April 25, 2021
FOR THE ULTIMATE SPORTS FAN
ArrestedDevelopmentMediaGuides offers media guides. programs and baseball cards. Please visit JonFineProductions.com and click on icon to get to the store. Check out a full array of New Orleans Saints media guides and LSU media guides and programs and publications from much of the entire sports world. Over 7.000 publications listed.
GOD BLESS
Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone adversely effected by Hurricane Delta… and My heart goes out to my friends in the Lake Area who endured major destruction at the hands of Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Delta. My thoughts and prayers are with you. We strongly urge readers of this newsletter to donate to a worthwhile Hurricane oriented charity in the Lake Area.
TODAY’S COLUMNS:
Scott discusses the Saints upcoming draft
And it’s the best of Dennis Part 1 of 3
Please scroll down below.
TK PODCAST
Check out "Talkin Sports with TK" hosted by Tommy Krysan. Available on all major platforms including: Anchor, Tune In, Spotify, Iheart, ApplePodcasts and many more! Email for link: tommykrysan@gmail.com Connect on Social Media: Tommy Krysan - Facebook, Instagram & Twitter!
WE THANK YOU FOR DOING YOUR UTMOST TO PATRONIZE SPONSORS OF OUR PROGRAMMING. THIS HELPS US TREMENDOUSLY IN SUSTAINING OUR WEEKLY LINE-UP AND WILL ASSIST US IN ADDING MORE PROGRAMS IN THE
THE WIZARDRY OF OS
As we all know, the history of Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis drafting follows a predictable formula.
First, the number of picks is meaningless. The quality of the selections is what matters. Second, pick the best player available even if there are quality numbers at the position already on the roster. Put those two concepts together and that has led to the Saints trading up for players almost every year. So why would it be any different this year? I will tell you.
To start, in a normal year, the Saints have filled the most urgent needs on the roster through free agency. Sometimes, they have been completely wrong about that player's ability to fill a need (Jason David, Brandon Browner, Jairus Byrd). Nevertheless, the effort was made. Because of the salary cap situation this year, the Saints were unable to check that box on the to-do list. There are large holes at cornerback and defensive line.
Free agency was not the route this year because veterans cost more money. The last collective bargaining agreement fixed the problem where rookies were making more money than many veterans who had paid their dues. As a result, draft picks are more valuable. The proof is that the Saints were only able to get a late round pick for Malcolm Brown, a starting defensive tackle. Somehow, that late pick is seen as more valuable even though the Saints threw away a late round pick last year to get Tommy Stevens who never had a chance to make the team.
This year the Saints cannot be so cavalier in giving away picks because the roster is not close to being set as it has in recent years. New Orleans lost a starter at almost every position in free agency. As a result, they need many players at many positions. Though, as I stated before, a few positions stand out as a need more than others.
Will Loomis and Payton hold tight to their picks? Will they draft for need over the best player available? Will they do the unthinkable and trade back for more picks? I seriously doubt that.
Of course, we should always stay aware after the draft as the Saints are always one of the best teams in getting production out of undrafted free agents.
No matter how, no matter who, the Saints must do better than 2020. Ruiz started, but struggled. Trautman played, but did not produce much. Baun essentially redshirted, and Tommy Stevens did not make the team.
The Saints must do better than 2019. McCoy and Gardner-Johsnon were quality picks, though Gardner-Johnson always flirts with disaster. Drafting two starters is great, but this draft needs to contribute significantly to the two deep.
It cannot be the disaster of 2018. Davenport, Smith, Clapp are still on the roster. Though, gaining a fourth receiver, last offensive lineman, and a first rounder who lost his starting spot in year 3 is not a good draft.
All that to be said, it does not have to be the legendary 2017 draft. Simply put, this is not a year to get cute. Do not pick a running back because he is the best player available. Running back depth can be addressed in undrafted free agency. I know everyone loves to predict Sean Payton will pick a quarterback. Yet, this is not the year to trade three picks to move up and pick a quarterback in the first round while waiting until round three to draft a cornerback.
This is the year to find a cornerback that has some poise and ball skills (I admit these are hard to find qualities). Find a receiver that can beat tight man coverage. Select a defensive lineman that teams like the Steelers are alway able to find in the middle rounds.
It is easier said than done, but the Saints are due for a good draft, and the turnover in the roster makes the success of this draft vital to the success of the 2021 season.
HEY REF
As I started my usual pre-season training program, yes we old timers really work just as hard as the players during summer. We must be ready “to go” once scrimmages and jamborees kickoff. Coaches expect that of us and every official should be able to work any type of game a school has scheduled for that crew. I’m not doing anything special simple because it’s what we’ve always done.
And as usual I keep being asked that since I’ve clocked more than 25 years of doing this what changes have I seen. To be honest there are just too many things that’ve changed as far as working on the field that I can list. But what I found most shocking in the last few years is a total and complete disregard for fellow officials by other officials. The message used to be “every call is everybody’s”. Which just meant we all need to be sure as a crew that we get the calls correct and never lay blame on any other member of that night’s crew.
As I looked into my archives of columns from the last decade plus is a three part series that concentrated on how that message has been forgotten and never practiced anymore. So, please bear with this old official as he begins his last and final season of high school football. The pressures put upon coaches to produce a winning program have caused so many good officials to walk away even though they’ve got five, ten or more years left. So, tonight, for the last time I’m going to begin a three part series where I try to explain just what is going on with high school officials.
I don’t have all the answers but the biggest problem in Baton Rouge is the fact the LHSAA has allowed a tyrant to run that association with nobody to answer to. But that’s for another time. Coaches I’ve heard your frustrations and I feel your pain but until y’all on mass march upon Eddie Bonine’s office and tell him y’all are fed up you’ll continue getting sub-par officials and very sub-par officiating.
This is the first part of a special three part series delving into the LHSAA’s high school football officials.
I never thought I’d use the words football officials and cannibals in the same sentence. But that’s the easiest way to describe the attitude in at least three football official’s associations in the Baton Rouge area. I’ve been doing some fact finding the last four years into why the performance of LHSAA’s football officials has declined in recent years. It goes against every fiber of my being to be writing this story but this story must be told. There won’t be any fireworks or front page headlines to announce that I’ve decided to retire effective immediately but I’ve seen enough and am sick to see just how bad the officiating and the attitude of many officials has become in this part of the state.
I started working high school football games in the Baton Rouge area back in 1979. I took 1980 off and resumed my career in 1981. Back then we played under NCAA rules but in the mid to late 80’s Louisiana made the switch to National Federation (High School) rules. So we had to hit the books hard to insure we enforced penalties as prescribed in the high school rule book.
I worked games for 20 years before major health problems sidelined me. You know little things like several surgeries to both knees then a total knee replacement, a triple by-pass, four abdominal operations and the “Big One” where my lower spine collapsed and to fix things the doctors took bone out of my hip and spliced it into my lower back. I bring this up because I never expected to be able to call another game. I kept this information from many other officials since I didn’t want or need pity. The facts are that after one Friday night game I’m in bed for two to three days unable to walk and dealing with all the pain.
During my time off (almost twelve years) I would still talk to coaches in our area and tried to keep up with how teams were doing. I’m not sure of the exact time frame but things started changing for the worse as far as how football games were being officiated. Coaches would tell me about plays they had run on a given Friday night and how the officials ruled wondering if this or that was correct.
I don’t like to question how fellow officials enforced penalties or how they handled game situations just on a coaches version of the events but it became clear something was amiss. And it wasn’t just one coach or fan that would ask me questions so I decided to get back on the sidelines so I could see for myself just what was going on. Back at the start of my stint as an amateur football official there was this feeling of a brotherhood among a crew of officials working games together.
That was the first thing I noticed missing among the membership and in fact before I started back I called and talked to an official that was still calling games and has more than 40 years in the Baton Rouge Association. He told me “Things have CHANGED! Don’t ask questions just do your games and don’t worry about anything else but what you do”! That conversation only made me want to get back to see why things had changed for the worse.
I admit I was excited to have the chance to catch up with many of my old friends. But when the meeting got underway I was shocked in that I only recognized a handful of the guys I used to call games with. I didn’t make it through the first meeting back as I was asked to leave. The Baton Rouge Association was still meeting at LSU’s Williams Hall so I felt comfortable sitting in the seat I’d spent nearly 20 years occupying. It was close to the top row of the room’s seats and it felt like old times. But not more than twenty minutes into the meeting I’d noticed many officials talking on their phones, in small groups and some were even playing games on their laptops and cell phones. I noticed a couple guys with laptops never looked up and just continued being focused on the screens. So I walked by them to get a peek at what was so important and I was shocked to see them on the internet as the meeting continued onto new business. It was like being in a bad daycare center with all the noise and inattention to the discussion on the floor.
Well, I couldn’t hear because of all the talking, walking around, laughing and phones ringing so I raised my hand and asked what was being said on the floor. The president made the remark that if I wanted to hear what was going on and to “fix my problem then I should come sit on the front row”. This upset me and I stood up and told him to “Fix this problem everybody needs to shut the F*CK up so we can hear”!
When I got home I had more than a dozen calls on my answering machine from members thanking me for saying what I said because it’s just mass confusion at the meetings and I said what needed saying. Well, it didn’t go over very well with the president and I was almost immediately put on his sh*t list.
And from there things only got worse. I was used to meetings where you could hear a pin drop. Every meeting had a purpose in that before the rules test we opened the rule book and discussed what they meant and how to enforce penalties. We had a study guide with over 300 questions and we’d go over the first 50 questions then the next week another 50 and so on until we’d read all the questions and understood what they meant.
The new way of doing things is handing out the study guide along with the dates that the test would be given. When no discussion on the rules happened I wanted to devote a minimum of 30 minutes before the test to our study guide and the rules then after the test the 30 minutes would be to review game situations from the previous Friday night. Needless to say, it wasn’t received very well and was turned down. I asked one of the veteran officials if he’d support my motion and he told me “Man, you know the real meeting is after we leave here (LSU) in the parking lot or at a local “watering hole”. You can see that this was not the way I was taught but I ran up against so much resistance that I knew nothing good was to come from doing business this way.
I’ll leave things to your imagination as to just how good the product would be if this was “NEW” way of learning the rules.
Till next week… …
Press Release
by
Jim Spring
The year 2020 marked the tenth anniversary of the Denham Springs High School Athletic Hall of Fame (HOF) since its inception in 2011, though celebration of this feat was postponed until now due to the Corona virus pandemic. Then school Principal Kelly Jones and Athletic Director Dru Nettles tasked J. W. “Pee Wee” Day, Butch Wax, Robert Graves, and Jim Spring—all DSHS alumni and former Yellow Jacket athletes—to form a Steering Committee to establish criteria, procedures, and a timeline that would bring into existence the Hall of Fame.
The Steering Committee believed that such an elite athletic fraternity could become a community treasure. The city has only one high school, thus enabling the public to rally around its flagship scholastic institution. Community support for the organization has been outstanding, benefited by generous exposure in The Livingston Parish News through the years.
The Committee embraced the notion of hosting a formal HOF induction banquet each year instead of pursuing a more minimalist approach that would involve little fanfare, such as the informal introduction of members during a sporting event. Held annually at Forrest Grove Plantation each September, the popular banquet has become one of the most anticipated events on the city’s social calendar. The affair is made possible through the gracious support of title sponsor Hood Dental Care and, before that, Sport-N-Center.
In 2011, one hundred and fourteen years after the school’s founding, leaders created this prestigious Hall of Fame—now a decade old—to celebrate its rich sports tradition and to honor its many sports heroes.
The four-member Steering Committee, which provided structure and gave birth to the institution, was then absorbed by an 11-member Selection Committee that meets each spring to review nominations and vote on that year’s class by secret ballot. School officials have striven to protect the integrity of the selection process, understanding that holding the community’s trust is essential to the credibility and long-term success of the Hall of Fame. To that end, DSHS relies solely upon the public to submit all nominations.
Though DSHS has become the second largest high school in the state since its founding in 1897, for the most part it was considered a small country school. Thus, all the more remarkable that it has produced such a surprising number of heralded sports figures. Among its alumni are five prep All-Americans, seven collegiate All-Americans, four professional athletes, an Olympian, an NFL team president, and a Golden Spikes Award winner (college baseball’s equivalent to the Heisman Trophy).
Notable athletic achievements are state championships in baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls softball, and girls bowling. The 1972 Yellow Jacket football team came close to a state title, earning runner-up laurels in a fierce match versus Hahnville that ended in a 26-26 tie, losing the game–-and the title—on first downs in an era before overtime play was part of the game.
One additional achievement, evidence of its solid reputation built over the past decade, is the HOF’s assistance to six other high schools seeking guidance in establishing such an institution on their campuses.
Member Demographics
Currently the Hall of Fame has enshrined 73 sports greats, an average of eight per class, with pending inductions of another six whose installations were delayed until September of 2021 due to the pandemic. Another such postponement occurred when The Great Flood of 2016 caused a deferment that year as well. In an effort to jumpstart the long overdue recognition of Yellow Jacket greats, the first two classes (2011, 2012) were expanded to no more than 15 each. Subsequent classes are limited to no more than eight each, although depending upon the size and quality of the nominee pool, the number varies from year to year.
Of the total membership, 20 are deceased including 11 whose inductions were posthumous. Though all the inductees lived in Denham Springs during their high school years, their life journeys have taken some to other states—Texas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Virginia, New York, Arizona, and Washington—and one to a foreign country. Katrina Hibbert, an exchange student from Australia who led the Lady Jackets basketball team to a storybook 37-0 season and a Class 5A state title in 1996, has since returned to live Down Under.
Fifty-four of the 58 members inducted thus far in the “Athlete” category earned All State honors or were State Champions in individual sports such as tennis or track and field. Some received this distinction more than once and some in more than one sport. Ten coaches and only five supporters have been so honored, rounding out the 73 members. The Yellow Jackets’ only three-sport, first team All State honoree—and thus considered the most well-rounded athlete in school history—is Cecil Harris who was lauded in basketball, baseball, and track and field during the 1960s.
While Cecil Harris may have been our most well rounded athlete, Ben McDonald is arguably the most celebrated and well known as a two-sport, two-time prep All State selection, a two-time collegiate All-American at LSU, winner of the prestigious NCAA Golden Spikes Award, a #1 draft pick in Major League Baseball, a gold medal Olympian, and an ESPN sports analyst.
On the other hand, Tasmin Mitchell is arguably the most heralded and decorated, having been a rare four-time prep All State choice (three-time MVP), a two-time prep All-American on three different teams (Parade, McDonald’s, EA Sports), the Grasshoops National Prep Freshman Player of the Year, a Louisiana Mr. Basketball selectee, Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year, a collegiate Freshman All-American at LSU, and a current LSU men’s assistant basketball coach.
Not to be overshadowed in state and national honors is 2006 DSHS graduate Regena Jackson, easily the most decorated female athlete in school history. A two-time prep All State basketball star for the Lady Jackets, she became a two-time NAIA All-American at Belhaven College where she was one of three NAIA National Player of the Year finalists her senior year. Averaging 24 points per game, Jackson led the nation as the NAIA National Scoring Leader as a senior. Her jersey is prominently displayed in the Ring of Honor at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee.
In addition to their athletic achievements, many Hall of Fame members were campus leaders as well. All State basketball stars Donald Ray Hood and Eddie Joe Jones, the latter who went on to become an NFL President with the New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolphins, displayed exceptional leadership ability by serving as DSHS Class Presidents all four years of high school. Selected as Mr. DSHS during their senior years were Hall of Famers Pee Wee Day, Butch Wax, Jim Kemp, Sam Digirolamo, and Jeff Harris. Honored as Miss DSHS was All State basketball and track star, Nancy Davis McConnell.
The many family ties represented among HOF members may suggest that good genes play a role in creating great athletes. Fathers and sons Cecil and Jeff Harris, along with Van Foster Jr. and Van Foster III echo that sentiment, as do fathers and daughters George Meadors and Sarah Meadors Mestepey, plus Tony and Lisa Dugas. All State basketball players Sammy Dixon Hannaman and Nikki Dixon Leader are sisters, while Joey Chustz and Jamie Chustz-Felder are brother and sister. Brothers Cecil and Raymond Harris, A. E. and Lathan Sutton, and Rogers and Randy Pope are further examples. Prep football All-American Kelvin Robinson and his basketball star cousin, Drexel Robinson, also share family bonds.
Of all those inducted into the Hall of Fame, only two athletes have been honored to perform in the prestigious LHSAA All Star Game in two different sports. All State football and baseball great, Glenn Glass, participated in those two sports. All State basketball and softball star, Lisa Dugas, displayed her talent on the court and on the diamond. At the collegiate level, the only Yellow Jackets to earn All SEC laurels are Katrina Hibbert, Russ Johnson, Ben McDonald, Tasmin Mitchell, and Shannon Roubique. Hibbert was a three-time, first team All SEC basketball player at LSU. Roubique was a three-time, first team All SEC football player at Auburn.
Dual HOF Members
Before the DSHS Athletic Hall of Fame was established, the school was represented in the LHSAA Sports Hall of Fame by three legendary coaches and one legendary athlete. Louis “Loodie” Carlisle was the first successful Jacket football coach of the modern era, enjoying a 66-31-9 record. Having won a Class 2A state championship in 1964 while coaching at Assumption High of Napoleonville, he led DSHS to a Class 3A state runner-up finish to Hahnville in 1972. His teams won three district titles and made 11 playoff appearances. Carlisle was named District Coach of the Year four times.
Former DSHS student-athlete-coach-athletic director-principal Butch Wax was the winningest football coach in school annals with a 152-84-2 career record, earning five district titles and making 19 post season appearances with four quarterfinal finishes. He coached regular season undefeated teams in 1978 and 1983, plus one 12-win season, two 11-win seasons, and five 9-win seasons. Wax was selected District Coach of the Year five times.
Basketball mentor, Alton Leggette, was a fiery coach and masterful tactician who brought excellence to the DSHS boys basketball program after winning the Class C State Championship at Holden in 1963, building a remarkable 251-44 record in six seasons with the Rockets. His Jacket teams enjoyed a 247-111 record, winning one district title and making three playoff appearances. Widely respected within the coaching community, he was named Mr. Louisiana Basketball in 1990 and received the SLU Legends in Coaching Award in 1999. During his career, Leggette was selected District Coach of the Year four times, Parish Coach of the Year six times, and Class C State Coach of the Year in 1963.
The Jackets’ final member and only athlete in the LHSAA Sports Hall of Fame is Ben McDonald—superstar athlete at the high school, collegiate, professional, and Olympic levels. In addition to receiving college baseball’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy as a senior at LSU, he was also named National College Player of the Year by Sporting News, Baseball America, and ESPN in his junior year. He was a major league pitcher with the Baltimore Orioles for seven seasons and the Milwaukee Brewers for two before retiring after three shoulder surgeries. McDonald is also a member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in Natchitoches and the National College Baseball Hall of Fame located on the Texas Tech campus in Lubbock, Texas.
Two-time National Prep All-American tennis sensation, Jana Garrison Orillion, and National Prep All-American football star, Kelvin Robinson, have been nominated to the LHSAA Sports Hall of Fame but not yet selected. Robinson was the first high school All-American at DSHS in any sport.
Community Support
Throughout the HOF’s ten years as the seat of athletic excellence in the community, local businesses and individual Jacket fans have been charitable with their support. During the first year when the annual banquet, though well attended, lost about $300 because of associated expenses, Pee Wee Day recommended that local sponsors be solicited to underwrite the cost of plaques. It is the custom to present inductees with a handsome keepsake plaque made of walnut with an 8X10 space to insert a photograph of the individual. A separate metal and acrylic plaque bearing an etched likeness of the inductee is displayed in the Hall of Fame. The two plaques, which cost a total of $400 annually are made by A-1 Awards, Inc. in Indianapolis. Thus, they represent an expense of $3,200 for, say, an eight member Hall of Fame class. The goodwill of local sponsors now absorbs this significant expense.
In 2014 Stacy Phipps of Sport-N-Center was approached about becoming the first HOF title sponsor that would largely underwrite the expense of the catered banquet. Following a generous five-year run as title sponsor, Sport-N-Center handed the mantle to Dr. Ed Hood of Hood Dental Care which is beginning its third year in that distinguished role. The benevolent spirit of these two community leaders and former DSHS student-athletes cannot be overstated.
The Great Flood of 2016 caused the postponement of the annual banquet that year as well as the relocation of the Hall of Fame itself. When floodwaters wrecked the former display area in Hornsby gym, Big Mike’s Sports Bar & Grill became the new home in 2019. The former site at DSHS offered limited public access since it was located on a closed campus. The new site offered by Mike O’Neal provides unlimited access seven days a week during restaurant hours. Local carpenter and handyman John Olivier created the handsome display, while local painter Lionel Kabel provided the attractive signage.
Yellow Jacket Firsts
A number of Hall of Fame members were groundbreaking pioneers in DSHS athletics and the first to achieve some sports-related milestone. Rex Wilkinson is believed to be the first All State athlete on the first state championship team in school history (1923). He is also believed to be the first to play men’s basketball at LSU. Longtime DSHS principal of 35 years, Grady Hornsby, changed the school’s mascot from Tomcats to Yellow Jackets and adopted purple and gold as the school colors in 1930. He also coached the first 11-man football team from 1930-1933.
Bert Barnett, a two-sport All State honoree in basketball and track (1946), was the first to receive a full athletic scholarship in these sports at LSU. Universally considered the Yellow Jackets’ first great football player, Randy Rushing was a two-time All State running back (1957, 1958), boasting a 13-yards per carry average with 1,873 yards as a junior and 1,862 yards as a senior. He was also the first DSHS thinclad to break the 10-second barrier in the 100-yard dash with a 9.9 second record that still stands.
Tom Kelly is believed to be the first to play football at LSU, as a walk-on freshman quarterback in 1960, and also the first to play four years of college football (LSU, USL). Les O’Neal, an All State pitcher, was the first to sign a four-year athletic scholarship to play baseball at the college level (USL) in 1961, eventually earning All Gulf States Conference selection (twice) and Conference Player of the Year. In 1963 Jim Spring became the first to receive a four-year athletic scholarship to play football at an SEC university (Tulane). Slammin’ Sam Digirolamo was a 1968 All State linebacker and the first to sign a four-year athletic scholarship to play football at LSU.
During the era of school integration, Drexel Robinson was the first black athlete at DSHS to earn a four-year athletic scholarship in any sport at the collegiate level. In 1973 he signed to play basketball at Louisiana College where he was honored as team captain three times and MVP twice. He would later be inducted into the Louisiana College Sports Hall of Fame. Rene Moseley Severio, a two-sport All State choice in basketball and track, was the first female athlete to receive an athletic scholarship in any sport to a four-year college (Northeast Louisiana) in 1980. She was also the first to win an individual State Championship in track in any event, as a record-setting long distance runner with a time of 5:14 in the mile.
Jana Garrison Orillion shocked the tennis world as the first girl in Louisiana to win four consecutive high school State Championships (1983-1986). She became a tennis superstar as the first two-time National Prep All-American (1985, 1986) in school history, boasting a career record of 65-1. Considered the first great female softball player at DSHS, Shannon Covington Fuentes was a two-time All State pitcher with a 78-3 career record and a 50-game winning streak. She led the Lady Jackets to state titles in 1986 and 1987.
A two-sport All State star in football (1985) and baseball (1986), Glenn Glass was the first running back to break the single season rushing mark of 2,000 yards (2,036) and the first to rush for over 4,000 career yards (4,016), along with 39 career touchdowns. Laurin Byars Garrison is the only DSHS coach in any sport to be directly involved in winning four state championships (1986, 1987, 1998, 2000), while also securing four state runner-up finishes. As an assistant coach and co-head coach, her softball teams amassed a superb 479-123 career record.
Nikki Dixon Leader is the only Yellow Jacket in school history with the distinction of being an All State athlete (basketball/1964) and a two-time State Championship coach (softball/1986,1987). She was also named District Coach of the Year in girls basketball eight consecutive seasons. One-year Australian exchange student and All State basketball player, Katrina Hibbert, led the Lady Jackets to a state title in 1996 and, after a sterling career at LSU, became the first (and only) DSHS female athlete drafted into the WNBA (Seattle Storm) to play professional basketball. In 1999 Joey Chustz became the first (and only) Jacket in school history to be drafted into the NFL (Jacksonville Jaguars) and play professional football, having been an All State pick at DSHS and All-America honoree at Louisiana Tech.
HOF Banquet
The annual banquet at Forrest Grove is a dignified yet fun event that is well supported by the community. Crowds typically exceed 200 attendees with a record turnout of 276 in 2017. Shortly before the new members are introduced, deceased members are acknowledged individually with the clanging of a bell as their name is announced and their photo displayed. The most anticipated happening of the banquet is the videotaped interview of each inductee, displayed on three large screens. The interviews provide a delightful mix of humor, nostalgia, little-known sports tales, and great storytelling.
Orchestrating all the moving parts of the banquet agenda is the Emcee who must be organized, likeable, verbally facile, and sometimes humorous. During the past decade, Hall of Fame emcees have included these local personalities—Pee Wee Day, Randy Smith, Doug Hughes, and Kelly Jones—all DSHS alumni who have each made the event memorable. Only once has the banquet been headlined by a guest speaker, in 2018, when popular LSU men’s basketball coach Will Wade filled the room with laughter, inside basketball nuggets, and colorful recruiting stories.
Perhaps a bit old fashioned—yet jubilant in this setting on this nostalgic evening—the banquet concludes as the crowd is invited to give a rousing, pride-filled rendition of the school’s alma mater.
The DSHS Athletic Hall of Fame has earned a reputation for integrity, for being well organized, for its classy banquet. Thanks to the support of the Denham Springs community, the dedication of volunteers, and a pool of quality nominees, your Hall of Fame is well positioned for continued excellence in future decades.
Prep All-Americans Collegiate All-Americans Professional Athletes
Kelvin Robinson Ben McDonald Ben McDonald
Jana Garrison Orillion Russ Johnson Russ Johnson
Ryan Byrd Joey Chustz Katrina Hibbert
Tasmin Mitchell Tasmin Mitchell Joey Chustz
Cade Doughty Regena Jackson
Travis Swaggerty
Abby O’Donohgue
-DENHAM SPRINGS HS FOOTBALL RADIO BROADCASTS ARE A JON FINE PRODUCTION ON FAMILY RADIO, 91.9 FM, BATON ROUGE and JonFineProductions.com.
JON IS THE OWNER OF AN EBAY STORE. ArrestedDevelopmentMediaGuides, SELLS SPORTS PUBLICATIONS. YOU CAN LINK TO IT BY VISITING JonFineProductions.com.
JON IS PROUD TO WORK AS A MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE FOR SPORTSRADIO-1310-KEZM-SULPHUR/LAKE CHARLES.
JON IS PROUD TO WORK FOR PAYJUNCTION AS A MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE.
FOR MORE INFO, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE: JONFINEPRODUCTIONS. COM
DENHAM SPRINGS HS FOOTBALL RADIO BROADCASTS ARE A JON FINE PRODUCTION ON FAMILY RADIO, 91.9 FM, BATON ROUGE and JonFineProductions.com.
JON IS THE OWNER OF AN EBAY STORE. ArrestedDevelopmentMediaGuides, SELLS SPORTS PUBLICATIONS. YOU CAN LINK TO IT BY VISITING JonFineProductions.com.
JON IS PROUD TO WORK AS A MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE FOR SPORTSRADIO-1310-KEZM-SULPHUR/LAKE CHARLES.