Roadie Bill Rodgers among Masters Hall of Fame nominees
Bill Rodgers is 61.
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Nine women and 16 men are nominees for the USATF Masters Hall of Fame, according to the ballot sent by Norm Green to his Hall of Fame subcommittee. The Class of 2009 will be selected by a group that includes previous inductees, and they’re expected to pick 10. The Class of 2009 will be unveiled at the USATF annual meeting this December in Indianapolis. Marathon great (and masters roadie) Bill Rodgers — already a member of the National Track and Field Hall of Fame — isn’t the shoo-in you might expect. He’s up against such superstars as M70 sprinter Bob Lida, M50 high jumper Bruce McBarnette, M60 multi-eventer Joe Johnston, M80 multi-eventer Bill Daprano (hoping to join wife Jeanne, a 2003 inductee, in the Hall) and M90 sprinter Bob Matteson. Throwers Ray Feick and Ken Jansson have a good shot. Who do you like for the Hall (still only an imaginary place, since no physical location has been established)? My faves: Mary Harada and hurdle legend Charley Miller.
Click on ballot for a report on last year’s Hall of Fame class.
8 Responses
Charley Miller, for his brilliant hurdling, and Bruce McBarnette, for his wonderful high jumping, deserve very strong consideration.
I wish we had something like this in Great Britain. Hope the votes go to Bruce McB and Mary Harada!
I was always curious as to the prerequisits for making the masters track and field hall of fame. I would appreciate knowing, thanks!
I want to encourage the voters to review Charlie Miller’s record and note his twenty-one national championships in five different events. Charlie has had health issues for the past 6-8 years, so his results are not fresh in the minds of many voters. He would have had even more titles. In Sindelfingen, 2004, he took the silver in the 60 HH behind Guido Mueller’s WR. He came back to Boston and took Silver behind Emil Pawlik’s AR. This was after heart surgery and under strong medication. That was his last competition.
Charlie’s losses were usually to current HOF members. He inspired me when I started out in masters, he was already a WR holder. I am familiar with his performances, and I feel strongly that he should be included in a masters HOF. He has been champion in hurdles, sprints, and multi-events.
To Anonymous,
I would venture to guess that the most important prerequisit for being inducted into the masters track and field hall of fame is participating in masters track and field, but not anonymously..
Have a Great Day!! Life is to short-keep it light.
Sully
To Anonymous:
The only firm HOF prerequisite that I can see is the requirement for 10 years of participation. There is a committee of 7 that makes the nominations annually. The voters are the current members of the HOF and the masters committee. I am not sure how many people get ballots.
Each voter applies his/her own values in voting. If you are voted on 50% of the ballots returned, you are in.
Except for the names of the inductees, the results of the ballots, for some unknown reason, are never revealed. The returned ballots are viewed only by one person for another unknown reason. I hope this can be changed. There is no reason for the secrecy, in my opinion.
The system is not without issues. As a hurdler, it is hard for me to evaluate distance runners and race walkers, just as it is hard for walkers to evaluate hurdlers or throwers.
Courtland, you should try the multi events, then you can judge everyone:):)
Waaaahhh! LOL, I heard the masters track and field hall of fame is picked at a Masonic Temple in Philidelphia and the nominees are flown in and driven to the temple location blind folded. They must perform various test while blind folded such as the one-legged 40 meter hurdles, juggling shot puts and standing in a field while others throw discus’s at you while you blindly avert the platters as they come flying at you. If you passs these tests then you recieve the ultra-secret handshake which is realy not that secret at all, it’s just the graspi….soory but I thought I just heard something in the basement, be right back…
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