The New Jersey Celebrity & Sports Hall Of Fame...

November 2007

Strolling down the boardwalk, thinking about Neil Johnston. I’ve only had the chance to visit one major sports Hall of Fame, the basketball in Springfield, Massachusetts. I was frozen in my tracks as I looked at the portion dedicated to Neil Johnston. Not because I saw him play. He was with the Philadelphia Warriors from 1951 to 1959, before my time as a sports fan. A six time All-Star, three times led the league in scoring, and he led Philly to the championship in 1956. How Neil Johnston happened to be living in the same Texas town as I was in the 1970's, I don’t know. But there I was, attending a new junior college in Irving, Texas, in 1978, where a 6'8", slim, bald, with what-was-left-gray haired man, was wandering the halls. A friend was more aware of who he was than I. Turned out he was teaching some athletic courses, and I had signed up for volleyball. I couldn’t have known him more than about two weeks or so, and at that, only as my coach in the gym a few days a week. One day he wasn’t there. A female coach came in, crying, to tell us Neil Johnston was dead. It was spooky then, reading his plaque and display at the Hall of Fame.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t in the Hall while he lived, he was inducted in 1990. This all came to mind as New Jersey announced plans for a state Hall of Fame. I like the idea, although I think Halls in general need to be redefined.

They put too many in for one thing. I believe either you are worthy, or you’re not. The superstar class – like Ruth, Cobb, Jordan, Chamberlain, Unitas, Bednarik, of course are nobrainers.

To me, a "brainer", if you have to think about a person and his chances, then no, leave him out. Keep the ones who are in more special. And with apologies to Coach Johnston, if someone isn’t a HOFer five years after they retire, I don’t see how they become one some ten, twenty or thirty years later. I don’t believe anyone has ever seen their statistics improve over years of not playing. Also, I seem to be in the minority who feels character should be a criteria. If a player had problems with drugs, or spent time in jail, I say don’t put him in. Let’s say, hypothetically of course, that OJ Simpson murdered two people in the time between he retired as a player, and was inducted in the HOF. And let’s say, hard as it would be to believe, he was found guilty in court. Do you really want to argue that he should still be put in, even though he couldn’t attend the induction ceremony because they wouldn’t let him out of prison that day?

Anyway, Governor Corzine and the state legislature decided there should be a New Jersey Hall of Fame. And I think that’s nice. But they are going to construct a building for it in the Meadowlands Complex, at a taxpayer cost of $10,000,000. Really? There aren’t any buildings already built, maybe on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, that can hold some display cases for tourists to visit? Especially considering the new building will take three to five years to construct, and the inductees will be a fairly low number for some time? That said, here are the announced winners, as voted by an online poll. The only rule seemed to be the person had to live in the Garden State for at least five years: Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, number two man to walk on the moon; Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross; baseball great Yogi Berra; basketball great Bill Bradley; scientists Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein; publisher Malcom Forbes; Robert Wood Johnson II of Johnson and Johnson; Packers coach Vince Lombardi; writer Toni Morrison; General Norman Schwarzkopf; singers Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen; actress Meryl Streep; and Harriet Tubman, who helped to free slaves. It’s hard to argue, especially since voters were diverse.

Forbes and Johnson were known for charity donations, maybe being rich shouldn’t be a factor. There were some interesting names that didn’t make the first class, although I’m sure they will get in soon enough: Abbott and Costello; Larry Doby; F. Scott Fitzgerald; Althea Gibson; Jerry Lewis; Walt Whitman; and Woodrow Wilson – wow, a president can’t make the first round?

NJ residents fleeing State at alarming rate...

Property taxes in New Jersey, the highest in America, are driving people away. In the last five years, almost a quarter of a million residents have moved out of state. A recent poll showed forty nine percent of New Jerseyians would like to go. While the politicians obviously should find a way to stop the bleeding, one rich guy found his own method. According to an AP story, Vernon Hill, the founder of Commerce Banks, was able to save himself $60,000 every year off of his tax bill. He owns about fifty acres, so he has some trees cut for firewood, which he sells for $1000. THAT means he can call his estate a farm. Farms are taxed at a lower rate. You gotta give him points for ingenuity...

Fun With E-Mail...

This month’s Fun With E-Mail, stuff that gets sent around and ended up in my box, involves Order In The Court! These were actual exchanges, you can get them read back by the court reporter...

ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?

WITNESS: No, I just lie there.

***

ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?

WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.

***

ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?

WITNESS: Yes.

ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?

WITNESS: I forget.

ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?

***

ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?

WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?

Greg Maiuro is host of The Asociated Press’ Award Winning “Sports Goomba’s” radio show. The popular show can be heard on NewsTalk 1400 WOND AM on Fridays from 6PM to 8PM.