A Sea Of Red

http://www.libertyflames.com/index.cfm? ... 99&TeamID=

Liberty University Director of Athletics Jeff Barber has announced that the Athletics Department will be starting a Hall of Fame this year, with the inaugural class set to be inducted on Sept. 26, 2009.

“Liberty athletics is replete with outstanding individuals who, through great service, commitment and effort, have participated in the foundation and ever-growing success that has allowed us to be the Division I athletics program we are today,” stated Barber. “It is time to recognize these student-athletes, coaches, administrators and other key individuals who have contributed so much to this great University.”

The class will be honored during Hall of Fame Weekend and officially inducted at a special halftime ceremony during Liberty’s football match-up with James Madison at Williams Stadium.

LOOOOONG overdue

excellent job though.

Now, about that "Ring of Fire" or whatever we were calling it. "Circle of Flame"?

too Johnny Cash.

I’m surprised this hasn’t sparked more conversation.

Is there going to be an actual “hall of fame” which can be seen by the general public whether it be in the Vines, the FOC, or somewhere else?

Who should be included in the first class?

Should accomplishments before and/or after their time at Liberty be included?

What should some of the minimum requirements be for entrants (i.e. play all 4 years at LU, coach at least 5 years, have jersey retired in individual sport, etc.)?

Who is making the selections? Who is on the committee? How often will they make additions?

It should be based strictly on the accomplishments at Liberty.

It should not be necessary to play four years to be considered as a player.

SumItUp wrote:Who is making the selections? Who is on the committee? How often will they make additions?

It should be based strictly on the accomplishments at Liberty.

It should not be necessary to play four years to be considered as a player.

For those who bothered to ACTUALLY READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE

The committee is comprised of the following members: Kevin Keys, Associate Athletics Director – External Operations, who chairs the committee; Mickey Guridy, Senior Associate Athletics Director; Meredith Eaker, Senior Woman Administrator; Bob Good, Assistant Athletics Director for Development; Todd Wetmore, Assistant Athletics Director for Communications; Dr. Bill Gribbin, Faculty Athletics Representative; Brenda Bonheim, former Women’s Basketball/Volleyball Coach and Senior Woman Administrator; Dr. Linda Farver, Liberty Physical Education professor and former Women’s Basketball Coach; Ed Gomes, Football Director of Spiritual Development and former Liberty basketball player.

If Ken Karcher isn't in the inaugural class, well, I demand a refund.

jcmanson wrote:I’m surprised this hasn’t sparked more conversation.

Is there going to be an actual “hall of fame” which can be seen by the general public whether it be in the Vines, the FOC, or somewhere else?

Who should be included in the first class?

Should accomplishments before and/or after their time at Liberty be included?

What should some of the minimum requirements be for entrants (i.e. play all 4 years at LU, coach at least 5 years, have jersey retired in individual sport, etc.)?

I would think:

success in athletics(whether it be coaching or playing)

or

devotion to the program(JE is a first ballot, IMO)

and...
--how much money can we expect to get out of them or their family
--do they have any relatives still on the payroll that we'd like to impress.

Fumblerooskies wrote:

SumItUp wrote:Who is making the selections? Who is on the committee? How often will they make additions?

It should be based strictly on the accomplishments at Liberty.

It should not be necessary to play four years to be considered as a player.

For those who bothered to ACTUALLY READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE

The committee is comprised of the following members: Kevin Keys, Associate Athletics Director – External Operations, who chairs the committee; Mickey Guridy, Senior Associate Athletics Director; Meredith Eaker, Senior Woman Administrator; Bob Good, Assistant Athletics Director for Development; Todd Wetmore, Assistant Athletics Director for Communications; Dr. Bill Gribbin, Faculty Athletics Representative; Brenda Bonheim, former Women’s Basketball/Volleyball Coach and Senior Woman Administrator; Dr. Linda Farver, Liberty Physical Education professor and former Women’s Basketball Coach; Ed Gomes, Football Director of Spiritual Development and former Liberty basketball player.

Shew...I was thinking it was the same committee that got us Hanky

...and to answer the last part of his question:

The committee had its first planning meeting in November and is currently finalizing the Hall of Fame constitution and selection process, which will begin with open balloting from the general public in February. At that time, an official nominating ballot will be made available on LibertyFlames.com, the Athletics Department’s official web site, with guidelines for submission.

The Hall of Fame committee will then narrow the pool of nominations down during several rounds of voting during the spring, with an announcement of the inaugural class set for May.

FOUND IT: our "Ring of Honor" thread (started in Nov of 2006), complete w/ Rock Royer tribute and other suggestions

feel free to refresh your collective memories.

http://flamefans.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2584

There will have to be a location somewhere. My guess would be on plaques in the Vines Center. But that is just a quick guess.

I am curious to hear how big the initial class will be ... 5 ... 10 ... 18?

Some of these will be no brainers. But they don't want to hit all of the marquee folks in year one or it will lose its lustre moving forward.

Sly Fox wrote:There will have to be a location somewhere. My guess would be on plaques in the Vines Center. But that is just a quick guess.

I am curious to hear how big the initial class will be ... 5 ... 10 ... 18?

Some of these will be no brainers. But they don't want to hit all of the marquee folks in year one or it will lose its lustre moving forward.

I would much rather see it in the FOC...right now the FOC is by far a nicest facility and should be seen by all visitors. Similar to the Camron Indoor, I was walking through last night and they have hall of fame shrines in one room with a glass enclosure and nets from the game, jerseys, shoes it's really really neat


Note to the Athletic Department visit this before it's built!

The public access is the issue with the FOC. That's why Vines makes more sense at first thought. Football should have their own shrine in the FOC.

It's just better be the elite of the elite, not everyone who was susccessful here. Here are some of my potentials - class of 8 to start: (And i didn't put a lot of thought into this - so I'm sure I'm missing a bunch)

Eric Green
Heather Sagan
Josh McDougal
Karl Hess
Sid Bream
Jerry Edwards
Brant Tolsma
Katie Feenstra

Maybe - Ryan Warner

Should there be a certain period of time after one leaves LU before they can be inducted into the hall of fame, like 5 years?

That's a good list, Proto...but I wonder if they would enshrine someone still active, like Coach Tolsma? Obviously, the two NCAA champs almost HAVE to be in the first class.

I'm thinking they will limit it to one selection per sport for first class. Eric would be the obvious choice for football and Sid for baseball. Karl would make sense for mens hoops. Katie would edge Elena on the womens side. It would then get interesting in sports like golf, tennis, softball, wrestling and volleyball where there really isn't the obvious selection. And I personally feel that an NCAA championship should set aside the 5-year rule. Otherwise it would be good. Interestingly enough, most of the names mentioned other than Katie & Josh tend to be very old school.

I think the gesture to the voice is a nice touch, Proto. And I personally think the same could be done for Al Worthington, Sam Rutigliano and Rock Royer.

Softball Id go with Jessica Moore (although Im sure some of the 90s alums could speak to the skills of players from that time)
Tennis: really cant find anyone that stood out that much prior to last year with Jordan Jenkins but she still has a few years
Volleyball: I think NIcki could end up in something like this when her turn comes up but Theresa Bream and Anthonia Apkama come to mind here
Golf: Not sure here either

I agree the two past individual NCAA champs should be considered for the initial class I still think that it is still to early for McDougal to go in the first class.
There are two people that have been left out of this discussion so far.
The first being Dr. Falwell...there have been a lot of great things done for him so far but why not go into the Athletic HOF.
The other to me is a no brainer...Jeff Alder, the current Men's Soccer Coach. He was a great player at LU garnering all Region Honors as a player and as a coach as done a wonderful job moving the program forward winning a Big South Championship for the first time.

Sly Fox wrote:The public access is the issue with the FOC. That's why Vines makes more sense at first thought. Football should have their own shrine in the FOC.

I agree. We've got way too many people going through there as it is. If we put a Hall of Fame in there it would bring even more people in which just isn't a good idea.

prototype wrote:It's just better be the elite of the elite, not everyone who was susccessful here. Here are some of my potentials - class of 8 to start: (And i didn't put a lot of thought into this - so I'm sure I'm missing a bunch)

Eric Green
Heather Sagan
Josh McDougal
Karl Hess
Sid Bream
Jerry Edwards
Brant Tolsma
Katie Feenstra

Maybe - Ryan Warner

All good choices. I would add some more coaches..........

Al Worthington (First name I thought of)
Jeff Meyer (Not holding my breath waiting for this one)
Bob Bonheim (Our first wrestling coach and a wonderful man)

olldflame wrote: Bob Bonheim (Our first wrestling coach and a wonderful man)

PAmedic wrote:

olldflame wrote: Bob Bonheim (Our first wrestling coach and a wonderful man)

+2