

Because of him, I learned a lot about myself, about my not so good attitude and sportsmanship.

While at Clemson, I learned that I cannot succeed in life without a team.We cannot win unless we all pull together.’’

RANDY KYLE
Four-time All-American at Univ. of Tennessee in swimming. In 1978, he anchored the 400 medley relay to a first-place finish in the YMCA Nationals.

‘’Four of us from the Cleveland YMCA go to Florida, place third as a team and then win the medley relay nationals. No one at the meet had ever heard of us before that weekend.’’

Tennis
PHILIP JOHNSON: Two-time tennis All-American at University of Georgia (1986-87) who led the Dogs to two NCAA titles (1985, 87) won 16 national titles; 1983 Ga. High school state champ in AAA for Northwest Whitfield.

“I have been fortunate to travel world-wide playing tennis. All that the sport has given to me, I want to give back as much as I can.’’

ORLANDO LOURENCO: World champion in the 35s Doubles on grass. While at UTC, he won four Southern Conference singles and doubles championships. has won 18 national tennis titles in U.S., Africa, Europe and Asia.

“My parents sacrificed so that I could come to the United States to earn an education and tennis was a plus and I am grateful to them for that.’’

Many of his opponents have received an education in just how good Orlando is while facing him across the net.

Track and Field
PAUL DAVIS: 1977 state long jump champion at Cleveland High School; led Blue Raiders to team state championship. Two-time state long jump champ.

“I want to dedicate this award to my mother, father and sister who have died of cancer.’’

He was given the unofficial best dressed award by emcee Sam Woolwine.

TARA JENNINGS JOHNSON: Four-time all-city selection in track and field at Chattanooga City High; won the 400 meter dash in 1982 and 1983; first woman to receive a track scholarship at Carson-Newman.

Wrestling
LYNN GOSS: Answer to trivia question of who has won a state title as coach, wrestler and member of a state championship team and accomplished this twice. Is the McCallie Middle School principal.

Goss told the story of his first match for East Ridge Junior High.

“I am in the seventh grade and we go to Red Bank for the match wearing gym shorts and long underwear, while coach Jim Morgan’s Lions are wearing real nice uniforms.

“I was pinned that day as were all my teammates. One teammate, Ernie Brown, knew so little about the sport that when the ref hit the mat, he thought he had won and he gets up and starts waving to the crowd (Red Bank student body) as though he was the winner.

“I decided to quit wrestling when I lost my starting spot on the team, but coach Paul Smith convinced me otherwise and I am glad he did.’’

Fred Gregg Jr. Award: Dr. John Farr, long time Red Bank wrestling coach and current president of the Greater Chattanooga Sports Hall of Fame received the award given for longtime service and dedication in the field of sports – which is the organization’s most prestigious honor.

"If you can push someone to the top of hill in life, that means you also have made it,'' Farr said.

"And that's what my wife, Deloris, has done for me; helped push me to the top all these years.''

Walt Lauter Lifetime Achievement Award: Skipper Fairbanks.

A national high school boxing champion, Fairbanks is widely known for his work with Dixie Youth Baseball and amateur boxing.

He has been the president of Red Bank Dixie Youth Baseball since its inception in 1963 and was instrumental in bringing the DYB World Series to Red Bank in 1967 and 1976, with a World Series runner-up finish in 1976.

Fairbanks said that in athletics, one needs a "desire to participate, the will to win and be in good physical condition.''

Betty Probasco Lifetime Achievement Award: Betty Thomas

A wonderful lady who was all-everything at GPS in sports.

She served as the GPS athletics director for 36 years (1953-1988) where she developed the school’s physical education curriculum and coached basketball, volleyball, tennis and golf.

She also taught dance at the University of Chattanooga after World War II.

"Mocs football coach Scrappy Moore and I thought having some football players in my modern dance class could improve their foot work on the field.

"But after some of my football students started making mistakes in football pracrtice, coach Moore would say, 'okay you dancers, let's see what you can do.'

''Suffice to say, that was the end of football players enrolling in my class,'' she said with a smile.

Male Athlete of the Year: McCallie swimmer Sean Ryan was the 2008-09 Southeastern Swimmer of the Year and is a six-time high school All-American.

"Thanks to McCallie swim coach Stan Corcoran who has spent hours with me in my training.

I am also thankful to McCallie School for working around my many swimming trips.''

Female Athlete of the Year: University of Tennessee’s Phoebe Wright is a six-time All-American in track and field.

The former Red Bank High School star is also a two-time NCAA champion in the DMR and owns five UT track records.

''I owe a great deal to my coaches at Red Bank who set me on the right path.

"I do my best to represent Chattanooga every time I step to the starting line.''

Allan Morris/Jim Morgan Award: Cleveland businessman Roger Hodnett and Polk County football player Serge Foster both received the award given for perseverance and courage.

Hodnett suffered a broken neck while wrestling for Bradley Central in 1974. The injury paralyzed him from the waist down, but he has rebounded to become a prosperous businessman in his hometown of Cleveland.

Foster is a senior at Polk County. He lost his leg after 16 operations, but using a prosthetic leg, he played for Polk County this past fall, kicking extra points and actually played as a running back.

Class of 2011
Here are some names that need to be highly considered for 2011 or soon thereafter.

Baseball: Harley Woody and the late Larry Knight (Lookout Valley High School)

These two members of the 1977 Lookout Valley Class A state championship team should be inducted together. Woody, a senior in 1977, was one of the dominant pitchers, state-wide, for two years.

The opposing right fielder is still looking for Woody’s home run ball at Darwin Field from the 1977 title game.

A good contingency from Lookout Valley would show up for these two.

Swimming/Diving: Ellen Kovacevich (GPS)

The three-time state high school champion diver (1968-69-70) also anchored the state champion 200 medley team in 1969. How many local divers can also claim a state swimming title in the same meet or vice versa? Odds are good that she in on a very short list. She also coached junior swimmers and won a summer league city diving title.

The HOF Committee should have separate categories for swimmers and divers.

Special Category: Buck Stamps (deceased; long time Lookout Mountain recreation director)

Stamps received the Walt Lauter Lifetime Achievement Award a few years ago, but his 40 years as recreation director is worthy of a spot in the hall.

Skipper Fairbanks and the late Nick Senter are on a list of those who have received the Walt Lauter Award and are also members of the hall of fame.

So why not include Coach Stamps? A few graduates of his program include Chattem CEO Zan Guerry, Ruby Falls president Hugh Morrow Jr., the two current Lookout Mountain mayors, Greg Brown and Bill Glascock and NCAA Postgraduate Scholar from Sewanee, John Popham.

Plus numerous Chattanooga Sports Hall of Famers including, Bill Anderson (track and field), Charlotte Grant (golf), Schaack Van Deusen (wrestling), Rob Healy (football), King Oehmig (golf), Cindy Kemp Battle (tennis), George Dickinson (tennis), Forest Simmons (tennis) and David Dick (tennis).

Football: Ed Nelson (Brainerd)
All-city and All-state running back on the great Pete Potter football teams at Brainerd.

Wrestling:

Ed Fisher: McCallie’s first great wrestler. First wrestler from any of the military prep schools to win three Mid-South Conference titles (1949-51).

Earned six varsity letters in wrestling and also received McCallie’s highest award, the Grayson Medal, as a senior. One will be hard pressed to name a better wrestler from that era.

Luther Killian: Current assistant wrestling coach at McCallie. High school All-American and national prep champion in 1968, five year letter winner. Member of the state chapter of the national wrestling hall of fame and the driving force in re-starting the state chapter in 2005. Also, a Grayson Medal recipient.

Steve Gross: National prep champion in 1969 and Southern champion at UTC. Also starred in baseball and football.

Lance Schaeffer: Arguably the best wrestling in City High history. Undefeated (with one tie) in three years (1959-61) for the Dynamos. State champ (1961), two-time city prep champ (1960-61) and two-time state prep AAU champ (1959-60; tourney Outstanding Wrestler in 1960). Also wrestled at Univ. of Virginia.

David Kent: Two-time state champ (1975-76) and high school All-American at McCallie. Four-time state finalist.

Albert Wilson: national prep champion for Baylor in 1970 and won three Mid South titles. Morehead Scholar to UNC.

contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net