June 4, 2021
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TODAY’S COLUMNS:
Scott discusses LSU Baseball
Dennis delves into some officiating/coaching scenarios
Please scroll down below.
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
The time to reflect on the Paul Mainieri era will be when the season is over. Thankfully, the season is not yet over for the Tigers.
Let’s start there for a moment. The season is not over. Last year, we did not have a full season, much less a postseason. There have been a few years where LSU was in a similar situation and was left out of the tournament. I am certainly going to enjoy the fact that LSU is in the tournament, and therefore has a chance.
Going into this regional, LSU has a much better chance of advancing than the last two times they were sent out west. In 2010, LSU went to UCLA who had two pitchers whose current contracts total over 400 million! Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer were the Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter of that year.
In 2018, LSU was sent to the Corvallis Regional to face Oregon State, who LSU had knocked out of the CWS the year before. Just as in 2010, LSU did not have one of its better teams, and the host team was clearly one of the top teams in the country. LSU was beat soundly.
This year, Oregon is the 13 seed, and obviously, a quality team. But to put it in perspective, LSU has played 15 games against 5 teams seeded higher than Oregon. Gonzaga basically has the same RPI as LSU, and Central Connecticut State is not one of those four seeds that is underseeded like Stony Brook. In summary, the regional has three teams that are pretty similar in Oregon, Gonzaga, and LSU.
Coach Mainieri has already chosen Landon Marceaux to start the opener against Gonzaga. The best chance for any of these teams to win the regional is from the winner’s bracket. LSU is likely to face Gonzaga and then Oregon. Both games are equally as daunting so Mainieri is doing the right thing and going after the first game. Then, he will go after the second game as the game at hand is the most important.
Assuming LSU is able to beat Gonzaga, I would be leaning toward Hilliard against Oregon. Mah’Kail has been the second best starting pitcher for LSU the last month and he has a swing and miss pitch in his curveball.
No matter what happens on the mound, LSU has got to find a way to generate offense for three days in a row. There were hardly any weekends that the Tigers were able to produce runs in all three games this year. Although he was not an All-SEC type player, one of the keys to offensive production was the presence of Giovanni DiGiacomo (he did hit over.300 in SEC games). Fortunately, he should be ready to go this weekend.
If I could have one request in the batting order this weekend, it would be that Mainieri would put an offensive threat in the 9 hole and bat Milazzo 8th. Whether it is Arnold, Thompson, DiGiacomo, Bianco or Sanford (who might hit against Gonzaga’s righty), I have two reasons for this move and both have to do with Tre’ Morgan.
Tre’ is hitting.370 and it would be great for him to get at-bats with a runner on base. In addition, there is a good chance that the 9 hole hitter will get more fastballs to hit with Morgan on deck. So put someone in that spot that can do damage if the pitcher decides to groove a fastball.
All year, we have been waiting for this team to get hot, but something would get in the way. In March, LSU lost Jaden Hill and it took a while to find the third starter. In April, the bullpen could not hold a lead. Fontenot, Edwards (if healthy), Floyd and Coleman have found their roll. In May, the offense would just disappear for a game. Weak swings early in the count and too many strikeouts would waste a great start from Hilliard or someone else.
Maybe this team finishes the year having never put all the pieces together at the same time. Or perhaps, Marceaux pitches a gym on Friday while the offense does enough to give LSU a comfortable lead and save Fontenot. Then, maybe Hilliard does his thing again, turns the game over to Fontenot, and LSU beats Oregon. And finally, Labas is efficient, the defense plays well, and the offense is able to actually take advantage of a Sunday pitcher and keep the Paul Mainieri era going one more weekend. If all that happens, we can wait another week to reflect on the Paul Mainieri era and enjoy postseason baseball.
HEY REF
Before I start my usual tirade on what makes my blood boil I’ve got to revisit a story that ranks second to only the last time Jack Nicklaus won the Masters. Is it me or has it been what seems like a lifetime has passed since we heard anything good coming from the PGA? Phil Mickelson did at age 50 what Jack did way back in ’86. The sporting world has to stop for a minute and take notice that there’s still hope for us “older” athletes to put it all together and compete with “KIDS” half our age. Nothing else coming from the sporting world comes close to being HEADLINES in my book. O. K., done with the nice stuff so let the blood begin a slow boil…
As my deadline gets closer and closer I’m divided at which story should demand my attention. Please don’t think I’m “copping out” by trying to shed light on two matters very close to my heart. First things first, this time of year usually would cause me to breakout my football rule book and start going over rule changes since coaches expect and DEMAND we, wearers of the stripped shirts, be at playoff form from the first snap all the way to the final whistle in December’s state title games.
Most coaches won’t allow their officials a single opportunity where they’re allowed to make a mistake. Scrimmages, spring games and even inter-squad games somehow now feel like its bowl season. This season though I’m finding it harder than ever to get serious and look forward to a new high school football season. Everything has changed since I started working games in ’79. I’m still “on the fence” if I’M COMING BACK FOR A FINAL SEASON. I sense a duty to the schools, players and coaches to give it just one final year. But at 65 the body just doesn’t do what it did at 25!
When I decided to come back from some very serious health problems I was told, rather I was warned things aren’t the same as it was some 35 years ago. I called on a friend from those early days and he said “you’re gonna be shocked at how things are now. There’s no “WE” anymore because most of the officials working games are in it to make a buck or two. This was being told me by an official with over 40 years’ experience in Baton Rouge. He just wanted to be sure I knew that I wouldn’t recognize how things are done now as compared to the way we came up.
He told me if I was to return that I’d have to just go to the weekly meetings, not say a word and just accept how everything we ever learned has been tossed out the window. The easiest thing for me to do is give two play situations that happened to me and maybe you’d understand where I’m coming from. Play one, the offense runs a quick opener and gains 5 yards.
As I’m marking the spot a flag is thrown and almost hits me. My deep wing partner had thrown an unsportsmanlike penalty against the team to our side of the field, the home team. We mark off 15 yards and on the very next play he again hits my coach with another 15 yarder. As expected the coach goes ballistic and my crewmate runs over to the referee and tells him what happened. I try to calm the coach down and told him I’d find out why he just ate 30 yards in penalties.
A coach’s conference is asked for and the ref goes to talk with my coach. As they compared views I asked “What happened? Did he say something that he shouldn’t have because I didn’t hear anything”? My supposed crewmate looks at me with this weird stare and says “Do I have to train you”? Excuse me, I’ve got nearly 25 years in this profession and more than 15 years on you but that doesn’t mean I know it all and by the way, you’re just starting your fifth year so if you can learn me something then please do. It was the very first time I experienced this height of arrogance toward a coach ever in all my days of running up and down the sidelines. And to be honest I was totally disgusted at his attitude since it would NEVER be allowed in my day!
The second play situation was a third down and 20 yards to go. The home team commits offensive holding and there’s a late hit by the defense. So, I mark the end of the run and wait for my white hat to get over to me so I can tell him which penalties were called. I explained to him that they are short by more than 5 yards for a first down. I was working the chain-gang this night and told him, it’s fourth down, etc. Well he thinks for a second and tells me I’m wrong because he’s marking off the holding call and 15 for a late hit so it’ll be third down again.
That might be the case IF this were to happen; BOTH fouls would need to be LIVE BALL FOULS. In such a case they’d offset but the LATE hit is a DEAD BALL FOUL which means the down counts. The “HOLDING” would be DECLINED by the defense, which means the down counts. The late hit is a dead ball foul, 15 yards marked off against the defense, hence since it was 20 yards that needed navigating they’d be 5 yards short AND IT’S FOURTH DOWN!
He gets aggravated and tells me to move the chains which I didn’t do because I was trying to explain that the holding call can be declined and we’ll mark off the late hit and it’ll be FOURTH DOWN. I’ve never had a white hat tell me not to correct him and just do as I’m told. This is completely wrong as all officials take a rules test each and every year. I make mistakes and have never told another official just to do what I tell them because we all make mistakes.
He walks back to the middle of the field and tells me again to make it 3rd down. Well, I did what I was told and as we’re getting the chains reset one of the defensive coaches’ yells for a conference. He wants to decline the hold, take the late hit and sends his punt return team out. As you can expect the white hat calls a time out to talk things over with the coach. After what seemed like forever he comes over to me and asks where the end of the run was.
Well, by this time and with all the confusion I couldn’t give him an exact yard line but said if we walk back 25 yards (10 yards for the holding penalty that was just declined and then 15 for the dead ball foul we penalized) we’ll be at the end of the run. Now he should signal a decline of the holding BUT we’re penalizing 15 for the dead ball and it’s now FOURTH DOWN and he’s standing where the ball will next be snapped. It was the easiest and the best way those in the stands would know why we did what we did. I’ll then make it fourth down, set the chains up correctly, snap the ball and go on our merry way.
Both of these instances happened in two different games just a couple years back. As far back as I can remember we had crews that tried to work the games as though they were ONE on the field. When I was coming up the officials were taught that there are three teams on the field and the only way to get through the tough calls was to work together. It makes me sick to see how far we’ve sunk as officials when we think the people in the stadium that night paid money to watch us throw yellow flags.
I know of a lot of good officials still working high school games but the vast majority of guys now a days are there for just one thing; CASH! They feel to hell with learning the rules, working together and seeing all the other guys in the crew that night as equals. They’ve lost pride in doing a good job, hustling and getting it right. They want and expect coaches to accept blindly anything they do on a Friday night.
I know there were plenty of people that were so happy the LHSAA and its officials avoided a strike just a few years ago but I feel a strike was the best thing that could’ve happened. To put things mildly I feel the best thing that should’ve been done is to have the associations take back control of its game officials and away from the LHSAA. There’s way too much “BROWN-NOSING” going on within the present system and the way in which official’s progress and move up the ladder. Gone are the days of working hard for a just reward. Now it’s “WHO WILL DO FREE LEGAL WORK FOR EDDIE AND HIS CREW”?
We used to say our politicians are corrupt but they don’t hold a candle to what’s going on behind closed doors on Old Hammond Hwy. Just how many times must we be taught that throwing good money away on a bad product doesn’t do anyone a bit of good? Seems nobody cares anymore as its “WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR ME”?
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
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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.